EVERYONE at Central Park was sad to hear of the passing of a player, who made quite an impact in a short time at the club.

Ex-Cowdenbeath striker, Stevie Graham, died at the age of just 63 down in Derby last week. Stevie had been seriously ill for some time and Cowden officials had very recently been in contact with his family.

Said club historian and secretary, David Allan: “We were privileged to be able to send a message to Steve which recalled his time with the Blue Brazil - his family told us it brought back many memories for him and a smile to his face.

“Stevie Graham was a stalwart for both Forfar and Brechin City. He was always a thorn in our flesh when he played with Brechin - along with the two Ians – Campbell and Paterson - he caused us a fair few problems. We particularly recalled that the 1981/82 League campaign ended up with a match v Brechin City. Cowden lost 2-0 and scorers were Graham and Campbell!

“Stevie joined Cowden when we weren’t on a very good run of form in 1984 when Willie McCulloch was the manager.

“He scored on his debut in a win over Berwick Rangers. A couple of weeks later though McCulloch was sacked after a 5-1 defeat from East Fife. Ex-Lisbon Lion John Clark took over and his first game in charge was at Hampden where Stevie scored twice and we won 4-0”.

Cowden finished second bottom that year despite the side featuring such players as Raymie Allan, Stewart Williamson, Grant Tierney, Davie Shanks, Ian Paterson, Kenny Ward and Bertie Miller.

Added David: “ Stevie was only at Cowden till the end of that season but he scored four goals in about 10 weeks. A pretty impressive haul considering we were struggling.

“We thank Stevie for those memories and we certainly also admired his play as an opponent. “We hope he enjoyed his time at Central Park and can only pass on condolences from everyone associated with Cowdenbeath FC to all his family and friends”.