I forgot that he played for us - League 1 edition

[Mon_The_Fife]

Following on from the Premiership and Championship threads, who were the players that arrived at your club with a bit of a fanfare but left without anyone really noticing?

 

For East Fife here’s a few but going back over the squads over the last decade or so certainly throws up some interesting names.

 

Paddy Kelly - A player who had came through at Celtic and moved to Newcastle very early in his career, I was expecting big things when Jim Moffat signed him. Fluctuated between RB and CM leaving very little impression and disappeared, last seen having a pee behind one of the floodlights during a game at Dumbarton.

 

Paul Mathers - I might be wrong, but I don’t think he actually played a game for us. Signed with us before swiftly moving to St Mirren who we then beat shortly after in a cup game at Love Street.

 

Goran Stanic - A decent player in his prime but by the time he moved to us, he was near the end of his career and didn’t really make much of an impression.

 

Lee Makel - See above.

 

Ben Gordon - A very capable centre half in the lower leagues of Scottish football, but didn’t really perform in his short stint with us and quickly vanished. He now plays over here in Auckland for Glenfield Rovers and I’ve watched him a few times, fair to say his best days are behind him.

 

[Mr November]

Here’s some Airdrie players who sort of fit this from the past decade, forced into a 5-3-2 formation. 

Kenny Arthur - Signed after a long spell at Thistle and then five years in England, this seemed like a good signing at the time. To be honest I don’t recall much about him despite him having played for over half our relegation season in 2012/13, so he can’t have been that bad compared to some other keepers from that time. 

David Van Zanten - We had two decent right backs and no left backs going into 2015/16 and Gary Bollan decided to fix that by signing an experienced right back. I remember him playing a couple of games in midfield but it never worked out and he was away by February.

Michael Hart - Another experienced player signed in 2012/13, he wasn’t great before leaving halfway through the season to take up a full-time job. Can’t blame him. 

David Lilley - Signed in 2011/12 after a good full-time career, this seemed a good signing for League One. He did ok that season but really struggled in the Championship the following season. One of the slowest players I’ve seen. 

Ben Richards-Everton - Signed on loan from Partick Thistle in 2014/15 after playing a lot of games in the Conference down south. He was alright but had his fair share of bombscare moments and was replaced by the much better Liam Lindsay for the second half of the season (the half we were good). Seems to be doing well now though. 

Garry Hay - Had a great career at Kilmarnock and played a few games for us at the start of 2013/14 but he left at the end of August to take up a full-time job with the SFA. I can’t recall anything about him playing for Airdrie at all. 

Kevin McBride - Had a short spell managing Airdrie before being chucked as part of Gordon Dalziel’s football review which ended with Dalziel as director of football and his pal Mark Wilson as manager. Before that, McBride played for us the previous season but struggled with injuries and never really got going. 

Jordan Thompson - A highly rated youngster signed on loan from Rangers. I thought he generally looked uninterested and not very good but he did score a brilliant goal up at Cowdenbeath. Now a regular in the English Championship and a Northern Ireland international.

Steven Hetherington - Joined in the second half of the dismal 2012/13 season on loan from Motherwell and was ok but never stood out as being a particularly good footballer. He’s gone on to have a great career at Alloa though. 

Liam Buchanan - Another from the 2012/13 season (there’s a theme here). He only played six games but didn’t score and to be honest just looked finished. Nothing like the player who would go on to play for Alloa and Livingston. 

Bob McHugh - Signed towards the end of the 2014/15 season, he only played five games but managed to score four goals during that time. Would happily have him back but his previous spell was so short it’s very easy to forget about.

[BullyWeeStonehouse]

Theres about 100 to choose from for Clyde over the past 10 to 15 years.

One that stands out for me is Paul Emslie. We had him on loan as a highly rated youngster from Rangers. Played a hand full of games, did next to nothing and then left.

Think he ended up at Peterhead after us and is now at Cove Rangers.

Mark Archdeacon from Motherwell is another. Came from Motherwell with a decent reputation but was chronic and left very quickly.

[The Moonster]

If you've forgotten they played for you, how can you remember them?

[the snudge]

I wish I could forget Steven Craig ever playing for us. 

[GoalForAirdrie]

3 hours ago, Mr November said:

Here’s some Airdrie players who sort of fit this from the past decade, forced into a 5-3-2 formation. 

Kenny Arthur - Signed after a long spell at Thistle and then five years in England, this seemed like a good signing at the time. To be honest I don’t recall much about him despite him having played for over half our relegation season in 2012/13, so he can’t have been that bad compared to some other keepers from that time. 

David Van Zanten - We had two decent right backs and no left backs going into 2015/16 and Gary Bollan decided to fix that by signing an experienced right back. I remember him playing a couple of games in midfield but it never worked out and he was away by February.

Michael Hart - Another experienced player signed in 2012/13, he wasn’t great before leaving halfway through the season to take up a full-time job. Can’t blame him. 

David Lilley - Signed in 2011/12 after a good full-time career, this seemed a good signing for League One. He did ok that season but really struggled in the Championship the following season. One of the slowest players I’ve seen. 

Ben Richards-Everton - Signed on loan from Partick Thistle in 2014/15 after playing a lot of games in the Conference down south. He was alright but had his fair share of bombscare moments and was replaced by the much better Liam Lindsay for the second half of the season (the half we were good). Seems to be doing well now though. 

Garry Hay - Had a great career at Kilmarnock and played a few games for us at the start of 2013/14 but he left at the end of August to take up a full-time job with the SFA. I can’t recall anything about him playing for Airdrie at all. 

Kevin McBride - Had a short spell managing Airdrie before being chucked as part of Gordon Dalziel’s football review which ended with Dalziel as director of football and his pal Mark Wilson as manager. Before that, McBride played for us the previous season but struggled with injuries and never really got going. 

Jordan Thompson - A highly rated youngster signed on loan from Rangers. I thought he generally looked uninterested and not very good but he did score a brilliant goal up at Cowdenbeath. Now a regular in the English Championship and a Northern Ireland international.

Steven Hetherington - Joined in the second half of the dismal 2012/13 season on loan from Motherwell and was ok but never stood out as being a particularly good footballer. He’s gone on to have a great career at Alloa though. 

Liam Buchanan - Another from the 2012/13 season (there’s a theme here). He only played six games but didn’t score and to be honest just looked finished. Nothing like the player who would go on to play for Alloa and Livingston. 

Bob McHugh - Signed towards the end of the 2014/15 season, he only played five games but managed to score four goals during that time. Would happily have him back but his previous spell was so short it’s very easy to forget about.

Don’t forget Joe Hammill

[Mr November]

3 hours ago, GoalForAirdrie said:

Don’t forget Joe Hammill

He was that bad he’s hard to forget!

[David W]

5 hours ago, The Moonster said:

If you've forgotten they played for you, how can you remember them?

Well, yes.

But that aside, I remember Graham Roberts (who was a master at entertaining a crowd) regaling us all with tales on how he was going to sign Bob Davidson from Rangers. Brilliant striker apparently, who would take us to another level. Whether it was Roberts leaving or other reasons, but we didn't bring him in and he did actually net a few when at Dundee.

We finally signed him up as a trialist for a couple of games under John Brown and he was completely unfit and barely touched the ball. Then he vanished, never to be seen in the senior leagues again.

[Thistle_do_nicely]

an ancient Billy Dodds signed (and played once or twice) for Thistle in the mid 2000's. I think Richard Gough nearly came out of retirement to sign about that time too but didn't, probably for the best for all concerned.

Jose Quitongo played for us extremely briefly too.

edit: ha, kinda funny seeing Liam Buchanan and Steven Craig mentioned for other teams (fairly enough as they most certainly could have had forgettable spells elsewhere) when they're probably two more memorable forwards I've seen at Thistle; Craig was very good in our 1st division winning team, and Liam Buchanan was decent enough with us before iirc being sold for a decent enough fee to Dunfermline.

The L14M B Aston Martin was also fairly hard to forget, saw it outside Firhill once or twice 

Edited September 19, 2020 by Thistle_do_nicely

[LoonsYouthTeam]

an ancient Billy Dodds signed (and played once or twice) for Thistle in the mid 2000's.

He did, I'm certain he played against us, maybe 2006/07. Dodds hates Forfar, probably part of the reason why the jug eared c**t signed for Thistle

[Hammer Jag]

Billy Dodds played for us during the 2005/06 season. He was several stone overweight and shite. 

[Russ]

Josh Wagenaar - Canadian international ‘keeper signed for us in the summer of 2009. Sat on the bench every single game without coming on got punted when we got relegated and never played professional football again. He was only 26.

Mustapha Dumbuya - Random McKinnon signing. Signed in November sat on the bench a few times without coming on then punted in January. Quite bizarre.

Lee Wilkie - Actually had to check he did play for us and I wasn’t making it up. Spent 3 months on loan during the ‘relegation’ season 2001/02.

Robbie Neilson - Played 3 games as a trialist right at the end of his career under Pressley. Actually looked really good at centre-back tbh.

Ryan Sinnamon- Random Rangers youth brought on loan in 2015. Couple sub appearances but was never going to get close to our team. No idea why he was brought in.


Sean Lynch - Signed from Hibs who I don’t think he played a senior game for us. Made a handful of appearances over 2 years without making any impact and disappearing off to St. Mirren where I think the story is very similar.

Andy McLaren - Played the first 2 games of the 2003/04 season for us as a trialist. Turned down a deal to sign for Dundee Utd.

Fouzi Mesaoudi - Was signed very quietly in December 2005 and was on the bench for a 2-2 draw at Ibrox a few days later. Didn’t get in another squad and was released a month later.

Andy Haworth - English winger was signed from Bury during summer of 2012. Was punted back down to England in the January and had Hobbes about ever since. He was quite shite.


Rory Boulding - Played 4 games for us apparently. Who knew.

Alex Macdonald - Wee Scottish attacker signed on loan from Burnley during the 09/10 season. Was far too small and lightweight played a few times and fucked back to Burnley in the January window. Has went on to have a decent career jobbing about Leagues 1 and 2 down south.

[tamthebam]

On 19/09/2020 at 17:53, Thistle_do_nicely said:

an ancient Billy Dodds signed (and played once or twice) for Thistle in the mid 2000's. I think Richard Gough nearly came out of retirement to sign about that time too but didn't, probably for the best for all concerned.

Jose Quitongo played for us extremely briefly too.

edit: ha, kinda funny seeing Liam Buchanan and Steven Craig mentioned for other teams (fairly enough as they most certainly could have had forgettable spells elsewhere) when they're probably two more memorable forwards I've seen at Thistle; Craig was very good in our 1st division winning team, and Liam Buchanan was decent enough with us before iirc being sold for a decent enough fee to Dunfermline.

The L14M B Aston Martin was also fairly hard to forget, saw it outside Firhill once or twice 

Younger readers might not know that Frank Macavennie was pictured in a Thistle strip and was going to sign for Partick before being pinched by Celtic for a second spell at Parkhead

Shockerooni!

[G_H]

7 hours ago, tamthebam said:

Younger readers might not know that Frank Macavennie was pictured in a Thistle strip and was going to sign for Partick before being pinched by Celtic for a second spell at Parkhead

Shockerooni!

He played a couple of games for us as a trialist as well at the end of his career, but didn't get signed.

[Aidan]

None of these really fit the "fanfare" thing but because I didn't read it properly and spent a good amount of time on Nightshift trawling through Transfermarkt, I'll post it anyway. Stuck to the last 10 years and only players that actually played a game. There won't be any write ups with it as I genuinely have no memory of these guys ever being at Montrose.

Alex Tokarczyk

Dan Stewart
Grant Mosson
Scott Gordon
Kevin Brown

Leszek Nowosielski
David Rae
Steven Masterton
Nicky Smith
Brian Clark

Dale Reid


I'm sure some of the Montrose diehards will remember these guys.

[gav-ffc]

9 hours ago, Russ said:

Josh Wagenaar - Canadian international ‘keeper signed for us in the summer of 2009. Sat on the bench every single game without coming on got punted when we got relegated and never played professional football again. He was only 26.

Mustapha Dumbuya - Random McKinnon signing. Signed in November sat on the bench a few times without coming on then punted in January. Quite bizarre.

Lee Wilkie - Actually had to check he did play for us and I wasn’t making it up. Spent 3 months on loan during the ‘relegation’ season 2001/02.

Robbie Neilson - Played 3 games as a trialist right at the end of his career under Pressley. Actually looked really good at centre-back tbh.

Ryan Sinnamon- Random Rangers youth brought on loan in 2015. Couple sub appearances but was never going to get close to our team. No idea why he was brought in.


Sean Lynch - Signed from Hibs who I don’t think he played a senior game for us. Made a handful of appearances over 2 years without making any impact and disappearing off to St. Mirren where I think the story is very similar.

Andy McLaren - Played the first 2 games of the 2003/04 season for us as a trialist. Turned down a deal to sign for Dundee Utd.

Fouzi Mesaoudi - Was signed very quietly in December 2005 and was on the bench for a 2-2 draw at Ibrox a few days later. Didn’t get in another squad and was released a month later.

Andy Haworth - English winger was signed from Bury during summer of 2012. Was punted back down to England in the January and had Hobbes about ever since. He was quite shite.


Rory Boulding - Played 4 games for us apparently. Who knew.

Alex Macdonald - Wee Scottish attacker signed on loan from Burnley during the 09/10 season. Was far too small and lightweight played a few times and fucked back to Burnley in the January window. Has went on to have a decent career jobbing about Leagues 1 and 2 down south.

Sadly remember most of these.

I think a thread of “players you wish you could forget play for your club” would be applicable for some of the players I remember.

[ebobsboy]

On 21/09/2020 at 08:09, Aidan said:

None of these really fit the "fanfare" thing but because I didn't read it properly and spent a good amount of time on Nightshift trawling through Transfermarkt, I'll post it anyway. Stuck to the last 10 years and only players that actually played a game. There won't be any write ups with it as I genuinely have no memory of these guys ever being at Montrose.

Alex Tokarczyk

Dan Stewart
Grant Mosson
Scott Gordon
Kevin Brown

Leszek Nowosielski
David Rae
Steven Masterton
Nicky Smith
Brian Clark

Dale Reid


I'm sure some of the Montrose diehards will remember these guys.

Tokarcyzk had a fleeting spell with us, although I don't think he played much at all. 

[Shadwell Dog]

On 20/09/2020 at 23:35, Russ said:

Josh Wagenaar - Canadian international ‘keeper signed for us in the summer of 2009. Sat on the bench every single game without coming on got punted when we got relegated and never played professional football again. He was only 26.

Mustapha Dumbuya - Random McKinnon signing. Signed in November sat on the bench a few times without coming on then punted in January. Quite bizarre.

Lee Wilkie - Actually had to check he did play for us and I wasn’t making it up. Spent 3 months on loan during the ‘relegation’ season 2001/02.

Robbie Neilson - Played 3 games as a trialist right at the end of his career under Pressley. Actually looked really good at centre-back tbh.

Ryan Sinnamon- Random Rangers youth brought on loan in 2015. Couple sub appearances but was never going to get close to our team. No idea why he was brought in.


Sean Lynch - Signed from Hibs who I don’t think he played a senior game for us. Made a handful of appearances over 2 years without making any impact and disappearing off to St. Mirren where I think the story is very similar.

Andy McLaren - Played the first 2 games of the 2003/04 season for us as a trialist. Turned down a deal to sign for Dundee Utd.

Fouzi Mesaoudi - Was signed very quietly in December 2005 and was on the bench for a 2-2 draw at Ibrox a few days later. Didn’t get in another squad and was released a month later.

Andy Haworth - English winger was signed from Bury during summer of 2012. Was punted back down to England in the January and had Hobbes about ever since. He was quite shite.


Rory Boulding - Played 4 games for us apparently. Who knew.

Alex Macdonald - Wee Scottish attacker signed on loan from Burnley during the 09/10 season. Was far too small and lightweight played a few times and fucked back to Burnley in the January window. Has went on to have a decent career jobbing about Leagues 1 and 2 down south.

Sure it was Killie McLaren went to after the trialists games with us then went to DU from Killie. He was the only decent one in that list. Rest were honking.

Edited October 6, 2020 by Shadwell Dog

[the snudge]

Just remembered Ross O'Donoghue played for Dumbarton. 

[Old Diamond]

On 20/09/2020 at 01:36, Hammer Jag said:

Billy Dodds played for us during the 2005/06 season. He was several stone overweight and shite. 

In  a similar vein Bobby Watson signed an overweight Willie Henderson for Airdrie in season 1978-79, he played two games, and promptly retired