EVERYONE at Gala Fairydean Rovers was saddened to hear of the death of former Gala Fairydean stalwart David Peden who passed away last Friday night.

Davie played for Gala Fairydean for six seasons beginning in 1962-63. He was virtually ever-present over this period and made 192 appearances winning a number of medals and honours during one of the most successful periods in the history of the Netherdale side under the management of Bobby Kirk and Frank Duncan.

Davie played in the game marking the opening of the Peter Womersley grandstand against East Fife and also turned out for a Fairydean select who played the French National Team shortly before the 1966 World Cup Finals.

Gala Fairydean won the East of Scotland Championship on three occasions while David was playing at the club. They were indeed well clear of the other sides in season 1962-63 but there was a terrible winter that year and with so many postponements the league championship was declared unfinished. In the Scottish Cup that season the Fairydean defeated Highland League Keith in the first round and then squeezed past local rivals Duns after a replay that was played a Shielfield Park, Berwick. This replay was postponed on several occasions due to the snow and once played the team had only a few days to gather themselves before playing away to Celtic in round three in the biggest game in Fairydean’s history. Gala, wearing an all-white strip, hit the post in the opening seconds of the match at Parkhead before eventually succumbing by six goals to nil against a home side containing future Lisbon Lions Billy McNeil and Bobby Murdoch.

In 1963-64 Davie was ever present and scored his one and only goal for the club. The team were East of Scotland champions and were once again runners up in the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup. In the Scottish Cup the Fairies produced one of the best performances in their history losing narrowly to Willie Waddell’s Kilmarnock side at Rugby Park. The following season Killie won the Scottish League Championship.

In 1964-65 he appeared in all but three games and also played in the friendly against East Fife to officially mark the opening of the stand at Netherdale. The team won the East of Scotland League championship and the King Cup. In 1965-66 he missed only one match. The team won the East of Scotland league championship for the third year in succession and also won the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup, the South of Scotland Qualifying Cup and the King Cup. In 1966-67 David missed only a single match in that season where the club won the South of Scotland Qualifying Cup and were runners up in the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup. 1967-68 was David’s final season for the club and he missed only two games. The club were runners up in the ESQC and the League Cup.

Along with his surviving team-mates form Bobby Kirk’s 1965/66 season, Davie was inducted into the Gala Fairydean Rovers Hall of Fame earlier this year.

A minutes silence was help in Davie’s honour before last Saturday’s Lowland League fixture between Gala Fairydean Rovers and EduSports Academy.

Graeme McIver & John Clayton