Blochairn Star v Bangal Lancers
East Dumbartonshire v AFC Ravenscraig
Kilbirnie Ladeside v Beith Juniors
The first Saturday of the new year and what better way to spend it than my beloved Ayrshire junior scene. So it was the usual Glasgow move of the 0633 off Sowerby, today terminating at Preston due to the six month blockade of the Blackpool line while they attempt to electrify it.
Oh Accrington, why are you so beautiful.
The previous evening had been the retirement do of a very well known train planner, and the great and the good from the industry were in attendance, which was held on a specially chartered class 40 hauled train on the East Lancs.
Accompanying it was a quiz, which was almost impossible so I had a second attempt on the the train over to Preston. I didn't fair much better, my knowledge of 1960s timetable in the Irwell Valley, obviously not being up to scratch.
I did better with the picture round, which was the exciting topic of identifying UK railway terminals as depicted on Ordnance Survey Landranger maps. The railway industry knows how to party.
But just as I thought I'd been able to identify the frequency of the Bury to Bacup line in 1958, we were into Preston and I was over to a Glasgow bound TPE service.
Heading northwards and I hadn't checked the weather in detail as it was very mild, but crossing the border and patches of snow appeared. Never mind, I'm sure this wouldn't effect the football.
Into Glasgo Central bang on time.
Where it was up a block and onto an Easterhouse bound bus.
The driver had done a great job of speeding away from people who had turned up at the bus stop just as the doors were closing, then awaiting time at the next stop a hundred yards down the road. I was off after a short time, on the Royston Road on the north east fringes of the centre.
My detsination for the first game of the day being Glenconner Park.
Blochairn Star 1 v Bengal Lancers 3, Strathclyde Saturday Morning League – Stax Trade Centres Premier Division
Blochairn Star hail from Garngad, or if you will, Royston, a very much Irish catholic area of East Glasgow. They have been a long time member of the Strathclyde Saturday Morning League, winning it in six times, the most recent time in 2016. Blochairn was a large fruit market in the district, which became popular as adjacent pubs were granted very early opening times to cater for the market shift workers.
There doesn't appear to be too much of a back story to Bengal Lancers, least of all the reasons for choosing the name, I assume its either a militaristic connection or an in joke. They are from north west Glasgow and also have a Sunday league team. They have won promotion in the last couple of seasons up from the third division of the Saturday Morning league. They have an excellent badge.
Glenconner Park was set up by Sir Charles Tennant, who owned the adjacent chemical works which made bleach. The park was built using ash from the adjacent railway works, so was notorious for infecting cuts and scrapes. It included a couple of football pitches, as well as bowling greens and children's play areas.
The facilities had fallen into disrepair and the council attempted to build a nursery on them, but this appears to have been countered. Instead, one of the football pitches has been upgraded. I did think it had been railed off but instead it has been levelled and a fenced off.
Dug outs had been provided but these appear to have soon become bare frames supporting minimal fragments of perspex.
The ground is dominated by the Charles Street flats on the horizon.
I'd arrived halfway through the first half, with the visitors 1-2 up, and some decent high ball action.
There was a patch of waste ground at one end, where a 4x4 crawled alongside, pulling up on the perimeter to watch the action, like a high end drug deal taking place at a County Championship cricket game.
For reasons that weren't too evident, the home forward took a swinging kick at the opposing centre half, right in front of the ref. He was sent off and he doesn't seem to be too apologetic as he leaves the field.
With the pitch being more a tennis court than a railed off ground, I went to look for alternate action. Leaving the ground and I was enticed by this rather exotic sounding neighbouring organisation.
The business estate sign revealed it to contain two scaffolding companies, a bus company, a bankrupt firm of builders, and then the wonderfully sounding "Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries".
It is apparently a real thing and they describe themselves as "a groundbreaking non-denominational fellowship committed to raising up an army of prayer warriors fully geared up to totally expose the activities of darkness preparatory to the coming of the end-time revival. Our tested and proven D-I-Y approach to prayer warfare continues to provoke dumb-founding miracles and attract divine intervention in situations which hitherto had proven intractable." If they do ever enter a team in the Strathclyde Evangelical League, I sure as hell won't be drinking the half time Kool Aid.
Taking in the St Rollox railway works. These were the carriage and wagon works for the Caledonian railway, then the heavy repair centre for British Rail in Scotland, and now, a fraction of its previous size, is owned by Knorr-Bremse and gains work as the Scottish government want Scotrail trains refurbished within the country, despite the fact that the work is being by a German owned company, and Scotrail is operated by Abellio, who are owned by the Dutch Government. Never mind, as long as its all being funded by the British taxpayer.
At least the title of "Knorr-Bremse RailServices Glasgow Works" gives an idea of who owns it, where it is and what industry it is involved with. Next door was this place, which was perhaps the most ambiguous signage imaginable. It turned out to be where the council repair their tractors.
This graffiti was encountered. I like to think it relates to the abandonment of any any hope in entertaining football whilst Jaap Stam is still in charge at Reading.
I soon spied my next sporting endeavour.
Which was here. That is the Glasgow club part, not Petershill business centre.
The action was taking place is the home of this outfit.
Petershill have a long history in Junior football, winning the Junior cup on five occasions. Their boom time was in the 1910s and 1950s, and have had limited success of late.
East Dumbartonshire 7 v AFC Ravenscraig 0, Strathclyde Saturday Morning League – Stax Trade Centres Premier Division
East Dumbartonshire were founded in 2002 as a youth side, based in Bishopbriggs to the north of Glasgow, and now have a myriad of sides at all age levels. There isn't too much about the open aged side, but I assume they stepped up from the youth outfit.
AFC Ravenscraig are from Wishaw, south east of Glasgow, adjacent to Motherwell. The club were formed in 2004 from a group of five a side players, naming themselves after the former steelworks.
The current 'New' Petershill Park opened in 2007. It replaced the former ground which was perpendicular to the goal line shown here. The old ground had a massive covered terrace, and a minuscule seated stand, but needless to say, was an absolute classic. Here is a five minute video of the ground, complete with audio of which I can not distinguish a single word the crowd say. I thinks someone may say wanker at about 47 seconds, but it is perhaps telling that is the only word of intelligible English that I can decipher.
The modern offering is a shadow of the former ground, being a 3G pitch with this bank of seating and terracing on one side.
A couple of steps of terracing are in situ on the opposite touchline, but the conversion to 3G has seen them disappear behind the myriad of goal structures that accompanies plastic pitches. Note the traditional east end tenement buildings overlooking the pitch.
I was there for a proportion of the second half, with the home team scoring a couple of goals to almost no reaction from either side, which usually means that one side is getting trounced.
A quick check with the subs revealed that these were the sixth and seventh goals in a 7-0 win for the home side.
I headed off to the nearby Barnhill station.
Where a Springburn-Balloch service was making its first call, two minutes after departing origin.
This was taken to Queen Street Low Level.
Where a wander across town saw Techno Tin Bin Man still active, though disappointingly, the soundtrack was Max Hydra Deep Remix of Haddaway - What Is Love.
Still required ScotRail traction is the Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 on the Central-Queen Street shuttle bus.
I'd intended to head out to do a double of Ayrshire junior games, however, on checking twitter, my first game of Dalry Thistle v Irvine Victoria was off with a frozen pitch. Second option of Irvine Meadow XI v Kilsyth Rangers had been changed because the hosts were trying to replay a cup game, which was postponed anyway. My prefered option would have been to head to Balloch for Vale of Leven v Duniplace Juniors, followed by climbing Dumbarton rock for some pictures of their Scottish league game, but it was now too late to get out their. So instead it was onto an Ayr bound stopping service.
And out across the Clyde.
And off at Glengarnock, which is the station for the small town of Kilbirnie. Kilbirnie was a hamlet of a handful of houses until the 1700s when it developed a textile industry, most notable nets, a trade that carried on into the 20th century when it made the anti-suicide nets for the BT tower. However, the major expansion occurred with the opening of Glengarnock steel works in 1840. This lifted the population up to 10,000 people but their closure in the 1980s saw the area spiral into decline, and it currently boasts Scotland's highest level of bankruptcy and the lowest life expectancy. The most famous person Kilbirnie gave to the world is Gordon McQueen, who is both solvent and alive.
A short walk along a very windy road took me to the football ground, which is on the station side of town.
The ground is bordered by an embankment which carried the Dalry and North Johnstone railway, until it shut in the 1960s. It now gives a very good view of the ground.
Kilbirnie Ladeside 1 v Beith Juniors 1, McBookie.com West of Scotland Super League Premi
er Division
Kilbirnie were formed in 1901, playing in the Ayrshire section of the Junior set up. They had an immediate post-war heyday, winning the league three times in five years and the Scottish Junior Cup. Since then they have had a couple more league wins and also another Junior cup win in 1977.
Beith I visited last season in their Scottish cup game with Morton.
Kilbirnie temporarily moved to Valefield Park during WWII as the army had requisitioned their Mill Road ground. However, Glengarnock Vale, the home club, never reformed post war so Kilbirnie stayed put.
Spectator structures are these two cantilever covers that date from the turn of the millennium and have recently benefited from a repaint.
The opposite touchline sees half terracing and the changing room and social club occupy the rest.
Behind the goals are wonderful cinder terraces.
I'd got to the game early for once and warm up was in process, which seemed to include almost everyone in the town.
Come kick off time and it seemed a free for all, with a bunch of kids now on the pitch.
The teams emerged , having to clear a father and son off the pitch.
And so the game got underway.
The game was a fast flowing game of accurate short passing.
Like hell it was. It was of course a fantastic display of hoofing.
Not quite high enough to trouble the steady stream of jets that passed overhead on their way into Glasgow airport. But only just.
There was a decent gathering of supporters from either side.
None of them favouring the wide expanses of terracing.
Instead both sides being huddled around their flags.
The Kilbirnie supporters on the near goal line.
Those who'd made the three mile journey from Beith favouring the view into direct sunlight.
With those on bikes with hugely over inflated tyres choosing an obscured view by the covers.
Whilst said covers had been lavished their recent repainting, the terracing thankfully remained untouched.
In various states of decay.
There then followed a rare moment of real football. From this free kick, instead of the ball being blasted thirty yards over the goal...
...it was dunked past the end of the wall...
...to a forward who had evaded his marker...
...who duly slotted home a 'straight from the training ground' free kick.
The players celebrated with the travelling fans.
There was excitement still to come, with Beith having two players sent off, both for the dull reason of second yellow cards. Kilbirnie then equalised from a penalty.
But Beith held out and the game finished 1-1.
So it was back to the station, which was more a decrepit house.
And another ScotRail 380, heading back into Glasgow. I had the option of stopping off in Paisley for St Mirren v Inverness.
However, I remembered how soul less the new St Mirren stadium is, how shit Scottish championship football is, and how fucking cold it was, and decided I couldn't be arsed to fork out over twenty quid for that torture. So instead it was back into central for another TPE service, though this time class 185 formed.
The sun was setting low over the Lowther Hills.
I dropped down into Preston.
Despite being on the other side of the Pennines, there was still the Northern Rail Saturday night farce to contend with. On this occasion, with it being fifty minutes before a fast Leeds train, I decided to get the Colne bound stoping service as far as Accrington. Except it didn't depart on time, apparently due to a mysterious lighting failure in one carriage, even though the fitters put all their effort into rectifying it by standing in the back cab and talking about football. As it was going to be late, I bailed out, and headed over to the following fast service. Then, in a stunning bit of incompetence, they got the stopper working, and let it depart 32 minutes late, precisely two minutes before the fast service, which then followed it all the way across past Blackburn. This meant we were horrendously late by Hebden, so I'd missed the connection onto the Sowerby train, and had to wait for the next one, which was ironically one from Preston, and the exact train I'd have caught if I had of stayed on and gone to the St Mirren game. I'm not sure what the gods were trying to tell me.
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