How did you fall in love with your club?

[johnnydun]

@invergowrie arab clearly a glory hunter.

[invergowrie arab]

10 minutes ago, johnnydun said:

@invergowrie arab clearly a glory hunter.

100% true but it has turned out to be a catastrophic error of judgement.

My first game was 87/88. First home game after UEFA Cup final. 

Not really from a football family and a neighbour was a Celtic fan so I got all the hand me down strips and from them and my hero was Paul McStay until the age of 6. An uncle saw me decked out in that gear and staged an intervention and started taking me to Tannadice. Nosey c**t ruined my life.

Still keep an eye out for the IRA though and like to see them do well. 

Edited December 9, 2022 by invergowrie arab

[Dunfermline Don]

I remember My Grandad worked on the turnstiles or as a steward in the main stand at East End Park and I probably saw my first football match there sometime in the early 70s.

My dad though was an Aberdeen fan and as soon as I was old enough used to take me to games. Living in Fife it was mainly the away games we went to but I remember once when we were in Aberdeen meeting Bobby Clark in Union Street after a game when he was buying an evening paper. 

Looking back I was very lucky to see our greatest team gradually assembled during the late 70s and early 80s and at the time took the success for granted.

 I haven’t been able to persuade my kids to follow The Dons but at least they support their local team and nowadays I often go along to East End with them. 

[Scary Bear]

‘86 World Cup inspired me to go to football matches. Hamilton Accies had just been promoted and I was either hanging about in Hamilton at the time or getting the train into Glasgow and bumping the train fares. As I knew f**k all about Scottish football I plumped for Accies. First game of the season Hamilton 0 v 1 Clydebank. Awful game of football. I’m not sure what I was expecting but I’d been watching Maradona take the World by storm, so this certainly wasn’t it.

Next home game was Accies v Motherwell. Result Accies 0 v 3 Motherwell. Motherwell casuals then run amok in Hamilton town centre. Other kids from my housing estate were on the other side of the fence and making strange faces at my choice of team. I was told I should go to Fir Park instead. First game was Rangers and a 0-2 home defeat. Started going. Loved it. Kept going. Then I moved to Fife in ‘88. Didn’t have a driving licence. Started playing football on a Saturday. Went to the odd Motherwell game but got out of the habit. Went to the ‘91 Scottish Cup Final which was tremendous. Thought ‘it’s never going to get any better that that’ and had a girlfriend by then too. 

I had gone to a few Rovers games since arriving in Kirkcaldy. My team played football at the Bevy Park at 2pm so I used to walk down to Stark’s Park after I finished playing football and watch the second half of games. You could just walk in so it cost me nothing. ‘92 season I had stopped playing football and started going fairly regularly and we had Brewster, Dalziel and Hetherston and were pretty good to watch. Started travelling home and away. Hooked. Still went to the odd Motherwell game for a while, but they became few and far between. Haven’t been to Fir Park since a Hibs game in 1994.

Still have a soft spot for Motherwell, but I only go to Rovers and Scotland games.

Edited December 10, 2022 by Scary Bear

[keyser_soze]

I can remember being lifted over the turnstiles at Starks Park as a small kid probably around 74/75, my dad grew up a Rovers fan, he inherited it from my grandad and passed it on to me. I started going more regularly in the late 70's early 80's, one of my friends uncle was To Houston and we got comps for every home game. Went to my first away game in September 82 (still have the match programme), a 2-1 defeat at Firhill, can remember jumping around like a loony with a couple of pals when Colin Harris scored a last minute consolation, mid 80's was a dire time to be a Rovers fan but my then I couldn't help but go, you can change a lot of things in life, just not your football team when they have you reeled in.

[PossilYM]

On 08/12/2022 at 18:54, Chapelhall chap said:

My dad was an Airdrieonians man and had been at the 1924 Cup Final win as a teenager  , so it was perhaps inevitable that I began with my older brother to get taken to games in late 1950s. Unfortunately the older brother was persuaded to the dark side in Govan so we just went along as Dad and son until he was unable to attend in the late 1990s.  

I still go to see every game I can and it's the famous Diamond jersey that provides the emotional pull despite our travails in the seaside Leagues for far too long. 

Old member of P&B found.

[Andy groundhopper]

Born and bred in Bristol, dad took me to Eastville to watch Rovers, around 67/68, will die a Gashead. A mate at work took me to Spotland in the 80's, him supporting the shitheads and I went into the home end, a win for Rochdale and I was hooked ! Made loads of visits home and away until work made it impossible, happy supporting both clubs since.

[Chapelhall chap]

5 hours ago, PossilYM said:

Old member of P&B found.

A mature poster on most matters. Only joined in 2014 after the Broomfield Stomp imploded. Once taught ( badly) in Possil in the  1970s so that dates me as well. Cheers 

[PossilYM]

1 hour ago, Chapelhall chap said:

A mature poster on most matters. Only joined in 2014 after the Broomfield Stomp imploded. Once taught ( badly) in Possil in the  1970s so that dates me as well. Cheers 

Doubt anybody on here will beat their old man attending the 1924 Scottish Cup final as a teenager.

Certainly beats my old man being born in 1920.

Must look up the year my old man stood in the playground of his Duke St school watching Hearts buses heading for an afternoon midweek cup game at Hampden (early 1930s) 

Might have been a cup replay.

Out of curiosity, my father's old school building in Duke St facing the prison is still there all be it now a business centre, is the school you taught at in Possil still there?

[PossilYM]

3 hours ago, Andy groundhopper said:

Born and bred in Bristol, dad took me to Eastville to watch Rovers, around 67/68, will die a Gashead. A mate at work took me to Spotland in the 80's, him supporting the shitheads and I went into the home end, a win for Rochdale and I was hooked ! Made loads of visits home and away until work made it impossible, happy supporting both clubs since.

Tote End?

[Molotov]

First game in Paisley was a preseason match at Love St in ‘74 between my fathers team Rangers (him and his family were all from different areas of Govan) and my local team St Mirren.

I stood in the old Caledonia Road end of Love Street but preferred the team in stripes that day than my auld mans team.

http://www.stmirrenprogrammes.co.uk/StMirren/STM_Match_Details.php?Season=1975&GameID=197508010

A wee while after this game I was visited at my Paisley school by St Mirren’s young manager Alex Ferguson who was keen to drum up support from the local kids.

He took a group of us away to the stage in the main hall at the local primary and proceeded to tell us all of his plans for dominating Scottish football.

Ultimately St Mirren’s loss was Aberdeens gain as he went on to prove that his words were not hollow.

When he asked us at that primary school meeting if anyone had been to any football games and who they were there supporting he told us all in no uncertain terms that his team St Mirren would soon be beating the Rangers and Celtic’s and everyone was left in no doubt that we were all to support St Mirren from that day forward.

My auld man actually knew the Ferguson family quite well as they all lived near each other in Shieldhall Road.

He never forgave me (or I guess AF) for following my local team rather than his and his fathers team.

I’m so glad that chance meeting with SAF had such an impact on my football supporting life. 

He really was a force of nature in Paisley during those few short years he was in charge there.

Despite doing so much at the club he also found time I believe to run two pubs in Govan.

It was incredible how he grew a Saints support of less than 1000 before he arrived into one that increased dramatically with a style of play that was replicated at Aberdeen and Man Utd.

The image below is how I remember him telling us all who we were to support at the meeting.

 

[Andy groundhopper]

2 hours ago, PossilYM said:

Tote End?

Yeah many happy years on the Tote End, Chelsea,Millwall, etc all had a go ! Just a different atmosphere with terraces, even with the faithful 7,000 towards the end. Now a sickening IKEA store on site.

[Chapelhall chap]

2 hours ago, PossilYM said:

Doubt anybody on here will beat their old man attending the 1924 Scottish Cup final as a teenager.

Certainly beats my old man being born in 1920.

Must look up the year my old man stood in the playground of his Duke St school watching Hearts buses heading for an afternoon midweek cup game at Hampden (early 1930s) 

Might have been a cup replay.

Out of curiosity, my father's old school building in Duke St facing the prison is still there all be it now a business centre, is the school you taught at in Possil still there?

Yes my Dad was born in 1911 and he could rhyme off the cup winning team and made sure I did as well. Your dad's story is a good one and we used to sing a song about the Duke Street Jail and the bullet holes in the wall story. 

On the school it was Possilpark Sec. on Stonyhurst street and I'm pretty sure it was closed and demolished in the round of school closures.

All the schools I went to as a pupil have gone the same way as sadly so did Broomfield park. 

Memories. Cheers 

 

[David Fernández]

My first Airdrie game that I went to was when Airdrie won the challenge Cup 2-1 back in 2001 and my earliest memory I can remember being at a game was winning the Second Division league title in 2004 beating Morton 2-0. Both of my first games I had attended have seen the team win silverware and its pretty much been mostly downhill ever since.

After the 2003/2004 season finished I started regularly attending games with my Dad and my Papa.

When I was around 10 years old I was playing football in Airdrie leisure centre with a full Airdrie kit on. A photographer took the photograph and my photo appeared in the Airdrie/Coatbridge Advertiser. The club contacted the local newspaper and approached to see if I wanted to be the club mascot for free, I was buzzing at this. 

I was mascot at the Airdrie vs Hamilton game in 2006. The funniest/most embarrassing moment for me that day was when I was led out by the players, I was that excited I thought I was one of them, clapping the fans whilst running around like a mad man and Paul Lovering at the time who was captain, trying to pull me back in. (my family still slag me about this). I still have a framed photo of myself and Bryan Prunty who was my favourite player at the time and Marvyn Wilson (Airdrie Legend) who was playing for Hamilton that day.

At the end of 2017 I started my own business meaning I wasn't able to attend games due to working every day. It was a pretty difficult period in my life and for around 3 years, I wasn't interested in football at all. I barley watched any games or kept up to date with scores and league tables.

I fell in love with football again during the pandemic. Buying the Airdrie live streams gave me something to do during the lockdown and helped reduce the boredom.

Other than attending the odd game from 2017 onwards, the first game I went to after the restrictions were lifted was a 2-0 Victory over Motherwell with two excellent goals scored. A stunning victory over your rivals, what a great game to come back to after so long.

Last season goes down as one of the best season's I've had supporting Airdrie. Despite falling short in the end, the goals scored and the football played to me was magnificent. Highlights being the 6-4 game against Montrose, in which I left the stadium not knowing what the score was it was that crazy.

Since the Motherwell game, me and my dad have attended around 80% of the games home and away. I'd say I'm more passionate about following my team now than I ever have been previously. My dad has all these memories of Scottish Cup finals, promotions and his time in Prague in the 90s, would mean the world to get a memory like that.

Bit late to this thread but I've been loving reading the stories from other supporters, it's great to see people following their local team instead of the old firm.

 

[LiviLion]

Dad's a stay-at-home Hearts fan so being a general football lover I was always bugging him to take me to games but he wasn't having it (got to the odd random league game against the likes of Dunfermline, and the cup final v Gretna). Managed to get him to take me to a couple Livi games through a relative's partner at the time, loved that there was a team a short walk away and found it weird that you'd choose to sit on your couch instead of going to watch a game. I managed to get him to take me to a Livi v Hearts cup game at Almondvale but had to sit in the away end, Livi won 1-0 and I loved every minute of it.

I was always desperate for the Livi tickets that would get handed out at schools since it would get me to watch a game; an overpriced burger, the music/chatter getting louder as you get out to the pitchside, the weird mixture of deodorant and BO, being young enough that it was hilarious hearing everyone swearing all the time - my cousin took me the first time I got one and I probably had a smile on my face the whole time, pretty sure it was a 0-0 as well. Had a separate game, I think against Inverness, that Livi got absolutely hammered, i.e. home fans leaving before half time kind of hammered, a feeling of being genuinely upset but still wouldn't have traded that 90 minutes for anything else.

Watched the odd game from the hill, and when I had that sweet pocket money rolling in it was all getting thrown at the Almondvale turnstiles.

Sometimes wonder if a) my old man was a bigger football fan, and/or b) Livi never gave free tickets to schools, I'd probably be bouncing about in a Hearts top. The thought alone makes me shudder.

Edited December 16, 2022 by LiviLion

[tamthebam]

On 14/12/2022 at 21:32, Chapelhall chap said:

Yes my Dad was born in 1911 and he could rhyme off the cup winning team and made sure I did as well. Your dad's story is a good one and we used to sing a song about the Duke Street Jail and the bullet holes in the wall story. 

 

 

My mum, who taught in Glasgow in the 1960s (but from Edinburgh), used to sing a song about Duke Street Jail to us. I wonder if it's the same one that starts "There is a happy land, down in Duke Street jile"?

[Chapelhall chap]

49 minutes ago, tamthebam said:

My mum, who taught in Glasgow in the 1960s (but from Edinburgh), used to sing a song about Duke Street Jail to us. I wonder if it's the same one that starts "There is a happy land, down in Duke Street jile"?

It is indeed. The next few lines from my memory are:

Where all the prisoners stand

Tied to a rail.

Ham and eggs they never see, dirty water fur their tea.

There they live in misery ,

God save the Queen.

Or various versions if you're not a royalist. Sound like a rope skipping song. The melody is based on the old hymn , there is a happy land far far away. 

Hope I don't upset the spiritual audience. 

Cheers.

 

 

 

[tamthebam]

1 hour ago, Chapelhall chap said:

It is indeed. The next few lines from my memory are:

Where all the prisoners stand

Tied to a rail.

Ham and eggs they never see, dirty water fur their tea.

There they live in misery ,

God save the Queen.

Or various versions if you're not a royalist. Sound like a rope skipping song. The melody is based on the old hymn , there is a happy land far far away. 

Hope I don't upset the spiritual audience. 

Cheers.

 

 

 

For completeness the second verse (the lines of which fit in with the 1960s redevelopment) are:

Then the Corporation came,

Wi' a brand new plan,

They're building tenament hooses now,

Doon in the Happy Land,

But there's 40 murderers buried there,

So watch yersel' gaun Doon the stair,

Or a ghost will come oot and grab you by the hair!

God Save the Queen!

It's like something Matt McGinn, Maurice Blythwood, Adam McNaughton or Billy Connolly would have written but we'll never know 

[Chapelhall chap]

1 hour ago, tamthebam said:

For completeness the second verse (the lines of which fit in with the 1960s redevelopment) are:

Then the Corporation came,

Wi' a brand new plan,

They're building tenament hooses now,

Doon in the Happy Land,

But there's 40 murderers buried there,

So watch yersel' gaun Doon the stair,

Or a ghost will come oot and grab you by the hair!

God Save the Queen!

It's like something Matt McGinn, Maurice Blythwood, Adam McNaughton or Billy Connolly would have written but we'll never know 

Fascinating stuff and despite not being a Glaswegian I like the history. Have heard of those guys apart from Maurice. I think Adam was an English teacher as was Matt. Need to research. Cheers 

[RH33]

Dad is an Aberdeen fan. Growing up we went to everything from North Caley, Highland leauge and then County and Caley. Loads of Scottish Schools games.too. If asked I'd have said Aberdeen growing up.

Moved to Glasgow for uni and especially when I went to Jordan hill, halls basically emptied at weekends as folk went home. I wasn't spending hours on a bus north so I started visiting whatever away ground County were at across the west and central belt. Got to know the familiar faces @donaldo @thejailender etc.