[RobRoyGuy]

Johnstone Burgh don't get talked about much on here so i thought i would start this thread after reading something about them and chatting to there guy on twitter who is so passionate about his club . Now i am not for summer football but when you read something like the following you do begin to wonder....

Burgh have played ONE home game since august 20th a 1-1 draw against blantyre, over 5 months ago , 3 home games all season those were in late july and sectional cup ties. All in they have played 12 games this season , 6 cup , 6 league .

You just wonder what effect this is having on a club who not that long ago (10-15 years ago ) were giants of the junior game winning the central premier league ,the evening times cup and getting to the scottish cup final they also had decent following to boot, some 7000 were at there cup final aganst whitburn another giant of the junior game who has fallen on hard times.

The situation Johnstone Burgh for me is one of the saddest in the junior game , oh how good it would be to have a strong burgh team like like not so long ago.

btw they have an away game next week at st roch's


EDIT They have played ONE yes ONE home match this season on a saturday , the other two were midweek games on a wednesday night !!

This post has been edited by RobRoyGuy: 29 January 2012 - 12:34

[Lex]

Good thread, I used to live beside the Burghs ground and went to watch them play quite regularly when i was younger. The cup run when we got the final was superb, I remember losing on penalties to Whitburn at Firhill, was a great day out though.

Went to see them a couple of times last year and they have really fallen from grace. Crowd was sparse, team was poor and their seemed to be an air of apathy about the place. The cowshed, which used to be rocking in my youth, was totally empty.

The Burgh has a big catchment area for fans, especially when you consider Paisley doesn't have a Junior team. Let's hope they bounce back at some stage and get the big crowds back through the gates at Keanie Park

[HibeeJibee]

That's pretty astonishing. Have they got some drainage problems, a burst pipe under the pitch, or similar? Weather was fairly mild in the autumn so you'd imagine it has to be something pretty severe, to have played only 1 home game since late August (i.e. 5 months).

[RobRoyGuy]

Lex, on 29 January 2012 - 12:34, said:

Good thread, I used to live beside the Burghs ground and went to watch them play quite regularly when i was younger. The cup run when we got the final was superb, I remember losing on penalties to Whitburn at Firhill, was a great day out though.

Went to see them a couple of times last year and they have really fallen from grace. Crowd was sparse, team was poor and their seemed to be an air of apathy about the place. The cowshed, which used to be rocking in my youth, was totally empty.

The Burgh has a big catchment area for fans, especially when you consider Paisley doesn't have a Junior team. Let's hope they bounce back at some stage and get the big crowds back through the gates at Keanie Park

Good post Lex , they really did have a passionate group of guy's following them around mid 90's to early 2000 . Remember going to keenie park around 2000 , a central 1st division match and the ground had a good atmosphere about it . As you say what makes it even sadder is the catchment area is realy good . It's a real shame the good following they did have has disappeared. The guy i was talking to on twitter and guys like him who are working so hard in tough tough times to keep proud junior clubs going , really are salt of the earth kind of people .

btw lex did you live in one of those big mansions next to keanie park !

[Stormrelic]

Carluke played Johnstone burgh at Carluke earlier in the season at Carluke & personally I thought they were the best team we have played this season but I think they will find it hard as we get closer to the end of the season & they have to play 3 or 4 games a week .

[glensmad]

In 2000 Glencairn played Burgh at Keanie Park in a promotion decider in early June, and there was a huge crowd there. I was astonished when we went back to play them in another promotion decider in May 2009, and Burgh's support must have been 20 fans at most that day.

[Stargazer]

Out of curiosity what ever happened to the plan of the Burgh moving from Keanie Park to a new ground?

[HTG]

RobRoyGuy, on 29 January 2012 - 12:27, said:

Johnstone Burgh don't get talked about much on here so i thought i would start this thread after reading something about them and chatting to there guy on twitter who is so passionate about his club . Now i am not for summer football but when you read something like the following you do begin to wonder....

Why on earth would this make you wonder? I have sympathy with Burgh if they can't get a game played but they would have no chance of finishing a season under any circumstances if their pitch has been fit for such a low number of home games. There's enough on the summer football thread but we can't legislate for all clubs by working around the needs of those with the worst drainaige problems. There seems to be a problem with the pitch. If so, they will struggle as a club until it is sorted.

[RobRoyGuy]

They seemed to get games played on it July and august and have not managed one since then . Just made me think how summer football would most probably help a team like johnstone burgh .

Tbh I don't want this descending into a summer football debate its been done to death then some .
I was highlighting the plight of a club who i and many more with have fond memories of from not so long ago .

[WaffenThinMint]

Johnstone Burgh's ground has always had drainage problems and has always been prone to flooding. The de facto owner of Johnstone Burgh is Geordie Walker, owner of Abercorn Builders, who do construction and civil engineering work.

Apparantly it's beyond the owner of a company that used to get a disproportionate number of local council contracts for all manner of projects to sort the drainage at Keanie Park despite his near 30 year association with the club (bar a break at Kilbirnie Ladeside). Can't sort it, or won't sort it?

The move to Thomas Shanks Park has been constantly put back for over ten years now with more promises than action, and it seems now they can forget it. Money is being put into the other side of the park to revamp the McMaster Centre end to suit Thorn Athletic amateurs instead.

[Hillonearth]

Their projected move to a new ground seems to have been on the cards for an inordinately long time right enough, as has the move of Renfrew from Western Park. Not heard anything about that for a good while either. It's a real shame what's happened to the Burgh though - hopefully the big support they had maybe a decade ago will come back out of the woodwork if they get the new ground sorted out.

This post has been edited by Hillonearth: 29 January 2012 - 16:29

[RobRoyGuy]

WaffenThinMint, on 29 January 2012 - 16:15, said:

Johnstone Burgh's ground has always had drainage problems and has always been prone to flooding. The de facto owner of Johnstone Burgh is Geordie Walker, owner of Abercorn Builders, who do construction and civil engineering work.

Apparantly it's beyond the owner of a company that used to get a disproportionate number of local council contracts for all manner of projects to sort the drainage at Keanie Park despite his near 30 year association with the club (bar a break at Kilbirnie Ladeside). Can't sort it, or won't sort it?

The move to Thomas Shanks Park has been constantly put back for over ten years now with more promises than action, and it seems now they can forget it. Money is being put into the other side of the park to revamp the McMaster Centre end to suit Thorn Athletic amateurs instead.

They sponsored the old central leagues didn't they ?

I noticed the SJFA have been trying very hard to give burgh home games 6 or 7 in a row without any success of a home game being played.Obviously the problems at johnstone run far deeper than just no home games for 5 months but what chance do they have in gaining some sort home support when the don't play a home games for months and months.

[HTG]

RobRoyGuy, on 29 January 2012 - 16:39, said:

They sponsored the old central leagues didn't they ?

I noticed the SJFA have been trying very hard to give burgh home games 6 or 7 in a row without any success of a home game being played.Obviously the problems at johnstone run far deeper than just no home games for 5 months but what chance do they have in gaining some sort home support when the don't play a home games for months and months.

Well if they want to wait for summer football then they are welcome to try. But it won't be happening so either fix the pitch or accept that they will need to make the best of what they have. It's always a shame to see clubs struggling when they have known better days in the recent past but usually there is an underlying problem - something that seems to be in the process of being pointed out here.

[Mon The Port]

we played them in the sectional league cup at their ground at the start of the season, hope they get it sorted

[cmontheloknow]

The ground is built on old mineworks as far as I know. I don't know if the drainage issues are anything to do with that, but there are problems for sure.

It's a real shame as there are some great guys involved at the Burgh.

[RobRoyGuy]

cmontheloknow, on 29 January 2012 - 19:11, said:

The ground is built on old mineworks as far as I know. I don't know if the drainage issues are anything to do with that, but there are problems for sure.

It's a real shame as there are some great guys involved at the Burgh.

While your on and to save me looking it up , any chance if its not to much trouble giving me the johnstone burgh team line up for the 2000 scottish cup final ?

Was reading for a quarter final tie in 2000 against glenafton the burgh got 2000 at that game .Nowadays i bet the guys at the burgh would be delighted with 200 or even 100 at there games.

And have Johnstone as a town been represented at senior level ? before the junior team's formation in 1956 ?

This post has been edited by RobRoyGuy: 29 January 2012 - 19:18

[cmontheloknow]

RobRoyGuy, on 29 January 2012 - 19:17, said:

While your on and to save me looking it up , any chance if its not to much trouble giving me the johnstone burgh team line up for the 2000 scottish cup final ?

Was reading for a quarter final tie in 2000 against glenafton the burgh got 2000 at that game .Nowadays i bet the guys at the burgh would be delighted with 200 or even 100 at there games.

And have Johnstone as a town been represented at senior level ? before the junior team's formation in 1956 ?

Yeah plenty of Johnstone sides before the Burgh, including a Scottish League side.

Side was:

Alan Donohue
Zander Ryan
Grant Clark
Lee Martin
Derek Heaton
Stuart Hendren
Johnny Millar
Colin Lindsay
Alan Frater
Davie Brolly
John McLay

[whitburn exile]

Shame to hear what's happened to them had a good laugh with their fans at the cup final

[ScottR96]

My Grandad played in the Junior Cup Final in the mid-60's with Burgh and they won . He set up the 3 goals and I have his medal.

[tombo]

This situation with no home game revenue must be putting a drain on the club's cash flow, with every penny a prisoner for a lot of clubs.

However I seem to remember Dalry having to bite the bullet in the ADL and play all their games away from home because of the state of the pitch @ Merksworth, and they won promotion too.

[garrellburn]

cmontheloknow, on 29 January 2012 - 19:32, said:

Yeah plenty of Johnstone sides before the Burgh, including a Scottish League side.

Side was:

Alan Donohue
Zander Ryan
Grant Clark
Lee Martin
Derek Heaton
Stuart Hendren
Johnny Millar
Colin Lindsay
Alan Frater
Davie Brolly
John McLay

Just looking at that line-up, it had so many names of players who went on and did well at other top clubs. If thay could have keptit together for a few seasons they might still be a top club

[HibeeJibee]

RobRoyGuy, on 29 January 2012 - 15:46, said:

They seemed to get games played on it July and august and have not managed one since then . Just made me think how summer football would most probably help a team like johnstone burgh .

I don't see how it would make any difference tbh... If they've effectively been unable to host anything since August it includes 3 months worth of summer season, too. They'd presumably have needed to have played their last 6 or so home games elsewhere, or possibly withdrawn from the league and had their results expunged.

At least the winter season gives then the good weather (and light midweeks) in April-May-June to get finished.

It does sound an unfortunate state of affairs for the club - and as others have said, your pitch being unplayable for almost 1/2 a year (could be 2/3!!) must be horrid in financial and competitive terms.

[Mon The Port]

some recognisable names in that line up

[RobRoyGuy]

HibeeJibee, on 29 January 2012 - 20:44, said:

I don't see how it would make any difference tbh... If they've effectively been unable to host anything since August it includes 3 months worth of summer season, too. They'd presumably have needed to have played their last 6 or so home games elsewhere, or possibly withdrawn from the league and had their results expunged.

At least the winter season gives then the good weather (and light midweeks) in April-May-June to get finished.

It does sound an unfortunate state of affairs for the club - and as others have said, your pitch being unplayable for almost 1/2 a year (could be 2/3!!) must be horrid in financial and competitive terms.

Ok ok your right , as i said didn't want to go down the whole summer football thing again , i was just giving my opinion rightly or wrongly where i thought the more football being played in the better month's weather wise would obviously help them, let's leave it at that thanks.

Away from summer fecking football , Colin Lindsay went on to manage the burgh didn't he ?

Looking at it Johnstone Burgh were particpating in the very first super premier league where they finished a respectable 5th season 2002-2003, the following season 2003-2004 they finished 9th strangley enough not winning a home game all season !Season 2004-2005 they again survived in the super premier finsihing 10th.

2005-2006 was the season they got relegated along with larkhall between then and now they have been relegated to the central second division where they have spent how many season's now ?

This post has been edited by RobRoyGuy: 29 January 2012 - 20:55

[Kilwinning Ranger]

cmontheloknow, on 29 January 2012 - 19:32, said:

Yeah plenty of Johnstone sides before the Burgh, including a Scottish League side.

Side was:

Alan Donohue
Zander Ryan
Grant Clark
Lee Martin
Derek Heaton
Stuart Hendren
Johnny Millar
Colin Lindsay
Alan Frater
Davie Brolly
John McLay

They had a cracking team back then teams would be doing well to get a result at Keanie Park in those days.