IN IT FOR KICKS
He may be within touching distance of his pension, but Bankies legend McCabe has no intention of hanging his boots up yet
THE weekly five-asides brought a sweat and a victory. Sponsorship for the 50-mile walk for charity is going well. It’s matchday tomorrow. He’s looking forward to a tough 90 minutes.
It is thus pointless to ask him about his love for the game. At 65, Gerry McCabe is still a player and one who believes he has a future in the game to complement his busy present and his illustrious past.
He is a midfielder still. ‘I’ll be looking for that No 10 shirt,’ he says of playing for Dukla Pumpherston, the charity side, against Largs Thistle tomorrow.
He awaits his debut in the queue for the national pension next year but he is still the boy from Eddlewood who played on the streets, who controlled balls flying from garage and curb, who dodged tackles and made passes up on the Ponderosa.
‘Aye that was the name of the big pitch,’ he says. ‘I didn’t know how it got its name, maybe because it resembled the plains of the Westerns in its dips and rises.’
McCabe went on to have an excellent career as a pro. It spanned 20 years. ‘When Bobby Williamson asked me to become his assistant at Kilmarnock I told him I would think about it because I had just signed for Shettleston,’ he says. ‘Bobby said: “Behave yourself. You are 40 come down and give me a hand”.’
McCabe, of course, did just that and his coaching career took him to Hibernian, Plymouth Argyle, Dumbarton, Dunfermline, Queen of the South and Dundee.
He is remembered most, particularly at Clydebank, as a player of touch, guile and elan.
‘I hope they win,’ he says of the Bankies match against Annan in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup today. ‘They’re a smashing club with a great support. They didn’t deserve what happened to them.’
He is referring, of course, to the events of 2002 that saw the club go out of business.
McCabe was there in the Steedman years: the time of hope, Kilbowie in its pomp and great players flitting up the Clyde to bigger paydays. McCabe arrived from Clyde in 1980 long after Davie Cooper was sold to Rangers but he was part of a team that constitutes a Bankies Hall of Fame. He played with Jim Fallon and Jim Gallacher. He saw Tommy Coyne and Bobby Williamson come and go. ‘I look back and maybe I stayed on too long,’ he says. It was different then with clubs holding registrations. A contract simply could not run down to the extent of a player walking away. ‘Clydebank was a selling club. We all knew that. Jack (Steedman) was a selling owner, too,’ he says. ‘That was the model. You recruited wisely and sold well.’ The legend is that Steedman walked on to a Clyde training pitch and gave Craig Brown a £50,000 cheque to pass on to the club in payment for McCabe. He held tightly to his recruit. ‘I started a wee bit slowly but then played well,’ says McCabe. He was a regular Player of the Year for the club and was voted best player in what would now be called the championship.. Why was he not sold on? ‘I knew there was interest in me,’ he says. ‘Motherwell wanted me to replace Gary (McAllister). I knew Jim McLean at Dundee United was making inquiries.’
Hibernian and Celtic were also following developments. But McCabe stayed on from 1980 to 1986 before going on to Hamilton Academical and a career in Canada and Ireland.
‘Jack said he would build a team around me but very good players were sold,’ adds McCabe. ‘Clubs shied away from taking Jack to a transfer tribunal. They knew he was sharp, had contacts and the price could be set at the high end.
He is philosophical about it all, saying: ‘I played with real good players and against good sides. We did well against Celtic and Rangers and I like to think I played a part in that. Kilbowie was an astonishing place. The fans were right behind you. I maybe should have got a move but I am not complaining.’
He adds: ‘There is something about the club that never leaves you. I have great memories there.’ Greatest game? ‘Strangely on this weekend, I would have to say that when I was in the team we never did ourselves justice in the cup. So I hope they go on and continue their run.
‘But I had a smashing match against Hearts once. I remember that. At a dinner, months after, Wallace Mercer (Hearts owner) came up to me and was very complimentary.’
There were reports that Hearts would make an offer but it was the Bankies for McCabe. It suited his father.
THERE was a social club at Kilbowie in the 1980s. ‘My dad, Patrick, loved it,’ says McCabe.
Brown would be great in any dressing room. But you had to make sure he didn’t eat chocolate or drink cola. He was hyper enough
His mother was regularly surprised when her husband came back from football carrying the suspicion that alcohol had been taken.
‘My dad would sit in the club with Jim Fallon’s dad and play dominoes,’ says McCabe.
His father, though, was the most loyal of supporters. ‘I kid on about the social club but he would come anywhere to watch me,’ says McCabe. ‘When I was playing for Polkemmet juniors, he would leave the house at 8am and walk to the games. He was always there when I played at school. He loved football.’
This passion has been passed on to his son. It has never deserted him but is piqued when he watches some of his former charges play.
‘Look at Broony,’ he says of Scott Brown, who played a leading role in Aberdeen’s draw against Rangers this week. ‘That enthusiasm and performance is still there.’
He worked with the former Scotland captain at Hibernian when Williamson was the manager. ‘There is a misconception that Tony Mowbray made that group of players,’ he says, referring to such as Brown, Kevin Thomson, Steven Whittaker, Derek Riordan and Garry O’Connor. ‘It was Bobby who gave them their chance.’
Part of this early advancement was circumstantial as Hibs were selling players who were high earners. But Williamson, too, had faith in the youngsters.
‘Bobby was told Broony was not ready for first-team football. He replied that Scott would be a major player for the club,’ adds McCabe. ‘Ready or not, they were coming in and Bobby never really gets the credit for that.’
The team was criticised for losing the 2004 League Cup final to Livingston but McCabe says: ‘Somehow we were favourites but we were playing a good, experienced side with Stuart Lovell, Jamie McAllister, Burton O’Brien and David Fernandez in the side.
‘We beat Celtic and Rangers on the way to the final, so we were a good team but maybe just beaten by experience on the day.’
Brown was always conspicuous, though. ‘He would be great in any dressing room, says McCabe. ‘There was one thing you had to do with him: make sure he didn’t eat chocolate or drink cola. He was hyper enough. He was one of those guys with limitless energy.’
He had attitude, too: ‘I remember him playing against Celtic and squaring up to Bobo (Balde). That is just the way he is. On the park, you knew what you were going to get. We played him at right wingback, right wing and in midfield. You could tell him to play in goals and he would jump in with all his might. He was a much player better than he was given credit for.’
The chat of Brown and his dad reinforces McCabe’s determination to return to the game.
‘I had a wee spell at Brechin recently and we did our best,’ reveals McCabe. ‘It gives you the taste. I love the training ground. I have worked with young managers in Macca (Jim McIntyre) and Paul (Hartley) at Dunfermline and Dundee and enjoyed that, too.’
‘I’ve always enjoyed trying to bring on young players. You can’t make a player but you can help them. You can give them a foundation so they can take their opportunities when they come up.’
Just after his playing career ended, he worked at Celtic under Willie McStay looking to develop talent. That ambition remains.
‘I would like to go to a club that had a worthwhile purpose,’ says McCabe. ‘That is, a club that had a plan to grow. You have to try to do something with a club, not just survive, not just stick in a rut.
‘You want to improve players. That’s the next best thing to playing. That’s satisfaction.’
He waits for that call. Meanwhile, the boots will be on tomorrow. There is a game to be played.