Southside Boys dream day out
Youths trip to Broadwood Stadium
It might be some 32 years since Clyde FC upped sticks and left Rutherglen seemingly never to return.
But one lucky group of 10 year olds found out the club’s ties to the South Lanarkshire town are still going strong.
The Clyde Southside Community 08 team had been on a great unbeaten run under their new coaching team .
However, little did they know they were in for a real treat as a reward for all their great efforts.
For the boys who play in the Scottish Youth Football Association league at Toryglen, were last month taken out to their parent club’s Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld, for a training session taken by Clyde manager Danny Lennon.
The boys could not quite believe their eyes as they were greeted on arrival by Clyde FC community foundation head coach Tom Elliot and ushered into a room in the stadium where the manager awaited.
Not only that but he launched into a 30 minute talk that was part detailed synopsis of his own professional career in football, and part motivational speech for anyone that wants to succeed in sport - or indeed in anything in life.
The talk went on to give the players a real insight into what life as a professional footballer is like, the dedication, hard work and sacrifices required to succeed.
Lennon also touched on some of the downsides and disappointments and said the hardest part of being a manager was telling players they were no longer required but stated he always made decisions with integrity and for the right reasons.
With Lennon’s inspirational mantra of the five P’s (Perfect Practice Prevents Poor Performance) still fresh in their minds, the starstruck boys were then led out on to the Clyde training pitch where Lennon himself led them in an intensive hour-long professional style session assisted by coach Elliot and the boys’ own coaching team.
Training session over, the boys were about to embark the minibus to return to Rutherglen when they were handed one final surprise. As a parting gift Lennon invited the team back to Broadwood to watch a match at the start of next season. Not only that, but the boys will be invited to take part in a half-time match in front of the home fans.
Commenting on the trip, Clyde chairman Norrie Innes said : “As a club with its roots in Glasgow and Rutherglen and a contemporary purpose of producing both better players and people, establishing a clear strong relationship with the Southside School of Football is very important to us.
“The Clyde Foundation is an integral part of what Clyde FC are all about, they are quite simply our ‘River of Good’. To see the team at the Foundation working positively with the Southside School of Football is both logical and exciting.”