IT’S a club that he readily admits has been good to him but Stevie Crawford acknowledges that there’s no-one bigger than Dunfermline.

He also wants what is best for them to progress and, after some deep thought after their Premiership play-off disappointment, is why he feels it is the right decision for all parties to step away from the role.

In an honest and revealing interview with Press Sport after it was announced that he would be departing the club after 28 months as head coach, he revealed that the thought he might not be able to give everything he had to it – admitting to a semblance of burnout – had made up his mind.

After taking over from Allan Johnston in January 2019, with the club in seventh spot, it took the Pars five attempts to win under his stewardship, before enjoying five successes on the bounce.

That saw them move into the Championship’s promotion play-off places but, after finishing the campaign with seven defeats from their last eight games, they ended in seventh.

In his first full season in charge, Crawford’s team were inconsistent, and would finish sixth when the season was curtailed due to the outbreak of COVID-19 on a points-per-game average, despite the 18 league goals scored by Kevin Nisbet, who is bound for this summer’s European Championships with Scotland.

This time around, they moved to the top of the table in November after defeating eventual champions Hearts but a dip in form saw them out of the play-off places at the end of March, following a 5-1 hammering at Raith Rovers.

Although the team rallied and finished fourth with a game to spare, their Fife rivals ended any hopes of top-flight football for the first time in a decade with victory in the play-off quarter-final.

Crawford, however, has left with the goodwill of the club’s supporters and, asked whether it felt nice that he will remain a legendary figure among them due to his exploits as a player, he said: “I don’t see myself as a Dunfermline legend; I see myself as a boy that grew up in Camdean that was very fortunate to pull on a Dunfermline jersey in a couple of different spells at the club.

“To go on and manage, and you pinch yourself – the days that I used to go and see Ross (McArthur, chairman) on a Friday, and I know you’ve got to do the job that’s in hand – but you see some of the names that have managed Dunfermline as a football club, and I’ve been fortunate enough to hold that position.

“I’m very respectful of the position I held at the club, and that came into my thoughts. When I’m looking in the mirror, and I’m thinking can I give that 100 per cent, I’m not trying to glorify it up into anything other than I want what’s best for that football club.

“They’ve been very good to me and I feel that it was the right time to allow it to move on because it’s in very good hands, and progress to levels and go beyond because there’s nobody bigger than the club.

“It’s been an eye-opener and in a healthy way. I’m lucky enough to have worked at a club with people keen to progress, develop and learn; that was a culture which Ross and the board of directors allowed to grow.

“The investors coming in are going to encourage that to continue.”

Crawford continued: “I’ve been very lucky to have worked at very good clubs since beginning my coaching career, and that goes right back to working with Rangers’ under-13s at their academy up until my very last day at Dunfermline.

“My work ethic will never change. I don’t see it as work. But what happens is, if you are going to learn and develop, then I need to go away over the next few weeks, months – however long it takes – and learn to manage time in terms of delegating and infrastructure.

“That’s something I’ll get better at and, as the club grows, Dunfermline will get better at facilitating that.

“Two-and-a-bit years down the line, I believe I am allowing the club to progress and – regardless of the direction Ross goes in terms of the next management team – I see it is in very good hands.”

During his time in charge, Crawford was tasked with recruiting younger players, with the potential to develop and sell on, and helped the club secure a significant six-figure fee when Nisbet departed for Premiership Hibernian last summer.

That was the yardstick in which Crawford felt pride when asked if he could, in time, look back at his spell at the helm with satisfaction.

“I was very fortunate when I worked along at Falkirk when Alex Smith was there,” he said.

“You look back at Alex Smith’s career and he worked with young players throughout his management career. He told me the biggest pleasure that he took out of something was when he turned the telly on on a Friday night, and there was a Sky game, and one of his players that he’d played a small part, just a small percentage, in his development, was playing. He took enormous satisfaction.

“I’m very fortunate that I get that same kick. In my two-and-a-bit years as manager at Dunfermline – albeit, that you’re always trying to do the best for the club – you’ve also got opposition players that come that you’ve coached at other places. It’s nice to see those faces coming through the door in the respect that they had for you, and likewise you had for them.

“That’s something I want to continue with. I love the game; I’m passionate about it, but I just know the candle’s been burning at both ends, and I can’t let my love of the game force me away from it.”

When asked whether he had told the players of his departure, Crawford added: “I’ve not told the players and it’s not like me.

“I felt it was important that the relationship I have with Ross and in terms of how he’s supported me and added to my management skills that I spoke to him on Monday morning.

“Other than my dad on Sunday evening, Ross was the only one I spoke to.

“I touched base with my sister a little bit on it, because she’s not really into her football as much, but my sister and my dad are a big influence on me.

“My mum has always talked about health being a big thing in life. You can’t buy your health.”