That’s a huge undertaking
Dons legend John is on his high hearse with funeral directors to keep Port Glasgow alive and kicking...
THEY may be known as the Undertakers but Port Glasgow Juniors are alive and kicking.
Aberdeen legend John McMaster has come on board as an ambassador and is helping breathe new life into the club on his doorstep.
The Gothenburg Great has been there and done it in the game, lifting six trophies as a key member of Sir Alex Ferguson’s all-conquering Dons side of the 1980s.
But what he has seen since getting involved where it all started for him as a club ambassador has blown the Greenock native away.
Now he’s dying to tell the whole country about Port’s good work.
McMaster told Record Sport: “I’m proud of them but I told them they had to sell and promote themselves – and they are now.
“Their nickname is the Undertakers and my mate Raymond Shaw went up to the local funeral directors in Port Glasgow and said ‘Look, we’re the Undertakers, why are you not sponsoring us?’
“They sponsored them right away!”
“I said I’d go up and see the committee and see what was happening. I knew some of them anyway and I always looked for the Greenock and the Port Juniors results when I was at Aberdeen.
“I still do because they’re just on the doorstep. I asked what they wanted me to do that was ambassadorial and it was just come up, see the fans and get a blether with the players.
“But I asked, ‘What have you got here?’ and what they have is 400 kids a week and 68 coaches coming into the club from Monday to Friday. That blew me away.
“It’s unreal. They’re in the third tier of the West of Scotland League but are going in the right direction.
“They want to see if they can buy where I used to train with the Port Rovers, where I got scouted, at Parklee.
“The council own it but the costs of maintenance, etc, they’re asking if Port Glasgow want to buy it if they can get some funding and grants.
“I’m into this but I’m more into getting through to the kids and the coaches.
“Some of the coaches will be mums and dads, others just guys who have come through the ranks and they all do it for nothing, which is brilliant.”
Cost is a big barrier to kids playing football all over the country but Port Glasgow are determined not to price anyone out of playing the game
McMaster said: “They want to keep it cost friendly and try to be sustainable because they don’t want to lose kids.
“If there’s three kids from a family all playing at different levels they’ll only charge for one of them.
“No academy in Scotland has 400 kids coming through. It’s fantastic”.
So much so, McMaster can’t wait to tell his old gaffer all about it.
He added: “I’m going to phone the boss (Sir Alex Ferguson) and let him know, because he loves stuff like that. He supports the Govan thing, Harmony Row and that. He’ll love it.”