As I head off on holiday to celebrate my 60th Birthday a look back at 40th trip to Barcelona and the opportunity to take in a game at the Nou Camp. Ronaldinho opened the scoring after 2 mins with a superb free kick. Deportivo however recovered and equalised through Juanma after 15mins, and then took …
Author Archives: Ian Kelly
Jackie McInally & Paul Hegarty
Hamilton Accies 1974/75 My first season as an Accies fan , I witnessed two strikers at the opposite ends of their career spectrums. JACKIE MCINALLY Jackie played for Crosshill Thistle and won the Scottish Amateur Cup in 1959 before signing for Kilmarnock. He was an integral part of the Killie team under manager Willie Waddell …
WINTER OLYMPICS
From 1976 to 2026 My first memory of the Winter Olympics was 50 years ago in 1976, this is a look back at the past 50 years as the Winter Olympics has expanded along with Team GB success. Innsbruck 1976 GB won Men’s Singles Figure Skating Gold, won by John Curry, but my main memory …
WORLD CUP – SPAIN 82 – Part Three
PART THREE – 19TH JUNE TO 25TH JUNE 1982 The Second Group Stage was played as Four Groups of Three teams with the Winners progressing to the semi finals , this was the only World Cup which used this format. The 1974 & 1978 with 16 teams versions saw Two groups of Four teams with …
WORLD CUP – SPAIN 82 – Part Two
PART TWO – 19TH JUNE TO 25TH JUNE 1982 Saturday 19th June Group 1 – POLAND 0 CAMEROON 0 – La Coruna Once again there was a draw in Group 1 , so that each team had drawn their opening two games. Group 3 – BELGIUM 1 EL SALVADOR 0 – Elche El Salvador proved …
WORLD CUP – SPAIN 82 – Part One
The 1982 World Cup was a fantastic festival of football but began against the backdrop of the Falklands War. PART ONE – 13TH JUNE TO 18TH JUNE 1982 Sunday 13th June Group 3 – ARGENTINA 0 BELGIUM 1 – Barcelona The opening game took place in the fabulously refurbished Nou Camp stadium in Barcelona. UK …
WIGAN FA CUP WIN 2013
When James McCarthy and James McArthur left Hamilton Accies nobody envisaged them winning the FA Cup with Wigan Athletic. In 2013 I was fortunate enough to travel to Wembley and see them win both the Semi Final and the Final This all began with a trip to the then DW Stadium to meet the players …
Hamilton Accies 2007-08 Part 2
PART TWO – JANUARY TO MAY 2008 January 2008 A month which saw one of the most extra ordinary games in Accies history. Accies opened 2008 without Simon Mensing with his loan expired although he sat in the stand alongside new signing Gary Twigg. Fellow new recruit Xavier Barrau was on the bench. James McArthur …
Hamilton Accies 2007-08 Part 1
PART ONE – AUGUST TO DECEMBER 2007 Accies won the First Division Championship in 2007-08 , this is a look back at another successful season. August 2007 Accies began the 2007/08 season with a home league match against Dunfermline Athletic. In front of a bumper crowd in the summer sunshine of 3,383. Dunfermline had been …
B&Q CUP
Accies Winners 1991 & 1992 The Scottish Football League marked their Centenary by creating the Centenary Cup in 1990 , which was played by lower division clubs on a knockout basis with Dundee beating Ayr Utd at Fir Park 3-2. It was then decided to continue the competition with the backing of sponsor B&Q – …