Race is on for licences
“I didn’t know Max Lowe before I went there but he spent 10 months getting treatment alongside me so we became best pals before he spent a year on loan at Pittodrie.
“Nobody could get to the bottom of the groin issue but it eventually disappeared as mysteriously as it had arrived and I was sent on loan to Saints.
“We managed to stay up by beating Dundee United in the play-off final but I never got the chance to play under Frank Lampard at Derby because he left for Chelsea that summer.”
New boss Philip Cocu decided to let McAllister go and he returned to Paisley.
However, his injury woes weren’t behind him and he missed 20 of his side’s 38 matches last season.
He said: “This time it was my back. I struggled for most of the year with it, taking injections which didn’t really help. Then we got a new physio, who noticed that my back wasn’t moving when the rest of me was. That was putting pressure on the rest of my body, especially my hamstrings and my groin.
“Now it’s been fixed but those two years were brutal, especially as I was originally told I’d only be out for three months.
“I hated every second of it and felt as though I was always playing catch up.
“However, someone pointed out to me I was in Saints’ first team at 16 and, if it hadn’t been for those injuries, I’d be flying.
“The important thing now, however, is that I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in.
“I feel great but I also feel that I still have a point to prove and I’m looking forward to doing that.” McAllister says he and his team- mates are absolutely smashing it at training as they revel in getting back to what they do best. And he reckons that will be the same at every training ground in the SPFL.
Players are approaching each session with the enthus ia sm of schoolk ids and McAllister believes that, when fans are allowed back inside grounds, they’re in for a treat.
He said: “When we reported back at first it was mainly just running but then we got involved with drills and this week we were finally able to have full contact training for the first time.
“The fun part – playing games
– is back. After having been off for such a long time everyone was even enjoying the running, though. Of course, during the lockdown we had a l l been g iven schedules to follow by the club so it’s possible we’ve become even fitter than before by not playing.
“Ever yone is looking shar p, though, and this s i x- week pre - season training regime will be the longest we’ve ever had. I thought that some of the football we played thi s year was brilliant and once we start playing again, this will probably be the best you’ll ever see from most teams.
“We’ve all had so long to prepare for the new season and everyone has been able to spend that time working on whatever their game plan is going to be so 2020/21 should be great.
“Every player has missed playing games and no one has any excuses for not being at their best once we get going.”
The legal row between Hearts, Partick and the SPFL dragged on through the courts last week as both clubs continue to claim the league had no right to relegate them but McAllister thinks they should just let it go.
He said: “People say it was unfair on Hearts but their results had been poor.
“It could have been us at the bottom if they’d beaten us in the last game before the shutdown but we won 1- 0 and we were miles better than them.
“Of course, nobody knew at the time how big that game was but the fact is we deserved to beat them.”
Several West of Scotland Football League clubs have used their new pyramid status to begin the SFA club licensing process.
Cumnock and Petershill signalled their intentions some time ago and already have their appl ications pending at Hampden.
Now WoSFL big-hitters such as Auchinleck Talbot, Kilwinning Rangers and Irvine Meadow are aiming to upgrade their facilities to meet the requirements of the 176-page SFA document.
Clydebank di rector Stewart McIlroy has been tasked with determining the licensing requirements for his club.
He said: “Thanks to the faci l it ies suppl ied by West Dunbar tonshi re Council and the Holm Park Communi t y Footba l l Academy, we are quite close to compliance.
“We have had help with the required documentation from other clubs who have already gone through the process , par t icularly Andrew Sinclair at Girvan.
“Covid-19 has held up the erection of our new covered enclosure and we are also required to build a separate disabled supporters’ enclosure.
“Other facilities we need to address are the referees’ room and first-aid area.
“We hope to be compliant by the end of this year which will allow us to formally apply for the licence by February’s deadline.”
Rutherglen Glencairn announced their intention to work towards their licence last week but club president Alex McArthur wasn’t putting any pressure on the club to meet a specific timescale.
He said: ”We have a terrific facility which has been open for 12 years now but hasn’t been used anywhere near its full potential.
“We need to develop a couple of areas of the stadium but already having f loodl ights is a terri f ic advantage for us.
“Most of the work is in the policy documentation and certi f ication of certain people. Work is already underway in that respect.”