With the Premiership in hibernation, Sportsmail visits Pollok’s Newlandsfield Park to shine a light on the thriving underbelly of the Juniors scene Local heroes are spurred on by pride, history and a passion that won’t die
THE frequency of the handshakes does not affect Franny McNeill’s ability to put a name to every face. Even on days such as these, Pollok’s secretary/maitre d’ doesn’t miss a beat. The welcome he extends to all inside the foyer of Newlandsfield Park is so warm you have to remind yourself of the serious business of the day.
Auchinleck Talbot, winners of the past four West of Scotland Super League titles, are due in town with McNeill’s club set to go above the Ayrshire giants should they win.
With no top-flight senior football being played, a larger than normal crowd is anticipated and, as kick-off approaches, McNeill settles for greeting the odd unfamiliar face with a nod and a smile.
There is a convivial but excited air about the place known locally as the Camp New. Upstairs in the members’ room, 93-year-old John ‘Tiger’ Shaw, a long-standing committee man, chews the fat with his Talbot counterparts while a pre-match dram calms his nerves.
McNeill points to the black-andwhite stock that’s bound for the club shop. The till should keep ringing all afternoon.
It seems every interior wall delivers a history lesson. The team of 1911 who played out of Haggs Park in the Pollok Estate. The great Bobby Collins had a spell here, as did Robert Prytz and Dougie Arnott.
McNeill pauses beneath a picture of the late Norrie Fulton, father of Steve and grandfather of Jay, clipping the ball into the Arthurlie net at Hampden in 1981 to win the first of three Scottish Junior Cups. A fanzine called Fulton One-Nil was born that day.
For men like McNeill, who played here in 1970, Pollok is their raison d’etre. ‘I’ve been in it 47 years and have met so many great people all over the country,’ he said, as waves of liniment begin to sting the eyes. ‘They all know who we are — the Lok.’
This sense of identity and pride permeates over 160 Junior clubs throughout the land.
Few could boast the gate of 1,012 at Pollok’s game on Saturday but, even among those whose crowds still regularly dwarf teams in League Two, there remains little appetite to join the bottom of the senior pyramid.
‘When I was growing up, there were 7,800 people in Auchinleck and it’s got nowhere near that now,’ said Talbot physio Michael McGinn.
‘The closure of the pits means fans don’t have the money to even enjoy Junior football. Were we to go into the lower divisions of the seniors, it would become even more expensive. I think we’re better off where we are.’
There’s always been something rather curious about the Juniors. For a start, the name is a complete misnomer. Players of all ages participate.
And then there’s that parallel universe they inhabit — the one that only recently came into contact with the senior game when the SFA permitted three Junior sides to enter the early rounds of the Scottish Cup. There surely can’t be an equivalent anywhere else in the world.
Yet to consider the emotional investment of fans as in some way inferior to those who follow the senior game would be a gross misjudgment.
‘It means as much if not more,’ insisted McGinn. ‘The bragging rights between Cumnock and Auchinleck mean everything.’
Ah yes. Cumnock versus Auchinleck. The derby game to beat them all. Willie Young, the referee turned after-dinner speaker, claims to have officiated one in his early days in which the man of the match had to be identified by his dental records. Is it still as fearsome?
‘Nothing like it,’ said George Palmer, an Auchinleck diehard. ‘Without being disrespectful to Cumnock, they are not our biggest rivals now. They’ve fallen away while we’ve kicked on.
‘Listen, they used to be nuts. We’d a boy in the 80s called Willie Russell from Ruchazie in Glasgow who was a psychopath.
‘During one derby, a Cumnock player got sent off for a shocking tackle. Willie also got sent off in the melee. The Cumnock boy was walking towards the club house when he saw Willie running up behind him, so he decided to sprint to get away from him. I’m sure he’d have done him. It was hilarious.’
Historically, Junior football’s rather robust reputation preceded it. Men were said to have left to join the bomb disposal unit as there was less risk of personal injury.
Yet as Pollok and Auchinleck lock horns, there is no such menace in the air. Six yellow cards are produced over the piece yet the game simmers rather than boils.
It’s actually very decent fare, played at a blistering pace. Pep Guardiola may have thought he copyrighted the high press but he’s clearly never been to Newlandsfield in January.
Spread over four terraces, the crowd is passionate and witty. Each fan has parted with the princely sum of £6 for the privilege. Pets, and there are some in tow, are assumed to be free.
David Dickinson, the unfortunately named referee, is exposed to tidal waves of insults from supporters of both sides. Were it possible, his perma-tanned bargain-hunting namesake would blush were he present.
Amid the vitriol, one lady punts raffle tickets at £1 a strip. A litre of whisky awaits the winner.
For those of us normally
immersed in the senior game, the informality is captivating. A Talbot sub takes a breather from doing his stretches to wish a familiar face in the crowd a Happy New Year.
WAfTs of rolled tobacco mix with the assorted aromas from the pie stall. Homemade soup at £1-a-pop sees a queue snake along the shed long before the whistle sounds the end of a goalless first half.
It’s the cue for a scatter of children to vault the small perimeter wall and initiate a kick-about. Robbie Winters, the ex-Aberdeen and Dundee United striker now with Pollok, welcomes the friendly invasion before darting to the pavilion.
‘It’s something we really encourage,’ said Pollok president Iain Mcfarlane. ‘The manager makes a big play on the importance of players forming a relationship with the support.
‘Often when you watch a game of football, you know what players are capable of technically but you don’t know the characters on the park.’
It’s a recurring theme. festooned in Talbot colours, Palmer confesses to having a soft spot for Celtic but there’s something about this football in the raw that chimes with him.
‘You’re playing for your community, so the public tend to get behind you more,’ he said.
‘In Glasgow, you have Rangers, Celtic, Partick Thistle to compete with. In Auchinleck, you have Talbot and nothing else. If Talbot wasn’t there, Auchinleck wouldn’t be there.’
Among the 200 visiting fans, the name of Willie Knox is revered. Between 1976 and 1993 he won 43 trophies including three straight scottish Cups, taking the club from nowhere to a position of pre-eminence. some say he was the equal of Bill shankly, Jock stein and Matt Busby yet he had no interest in pursuing a career in the senior game.
‘Before Willie, some of the results were unbelievable,’ recalled former player McGinn. ‘I remember losing 13-0 against Royal Albert and 17-0 on aggregate to Cumnock.
‘His tactics were to claim for everything, surround the referee the minute you were touched and get right into them. He was a great man manager who brought the right players — runners.’
Ex-stranraer striker Tommy sloan, who has been in charge since 2003, and his sidekick Allan McLuckie, haven’t done too badly, though. On a good day, the Talbot faithful dub them the Clough and Taylor of the juniors.
‘I’d prefer to say Laurel and Hardy,’ quipped McGinn. ‘Tommy enjoys everything about it.
‘When we won the scottish Cup in 2015, we came home and he was on the park with all the weans, pushing them out the way and still wanting to head the ball into the net. That’s Tommy sloan.’
By time up, few of the visitors are in the mood for such compliments. Goals from David Winters (Robbie’s brother) and Liam Rowan see the points deservedly stay in Glasgow.
WE make our way to the traditional post-match function where the spirit of the Junior game is being celebrated more than any one-off result.
‘This is really important for us,’ said Lok president Mcfarlane amid myriad handshakes from Talbot stalwarts. ‘It’s always been welcoming here. There’s no airs and graces.
‘There are hundreds of games of football on the telly each week, so we need to make it a place people want to come to and an atmosphere they want to be part of.’
In an ever-changing world, the need for modernity and relevance is apparent. In that regard, a close affiliation with the 450-member Pollok United soccer Academy will serve them well.
But it would also be folly for the Junior game to overlook the qualities which have sustained it for the best part of 140 years; a sense of community, a rich history and undying passion are surely worth striving for.