Kintyre’s football stars

GEORGE McEachran, the latest football star to claim a Kintyre connection, joins a long line.

He was preceded by his brother Josh who also played at Chelsea and is continuing his career at Brentford.

The pages of Campbeltown Pupils’ chairman Alex McKinven’s definitive history, Kit and Caboodle, still available from some booksellers, has many other examples of footballing heroes past and present.

These include Neil McBain (Ayr United, Manchester United, Everton, Liverpool and Scotland) and Peter Pursell (Queens Park, Rangers, Port Vale and Scotland).

In more recent times, Tommy Kelly has become a living legend. His famous line to Brian Clough at Hartlepool, after scoring a brace in a pre-season friendly, was reported as: ‘Two-goal Kelly says it is professional or nothing.’ It turned out to be nothing.

Johnny Moscardini’s is a most unlikely story. He was capped for Italy and scored seven times in nine appearances. Later he worked for his uncle Leo Grumoli and turned out for the Pupils over two seasons.