YOU'VE walked along the Halbeath Road and cheered them on as they've taken to the hallowed turf at East End Park.

You may also have watched them from the comfort of your living room on the telly or an online stream – but have you seen the Pars at the heart of a theatre production?

If the answer is no, then you can change that next year when a new performance takes to the stage that tells the story of a West Fife family against the backdrop of one of the most dramatic seasons in Athletic's history.

Author and playwright Mike Gibb, who has written three books previously for the Pars Supporters Trust, the most recent of which was the 'Heroes of the Halbeath Road', released in 2020, has put together a play entitled, 'Walking Down the Halbeath Road', which will be performed at the Alhambra Theatre in March.

Using a community cast of nine, under the direction of Calum Beaton, it will focus on a year in the lives of a family from Abbeyview during the 1995/96 football season, which saw Dunfermline, against the odds, win the First Division title and promotion to the Premier Division.

In what is widely regarded as one of the most emotional campaigns in the club's history, the team's captain, Norrie McCathie, died tragically in January 1996, before the team went on to win the league in his honour.

Mike, whose earlier stage works include the likes of Mother of All the Peoples, Five Pound & Twa Bairns, Clarinda, Outlander the Musical and Doorways in Drumorty, said that the idea came initially after Drew Main, the Pars Supporters Trust chair, had heard of a Hibernian FC-themed stage show – 1902 The Play, which tells the story of their 2016 Scottish Cup triumph through the eyes of five young fans – and whether there was scope for one relating to the Pars.

Aberdeen-based Mike explained that he had been looking to produce a musical featuring songs of the late Dundee singer-songwriter, Michael Marra, but had stopped following his death in 2012.

"I still had a storyline in the background of this family, the father of which spends his life telling everybody how he used to play for the local football team and broke his leg, and there's a lot more to it than he admits, and it tells a family story," he said.

"I said I think it would work very well in a Dunfermline setting, set in the East Port Bar, with the Dunfermline fans, and also in this house in Abbeyview. More than that, to set it against the background of the '95/96 season.

"You've got the trials and tribulations of a family with various things going up and down, and problems with the two sons and so on, set against the season which starts so well, then has a wee dip, and then Norrie McCathie dies. Then they pick up again, and it comes to the famous second-last game at Tannadice (a 1-0 win for the Pars against title rivals Dundee United that put them top of the league) when they win that.

"It's all inter-woven through it but it's still a family story. That was the idea behind it.

"It tells the story but I didn't want to have a lecture on the football season, saying, well, we won this game 2-0, and then the next game, we were a goal down. I didn't want to go along that road. I didn't want to just to keep it to that small, niche market.

"I would like think that somebody that's not even particularly interested in football could go along and find the family story."

Filled with plenty of local references – such as to the East Port bar – Mike has attempted to inject some comedy within the play, and continued: "There's quite a lot of comedy in it. I usually try and write things that have quite a warm feel to them.

"To me, theatre is all based on character. If you don't get the characters, then you're kind of pointless. You've got to like people or dislike people so you've got some sort of affinity with them as you're going through the story.

"It's got quite a lot of humour, especially in the pubs and the guys in the pubs.

"I've got a great opening, which I won't tell anybody about, but I really like this opening. It gives you this serious feel but it's actually a wee comedy idea, but by the end of the first act, it changes altogether. You suddenly see a much darker side to the whole piece, and that carries on a wee bit more through the second act, and it comes OK again.

"There is quite a lot, I would feel, that people who are not necessarily football fans, but are interested in Dunfermline, would identify with and hopefully enjoy as well."

'Walking Down the Halbeath Road' is scheduled to run from Thursday, March 2, to Saturday, March 4 next year.

Proceeds from the production will go to the Pars Supporters Trust.