CLIMBING THE PYRAMID
Old faces renew derby rivalries as two giants of the Juniors play for higher stakes with progression to SPFL no longer just a pipe dream
IT is one of the oldest Glasgow derbies, featuring two of the great names of what once were called the Juniors. The stakes have suddenly risen, though, in the age of the Scottish pyramid. The West of Scotland Premier League offers a chance to move upwards.
Pollok, with their recently acquired SFA licence, may just afford the odd glance at that enticing prospect. Petershill, venerable in history but just promoted, want to move away from the trapdoor that signals banishment from a division that includes the big hitters of Auchinleck Talbot, Darvel and others.
It was a day for the old boys and the young recruits. The gap, in football terms, was marked by one of the former.
Steven Docherty, at 22, may not at first glance fit the category of old boy, but he left Petershill during the summer and returned with Pollok to score the opening goal for his new side.
One Peasy official remarked without any bitterness: ‘One must assume he left for more money. That is just the way it is.’
It is probably the way it has always
It’s a challenge. This is not a part-time job. My phone never stops. You do it because you love it
been. The past is heavily represented on the touchline and on the pitch, but there are clues to the future, too
Willie Kinniburgh has taken charge at Petershill. A policeman with a young child, he accepts the demands of what may just be a season of Premier survival.
‘It’s a massive challenge,’ he admits. ‘This is not a part-time job. My phone never stops. You do it because you love it. It’s as close as you can get to being back on the pitch. You learn every week.’
Two of his lieutenants, John McGowan and Scott Mills, set up pre-match drills and reflect on why they spend much of their time perfecting the arts of imperfect footballers.
McGowan, 32, had his career curtailed by injury but finds employment in football. He works for the Partick Thistle Community Trust and has been welded to Mills over eight seasons. Both share an appreciation of what their job entails.
‘It is wonderful to see a player progress,’ he says. Mills, 35, adds: ‘It is about maximising potential in an encouraging environment.’
They have watched players such as Aidan Fitzpatrick of Partick Thistle play in youth teams and then become professional footballers. ‘That is where the satisfaction is,’ says McGowan. ‘That’s why you want to be involved. It’s all about progressing and learning.’
Both young coaches agree this applies to them as much as to the players. The words, though, are subsequently lost in the roars of a big crowd as battle is anticipated when the teams take the field.
THERE is then a minute of silence. Stuart Macdonald, a former Pollok president, died recently aged just 60. He epitomised the reality of semi-professional football where clubs survive on the goodwill and labour freely given by those whose passion does not dim with the passing of years. Pollok and Petershill are sustained by such characters. They pin up banners, count the money, clean the dressing rooms and walk just that bit more quickly on matchday.
‘I am treasurer of Stirling District football association, I am academy secretary at Harestanes amateurs, I help coach Kilsyth girls,’ says John Alexander. ‘I coach ten-pin bowling, too.’
Of course, he does. At 72, he is keen to point out that others devote more time to the club. ‘I am just part of a committee. I suppose my strength is having a grasp of rules and regulations, but others dedicate a lot to the club. A lot.’
Alexander, who now lives in Kirkintilloch, once worked at Cowlairs. There was once an industrial town nestled within the city of Glasgow. At one time, a quarter of all locomotives in the world were built in Springburn. No more.
New Petershill Park stands high on a hill, but only the remnants of heavy industry can be glimpsed from its vantage point.
‘I moved south for better prospects,’ he says. ‘I first came to Petershill matches in 1971. I am glad to be still here.’
He recalls the legends of times past when the factories spilled their workers on to the Springburn streets after a Saturday morning and many drifted, via the pub, to the old Petershill terraces. The world has changed but the core of the Juniors remains. Why does he devote so much time to the game? ‘Because I love football,’ he replies simply.
And what does his wife think of all this? ‘I don’t know. I never see her.’
The pull of football is also irresistible for Murdo MacKinnon, manager of Pollok. The job comes with an expectation that many might find onerous. Pollok carry a heavy support and an illustrious history. The ambition is to win the title and then ascend to the Lowland League. It is more than merely tricky.
‘Pressure?
It’s fitba’. Pressure is three weans, no job and the energy bill coming through the letterbox,’ says MacKinnon. ‘We are here to enjoy it. We have good players, so there is expectation and I have to shoulder it.’ Many in the league believe the pyramid system is not as ‘fluent’ as it should be, namely that the ascent to the Lowland League involves winning a very competitive division and then negotiating a play-off. ‘There are politics involved,’ admits MacKinnon. ‘But we are here today to win a traditional, tough Glasgow derby.’ Pollok accomplish that mission.
afternoon when he thought his devotion might cost him his job. The latter is referenced first.
‘I was working for Arnold Clark and the man himself passed my desk,’ says Evans, now retired. ‘Now Mr Clark could be a tough sort.
‘You don’t build that sort of empire without having a hard edge, so when he spotted my Peasy programme on my computer screen I thought I was in for it.
‘Instead, he grinned and said: “Ah, Petershill. My brother Billy played for them”.’
And so did Jim Evans, if only briefly. ‘It was 1971 and my father managed to get me a trial against Kirkintilloch Rob Roy. I played the second half on the left wing and I did not too bad. The manager, Jimmy Kiddie, said after the game. “I’ll let you know”. I am still waiting.’
His passion for the Peasy has not been affected. ‘I came here in the 1960s with my dad. Well, not precisely here. Down at the old ground,’ he says pointing down the hill.
‘We lived in the tenements where the car park is now. We would come out the close and head over on to the terraces.’
He has been a constant fan ever since. ‘I had a couple of years at high school when I followed Rangers with my mates but it’s really always been the Peasy for me.’
He is accompanied by his ‘minders’, his son, Steven, 43, and his grandson Jamie Nicoll, 20.
‘We’ve been to been matches all over Scotland,’ he says. ‘Listen, when I went with my dad, I just jumped in the car and went to the game without asking where it was. I’ve been to places I don’t know I have been to.’ He laughs but adds: ‘I have seen the good and the really bad. The best was the Junior Cup finals in the 1980s.
‘We were unlucky that we lost both in that we came up against teams in their prime with Talbot (1988) and Pollok (1985). I have watched some great players over the years. The most recent was Docherty, so it’s a bit sore that he has come back and scored against us.’
His grandson has a link to the returning hero and villain. ‘I was at the same school as him but I’ll always remember him for my greatest Peasy moment when we beat Largs in the quarters of the Scottish last season.’
He loves the Juniors. ‘There is a special atmosphere in these grounds. It’s pure. Nobody dives, everybody tries.’
Long before kick-off, a solitary figure in the stand articulates the pull of the national sport. Bert Kelly came along to watch his son-in-law who it transpires will not be playing.
He shrugs. ‘I’ll just wait and take in the game,’ he says. ‘I am just a football man, I suppose.’
There is a special atmosphere. It’s pure... nobody dives, everybody tries