“He had been given the shout that obviously it was Dunfermline’s centenary that season. It also coincided with Eastenders coming out on the BBC.
“A local businessman, Blair Morgan, and a few other of his contacts decided they would put the two together and come out with the Dunfermline song.
“The BBC contacted us and asked if we would be willing to sing the song live on Pebble Mill At One.”
So it was off to the BBC studios in Birmingham, the squad bedecked in their black and white shirts belting out the slightly creaky lyrics.
Come along to East End Park,
Come and watch us win, there’s no better reason
We’re the team they call the Pars,
Promotion is our aim, and this is our season!
It went down a storm.
But, as Westwater remembers, it almost caused a bit of a stink.
“Paul Coia [the presenter] was going to count us in. In the television world, you go five-four-three-two-one and you’re on,” he recalls.
“Just on the two, one of the players – who will remain nameless – let out the loudest pump you have ever heard in your life. Paul Coia’s face just dropped.
“Afterwards, in the green room, he said it was one and a half seconds from going out live on the television.”
Flatulence related mishaps aside, this was the beginning of a glorious period for Dunfermline.
Under the inspirational and eccentric leadership of Leishman, now back as club chairman, the profile of the club scaled new heights.
Leishman was never off the telly, regularly cropping up on Friday Sportscene and ITV’s flagship football show, Saint and Greavsie, reciting his own brand of madcap Dunfermline-related poetry.
But, amid the madness, there was method. The publicity stunts worked.
Attendances at East End Park swelled to among the highest in the country outside Glasgow as Dunfermline began to enjoy greater success on the field.
Flash forward to today and the same methods are being used again with the current squad – mercifully – singing a new song.
Forty years on, the Eastenders theme has been ditched, with some fresh lyrics penned to the tune of John Denver’s “Country Roads”.
“I don’t think I have heard it before to be honest,” current Dunfermline defender John Tod says of the tune – underlining the fact he is only 18 and making many of us feel old.
“It’s actually quite catchy,” he says after belting it out with the rest of his squad at the studio recording.
So, who’s got the best singing voice?
“Going to have to go with Matty Todd to my left-hand side,” Tod replies. “I heard it in my ear. He’s got a beautiful voice.”
Tongue firmly in cheek.
“Just recently, we had the first play of it at the Airdrie game and it went down well,” Westwater adds.
“Brought us a bit of luck as well. We won 2-0. Hopefully long may it continue.”
Catch the new Dunfermline Athletic song, “Halbeath Road”, in the half-time feature on Sportscene on Friday as the second Fife derby of the season takes place between Dunfermline Athletic and Raith Rovers live on BBC Scotland, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport Online and on the BBC Sport app.
