tinto

I think it was the David Elder Hospital Cup first. The Erskine Cup was played at the end of the season I seen Benburb win 2 nil against Clydebank in 1962 at Tinto Park in a final. Jim McDonald scored both goals. In the pre penalty shootout days the games were decided on corners if the teams were level.

Remember 2003 well. The . Ben's did well to survive. Good luck for next season.

I have felt for a very long time that Junior Football is several decades past its sell by date. It was good in its time but now a back stream to the real world of football. In respect to Benburb I would love them to join the pyramid outside the Junior Football. With Govan re-populating there is scope for decent standard non league teams to participate in meaningful fixtures. This could be achieved if they got them selves out of the Juniors and aspired to better things.

It was black ash. From memory it had a white rail around the pitch. Two or three steps of terracing were on three sides which were overgrown. The clubhouse was behind the entrance which was at the end of a street. There was no cover. The Strathies had little support in an area that had several other teams nearby.

St.Anthonys pitch was grass but with a bare patch down the middle due to over playing on it. This was true for many junior grounds. Dennistoun Waverley were a big club at Juvenile level and recruited many of their players from these teams. They had the only full time manager in junior football called Andy Moffatt. Strathclyde Juniors near Celtic Park had a black ash pitch within a decent sized ground at Springfield park. They had the distinction of the lowest crowd at a junior match of zero to see Blantyre Celtic.

Many congratulations to the Ben's on their promotion. Well done to the players and management. I seen them win against a good Arthurlie team at start of the season and thought they would do well. It has been a long journey back to the top league for Benburb. In 2003 their survival was in doubt and they tumbled down the league's. Good decision making by the committee then enabled them to survive. They deserve enormous credit for sticking with it and are now reaping some success. Many congratulations of course to Rutherglen Glencairn.

Benburb football Club Named after a town in Northern Ireland.

I would just like to say well done to Burnie man and many others for their perseverance on providing what I believe will be a better future for the football clubs that have moved over. It will not be perfect and there will be challenges to overcome. However at least the clubs will be able to find their level and improve standards. It is a great pity the club that I have followed all my life Benburb are not moving over with them. I sincerely hope they will review their position and move over next season.

It may be 20 years too late but at least there are moves in a positive direction in my opinion. However a separate organisation which is not aligned to the SFA set up will not solve the problem. The thinking should always be that you are dealing with football clubs and should not give them labels (Senior or Junior). The good well run clubs like Auchinleck, Cumnock, Pollok, Clydebank etc should be allowed to compete on equal terms with other non league sides in the country. This would benefit the Scottish game as a whole I believe.

By co-incidence I was at Tinto park on Saturday for the Govan derby. Well the New Tinto Park which again by co-incidence was the old Tinto Park before they moved into the new Tinto Park that you see in the picture. Hope that makes sense !!. I remember them putting that cover up as a kid in the mid 1950's. Looking at the picture the match was played in the last decade and my guess is Johnstone Burgh could be the opponents. I agree with the comment about not keeping grounds up to scratch and that is no reflection on the people involved with the clubs. The problem is; like the Bens, the committee's are too small for one reason or another and the work load for the people involved is considerable. Saturday was the first time I had been to New Tinto Park and was impressed. However it will need keeping up and hopefully the Bens will be able to get some folk on board to help their very small hard working crew. The Ants won 4-1 and I thought they deserved it. Bens were good in parts. Hopefully both Govan junior teams will go on to having a good season The big problem IMHO with the ground aspect of Junior 'fitba is that they do not set a minimum standard for grounds.

I rate the Dreghorn post as excellent and agree entirely with Burnieman. A shake up is long overdue.

I provided a programme for Benburb FC. My son provided them with a website from around 2003. the reason we got involved was because the club was in dire straights and to their credit the then committee set about a 'Mission Impossible' plan to save the club. To their enormous credit they succeeded. Producing a programme does take effort and the financial return at the gate is never going to offset the cost of producing them. However I have always believed that it is important to provide people coming to watch your club with a good match day experience and a programme can be a good part of that. . One of the first programmes we produced was against Clydebank soon after they reformed and sold over 100 at the game. Indirectly programmes can benefit. We asked Sir Alex Ferguson for help in saving the club and he responded big time in helping save the club he supported in his boyhood. He provided the odd article for the programme and even visited the club.one evening to meet the officials. There were a number of exile fans who also supported the club and efforts to save it. I got involved on a few occasions in selling the programmes at the gate when I was fortunate enough to see a match and calculated that 2 out of 3 supporters purchased. Going back to the Scone experience I would say Scone are probably typical of many Junior Clubs. Having watched Junior football in the 1950's and comparing it to now it is difficult to see any great progress except that the relative playing standards have gone backwards. So perhaps the thread title should be 'Back to the Future' !!.

I accept that the Scone guys work hard and do their best under often difficult circumstances. I had heard about the famous pies so forewent my lunch. Unfortunately when I went for the pie at half time they had sold out. Just my luck !!.

Good stuff guys, thanks for your viewpoints. As they say 'Lets make sure no Scone is unturned' in the pursuit of improving Scottish Junior fitba' !!.

IMHO Scottish Junior football will never progress until they raise the standards of the 'offer' on match days. For example I watched Scone Thistle v Benburb in a Scottish Junior Cup match a couple of seasons back and the game was played effectively on a public park adjacent to a school. There was cover whatsoever and no match day programme on the day. They did however provide a complete set of officials and the club folk were friendly. The standard of play in the match was I thought very poor and the result was 1-1. Now guys in the 21st century is this acceptable ?. To progress all the clubs need to view what they are charging an admission for and a minimum standard must be set. Money from the top of the Pyramid must come downwards and help fund improvements at the lower levels including the Juniors. A relatively small amount of money targeted for ground improvements would go a long way. You need people who run the organisation who will have vision on how they can improve things. This means identifying shortcomings and putting a big effort into lobbying the SFA and Business's to sell the product. I acknowledge there are many wonderful people in Junior football who put a great effort in on behalf of their clubs.

I am old enough to remember the games in the 1950's. Many are featured in my book from a few years back called 'A time in Govan'. The Junior clubs generally had big crowds at many of their matches. My club Benburb had 20,000 for the visit of Bo'ness United in 1953. Tinto Park often had four figure crowds and they took good support to the away matches. Each of the three shipyards provided a coachload of supporters. The biggest crowd I seen at Tinto Park was when Ardeer Thistle came in 1960. I seemed like half of Ayrshire were at the match which the Bens won 2-0. St.Anthony's also had decent support and took a trainload of supporters to a match in Ayrshire; leaving from Ibrox Station !. When John Quigley played they packed out Moore Park in a great run to the SJC quarter final where from memory they lost to Kilsyth Rangers. It is true there were a few matches where there were little or no crowd with some clubs. Poor old Strathclyde had one match with Blantyre Celtic where the crowd was zero. The weather was appalling and although a couple from Blantyre arrived late they were let in free to Springfield Park. Going back to the question posed. Yes I travel up to watch matches out of nostalgia. However I still have the same passion for the club that I had all those years ago. For Scottish football and not just junior football to succeed IMHO it must evolve with time and be more ambitious. Over the years I feel that 'Junior fitba' is caught in a time warp. Lets hope that things eventually sort themselves out.

Scottish Junior Football was great in its day. However it does need to change and merge within a Pyramid system. From my observation from afar it has barely moved forward in the last 20 years and seems to be bouncing along the bottom. The clubs as well as the association officials are as much to blame as each other. The only way change will come is from the SFA coming up with a blueprint which means all clubs are given equal opportunities to advance at their respective levels. Until such time it will remain a mickey mouse operation. That said I look forward to taking in a few games in a few weeks time especially the Govan derby between the Bens and the Ants.

An extract from my book 'A time in Govan'. 'Some crowds at the Scottish Juniors matches were very high and on many occasions higher than senior clubs gates. There were exceptions. Strathclyde’s home league match against Blantyre Celtic attracted a crowd of nil. The once famous Strathies had fallen on bad times and their very existence was being threatened. The day in question was one of the worst for weather and many supporters may have thought the match at Springfield Park would be off. A few spectators turned up late and were admitted into the ground free as the gatekeeper could not be bothered to re-open the pay gate. The Springfield Park ground provided a bleak background being black ash and no cover for spectators. The few spectators present huddled around the changing block. Strathclyde were having a poor season and the wee Celtic were on a good run and still interested in the Scottish Junior Cup. It was backs to the wall for the Strathies in the first half but they held on until half time scoreless. In the second half the home side improved and gave their small hard working committee something to cheer about when Freddy Falconer netted the winner. Strathclyde paid the £12 ‘guarantee to Blantyre Celtic at the end of the match. The Springfield Park ground was well kept up although sparse. Across the road was Celtic Park and several other Junior clubs were nearby. Celtic proved to be good neighbours and always willing to help out the Strathies whenever required. They played friendly matches, supplied almost brand new football’s and training kit. A lot of other acts of kindness were forthcoming from the Parkhead club which went to keeping the Strathclyde club afloat.' Tinto

Extract from 'A Time in Govan'. book. All royalties from the book will be donated to the Preshal Trust in Govan. The Scottish Junior Cup was again well followed. A 4th Round tie when St.Roch’s entertained Cambuslang Rangers. 6,500 turned up including Celtic manager Jimmy McGrory. The match had an ‘old firm’ feel and the black ash pitch made control of the ball difficult. The wee ‘Gers built up a big 3 goal lead but two late goals from the Candy meant they were hanging on at the final whistle. In the semi final they had another ’old firm’ feel about their match against Dundee St.Joseph at Muirton Park, Perth. The Joey’s were cheered on by their followers and made a bright start. However, they were to see Cambuslang Rangers take the lead with an overhead kick on 13 minutes. Tees had the ball in the net again but was ruled offside. In the second half Tees tried a fierce shot from the edge of the box and the ‘wee Gers’ were in their comfort zone. Dastry added a third from the penalty spot to confirm a place in the final. However, the Dundee side never gave up and Reid had the ‘Joey’s’ singing with a consolation goal. However, Cambuslang followers were to have the last cheers as Tees dived to head in number 4 and a fifth was scored just on time RESULT: DUNDEE ST.JOSEPH’S 1 CAMBUSLANG RANGERS 5 Ashfield lined up against Dunbar United in the other Scottish Junior Cup semi final at Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh. On their passage to the semi final Ashfield overcame a stormy tie with Arthurlie in a match that was not concluded. In the 5th Round tie a tight match was taking place at Dunterlie Park, Barrhead. The local side Arthurlie had a large support at the match against Ashfield and they were in a high state of excitement. With twenty minutes to go Ashfield were awarded a penalty. The kick was taken and the ball struck the post. The referee ordered a re-take as an Arthurlie player was in the area. The second kick was taken and scored. At this point the referee was attacked from both ends of the ground and he was moved to an adjacent fence for his protection from about 100 spectators. He was, with the help of Arthurlie officials and a local policeman, smuggled into the changing rooms where he was locked in for his own protection. Several Arthurlie fans were subsequently arrested and three sent to jail for 60 days.The match abandoned with 20 minutes left was awarded to Ashfield.

Scott, By co-incidence we covered the Burgh v Glenrothes 1968 Scottish Junior Cup Final in our programme for the recent Benburb v Glenrothes Scottish Junior Cup match. 1968 daw two fantastic matches eventually won by the Burgh. If you contact The evening times they have a picture of the Johnstone Burgh captain holding the cup aloft at Hampden Park. Thursday 16th May 1968 edition. Page 10. My copy is very poor I am afraid. Great thread by the way !!. The 1954 Kilsyth Rangers side were powerful by all accounts. They beat the Bens 6-0 at Shawfield in the Evening Times Cup Final. Kilsyth had future international George Mulhall in the team. The Bens did not have to wait long for revenge. A Tommy Douglas inspired Bens scored seven past Kilsyth in a league match early in the following season at Tinto Park. Enjoy looking at the photo's, Many Thanks, Tinto

Good highlights for the Irvine Meadow match and also for this one thanks. My view is the Larkhall Thistle first goal should not have been allowed. The throw in is clearly illegal; as far as i am aware both feet should have been on the ground. If this is the case the penalty would not have been awarded and subsequently the Ants player would not have been sent off. Larkhall Thistle are getting a wee bit of luck with dodgy throw ins. Ealier in the year they scored a goal at Benburb when the ball was thrown in underarm. Perhaps the referee's should go on a refresher course on the taking of throw ins !. Tinto

For many years it was the red ash pitch for the adjacent Ibrox Primary School.

As far as i am aware the cover at Tinto Park was built in the early 1950's as new. Good memories of Cathkin Park. Several boys in my class at school were ardent hi hi supporters. The first time I went there the crush barriers were concrete. However they were changed to the red metal ones during one close season. Seen the Thirds in the semi final of the League Cup at Ibrox when they beat Arbroath 3-0. In the final their keeper; who was very small; Jocky Robertson played a blinder but they lost to Hearts 2-1 despite scoring in the first minute. Third Lanark were a strong side and had George Young formerly of Rangers as manager. Went to Roseberry Park when very young but do not remember much apart from a red brick wall around the ground. Petershill Park always had a bit of class to it and a good support. Love these photo's they play on my nostalgia. Many Thanks, Tinto

Firstly great photo's again chaps !!. I know I am not supposed to say anything nice about the Ants but great research as always by Osama. Just do not tell the Bens guys I said that !!. The photo from Brig O'Lea shows; On extreme right is a corner of the Ants Moore Park ground. At the very top of the picture you can see Tinto Park. The long cover facing and the big terracing behind the ssouth goal. Also clear is the clubhouse in the corner and the smaller terracing behind the north (downslope) goal. Next to the high blocks is the Albion Stadium. This was a dog track until the early 1960's. rangers bought the stadium and used it as their training ground. When the Govan High school got burned down in that period we were sent to the old Bellahouston Academy building (a dump !). I used to walk past all the parks during the coldest winter since year dot and seen the Rangers players walk over the road to training. The White City to the left of the picture was also a good stadium. The owner ( I think) was a big Ants fan and on their committee for a while. They had stock car racing in the summer and it attracted big crowds to a good nights entertainment. Tinto