What a buzz as Wasps superfan hits 10-year high
Ross at every game for 10 years
I couldn’t leave the dog so went to Highlands two days in a row
THE alarm clock goes off and a moment of panic sets in.
Half an hour to kick-off and it takes the same time to get to the ground. It’s an Alloa game at Recreation Park. Most folk would hit the snooze button and hope the team get a result. But most folk are not Ross McLauchlan.
The 26-year-old finance worker from Tillicoultry wouldn’t have managed to now be on the verge of a decade without missing a game if he’d pulled up the duvet.
McLauchlan is set to make it 10 years with a 100 per cent attendance record when the Wasps face Ayr on Sunday.
Home and away, Scottish, League and Challenge Cup ties, even friendlies, he has not missed one since April 2008.
It has been close though as he said: “I did nearly miss one a few years ago.
“I’d been on a work night out, had a bY MicHael gaNNoN
few drinks, woke up with a sore head and went back to sleep. I woke up again and checked my phone – it was half two.
“It’s a 30-minute drive to the Rec from my house but I hadn’t passed my driving test back then and even if I had I was in no fit state to drive.
“I called a taxi and threw myself in the shower. Somehow I managed to make it for five to three. Funny enough I stopped drinking not long afterwards.”
Back-to-back promotions under Paul Hartley and a sensational 3-2 Challenge Cup win over Rangers feature among many highs in a decade of dedication.
There have also been a few lows – from relegation to League One and play-off heartache – in more than 450 matches.
He said: “I tend to plan ahead and make sure there’s no clash but I’ve had to miss family events a few times. My mum June wasn’t too chuffed when I said I couldn’t go to a cousin’s wedding.
“I also went to buy tickets for Paloma Faith at the Hydro to take my mum for Mother’s Day but realised in the nick of time there was a rearranged game with Arbroath on the same night.
“Mother’s Day had to take a back seat but I managed to get her tickets for the show in Edinburgh so that got me off the hook.”
McLauchlan’s gone all the way to Bala Town in Wales for the Challenge Cup and even made two 400-mile round trips in 48 hours – during pre-season.
He said: “Alloa had a mini tour of the Highlands a few years back. I couldn’t leave the dog alone overnight so went up and back two days in a row in my little 2006 Ford Ka.
“My pals think I’m daft. Most of them are Old Firm fans but I’m not a glory hunter. I didn’t set out to go to every game, it has just worked out that way. I had a pal who didn’t miss a game in eight years and I wanted to top his record. After that it was to get to 10.”
He’ll reach it this weekend but the streak may be coming to an end soon.
He said: “I told my girlfriend Dee I’d be willing to miss a game once I got 10 years under my belt. One of her relatives is getting married in August during the Betfred Cup group stage and she says if I don’t go I’ll be back living at my mum’s!”
ROSS McLAUCHLAN