Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Gartcairn new stand tribute for late coach
Gartcairn have named their brand new main stand after much-loved former academy coach Gordon Wilson, who sadly passed away.
The West of Scotland side unveiled their new stand with Wilson’s name emblazoned on it during an opening ceremony last night.
Wilson coached at Gartcairn for over 10 years and it’s a sign of the regard that he was held in that the stand will be named after him in a classy gesture. Former Gartcairn chairman Robert Mccallum was a close friend of Wilson’s and he hopes the stand will be a fitting legacy for all the youth coach’s brilliant work. “We are officially opening the main stand and the other home stand,” Mccallum said. “The most important thing is the main stand because we are naming it after Gordon Wilson, who sadly passed away a few months ago with cancer.
“He was one of our coaches so his wife will be cutting the ribbon. “We will have the big hitter councillors there and also some important local sporting people who helped make it all happen. “Gordon coached our 2004 age group and he started off in 2010 because the academy started in 2007. “His son was in the team and he progressed with them. He was a huge part of everything at Gartcairn and he was in charge until he effectively couldn’t function anymore.
“He had a very rare form of cancer, which was incurable, but he kept coaching until he was hospitalised.
“He was loved around the place and he was a very good friend of mine.
“He was always the treasurer of the whole academy which is a difficult job.”
Gartcairn are embarking on a host of improvements to their ground in order to meet strict criteria to help them progress through the Scottish football system.
Mccallum revealed that it’s the start of a process to significantly improve MTC Park for the benefit of their mens and women’s teams.
He added: “We’ve just installed three stands to bring us up to 199 covered capacity which is required to get in SWPL1 in the women’s game.
“It also helps us on the male side to get our full SFA licence but we still have a turnstile and a kitchen area to install but that will be next year.”