ONE of Dunfermline Athletic’s most colourful characters will be ‘off the Leish’ as he recalls his journey from football to politics.

Now the Provost of Fife, Jim Leishman will be giving a talk in the Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries on Sunday March 18.

It’s part of the Sunday seminars at the new museum and starts at 2pm, with tickets priced at £5.

Subtitled ‘From Ball to Chain’, Jim will regale the audience with colourful stories from his playing days at East End Park, his two spells as Pars boss as well as his foray into politics as a Labour councillor in Dunfermline and the Kingdom’s provost.

As boss in the 1980s, he received hero status for back-to-back promotions which took the club into the Premier League.

He returned as boss in 2005 to save them from relegation.

A similar event, but also including song, comedy and entertainment, was planned for Fire Station Creative in October but it had to be cancelled.

The 64-year-old, who was awarded the MBE in 2007 for services to sport and had a street – Leishman Drive – named after him the following year, has also been at the forefront of the Mary Leishman Foundation.

The charity was set up following the untimely death of Jim’s wife in February 2009.

He and a group of trustees set up a foundation in her memory to raise cash for local good causes, with the aims of achieving potential and easing distress.

They’re on target to reach £1 million and the next Ball for Mary, a black tie dinner in the Glen Pavilion, takes place on Saturday February 24.