Goal-den anniversary
Glenvale’s 50th celebrations rounded off with double victory
Glenvale Football Club kickedoff their 50th anniversary celebrations with an actionpacked day at the Paisley 2021 Stadium.
Glenvale welcomed Linwood Rangers to the ground for an invitational match-up, with the hosts coming out 2-1 on top thanks to goals from Brian Connor and Declan Curran. The winners were presented with a trophy sponsored by Next Retail.
And, at under 19s, Glenvale managed to beat Eastwood 4-0 in the JW Grantsponsored Anniversary Cup.
Club president Danny McKim hailed everyone who help make the event such a success.
He said: “Massive thanks to Tony Fitzpatrick and Alan Wardrop for making St Mirren Park available for us to start our 50th anniversary in style.
“To play these games at such a fantastic venue was a great experience for all the players involved.
“Also thanks to Next Retail and JW Grant for sponsoring both cups and medals for everyone involved in this special occasion.
“St Mirren players Billy O’Brien, Stelios and Cammy Smith made the presentation after the games and special mention must also go to St Mirren chairman Gordon Scott.
“After the event, Gordon said a few words congratulating Glenvale on reaching such a milestone. He also mentioned that in his amateur days he was actually a Glenvale player for 10 seasons.”
The club came together to celebrate the landmark, recognising their roots after being named after the Standards Carpet Company warehouse in Caledonia Street.
Originally an amateur club, Glenvale started in the Paisley and District Mature League.
And, in the early 1970s, the club started a second string which went from Division Five into Division Two within three seasons.
In 1974, the club entered the West of Scotland Amateur League.
Also competing in the Greater Glasgow League, the club won Division One in 1975 to achieve promotion to the Premier Division.
In 1975, the club was led by a committee of Danny Jamieson, Donny Miller, Bill Lockhart and Tommy Courts.
After a huge effort from all committee and players, the club was able to purchase its own social club in Sandholes Street, which is still there to this day.
In 2006, they decided to rebuild and add a youth section.
Led by a committee originally made up of Danny McKim, Bill Lockhart, Joe Houston, Brian Park, Jamie McKim, Chris Cochrane, Tom Hastings, David Borland, Martin Byrne, John Allan and Roddie Newbigging, the club now has 15 teams at different age groups.
McKim revealed Glenvale now have over 300 players from kids born in 2013 up to amateur level, while reserving special praise for Bill Lockhart.
He said: “When I joined the club, we started up an academy for young kids and based ourselves at the Pits in Blackhall Street.
“Thanks to the hard work of our coaches and players, we soon began building teams to compete at the highest level in youth football.
“As soon as Bill came back on board, we really began to establish our club in the local area.
“We can have all the talented kids and experienced coaches, but, for me, Bill is the guy who brings all the club together with the incredible work he does off the field.”