New Director - Jimmy Calderwood

Cowdenbeath chairman Donald Findlay is delighted to announce the addition of Jimmy Calderwood to the Board of Directors of Cowdenbeath FC. The Chairman said, ‘Jimmy brings a real wealth of football knowledge and experience to Central Park. He knows the game inside out and I am very pleased that we are able to augment the Board in this way as we strive to work our way back up the Leagues. I am sure all our fans will give Jimmy a very warm greeting’. 

Jimmy Calderwood was born in Govan and started his professional career with Birmingham City in 1971. He made 159 appearances for the club as a tough tackling wing half or full back playing alongside such players as Kenny Burns and Trevor Francis. He was capped by Scotland at under 23 level in 1974. In 1979, he had a short loan spell at Cambridge United before moving to the Netherlands and playing for Sparta Rotterdam, Willem II Tilburg, Roda JC and Heracles Almelo over the next decade. Several times he was asked to man mark the great Johan Cruyff before retiring in 1989.

Jimmy Calderwood then moved into the coaching arena initially with amateurs Rietvogels of Almelo. Further such roles followed with FC Zwolle and Cambuur Leeuwarden. In 1995, he returned to one of his old clubs Willem II Tilburg as assistant coach before becoming the manager of the club a year later. A further year on he was appointed manager of NEC Nijmegen.

In 1999, he came home to Scotland as manager of Dunfermline Athletic. Jimmy Nicholl became his assistant and the pair formed an enduring management partnership. He took Dunfermline to the 2004 Scottish Cup final and back into Europe for the first time in 35 years. In 2004, Willie Miller, Aberdeen’s new Director of Football, brought Jimmy Calderwood to Aberdeen to replace Steve Paterson as manager. The Dons finished consistently high in the table over the following seasons but Jimmy ultimately left the club in May 2009.

Thereafter Jimmy had short stints as boss of both Kilmarnock and Ross County where he helped both clubs to retain their SPL status before making a return to the Netherlands with Go Ahead Eagles. He was appointed manager of De Graafschap in January 2014 but soon left the club after the sale of two key players before the start of the season.

Now Jimmy begins a new chapter in his footballing story as we give him a hearty welcome to Central Park.