CUP KINGS REFUSE TO BE TOPPLED
Talbot turn the tables on Darvel to set up an Ayrshire Superclasico
IT looks down on the assembled mass. It presides over an atmosphere of bonhomie, expectation and heat that causes one’s glasses to steam over.
This is Auchinleck. This is the room where fans gather pre-match. This is where the third round of the Scottish Junior Cup holds a significance that can only be fully appreciated through an upbringing in an Ayrshire village, a Fife outpost or in Glasgow corners where tenements thrived and men found solace in the Junior game.
The Scottish Cup in the bar of the club is surrounded by other booty from Auchinleck campaigns. But it is the one. Talbot have held it 14 times.
The club is far ahead of any other in this regard. Parkhead, Cambuslang and Petershill are next up on five. There are guys walking about the club who have won it five times.
One of them is Kenny Paterson. He is introduced by his brother, Brian, as Mr Talbot. Kenny shakes his head and smiles. There is no Mr Talbot. There is, though, an army of committee men and women and volunteers who run the club.
Brian Paterson is such a man. A building contractor, he put up the fine extension to the club during the Covid period.
‘I’m from Annbank and when my brother started playing I came along. I am at every home and away game,’ he says. Kenny’s spell with the club started 40 years ago as a 19-year-old. Brian’s immersion has been complete.
‘You look around this village and everyone from boys and girls to pensioners wears the Talbot colours,’ he says. ‘This all gives me great enjoyment,’ he adds, surveying the packed bar. ‘My greatest memory? The first one.’
He is referring to Talbot defeating Pollok 3-2 in 1986. It was the first of three consecutive Scottish Cup triumphs. Talbot had won the cup in 1949 but 1986 was the harbinger of two distinct periods of dominance, one under Willie Knox and the other under Tommy Sloan.
‘I have the five,’ says Kenny Paterson, in the style of admission rather than boast. He is referring to his winners’ medals from what is known locally as ‘the Scottish’. Paterson is one of those local legends who talks of being lucky, who speaks of gratitude.
His duties on this Scottish Cup day are to help organise the sponsors’ lounge so guests are seated comfortably and provided with drink, food and a glimpse at a glorious past.
He agrees with his brother over the greatest memory. ‘Aye, Pollok. Two-nil down and then a comeback. It was the catalyst to go on to three on the trot. That was unheard of, it was thought impossible. But we did it again last year.’
His journey to Auchinleck was routed through Wolverhampton. ‘I went down there for a trial but it didn’t work out. I came back to Annbank and didn’t play for a year.
‘But I got lucky, A wee local fella started up the amateurs in Annbank and I scored a lot of goals playing against naebody really.
‘He worked beside Willie Knox (legendary Talbot manager) so I played a couple of trial games here and I scored in them.
‘Just a bit of luck, I suppose. I was here and then with Ally MacLeod at Airdrie. I got injured and got the chance to come back here which is what I always wanted. It was November 1985, perfect timing.’
He enjoys his Saturday at the club. ‘I host some hospitality but not in an official capacity. Here is my official capacity: I am a supporter of the club.’
Ross Findlay, another five-time winner, sits by his side. ‘I was here for 14 years,’ he says.
His other clubs included Annbank, Darvel, Whitletts and Petershill. His heroic status is unquestioned in Talbot. People stop to have conversations, exchange jokes.
‘The people here commit to the club and don’t take a penny for it,’ he says.
‘I have plenty of time for these guys. I have known them or their families for years. They go on about football in the community. This is it. And it was like that 40 years ago.’
He agrees that Pollok was a special moment but adds: ‘The last one for me was a great day. We beat Glenafton 4-0. We were all supposed to be too old. We were written off.’
THE role of underdogs is set to be reprised. Darvel arrive as strong favourites. Talbot have already lost to their Ayrshire opponents 3-0 this season.
There are mutterings over pints about Darvel’s rise, fuelled by money and echoing to tales of
transfer fees and wages that would entice Erling Haaland.
But most in the bar are simply wedded to Talbot through matters of birth. Consistent glory has been welcomed but is not mandatory.
Dougie Harkness, 73, says: ‘I was born and bred in the village. I now live in Falkirk and it takes me five buses to get here on a Saturday. I was at the bus stop at 6.30 this morning. It’s bred in me.
‘My dad used to be on the committee, run the lines. My mum washed the strips and worked in the pie hut. I was brought up with this club. I trained with them but I picked up a bad injury and never played football again.’
There is a heartfelt statement spoken softly. ‘I would have loved it… playing for Talbot. But I have been at all the cup final wins. Except 1949, but that was the year I was born.’
James Glasgow acquired his affection more recently. Five years ago, his grandson, Jamie, joined Talbot. He signed for Darvel four weeks ago.
‘I am getting a bit of stick about him,’ he says, nodding towards his pals. His journey from Cumbernauld has entailed just three buses.
‘I was brought up as an Ashfield fan and I believe Junior football is what it’s all about. I know it’s called semi-pro now but it still has the same values.
‘This is a big, big game. It’s blood and thunder. lt’s fitba’.’
Ian McIlwain, 76, nods in agreement. ‘I have been coming here since I was four. I am now at every home game. I worked all over the world... Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, London. I had a good life and came back to the area 20 years ago. We had a simple plan. We went away to earn our money and we came back to enjoy it.’
Another returning son is Jim New. ‘First game? Shawfield under the lights, 1947. I can’t remember who we were playing. I was six...
‘I was away for 50 years working. I was an engineer with British Aerospace. I lived just across the road there as a boy and I came back to the village to retire.’
His allegiance cannot quite be summed up in words. He beats his heart fiercely with the palm of his hand when asked what the club means to him. He then adds: ‘This is my family. Talbot is the village. The village is Talbot.’
This sentiment is later articulated in roars. Hundreds of Talbot fans celebrate a thrilling victory over the moneyed boys from down the road.
Tommy Sloan, winner of a Scottish Junior Cup as a player and eight as Talbot manager, emerges from a dressing room that reverberates with joy to reflect on another famous victory.
One would only extract details of his personal historic triumphs with the aid of water and a board. He, too, ascribes to the doctrine of humility. But a pride in the players and the club can be detected as he fields questions.
‘The Scottish Junior Cup is the pinnacle, it always will be,’ he says, knocking the pyramid into a square hat. ‘This was a heavy shift. It panned out well for us.’
It did, indeed. In the next round, Auchinleck travel to Cumnock. It is a tie so tasty it deserves a Michelin star. Old rivalries will be renewed in the most venerable of cups. The Ayrshire superclasico awaits. Villages tremble in anticipation.