footiefanboy

From the P&J Doesn't look good for Fort William Future of Fort uncertain as all six directors to step downby ReporterJanuary 26, 2018, 6:59 amThe future of Fort William Football Club hangs in the balance after it emerged that all six directors will step down at the end of this season.Among those stepping down are Stewart Maclean and Gerald McIntyre, who have contributed significant sums of money over the last five years to keep the club afloat.Secretary Marie McMillan, Michael MacEachen, Stewart Leitch and Ronnie Maclean will also be standing down.Fort William made an appeal last April to attract new volunteers to help run the Claggan Park club but with little success.The Lochaber outfit’s existence is now in doubt if a new group is not found to take on the responsibility of running it.Stewart Maclean said: “After a five-year commitment I do not wish to continue underwriting, with a fellow director, the funding of the club.“More importantly, I do not have the time required to continue attending to the day-to-day business of the club but I will meet all of my obligations to the club until the end of this season.“Fort William FC is an asset to Fort William and Lochaber, something that we all recognised when we became involved five years ago, and hopefully a new board will step forward.“A lot of work has been done over the last five years in structuring the club and the new board will benefit from these endeavours.”Fellow director Ronnie Maclean said: “It is time for the next generation to step up and ensure the future of a West Highland football team in the Highland League.“There are important decisions to be taken over the next few months. The out-going directors have all confirmed that they will give every support to the new board and new committee members.“By advising of our decision at this time we believe that the new board will have time to settle in before the start of the 2018-2019 season.”Highland League secretary Rod Houston said: “The league is very concerned about the news and we can only hope that the Lochaber community rallies round its football club.”Fort William secretary and director McMillan said: “As we step down we wish to take the opportunity to acknowledge the commitment and work of the small band of volunteers, the management team, the dedicated squad of players and the support of the many club sponsors and loyal supporters.”Any individual or group wishing to take the club forward should, in the first instance, call 07836 608 089 or 07803 049 571.

How about Jim Baxter? He was also in the same squad ( albeit as a sub) but perhaps not so clear cut. Every time I saw him he was hugely impressive...certainly has to be considered?

The squad was made up of players from South America and Europe with a South American coach. Quite a wide geographical spread, considering that few players at that time had emerged from Africa, Asia or the Middle East. As you agree that there are no 'official' criteria, much of this must be opinion based but the opinion of those who selected the squad would perhaps be more valid than many of the partisan comments on here. Slightly harsh that the fact that Denis Law was selected as a World XI player doesn't give him an edge over the likes of Alan Hutton a sometime Rangers player. However, we are all entitled to our opinion and I respect yours that Law was not world class even though I disagree.

Hence the fact that 'officially' was in inverted commas. Can you tell me what the official criteria are? In the assumed absence of official criteria, I would have thought that being selected for a Rest of the World XI would be as close as you could come being classified as world class.

In terms of criteria, the case for Denis Law being 'officially' world class was proved in 1964 when he was selected for a Rest of the World XI to play England as part of the English FA Centenary celebrations. Edited to add: ...and he scored.

Without checking, there would have been better years in the mid eighties ( probably 83 and/or 84) but still an impressive performance in the modern era. Any stattos able to confirm?

Just seen this thread and I don't know if it has been mentioned before as a definition of world class but Denis Law was chosen for a Rest of the World XI v England in 1963 alongside Eusebio, Di Stefano and Santos etc. He also scored. Among the subs were Puskas and Jim Baxter. In the 50 odd years since then only Kenny Dalglish comes to mind!

http://scottish-football-historical-archive.com/clublistbycounty.xls This link (hopefully it will work) gives a comprehensive list of Junior (and Senior) clubs which have gone defunct. It takes quite a long time to load so stick with it.

According to Norman Harper , well-known North East Doric writer and humourist, the terms "rowie" and "buttery" are interchangeable -it's all a matter of geography - "The only difference is geographic. Historically, “rowie” was the word used in Aberdeen, while “buttery” was the word used for the identical item in Aberdeenshire, Banffshire and Kincardine. Now that the population is more mobile, you’ll hear both terms used throughout the North-east. In all cases, both products are identical." Here's a link to his article: http://www.stronach.co.uk/2012-01-05/rowies-or-butteries Either way they are delicious and may go some way to explaining why Aberdeen have such a BIG support!