The 2009 Scottish Football Hall of Fame Inductees Dinner

No football ground this time, but still a football-related post. I was invited through my work to the Scottish Football Hall of Fame dinner at the Hilton in Glasgow. This annual dinner has been held since 2004. Every year a few legends are inducted to the Hall of Fame which is located at the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden. The induction of Maurice "Mo" Johnston had already been announced in the press. Other inductees were Steve Archibald, Bertie Auld, Jimmy Delaney, Alan Gilzean, Paul Lambert, Willie Maley, and David Meiklejohn. Graeme Souness had already been inducted in 2004 when he had other commitments but he accepted the induction tonight.

I do not usually go to events like this so I took my camera with me. It was a great night!

With Graeme Souness, the former manager of Rangers (and a few other clubs!).

With former referee Hugh Dallas.

The induction of Dundee and Tottenham Hotspur legend Alan Gilzean.

The induction of Mo Johnston. Johnston was the first high-profile catholic to be signed by Rangers. Since he was also a former Celtic player it was a very controversial signing made by Graeme Souness. Johnston is currently the manager of MLS side Toronto FC.

Former St Mirren and Celtic player Paul Lambert. The current Norwich City player is also the last Scottish player who has lifted the European Cup (with Borussia Dortmund).

With Mo Johnston.

With SFA chief executive Gordon Smith, looking upbeat despite Scotland getting humped 3-0 in Wales the day before...

Galabank (Annan Athletic v Elgin City)

Today I went to Galabank in Annan to see Annan Athletic take on Elgin City in the Scottish Third Division. It is a two-hour train journey from Glasgow Central to the town near the Scottish-English border. The Galabankies only entered the Scottish Football League last season. They were admitted to the league to fill up the vacant spot that was left by the demise of Gretna FC, a club that also hailed from the region of Dumfries and Galloway.

Galabank has recently been upgraded to make it fully compliant with all SFL requirements. The Social Club is a welcoming place for a pre-match pint. Regular admission is only £9, making it the cheapest SFL club I have been to. There is only one stand, the rest are standing areas. There was no segregation in place today, in fact I did not see any Elgin fans.


The weather today was horrendous once again and I was expecting many games in Scotland to be cancelled today. It had been raining all night but I was adamant that I was going to visit a new ground today. I wanted to go to Annan but in case of a postponement I would be going to either Alloa or Dunfermline. Before getting my train tickets I had phoned the club and I was told the game was on. However it was only 11:30 and it was still raining. When I was walking from Annan station to Galabank I was sure the match was going to be cancelled but I was pleasantly surprised when I was informed it was definitely on. Miraculously the rain stopped minutes before kick-off and it stayed dry throughout the match. It turned out only one game was postponed in Scotland today (Livingston v Albion Rovers).

The game was quite entertaining with chances on both ends but no goals before half-time. The BBC website mentions David Niven as the scorer of the first goal only three minutes after the interval, however I was sure it was Neil MacDonald who had scored. MacDonald must be the most overweight player in Scottish league football by the way! Annan seemed a bit toothless, even more so after Peter Watson was dismissed for picking up a second booking 15 minutes before the end. Kyle MacAulay ensured a valuable away win for Elgin with a deflected shot in the 88th minute.

The new turnstiles seen from inside the ground with the clubhouse on the left.

The main stand before kick-off.

The very low parameter wall meant many balls ended up outside the ground. Take care driving past Galabank on match days!

The Annan dugout.

The rain stopped and we were even treated to a few rays of sunshine. It looked warmer than it actually was however.

The main stand after the game.

Saturday 14th November 2009
Scottish Football League Third Division
Annan Athletic 0 Elgin City 2
Goals: Nive 48, MacAulay 88.
Att: 416

Firhill Stadium (Partick Thistle v Dundee)

I have visited Firhill Stadium only once to see a Partick Thistle match. That was some time ago now, during the 2002/03 season. The Jags were playing Dundee and both teams played in the Scottish Premier League at the time. My friend Marco from Holland visited me for a long weekend and we went to Celtic Park the next day (Celtic beat Hibs 3-2). I cannot remember much of any of these games to be honest and I do not think I took any pictures. Our seats for this match were in the Jackie Husband Stand.

The pictures below were taken by my friend Martijn during the First Division game against Ayr United, a game I did not attend. The ground has not changed much since the time I visited it. The only difference is that the terrace at the southern end of the ground has been removed and has been replaced by a grass bank. The terrace was not in use when we visited the ground.

Turnstiles leading to the North Stand.

Ayr United supporters on the North Stand.


The Jackie Husband Stand.


The grass bank behind the goal at the southern end of the ground was an open terrace when I visited the ground almost seven years ago.


The Main Stand.

The Main Stand seen from outside.

Firhill is now also the home of the Glasgow Warriors, one of only two professional rugby union teams in Scotland. I have also visited a couple of rugby games at Firhill. The Warriors play in the Magners League. Since there are only two Scottish pro teams they always qualify for the Heineken Cup as well. Performances in both competions can be described as inconsistent at best and attendances are generally lower for Warriors games than when the Jags are playing.


Saturday 1st March 2003
Scottish Premier League
Partick Thistle 1 Dundee 3
Partick Thistle: Buchan 31.
Dundee: Milne 15, Mackay 26, Novo 78.
Att: 4,599

East End Park (Dunfermline v Dundee)

After having visited the Cowdenbeath v East Fife derby, which had kicked off at noon, I took the 14:22 train from Cowdenbeath to Dunfermline Town. After less than 10 minutes on the train I arrived at East End Park well in time for kick-off but decided against shelling out another 16 quid and just took a few snaps from outside, including a few peeks inside thanks to a couple of friendly stewards.

Of course as far as visiting the 42 Scottish Football League grounds is concerned this one does not 'count' so I will have to go back here on a later date but from what I have seen it looks like an impressive First Divsion ground.

Outside the North Stand.

Turnstiles leading to the Main Stand.

Dundee fans queueing outside the North Stand.

The East Stand housed the Dundee fans.

The Main Stand.

The Norrie McCathie Stand.

Central Park (Cowdenbeath v East Fife)

Panorama view of Central Park.

Today I went to Cowdenbeath in Fife to see the derby match against East Fife. I took the train to Haymarket (a 45-minute journey from Glasgow Queen Street) where I had to change for the train to Cowdenbeath, which took another 40 minutes. It had turned out a nice and sunny day after the previous night's pelting rain. Central Park, Cowdenbeath's grounds is very close to the station, I would say less than five minutes on foot. I walked to the ground first to take a few pictures and with about 45 minutes to spare I then strolled up the town's High Street looking for a pub.

The only entrance to the ground. There was no segregation in place.

I had a quick pint in the Old Cross Guns in which is at the top of High Street, around five minutes from the ground. It was quite a friendly place. At about 11:45 I started walking to the ground. This may sound early but the kick-off was scheduled for noon for unknown reasons. This suited me fine as it meant I would be back home nice and early.

The ground itself is quite unusual. There is a tarmac circuit around the pitch and stock car races are staged here, every Saturday night according to one ad near the ground (for more information click here). Also there are two main stands. Apparently the old stand burned down partially and a new one was erected next to what remained of the old stand. I got the feeling most Cowdenbeath fans were in the stand. I watched most of the game from the South Terrace which is quite a large terrace but most fans on it seemed to be East Fife fans. There was no segregation in place today but there was not a hint of trouble. Because of the race track you are quite far from the pitch but especially annoying is the high fence erected around the track to protect spectators at the motor sports event.

The game itself was quite entertaining but all three goals where scored in the opening 15 minutes when I was too busy taking pictures at this unusual ground. A fellow groundhopper saw me taking pictures and it turned out he was a postman from Manchester who was on strike today which gave him an opportunity to visit two grounds. Dunfermline were playing Dundee at 3pm today. Dunfermline is about five minutes on the train from Cowdenbeath and I was annoyed I has not though this myself. I decided to go to Dunfermline after the game anyway to take a few pictures of East End Park on match day however I had not budgeted for the £16 to get in so I decided not to visit the game but took the train back to Glasgow at 3:30pm.

Before the game I had a quick pint in the charming Old Cross Guns Inn.

First class facilities at Central Park.

The South Terrace.

The East Terrace.

John Robertson scores what turned out to be the winning goal for Cowdenbeath.

The Main Stands. Note the German flag hanging upside down.

Again the South Terrace.

The fence around the pitch obstructed views.

The Main Stands seen from the West Terrace.

Saturday 31st October 2009
Scottish Football League Second Division
Cowdenbeath 2 East Fife 1
Cowdenbeath: Fairbairn 2, Robertson 14.
East Fife: Crawford 12.
Att: 733

Forthbank Stadium (Stirling Albion v Clyde)

Today I took the bus from Glasgow to the city of Stirling to pay my first visit to Forthbank Stadium, the ground of Stirling Albion FC. Just like two weeks ago when I went to Fort William I made use of the Sunday Mail offer (return to anywhere in Scotland for a fiver) but the train costs only a fraction more. The bus station is adjacent to the railway station and it takes about 20 minutes to walk to the stadium (using the newly built pedestrian bridge over the railway tracks). Stirling is a great place to visit of course but the weather was horrendous today. Torrential rain made me worried that this game would be postponed again however it turned out it went ahead as planned.

I decided to support Clyde today as a I have a bit of a soft spot for them. Also because they were the underdogs against league leaders Stirling Albion I took a seat in the East Stand. The ground, which opened in 1993, is small but the capacity of 3,800 (2,500 of which are seats) is more than adequate for Stirling. The West Stand is slightly bigger than the East Stand. There are terraces behind both goals as well but it is my understanding that they are seldom in use. Although I would normally prefer a terrace over a stand the fact that these are uncovered means I would not have opted for them anyway.

The game was an entertaining affair. Albion unsurprisingly had the better chances in the first half but were unable to find the net and Clyde were lucky to have not conceded a goal by half-time. It was the Bully Wee however who opened the score when Willie Sawyers found the net in the 57th minute. Stirling frantically looked for the equaliser equalise but it looked like this was not their day, particularly when they had a goal disallowed for offside. However substitute Liam Corr scored the deserved equaliser in the 88th minute.

Approaching Forthbank on a miserable day.


Picture taken before the game outside the ground with the Wallace Monument in the background.

Panorama view taken from the East Stand.


The East Stand.


The South Terrace, which was not in use today.

The West Stand housed the home supporters.

The North Terrace was not open either.

Saturday 24th October
Scottish Football League Second Division
Stirling Albion 1 Clyde 1
Stirling Albion: Corr 88.
Clyde: Sawyers 57.
Att: 764

Broadwood Stadium (Clyde v Man Utd XI)

Today I went to Cumbernauld to see Clyde take on a Manchester United select in a friendly at Broadwood Stadium. After an 11-minute train journey from Glasgow Queen Street I got off at Croy. From there it is a 20-minute walk to Broadwood, a modern ground that was opened in 1995. An interesting bit of trivia is that Broadwood is the highest ground in Scotland (in terms of altitude). The capacity is about 8,000 divided over three stands. There is no stand at the northern end of the ground, and it looks like there will never be one either as a leisure centre has now been built at this end. There does not seem to be a need to expand the ground anyway, only 663 witnessed the Bully Wee losing 3-1 to Peterhead yesterday.

There were a few more in attendance today but still by far no full house. There was a sell-out crowd when Clyde entertained the Red Devils in July 2005. Today however it was not Sir Alex's first team showing up but Ole Gunnar Solksjaer's reserve squad. Nevertheless the Reds proved much too strong for the Scottish part-timers who counted themselves lucky to be only 4-0 down when the referee blew the final whistle.

Approaching Broadwood Stadium.


Queues at the turnstiles.

The South Stand.

The West Stand remained closed today.


The Main Stand.


Rafael da Silva with the 'Advance Construction Scotland Trophy' and he seemed really pleased with it.

Sunday 18th October 2009
Friendly
Clyde 0 Manchester United XI 4
Goals: Stewart (o.g.) 22, Brandy 29, Da Silva 59, Eikrem (pen.) 89.
Att: 2,365