Hamilton Accies 1985-86 Part 1

PART ONE – AUGUST TO DECEMBER 1985

Accies won the First Division Championship in 1985-86 , this is a look back at an amazing season.

(For context the league was made up of 14 teams playing each other 3 times meaning a total of 39 games and two points for a win)

August 1985

Accies began the 1985/86 season hosting the Lanarkshire Cup , playing Airdrie in the semi final. An early Airdrie goal was soon cancelled out and with new signings Jimmy Sinclair and striker Willie Jamieson making their debuts. Accies ran out 6-1 winners with Willie Jamieson netting a hat trick.

Tommy O’Neill

Accies fans were excited for the season ahead as they won the Lanarkshire Cup for the first time since 1934 as they beat Motherwell 1-0 in the final courtesy of a Gerry Phillips goal.

Willie Jamieson
John Brogan against Tommy Boyd
Lanarkshire Cup Winner 1985

The league season began with a tough away trip to Falkirk which ended 0-0, although both teams played some quality football which suggested they would both be involved at the top end of the table.

Willie Jamieson at Falkirk
Brockville Park , Falkirk

Brechin City then visited Douglas Park and again the result was 0-0 despite Accies having 27 shots at goal.

Gerry Phillips

A routine 2-0 win the League Cup second round over East Fife was followed by a 1-0 away defeat to Kilmarnock.

Rugby Park , Kilmarnock

Incredibly Accies started what would become a high scoring season , with no league goals scored after 3 games.

Accies hosted Premier Division Dundee in the League Cup 3rd round with Albert Kidd’s early goal being wiped out before half time when Accies were awarded a penalty with John Pelosi netting. Into Extra Time and Accies created the cup shock to win 2-1 with John Brogan scoring the winner in front of 2237 fans. The real hero was goalkeeper Rikki Ferguson who saved a penalty late in extra time.

John Pelosi v Dundee

Accies scored their first league goals of the season the following Saturday as they beat Lanarkshire rivals Airdrie 3-1 again at Douglas Park. Brian Wright scored his final goal in Accies colours before his transfer to Motherwell.

John Brogan v Airdrie

September 1985

Accies opened September with a League Quarter Final which had to be played at Fir Park for safety reasons against Rangers. An early John Brogan goal was a shock and Accies almost doubled their lead with Tommy O’Neill’s shot hitting the underside of the bar , bouncing on the line before being cleared.

Rangers however won 2-1 with Bobby Williamson scoring twice close to half time.

Jimmy Sinclair v Rangers at Fir Park

Accies returned to league action with a hard fought 2-2 at Dumbarton in a match which was played in monsoon conditions with Rikki Ferguson again saving a penalty from Albert Craig. Accies then beat East Fife 2-1 at home.

Firhill was the next destination and with John McGachie scoring to level the game 1-1 before John Brogan netted a late winner as Accies won 2-1.

Firhill Stadium
John McNaught at Firhill v Partick

Accies in September with a swashbuckling display where they led Morton 4-0 at half time before John Brogan completed his hat trick in the second half as Accies ran out 5-0 winners.

Graham Mitchell scoring v Morton
John Brogan competes hat trick v Morton

Accies fans were becoming excited about a promotion push now the goals were being scod on a regular basis with John Brogan beginning to justify his signing the previous year.

October 1985

Accies began October moving into second place in the table behind early pace setters Dumbarton when they won 2-1 at Montrose with Brogan and John McNaught (below) scoring. McNaught was a fans favourite and nicknamed “Worzel” after TV character Worzel Gummidge due to his unkept hairstyle. He had begun his Accies career as a full back but manager John Lambie moved him into midfield and he benefited greatly from this move.

Accies then hit a bump in the road with a 2-1 home defeat to Alloa.

A tough trip to high flying Forfar Athletic ended in a 2-2 draw, with Brogan and McNaught again scoring.

Manager John Lambie was always looking to improve his squad and signed Ayr Utd’s Gerry Collins who immediately made his debut against his former club. John Brogan’s early goal was added to by captain Graeme Mitchell as Accies won 2-0.

John Brogan scoring v Ayr

John Lambie was on look out for a strike partner for John Brogan with Willie Jamieson now playing as a centre half.

November 1985

John McGachie was disappointing in the role at Shawfiled where Accies lost 1-0 to Clyde, this was his last game for Accies. McGachie soon departed for Meadowbank in a swap deal which saw Adrian Sprott arrive at Douglas Park.

Adrian Sprott would go on to score the most famous goal in Accies history when his goal secured a shock 1-0 win over Rangers at Ibrox in the 1987 Scottish Cup Third Round. Sadly Adrian passed away 2023 at age 61.

A new partnership was tried as league leaders Dumbarton visited Douglas Park , with young Willie Waters given his chance , which he grabbed with both hands, scoring a hat trick on his debut as Accies ran out 6-1 winners, with Rikki Ferguson again saving an Albert Craig penalty.

Willie Waters hat trick on his debut v Dumbarton

Accies again struggled to score and it took an own goal on the brink of half time to secure a 1-1 away to East Fife.

John Lambie then on the advice of John Brogan went back to Brogan’s former club St Johnstone and signed their top scorer Joe Reid.

Partick Thistle then visited Douglas Park and raced into a 2-0 half time lead , before John Pelosi brought Accies back into the game midway through the second half when he netted a penalty. Joe Reid came off the bench and made an immediate impact snatching a point with a last minute goal as the teams finished level at 2-2.

Accies ended November with a trip to Cappielow to face Morton, on what many described as a dangerous ice covered pitch. A Gerry Collins goal , his first for the club gave Accies a precious 1-0 win.

Cappielow

December 1985

Kilmarnock started December top of the league , a point ahead of Accies , but following a 1-0 won at Falkirk they hit a remarkable slump losing three consecutive games 4-1.

Accies opened December with a 4-2 win at home to Montrose with new strike force John Brogan and Joe Reid both netting twice.

Kilmarnock stayed top winning 1-0 at Falkirk, but the following week they would suffer a shock 4-1 defeat at Montrose opening the possibility for Accies to snatch top spot.

Accies game at Alloa was one of the most amazing in Accies history with Alloa racing into a 2-0 lead before Tommy O’Neill and Joe Reid brought Accies level. Alloa would go in at halftime 3-2 ahead. A superb second half display by Accies saw them equalise before two goals by substitute John McNaught seemed to have sealed victory. Frankie Cole completed his hat trick for the home side but Accies held on to win 5-4 and go top of the league.

Accies then faced two home games against third placed Forfar and second placed Kilmarnock at Douglas Park before 1985 would end.

John Brogan scored the only goal of the game as Accies defeated a tenacious Forfar Athletic 1-0 at Douglas Park.

This set up a massive game at Douglas Park as Kilmarnock again stumbled 4-1 at home to Dumbarton.

Accies led Kilmarnock by 1 point as the clubs met on a sunny winters day in their match of 1985, on the Saturday between Christmas and New Year 1985.

It was a game with 3,271 in attendance for Accies fans to savour as John Brogan’s early goal was added to by Tommy O’Neill’s wonderful free kick as they went 2-0 ahead inside the first half hour. Accies would go on to inflict Kilmarnock’s third consecutive 4-1 defeat and ensure Accies topped the table as 1985 ended.

Welsh clubs in ECWC 1960-1999

The European Cup Winners Cup was a cup for National Cup Winners run by UEFA between 1960 and 1999.

Welsh teams who played in the English football leagues also competed in the Welsh Cup with the winners qualifying for the ECWC , which was always somewhat controversial as they also competed in the FA Cup with Cardiff City reaching the FA cup final in 2008.

The story of Welsh clubs in ECWC is littered with amazing stories and many giant killing acts.

BANGOR CITY

Bangor City competed in the 1962/63 ECWC and were drawn against Italian giants Napoli.

Bangor City were playing in the Cheshire Counties League and had won the Welsh Cup beating Wrexham in the final.

They took on Napoli at Farrar Road in front of 12.000 fans on 5th September 1962 and produced an incredible 2-0 win with goals from Roy Matthews and Ken Birch.

They went to the Naples in front of 80,000 Italian fans and although they lost 3-1 , the scores being level and before the away goals rule , the tie moved into a replay.

The replay was played in London at Arsenal’s Highbury Stadium where Napoli eventually progressed winning 2-1.

After a long absence Bangor City returned to ECWC in 1985 drawing with Norwegian side FK Fredikstad – 1-1 away and 0-0 at home to progress on away goals to the Second Round where they lost both legs to Athletico Madrid , 2-0 at home and 1-0 away

CARDIFF CITY

Cardiff City were competing in the Second Division (second tier) of English football during three amazing runs in ECWC

In 1964 Cardiff City opened their first European campaign with a 0-0 draw in Denmark against Esbjerg , before winning 1-0 in Cardiff to progress to Round 2, with a Peter King goal.

Cardiff were then drawn against the holders Sporting Lisbon and produced a major shock winning 2-1 in Lisbon with goals by Greg Farrell and Derek Tapscott with only a late goal giving the hosts some hope in the return at Ninian Park. A crowd of 24,000 saw Cardiff secure a 0-0 draw and a place in the 3rd round.

The opponents for the Welsh side were Spain’s Real Zaragoza and once again Cardiff produced a creditable away performance despite being 2 goals behind after 12mins , then fought back to draw 2-2. The Welsh team drew a crowd of 38,458 and were left disappointed as they were unfortunate to lose 1-0.

Cardiff City once again qualified for the ECWC in 1967 drawing 1-1 away to Shamrock Rovers before a young John Toshack scored in a 2-0 second leg win at home.

The second round saw Cardiff draw 1-1 with NAC Breda in Eindhoven before winning 4-1 at Ninian Park with Toshack again on the scoresheet.

This took Cardiff beyond New Year and into the Quarter Final where a Barrie Jones goal gave the bluebirds a 1-0 first leg lead against Torpedo Moscow.

The freezing temperatures in Moscow saw the second leg played in Tashkent with the Russians prevailing by the same 1-0 scoreline , a third game was required to settle the tie.

On 3rd April 1968 Cardiff again won 1-0 with Norman Dean scoring with the game played in Augsburg , Germany.

Cardiff City incredibly reached the ECWC semi final and Norman Dean scored after 4mins away to SV Hamburg but the Germans equalised to set up a massive night at Ninian Park.

The crowd of 43,000 witnessed Norman Dean open the scoring again after 10mins but Hamburg soon equalised. Uwe Seeler who played at 4 World Cups for West Germany put Hamburg ahead before an equaliser by Brian Harris his only Cardiff City goal set up a grandstand finish . Sadly for the Welsh a late goal by Honig took Hamburg to the final.

This was the most successful season for any Welsh club in Europe.

Cardiff City had one further amazing season in Europe beginning in 1970 with an 8-0 win over PO Larnaca with a second leg 0-0 draw in Cyprus.

In the second round French club Nantes arrived in Cardiff and took an early lead before the Welsh side came back to win 5-1 and inflicted another defeat in France 2-1 to win 7-2 on aggregate.

This win set up an incredible evening on 10 March 1971 as 47,000 fans witnessed Cardiff City beat the mighty Real Madrid 1-0 with Brian Clark scoring.

Real Madrid in the end won 2-0 in the Bernabeu with two quick goals early in the second half.

It shows how well Cardiff City had done as it took a team of the calibre of Real Madrid to end their European adventure of 1970/71.

In 1988 Cardiff reached Round 2 beating Derry City 4-0 at home after the first leg ended 0-0 away. It was a step too far for the Welsh side as they lost 2-1 at home and 4-0 away to Aarhus of Denmark.

NEWPORT COUNTY

Newport County qualified for the ECWC in 1980 as an English Third Division club and were encouraged with being drawn against Crusaders of N Ireland. A 4-0 win in the home leg included a goal by a young striker John Aldridge and completed the victory with a 0-0 draw in Belfast.

The second round also offered a kind draw against Norway’s FK Hauger, and again the away leg was 0-0 before Somerton Park witnessed a 6-0 win with John Aldridge scoring again with Tommy Tynan scoring twice.

This set up a famous Quarter Final against East German side Carl-Zeiss Jena where the Germans led twice at home only for Tommy Tyan to equalise both times as the first leg ended 2-2.

Newport saw it’s biggest footballing night as the teams came out on 18th March 1981 in front of a capacity crowd of 18,000. Sadly there was no fairytale ending with a first half goal for the Germans winning the tie despite Newport hitting the woodwork and having five shots cleared off the line.

SWANSEA CITY

In 1982 Swansea City had reached the heady height of the top flight of English Football m the First Division under the management of John Toshack

They entered the Preliminary Round of the ECWC and beat Sporting Braga of Portugal 3-0 at home before losing 1-0 away to set up a First Round tie with Sliema Wanderers of Malta

On a record breaking night at the Vetch Field , the Swans ran out 12-0 winners before winning again in Malta 5-0.

The Second Round saw a visit from French Cup winners Paris St Germain with Argentinian World Cup Winner Osvaldo Ardiles. The French side prevailed with a 1-0 win before completing the job in Paris with a 2-0 victory.

WREXHAM

Wrexham first qualified for the ECWC in 1972 where they faced FC Zurich. Albert Kinsey scored Wrexham first ever European goal a minute after Zurich opener to draw 1-1 in the away leg. There were 18.189 at the Racecourse to see the Welsh side win 2-1 and 3-2 on aggregate. Wrexham raced into a 3-0 lead over Hajduk Split, however a late away goal proved vital , the 3-1 win at home was followed by a 2-0 away defeat which saw them eliminated on away goals.

As a Third Division club they were again in ECWC in 1975/76 where they beat the Swedish team Djurgardens 2-1 at home with a last minute winner from Gareth Davies before a Graham Whittle goal earnt a 1-1 draw in Sweden to seal a place in Round 2.

Wrexham then faced Polish cup winners Stal Rzeszow and having won 2-0 at the Racecourse , a 1-1 draw in Poland carried the Welsh cup winners in the Quarter Final of ECWC for the first time. A late Mel Sutton goal taking the pressure off as the Poles tried to level the tie.

Wrexham then faced the might of Belgium’s Anderlecht with a 1-0 defeat in Brussels meant a massive crowd of 19,668 for the return leg in Wales full of hope for a Semi Final place.

On the hour mark Stuart Lee scored for Wrexham and levelled the tie m however Dutch legend Robbie Rensenbrink scored what would prove to be the decisive goal on 77 minutes.

Anderlecht would go on win the cup beating West Ham in their home city of Brussels 4-2.

In 1983 Aberdeen under Alex Ferguson won the ECWC beating Real Madrid in the final , their defence of the trophy was ended in the 1984 semi final by Porto who would lose the final to Juventus 2-1.

The following season saw Wrexham by this time in the English Fourth Division drawn against Porto and this seemed a total mismatch in terms of the two teams.

When the first leg was played at the Racecourse , it was a major shock when Jim Steel’s goal gave Wrexham a 1-0 victory but nothing could have prepared the Welsh team’s fans for what would transpire in the second leg.

I vividly remember the game kick off as all European games played in Portugal in this era at 9.30pm UK time. I was listening to the commentary from BBC Wales radio broadcast with a crackly signal as the evening unfolded.

The second leg in Portugal started badly for Wrexham with Fernando Gomes levelling the tie after only 5 minutes, as Porto led 1-0 on the evening.

Porto then took the lead overall when Jamie Magalhaes scored a stunning left foot volley after 18 minutes and the tie looked over when Gomes netted from the penalty spot after 38 minutes as Porto raced into a 3-0 lead.

Wrexham however were immediately given a lifeline when in a rare attack they won a free kick in the Porto half. Kevin Rogers crossed and Jake King sweetly volleyed home. Porto were stunned before half time when Jake King scored again just before half time and suddenly Wrexham led on away goals and the scent of a real shock was in the air.

The 25,000 crowd however saw their superstar Paolo Futre restore Porto’s lead.

Then the drama in the 89th minute as John Muldoon collected a pass from Jim Steel, who was clattered to the ground , the referee waved play on , with the substitute Muldoon racing clear, he crossed into the penalty area , where the ball was met and flicked into the net by Barry Horne.

Porto 4 Wrexham 3 , as Wrexham levelled the aggregate and win on away goals.

Sadly the Second Round saw Wrexham draw another European giant in Italian side Roma who won 2-0 in Rome and 1-0 in Wrexham

In 1986 Wrexham once again won a First Round tie beating FC Zurrieq of Malta , 3-0 away and 4-0 at home to set up a mouth watering tie with Spanish giants at the time Real Zaragoza.

A goalless first leg in Spain meant a crowd of 14,550 at the Racecourse to see another amazing night of European football where Wrexham came so close to another major upset. The tie was level after 180 minutes at 0-0.

The Spanish side opened the scoring through Patrico Yanez after 98 minutes however Wrexham were back level in the tie when Steve Massey netted 4 minutes later, before Yanez scored again on the stroke of half time in extra time. Steve Buxton levelled at 2-2 after 108 minutes , but Wrexham were unable to force a winning goal.

Real Zaragoza reached the semi final before losing to eventual winners Ajax.

Wrexham again reached the Second Round in 1990 after drawing 0-0 at home to Lyngby they won 1-0 in Denmark.

This led to a another massive match as they played Manchester United but lost both legs 3-0 away and 2-0 at home.

The Wrexham result in Porto is still one of the most famous nights in Welsh football history

Bobby Graham & Willie Pettigrew

As a youngster growing up in Lanarkshire my interest in football developed at a time when Saturday afternoons were reserved for shopping with my parents.

The politics of the day in 1974 with the 3 day week and power cuts that resulted in football matches being moved to Sundays led my Dad to take me to my first games.

Men of his generation didn’t travel to away games but revolved between games at Fir Park and Douglas Park, so my first two games were –

Motherwell 2 Ayr 0 – 23rd February 1974

Hamilton 3 Clydebank 0 – 3rd March 1974

This meant the first player I saw score a goal live was Bobby Graham for Motherwell. He and Willie Pettigrew developed a superb partnership.

My visits to Fir Park became less frequent, as we went to more Hamilton Accies games.

Bobby Graham’s transfer from Motherwell to Hamilton Accies in the summer of 1977 cemented my support to the Accies colours.

Booby Graham and Willie Pettigrew formed a lethal partnership for Motherwell in the four season’s from 1973 to 1977 which included leading the Lanarkshire club to two successive Scottish Cup Finals , with both players ironically ending their playing days with local rivals Hamilton Accies.

In January 1975 Motherwell travelled to play 9 in row Champions Celtic , where Willie Pettigrew and Bobby Graham gave the Lanarkshire side a 2-0 lead before Harry Hood scored twice to equalise. Willie Pettigrew netted a late winner to complete a shock win for the Well, a game which was featured on STV’s Scotsport programme and propelled the attacking duo into the limelight.

The 1974-75 Scottish Cup saw Motherwell reach the semi final at Hampden against local rivals Airdrie. Pettigrew scored for Motherwell in a 1-1 draw but they lost the replay 1-0

The 1975-76 Scottish Cup was a real highlight in the partnership’s career , a Third Round tie at Fir Park saw Celtic lead 2-0 at half time through Dalglish and Lynch. Bobby Graham pulled a goal back early in the second half before the Lanarkshire side equalised around the hour mark through Ian Taylor. Willie Pettigrew then scored to win the game 3-2. This game covered by BBC tv and again highlight the striking partnership to a wider audience.

The Quarter Final saw an epic game against Hibs where a 2-2 draw at Fir Park was followed by a 1-1 draw at Easter Road before Motherwell won the second replay 2-1 at Ibrox.

The Semi Final at Hampden saw Motherwell lead 2-0 at half time before Rangers were awarded a controversial penalty which led them to a 3-2 comeback win.

The 1976/77 Scottish Cup saw an incredible crowd of 26.709 inside Fir Park as Motherwell beat Alex Ferguson’s St Mirren 2-1 with Willie Pettigrew scoring the winner with a penalty. A game that was delayed and we along with many other were locked out.

BOBBY GRAHAM

He was from Motherwell and at age 17 was signed for Liverpool in 1961 by Bill Shankly. He scored on his debut in a European tie against KR Reykjavik in 1964 before on his league debut scored a hat trick in a 5-1 win over Aston Villa. He was unfortunate to be at Anfield at the same time as legends Roger Hunt and Ian St John but he did have a successful season in 1969-70 being an ever present and scoring 21 goals including a famous goal in a win over Everton.

In 1972 be moved to Coventry City where Ian St John was a coach and followed him to Tranmere and then on to Motherwell.

It was at Motherwell where he formed the partnership with Willie Pettigrew

In 1977 he left Motherwell to join Hamilton Accies for a club record £15,000

In 1977 Bobby led Accies to a 2-0 win over Hearts at Tynecastle a feat the club have not managed since

In 1979 Accies lost 3-1 at home to St Mirren in the League Cup first leg , but Bobby scored twice to take to the tie to extra time and penalties which Accies would win and knock out the Premier League team.

The Quarter Final was again over two legs against a Premier League team – Dundee , where Neil Howie opened the scoring and although Dundee equalised , two Jamie Fairlie goals gave Accies a 3-1 win. The second leg at Dens Park had second half live commentary on Radio Scotland as was the norm for big games back then. Accies grimly held on to their two goal advantage until late in the game with Dundee scoring late to record a 1-0 win on the night , but Accies would advance to the semi final under Bobby’s leadership.

The semi final would be a step too far for the part time Accies players where they lost 6-2 to Dundee Utd , the irony for Bobby being the opening goal was scored by his former strike partner Willie Pettigrew.

WLLIE PETTIGREW

Willie Pettigrew began his career at Hibs before moving to East Kilbride Thistle where he played in their 1973 Scottish Junior Cup Semi Final defeat Irvine Meadow (4-1) at Firhill

Willie then moved to Motherwell where he had a highly successful time scoring 20 league goals in 1974/75 as joint top scorer in Premier Division alongside Dundee Utd’s Andy Gray. He scored 21 league goals in 1975/76 behind Celtic’s Kenny Dalglish with 24 goals.

This led to him to his Scotland debut, where he scored the only goal of the game after 2 mins where he scored in a friendly against Switzerland in April 1976 . He would again score in Scotland’s 3-1 win over Wales the following month and would go on to win a further 3 caps over the next 12 months without netting. He was unfortunately having to compete with Kenny Dalglish and Joe Jordan as Scotland main strikers with Andy Gray by then with Aston Villa as third choice.

Willie left Motherwell in 1979 to join Dundee Utd where he won two League Cups before spells at Hearts, where we won the First Division Championship and Morton before ending his career at Hamilton Accies.

Goalscoring

Willie Pettigrew scored 80 goals in 166 appearances for Motherwell, in the end scoring 140 goals across his career.

Bobby Graham scored 37 goals in 132 appearances for Motherwell and a further 42 in 118 appearances albeit at a lower level in his time with Hamilton Accies.

Two players who had great careers in the game but will always be remembered for their partnership at Fir Park particularly by Motherwell fans.

Both were inducted into the Motherwell FC Hall of Fame , Willie in 2019 and Booby in 2022

As I completed this , Motherwell FC announced on 4th September 2025 that Bobby Graham had passed away.

RIP Bobby Graham – a Lanarkshire Football Legend

Lanarkshire Football in 70s & 80s – Part 2

My early football memories in Lanarkshire – Part Two 1976-1980

1976/77

The League Cup saw Motherwell finish bottom of their group with no wins from their six group games and only two draws.

Hamilton Accies set up a final day showdown with Falkirk at Douglas Park for a place in the Quarter Final. Around 4000 packed Douglas Park and their was my first football heartbreak by Falkirk as they raced into an early two goal lead and although Accies pulled a goal back just before half time , they never looked likely to gain the win required, losing 2-1.

Airdrie having won their first five games won their group before a final game loss at Queens Park.

Albion Rovers won Group 9 , the group for the worst six teams would play each season and only play each other once. The winners then played a playoff against one of the eight group winners for a Quarter Final place.

Once again Albion Rovers made headlines when drawn against local rivals Airdrie. Airdrie won the first leg at Broomfield by a narrow 3-2 margin before the second leg at Cliftonhill where 3000 fans plus many on the hill outside saw John Brogan score a hat trick to take Albion Rovers through to a Quarter Final against Celtic with a 3-1 win , the aggregate score being 5-4.

Albion Rovers lost 1-0 at home and 5-0 , however the headlines were made by Clydebank who drew with Rangers 3-3 at Ibrox and 1-1 at Kilbowie , which led to two replays , the first 0-0 at Ibrox before Rangers won the 2nd replay at Kilbowie 2-1. The Clydebank team who were inspired by Hamilton lad Davie Cooper.

The Scottish Cup saw more heroics from Albion Rovers beating Raith Rovers and East Stirling to reach the 4th Round before losing 2-1 to East Fife.

Hamilton Accies following a 0-0 home draw lost 3-0 at Clydebank and Airdrie who had a creditable 1-1 draw at home to Celtic lost the replay 5-0.

Motherwell having beaten Kilmarnock 3-0 at home then took on First Division leaders St Mirren who under manager Alex Ferguson had beaten Dundee Utd 4-1 in the 3rd round. An incredible crowd of 26, 709 with others locked out including me.

The game is remembered for the physical approach of Motherwell and they won the game 2-1 before losing in the Quarter Final to Rangers at Ibrox 2-0.

Motherwell had started the league season with notable wins over Rangers 3-1 and Kilmarnock 5-4 before finishing 7th in Premier League

The First Division was won by St Mirren who were promoted alongside Clydebank who they famously played on Christmas Day 1976 , the last time a top class UK first was played on 25th December.

Airdrie were 6th and Hamilton Accies 10th , with Accies best performance seeing them beat Clydebank 3-2 with young Bobby McKell in goal for the injured Rikki Ferguson, although almost squandered their 3-0 half time lead.

Albion Rovers finished 6th in the Second Division.

1977/78

In the summer of 1977 Hamilton Accies signed former Liverpool striker Bobby Graham from Motherwell, breaking up his partnership with Willie Pettigrew.

The League Cup dispensed with groups and moved to a new two legged knock out format with 6 first round ties drawn to whittle it down to 32 teams in the second round.

Airdrie and Albion Rovers were unlucky to be drawn in the first round and lost on aggregate to Aberdeen 5-1 and Dundee Utd 10-1 respectively.

Motherwell despite a 0-0 draw at Celtic Park lost at home 4- 2 in the second leg.

Hamilton Accies despite a 4-1 defeat at Dumbarton won the second leg at home 6-0 to progress to the Third Round.

Accies lost 2-0 at home to St Mirren and despite a 2-1 win in Paisley exited the competition 3-2 on aggregate.

The Scottish Cup saw Albion Rovers beat Buckie Thistle boring losing to Morton in the Third Round where Hamilton Accies lost 4-1 at home to Dundee Utd and Airdrie lost 3-2 at home to Hearts

Motherwell having won 4-0 at Arbroath were shocked losing at home in the Fourth Round 3-1 at home by Queens Park.

Motherwell 6th place in Premier League along , Hamilton Accies 7th and Airdrie 10th in the First Division were matched by Albion Rovers 8th place in the Second Division , as all four clubs earned mid table finishes.

1978/79

The season began under a cloud after Scotland’s poor campaign in Argentina

Albion Rovers began their League Cup campaign with a 4-0 aggregate defeat to holders Rangers in the First Round

The second round saw Airdrie stroll past Dunfermline 8-0 on aggregate, while Hamilton Accies turned round a 3-2 away defeat to Cowdenbeath with a 2-0 home win to get to Round 3. Motherwell shocked in a 3-1 defeat to Clyde again turned the tie in their favour with a 3-0 home win.

Hamilton Accies lost 1-0 at home to Aberdeen and despite equalising on aggregate with an early Jamie Fairlie penalty at Pittodrie they lost the second leg 7-1.

Airdrie and Motherwell also exited at this stage , Airdrie having drawn 1-1 at Arbroath , lost 2-1 at home. Motherwell with the shock of the tournament won 1-0 at Celtic with Willie Pettigrew scoring , but lost the home leg 4-1.

The Scottish Cup saw Albion Rovers lose in a replay in the First Round 3-2 at home to Dunfermline after a 2-2 at East End Park.

Hamilton Accies Douglas Park was packed with 10,000 fans and the BBC TV cameras as they lost 2-0 to Aberdeen while Rangers beat Motherwell 3-1 at Ibrox in Round 3.

Airdrie had revenge for their League Cup defeat beating Arbroath 1-0 at Gayfield, before losing to Partick Thistle 3-0 at Firhill in Round 4.

In the Premier League Motherwell had a desperate season and finished bottom of the table and were relegated alongside Hearts.

There were midtable finishes for the other Lanarkshire teams with Hamilton 5th and Airdrie 6th in the First Division and Albion Rovers 7th in the Second Division.

Accies 3-1 win over Ayr was featured on BBC TV the week after the Aberdeen game due to the weather wiping out most of Scottish Football

1979/80

Willie Pettigrew left Motherwell for Dundee Utd

Albion Rovers started off the League Cup with a 5-2 First Round win over East Stirling but despite a 2-2 draw away to Partick they lost they second leg 1-0 at home. Airdrie began with a 2-1 win over Dundee Utd but were also eliminated following a 2-0 defeat at Tannadice. Motherwell suffered an embarrassing 4-1 home defeat to Queens Park and despite a 2-0 away win all fell in the Second Round.

Lanarkshire was to see an amazing run by Hamilton Accies and although a slow start with a 0-0 draw at Clydebank , Accies scored early in the return leg at Douglas Park where they wore a one off dark blue kit to secure a 1-0 victory.

The Third Round saw another visit from St Mirren and again a two goal defaet with the Paisley side winning 3-1.

However an incredible night at Love Street saw Accies win 2-0 despite two players being stretchered off and playing extra time and with the aggregate score 3-3 , the games went to penalties.

Accies keeper Rikki Ferguson saved the first two St Mirren penalties and Accies progressed to the Quarter Final 4-2 on penalties.

The Quarter Final saw Accies defeat Premier League Dundee 3-1 in the first leg before a controversial second leg at Dens Park , where the Dark Blues had two goals disallowed for offside before a late Billy Pirie goal meant a tense last few minutes before Accies secured a place in a major cup semi final for the only time since 1961 with a 3-2 aggregate win.

The semi final draw Accies draw the up coming team in Scottish Football Dundee Utd managed by former Accies star Jim McLean.

On a wet and wild day on a muddy pitch at East End Park Dunfermline , Accies struggled against the full time team and especially Paul Sturrock and lost 6-2 although the two late goals put a gloss on the Tayside club’s victory.

The game was televised in highlight form by BBC but due to an engineers strike there was no sound from the ground.

Hamilton Accies League Cup run brought national headlines and they were once again in the headlines , this time for the wrong reasons in the Scottish Cup a few months later losing 3-2 at home to Highland League Keith , famous at the first club of Scotland captain Colin Hendry. Accies were fortune that two late goals made the scoreline less embarrassing as they were 3-0 down late in the game.

Motherwell were also victims of a cup shock losing at Dumfries to Queen of the South in Round 3 , Albion Rovers having lost in Round 1 at Cowdenbeath 3-0 meant the only Lanarkshire team to ain a game in the Scottish Cup in 1979-80 were Airdrie.

Airdrie’s 3-1 home win over St Johnstone gave a short term boost however they travelled to Pittodrie to face Aberdeen , they were thumped 8-0 by a team from the Granite City who were building a special team under Alex Ferguson and would go on to win the Premier League.

The First Division in 1979-80 saw Airdrie , Hamilton Accies and Motherwell all in the same division and there were therefore 9 Lanarkshire derbies.

In the opening weeks of the season Airdrie travelled to Hamilton and showed their promotion credentials racing into a 3-1 half time lead before an amazing second half comeback saw Accies substitute Neil Howie score a dramatic late winner as Accies won 4-3.

Less then 3 weeks later Motherwell travelled to Douglas Park unveiling new signing Brian McLaughlin from Ayr who scored as Motherwell led 2-0 at half time. This Accies team was made of stern stuff and once again produced a stirring second half comeback with summer signing Denis McQuade netting a late winner , as Accies ran out 3-2 victors

Airdrie moved to the top of the league in November following two home wins over their Lanarkshire rivals , Motherwell 4-0 and Hamilton Accies 1-0, as Motherwell struggled near the bottom with Accies in mid table.

Motherwell beat Airdrie 2-1 at Fir Park before Christmas and then in March beat Accies at home twice 2-1 and 4-0.

Airdrie went from strength to strength beating both Lanarkshire neighbours 3-1 at Broomfield in the closing weeks of the season to gain promotion to the Premier League in second place behind Hearts with Motherwell 6th and Hamilton 7th.

Albion Rovers finished in creditable 4th place as the Second Division ended and the 1970s moved into the 1980s.

FOOTBALL ON TV

SCRAP THE 3PM BLACKOUT – WHY ?

There have been calls in recent days for the scrapping of the 3pm Saturday TV blackout of live televised football across the UK.

Sky Sports are reportedly claiming they are losing out on revenue due to the existence of the Saturday 3pm TV blackout in England , with fans using fire sticks to watch games illegally.

1. How did we get to this point ?

The 3pm Blackout is an agreement created in the 1960’s by then Burnley Chairman Bob Lord to protect attendances at football matches at all levels across the UK.

Growing up in the 1970s almost all televised football was in highlight form with BBC’s Sportscene and STV’s Scotsport showing highlights of one Scottish game each weekend with some English games which were covered by their equivalent companies down South.


I can remember the days when I was young up to 1977 when the only live televised football matches shown in Scotland were the annual fixture between Scotland and England , as well as the European Cup Final. Audiences in England also had the FA Cup Final. I can remember newspaper reports in 1976 of football fans in Scotland travelling to pubs in the South West of Scotland where Border TV broadcast from England could be picked up and the FA Cup Final was shown live between Manchester Utd and Southampton.

The Scottish Cup Final was first shown live in Scotland when Celtic played Rangers in 1977.

The SFA with some reluctance allowed live TV coverage from Hampden Park of the two World Cup qualifiers between Scotland and Czechoslovakia in 1973 and 1977.

Going back to 1972 when Rangers beat Moscow Dynamo in Barcelona to lift the European Cup Winners Cup the SFA would not allow live TV coverage as it would impact on the attendance at the Scotland v Wales game at Hampden on the same night

There was a time in the early days of satellite TV coverage of live football in the UK where the Scottish Football Association banned games being broadcast live as there were games being played on these midweek evenings in Scotland.

English football began regular live league games on ITV with Tottenham v Nottingham Forest on 2nd October 1983 and the first regular live league games in Scotland was shown on BBC with Hearts v Aberdeen on 20th April 1986

Once the genie was out the bottle and satellite TV became mainstream , the explosion in live televised football has grown to where now , there is wall to wall coverage of live televised football with the exception of 3pm -5pm on a Saturday afternoon.

2. What are the benefits of 3pm blackout ?

It really depends on which prism you look through to see the different sides of the argument.

It can be argued that fans will attend games to watch their own team regardless of TV games , and this has some merit.

The issue I see is the less committed fan , the neutral fan who may no longer exist in great numbers, but they once did and TV has discouraged these football fans as they can watch many live games from their armchair every day of the week.

An example of the way neutral fans used to increase attendances is the Scottish Cup tie between Motherwell and St Mirren in 1977 , the attendance was 26,709.

The other issue is the future , the future of the game is under threat. If a fan stays at home and watches televised football rather than live football then they won’t take the next generation to live games , and each subsequent generation don’t go to games , the whole sport will see declining attendances.

Those at the top of the game with their American owners will never be impacted but it’s the football pyramid that will suffer as small club who rely on an ever decreasing fans through the gate will simply fold.

The current 3pm TV blackout covers the whole of the UK , so helps clubs in Scotland , England and N Ireland as well as the lower leagues and beyond in England to have regular 3pm kick off son a Saturday and their crowds are not impacted by TV live games.

If the 3pm TV blackout is retained at least these smaller club will still attract fans and will see the following generations continue to support the small local clubs.

3. What are the arguments against the 3pm TV blackout

Fans want to watch their team and with limited away allocations and the excessive costs involved with travel , food and beverages , as well as tickets , they can’t watch live 3pm games.

This is a fair point for those relatively few bigger clubs who have their matches televised and would predominately benefit the massive supports of a few teams.

TV companies , they would have total control of fixtures and would be able to charge whatever they like for each game or packages of games. This is no doubt the biggest driver of the push to abandon the 3pm Live TV blackout.

The large TV companies would see their profits soar while thousands of football clubs as every level of the game would struggle to survive.

4, Who pays ?

It does amuse me when I read stories of record TV deals for football particularly the Premier League in England.

It was reported in December 2023 that the Premier League had agreed a domestic TV rights deal of £6.7bn.

Great for the teams in that league receiving massive payouts each year, but ultimately the cost of this is borne by the fans through paying their TV subscriptions.

The game at the top in England has seen massive increases in TV revenues over the past 30 years , all paid for by fans and their TV subscriptions.

The result of this , players paid more , clubs borrowing more and pushing up ticket prices, paid for again by the fans . The modern game has also pushed into the commercial market with more and more football related products and yes paid for by the fans.

In the end football is using fans money to inflate a game to take more money out of fans pockets.

There has never been so much spending of other peoples money and the end of 3pm TV blackout will just increase the push to get more and more money out of fans.

Conclusion

My conclusion is that TV companies are pushing to end the 3pm Live TV blackout for their own benefits and the benefit of the ever growing number of American owners of English football clubs who see football fans as their own cash cow to be milked.

One day they will set up a scheme where you can pay your salary to them and they will control your complete spending, through their mortgages, their supermarket , their insurances, their pension schemes, their TV subscription, their travel system, and they might allow you a ticket to a match one day.

London Sporting Double Header

Two Iconic London Sporting Venues – Wimbledon and Lords

Day One – Wimbledon

This was my third trip to the Championships at the All England Club , having obtained a ticket through the resale portal a short time before my London trip.

I began the day by taking the tube to Wimbledon Station and hopping on the shuttle bus service direct to the iconic Tennis Venue.

The queue was good humoured in the already stifling heat as the steward checked everyone’s ID against their ticket as they awaiting the gates opening at 10am. Once the gates open everyone’s tickets were scanned and bags checked before entry , Champagne bottles are allowed.

My first port of call was to purchase some water as it was already a hot day before play began at 11am, I show a seat on Court 12 where there was an Invitational Doubles match between Hewitt / Pillippoussis and Blake / Querrey which was entertaining and although I saw the Aussies win the first set , they ended up winning 5-7 6-2 with a Championship tie break 10-7.

I choose a set at the end of a row where I could overlook Court 8 and saw a boys semi final which was won by the eventual champion from Bulgaria Ivan Ivanov

Time for lunch before heading to the main events on Court 1

Strawberries and Cream readily available at all food outlets for £2.70 , not sure why people stand in massive queue at the Strawberries and Cream Shop

Seats taken on Court 1 for two Men’s Doubles Semi Finals of such contrast

The first semi final was an extraordinary match with no breaks of serves , after both pairs won a set 7-6 after a tie break it was no real surprise the final set ended with a Championship tie break where the No1 seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic were beaten despite taking the opening set by the Aussie Rinky Hijikata and Dutchman David Pel , who saved two Match Points.

The match lasted almost three hours and most of the crowd had gone for refreshments as the other semi final began.

This saw the British duo Julian Cash and Lloyd Glaspool dominate a much more one side match 6-3 , 6-4 against Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos

The day ended with a trip to the gift shop, Henman Hill and I dropped in on some outside courts and Court 2 on the way out

Day Two – Lords

ENGLAND V INDIA – THIRD TEST – DAY TWO

A rare opportunity to attend a cricket match at the home of cricket when I was in London and not sure what to really expect.

I walked to Lords from Baker Street Tube station , as a sold out Lords looked forward to seeing Joe Root complete his century having been 99 not out overnight , which soon did , before Stokes (44), Root (104) and Woakes (a golden duck) all fell to Bumrah in an inspired seven ball period early in the day to leave England on 353/7 at lunch.

This had been a vital session for England as they built a healthy score after fans around me were speculating they wouldn’t reach 350.

Bumrah completed his 5 wicket haul before Carse reached his half century, before being bowled for 56 as England were all out for 387.

The Indian innings would see the return after a 4 year absence from Test Cricket for Jofra Archer and the talismanic bowler only took 3 deliveries to take a wicket.

India slowly recovered from the loss of two early wickets to end the day on 145/3.

The Test Match ended in a narrow 22 run victory for England

The crowd really interested me, as having been to many sporting events over the years , this was very different to anything else I have ever experienced.

There was a murmur of noise all day throughout play as people chatted constantly to friends , it seems much more of a social gathering with the occasional glance at on-field matters as opposed to most sports where people concentrate on play and chat in breaks, NFL is a similar stop start game but the fans are quiet for each play , cricket seems to be very different , and it was good to experience it.

Two amazing days of sport in glorious weather

London – Photography Course July 2025

I was in London recently and was on a photography course and I picked up a lot of knowledge which will hopefully lead to better photos going forward , I intend using this blog to share some old photos and going forward as I enjoy retirement – these are a few I took in London that night

The following morning I went out for some practice in the early morning sunrise

Now for some older London photos

Lanarkshire Football in the 70s & 80s

My early Football Memories in Lanarkshire  – Part One 1973-76

1973/74

My first experience of watching live football was during the 1973/74 season, with my first trips due to the political situation in the UK, which became known as the winter of discontent. This led to the three day week, power cuts and football matches being moved to Sundays. The summer of 1973 saw Hamilton Accies play two glamour friendlies at Douglas Park , the first was a 3-1 defeat to English Second Division side Middlesborough managed by Jack Charlton who would go on to win the Second Division at the end of the season. Accies however made huge headlines when they beat one of the top teams in English Football at the time Leeds Utd 4-3. A Leeds team which included Scotland stars Frank Gray, Peter Lorimer & Joe Jordan, and who would go on to play in the 1975 European Cup Final in Paris.

In the League Cup of 1973/74 , Albion Rovers made headlines, qualifying for the second round after winning their group and the subsequent playoff 1-0 on aggregate over East Stirling. This set up a Lanarkshire derby where they would beat their neighbours Airdrie 3-0 at home and 1-0 v away sealing a 4-0 aggregate victory and progression to a rare Quarter Final. The Quarter Final saw the wee Rovers beat their more illustrious opponents Kilmarnock  2-0 at Cliftonhill before narrowly missing out on a semi-final place 5-4 on aggregate following a 5-2 defeat at Rugby Park. Albion Rovers took consolation by beating Airdrie & Motherwell to win the Lanarkshire Cup. During this period Scotland produced one of their most famous results when a diving header by the aforementioned and Lanarkshire born Joe Jordan saw Scotland beat Czechoslovakia 2-1 at Hampden to end a 20 year wait for qualification to the 1974 World Cup Finals in Germany.

Back in domestic matters a rare sight in those days were TV cameras appearing at Douglas Park to film match highlights for STV’s Scotsport programme in December 1973 as Accies and Airdrie both fighting for promotion at the top of Scottish League Division Two drew 0-0. My first experience of attending football matches came in February and March 1974, Sunday 24th February I saw Motherwell beat Ayr Utd 2-0, with Bobby Graham opening the scoring , before the following Sunday 3rd March I watched Hamilton Accies defeat Clydebank 3-0, a team which included a young Paul Hegarty as a striker partnered by the veteran Jacky McInally (father of Alan McInally). Motherwell became the second Lanarkshire team to reach a cup Quarter Final in the season when they drew 2-2 with Celtic away before losing in front of a large crowd at Fir Park 1-0 in the replay, their former star Dixie Deans with the goal. Hamilton Accies however concentrated on League matters recording the highest points total in the clubs history (under 2 pts for a win) 55pts but narrowly missed out on promotion behind Airdrie (60) and Kilmarnock (58). Kilmarnock’s ten consecutive wins meant they had won promotion before their visited Douglas Park for the final game of the season which ended in 2-2 draw, to deny Accies promotion.

1974/75

The 1974/75 season offered all teams in Scottish football a new challenge with this being the last of the two league set-up of 18/19 teams being replaced in the summer of 1975 along with the addition of the former Ferranti Thistle works team to be known as Meadowbank Thistle and a 10/14/14 league set-up. The First Division clubs fought for the top ten places to form the first ever Premier League with the Second Division clubs trying to win places in the new First Division by finishing in the top 6. Hamilton Accies were ultimately successful with a 4th place finish ensuring First Division football, however Albion Rovers would begin life within the new set-up as a Second Division club after finishing 12th, despite retaining the Lanarkshire Cup.

One of my first tastes of evening football was the Red Hackle Cup Final at Fir Park, I can still remember vividly the skyline lit up by the floodlights as we approached the ground. My local junior team East Kilbride Thistle beat Lanark Utd 3-1, with captain Martin Ferguson brother of Sir Alex lifting the trophy. 

The 1975 Scottish Cup produced many notable performances from Lanarkshire teams, Albion Rovers began in the first round winning 4-1 at St Cuthberts Wanderers, before a 1-1 draw at Alloa led to a 2-0 replay win and progression to the third round. Hamilton Accies travelled to fellow Second Division promotion hopefuls Montrose and after a 0-0 draw took revenge for their defeat in similar circumstances two years earlier by winning in the replay 3-0 at Douglas Park, in front of a massive crowd, rumoured to be in excess of 10,000. Motherwell and Airdrie both drew 0-0 but won in replays against at Partick and Morton respectively while Albion Rovers won 1-0 at Highland League Inverness Caledonian , as all four Lanarkshire clubs progressed to the last 16. Hamilton Accies suffered huge disappointment losing 1-0 at home to Dumbarton as Albion Rovers lost 2-0 at Arbroath. Airdrie & Motherwell had routine home wins over Falkirk and Queens Park. The Quarter Finals saw Motherwell go to Pittodrie and a Bobby Graham goal saw them defeat Aberdeen 1-0. Aridrie followed up a 2-2 draw at Gayfield by beating Arbroath 3-0 at home. This saw Airdrie & Motherwell head to Hampden to face each other in the 1975 Scottish Cup semi-final, where a crowd of over 20,000 saw a 1-1 before Airdrie would emerge 1-0 victorious in the replay. A great effort from Airdrie to reach final was however to end in disappointment with a 3-1 defeat to Celtic. Motherwell took revenge by pipping Airdrie to 10th place to secure the final slot in the new Premier League finishing two points ahead of their Lanarkshire rivals and fellow 1973-74 promoted club Kilmarnock.

Willie Pettigrew in action for Motherwell v Airdrie in Scottish Cup semi final 1975

1975/76

 My first trip to Hampden to see Scotland play was on 29th October 1975 as Denmark were defeated 3-1, in a European Championship qualifier, with the national team already eliminated. 

The new league set up saw Motherwell have a very successful season finishing 4th after the 36 game season, only missing out on 3rd place and European football by 3pts to Hibs. The First and Second Divisions made up of 14 teams in each played only 26 League Games in the inaugural season with Airdrie and Hamilton Accies finishing 8th & 9th respectively in a rather poor if short league season. To fill the fixtures gap , the teams in the two lower leagues played in a completion – The Spring Cup. This saw the 28 teams split into 7 groups of 4 with every team playing 6 games. The top two in each group along with two best third place teams moved forward to the knockout phase of two legged ties. Airdrie topped their group , while Albion Rovers and Hamilton Accies qualified as the two best third placed teams. The Second round saw dramatic two legged ties for all three, Albion Rovers despite a 4-1 defeat at Clydebank came close with a 2-0 win in the second leg and go out 4-3 on aggregate. Airdrie survived after losing the first leg at Dunfermline 4-2 to win 3-0 at Broomfield to progress 5-4 on aggregate. Hamilton Accies followed up their Scottish Cup win over Montrose with an even more dramatic Spring Cup win , after losing the away leg 3-1 their produced an incredible 6-3 result at Douglas Park won win 7-6 on aggregate. This was where the heroics would end for Accies as they were comprehensively beaten by Airdrie in the quarter final with a 4-0 home defeat being followed by 5-0 away as their county rivals won 9-0 on aggregate. Airdrie then beat Morton 3-1 in the semi final at Love Street before beating Clydebank 4-2 after extra time in the final at Firhill. Airdrie were the only team to win the Spring Cup as the competition was scrapped in favour of team splaying each other three times in League games. Airdrie also won the Lanarkshire Cup. The Scottish Cup saw Albion Rovers beat Hawick Royal Albert & Glasgow University both after replays to progress to the Third Round where they lost at home to Partick Thistle. Hamilton Accies lost 4-0 to Dundee Utd at Tannadice , while Airdrie lost 4-2 at Ayr, Motherwell however produced the performance of the season coming back from 2-0 at half time down to knock out holders Celtic 3-2 in a highly entertaining and dramatic afternoon at Fir Park. A 2-0 win at Cowdenbeath set the Fir Park club up for a remarkable Quarter Final with Hibs. The first game saw teams draw 2-2 at Fir Park, however after the replay at Easter Road ended in a 1-1 draw the tie would finally be decided in a Second Replay at Ibrox with Motherwell winning 2-1. Motherwell arrived at Hampden as huge underdogs but amazingly led 2-0 at half time against Rangers. A controversial penalty decision gave the Ibrox side a foothold in the game, early in the second half before stunning Motherwell to win 3-2.

The period 1973-76 saw Scotland produce some impressive performances as a National team particularly in the 1974 World Cup. Lanarkshire had plenty highlights with Albion Rovers and Hamilton Accies minor giant killing successes being overshadowed by Airdrie’s Scottish Cup final appearance in 1975 and a Motherwell team led by the strike partnership of Willie Pettigrew and Bobby Graham who made the Semi Finals in 1975 & 1976. Willie Pettigrew ended the season as the top league goalscorer as playing 5 times for Scotland scoring on his debut against Switzerland, with Scotland winning all 5 matches. Bobby Graham would go to play for Hamilton Accies from 1977 to 1981 and Willie Pettigrew would also end his career at Douglas Park from 1985 to 1986. It was quite fitting that having seen the two strikers play together in my first match , I saw them both end their careers at Accies.

Part Two 1976-1979 to follow

Euro 2020 – Travel Headaches

In 1990 a friend and I began a journey by bus from Glasgow on a balmy Saturday June evening to Italia 90. Travel through France, which appeared shut and Switzerland on the Sunday, before arriving in Genoa in time to see Costa Rica’s shock 1-0 win over Scotland. Football aside the holiday in Italy saw us share an incredible experience with global football fans, as well the Tartan Army. A tour guide selling excursions to Scotland fans, ended the meeting asking – Any other questions ? and was met with the reply – Aye ! Why was Aitken playing ?. She must have smiled as big Roy was tripped in the box to give Scotland the penalty, converted by Maurice Johnston which is still Scotland’s most recent winning goal at a World Cup. We had caught the bug of travelling to major tournaments, and although we were in Paris to see Scotland open France 98 against Brazil, Scotland’s subsequent lack of success on the pitch led us to Euro 2004 in Lisbon and 2008 in Vienna as a footballing holidays. Lisbon was a superb experience again meeting fans from around the word, not just European. The sight German and Czech fans congregate and party together in one of Lisbon’s main squares on the Wednesday afternoon was the prelude to the German’s eliminated following a 2-1 defeat in their final group stage game. The following day saw a peaceful invasion by England fans who would lose out after David Beckham’s penalty shoot-out blunder to the hosts who partied late into the Lisbon night. Our final game in Lisbon saw the reigning Champions France lose out to surprise packets and eventual winners Greece. The Greek fans taking over many hotels and swapping shirts with English fans was just one of the many happy scenes we witnessed as the football fans partied late night after night watching televised games in bars as well as those taking place in Portugal’s capital. We met a neutral fan who just loved football but had bought Follow Your Team tickets for Greece, and with their unexpected success was trying to sell his Semi Final and Final vouchers as he couldn’t afford the time or the money to stay for the rest of the tournament. The recent opening of Euro 2020 ticket portal and press articles criticising ticket prices, with the advent of “Week of Football” where TV is taking precedence for match scheduling over fans attending games, is leading to dangerous precedents for the future of International football. The spread of Euro 2020 across 14 European Cities has led me to think about the fans who will be purchasing Follow Your Team tickets and the logistics involved, there will be no ore partying in one country, in a few host cities the games will be spread across the continent and only the very rich or local corporate guests will be in attendance. The UEFA executives will be fine flying around Europe but what of the fans, never mind the actual players they will be watching. I do wonder how many top players will pick up mysterious injuries on the eve of the tournament, once they realise the amount of travelling they will be asked to do. Looking at the Fixture and Venue schedule the travel and time scales is quite staggering. On 7 July 2020 Wembley Stadium in London will host the first semi-final between Italy and Germany. I may be wrong , but looking at the way Euro 2020 has been organised assuming they qualify Italy will play three Group Games in Rome, assuming they win Group A, before travelling to London for a last 16 game against Group C runner-up with the winner travelling on to a Quarter Final in Munich, against the last 16 winner from Bilbao, and a potential return trip to London for the semi-final. This from Group A where one country will open the tournament in Baku , fly to Rome to play their second game and then return to Baku for their final game, and if they finish second will then travel on Amsterdam, before travelling back to Baku if they win their last 16 game against Group B Runners up, for a Quarter Final. Germany similarly will host three games in Munich before as expected Group winners would face a 3rd place team in Burcharest before a Quarter Final in St Petersburg, against the winner of the Copenhagen last 16 games , and then on to the semi final in London. The Other semi final the following day will see the Dutch who host three groups, before as expected Group winners will travel to Budapest to face a 3rd placed team then move on to Baku to face the winners of the last 16 game from Amsterdam. The Dutch would then travel to London for the semi final where they could face England. England if as their media and supporters will expect to win Group D would travel to Dublin before a trip to Rome for their Quarter Final against the winner of last 16 game in Glasgow which is likely to be Spain. It may be great for TV and for local fans to see major football matches in their city but for the players, officials and particularly fans there is going to be a lot of very expensive last minute hotel and flight bookings, although more like sitting at home watching on TV. I wouldn’t be buying Follow Your Team tickets unless I had a great liking for airports and a massive bank account. Euro 2020 might be very costly to purchase tickets but that is a drop in the ocean to the cost and time travelling between venues spread as far apart as Baku , Dublin, Copenhagen & St Petersburg. The fun will begin with the draw in Bucharest on 30th November, but due to the playoffs in March there could be a further draw on 1st April. The playoffs could be even more fun for travelling fans with the finals taking place a few days after the semi finals, potentially in different countries, but don’t worry they will be on TV and that’s all that matters to the powerbrokers of the beautiful game. Euro2020 will be the tournament that stops football fans following their team, a very dangerous precedent for the future of the game as a spectator sport.