Sunrise

For the 10th time, Neil MacKay has written in today's Herald about how the SNP are tearing themselves apart. Some fair points - but didn't he write the same thing about three years ago? What a vibrant press we have.

He’s also a known vanity searcher on Twitter and has blocked me, despite me never interacting with him or rarely discussing him.

I will cringe if Mark Smith writes in the Herald about how this could kill independence. I thought that sort of patter died with David Torrance.

Bump. Their Twitter hasn't been updated in six months - and their web domain has been claimed... http://rise.scot/

72 miles on the A70. Still a contender surely.

While I don’t believe JuniorFitbaSC is Goudie, Goudie HAS been at it on Facebook - “P&B shared a private message”. Urgh.

Wishaw - after an article with the Daily Record suggested they weren't happy by the need to move -

You’ve said “clubs haven’t been able to have a consultation with fans.” We had a public meeting. Kilbirnie did too, while the Buffs offered a question and answer session. Troon produced an excellent guide. We shared it in our own social media. Why did Talbot not have such a consultation - even during COVID-19 where they could very easily have one online? I’m still not convinced, as you’ve said here before - not elsewhere - Linlithgow and Bo’ness juniors were formed as a possible fall back option for the senior clubs. Did you really hear it?

You've spread misinformation about the new leagues and have not engaged in good faith when you've been challenged. I don't have much time for that.

If it is who I think it is, they also had a GIFRUY to the Buffs and the Bankies on their own page.

Sometimes, the hardest thing about being a junior grade fan is letting go.

Five Theesel heroes since the turn of the millennium... oooh, there’s lots, but I’ve a soft spot for Kenny Meechan, Stephen Connick, Jamie McGowan, Ross Lundy and Blair Cousar.

Did Talbot have a public meeting about the proposals, or one held online during the crisis? Considering you weren't even keen on next season - according to Facebook - more fool you...

The West Region juniors to its clubs last month: "YOU WON'T ALL GET IN". So... I must admit, St Cadoc's look like a club to watch oot for.

“I don’t want to play boys clubs younger than our match day mascots.” ETA - for anyone who doesn’t know me, I’m pro-pyramid and mick-taking that kind of patter.

Not tedious at all.

Rothesay too, and maybe Dunoon. Drymen is a guid day oot and have a reasonable ground, incidentally.

Oban, Campbeltown and Arran next plz.

Can’t see it on my app!

All 63 junior sides accepted. The one rejection was a Scoutable FC?

They're still at it. Well, I must assume so as they've locked their account after two bad polls for them...

I can only wonder if St Cadoc's could set up sticks at my old school - Williamwood - and use the reasonable facilities there. There's enough rich weans and parents in the area to fund any work. I hated Williamwood BTW, but its a game I could walk to with my dad.

It’s a church/school in Newton Mearns. Think they’ve had youth sides play at Eastwood Secondary.

I brought that up on the Shortlees thread on the amateurs forum at the time and had a very racist comment about burkas aimed at me [emoji17] (Not necessarily by a Shortlees fan I add)

Sorry for shuffling in but I just need to reshare this piece I wrote in the Largs v Kilsyth programme in 2018 (yes, I want them in too). "A BRIEF HISTORY OF FOOTBALL IN KINTYRE REGULAR READERS will recall me writing about Dunoon’s junior heritage, when I visited Cowal after getting my first car. Last summer I travelled to Oban and Campbeltown, the latter which left me with a burst tyre and an overnight stay! Both towns have a vein of footballing success spanning decades; the former’s team, Oban Saints, have reached the Scottish Amateur Cup semi-finals two years running and are in next week’s quarter-final, but I feel, for this programme, Campbeltown and Kintyre have a story worth telling… The Kintyre peninsula’s footballers have perhaps benefited from their geographic isolation. The top club of the early 20th century, Academicals, withdrew from the local juniors in 1913 after being barred from the Junior Cup for travelling reasons – to instead host Rangers, Morton, Hamilton Accies and other big names in friendlies! Academicals midfielder Neil McBain would later play for Manchester United, making three appearances for Scotland and being the oldest player ever to feature in the Football League, aged 51 years and 120 days for New Brighton against Hartlepools in 1947. Kintyre sides such as Campbeltown United, Academicals and Argyll Colliery dominated the Mid-Argyll league of the 20s. United hosted Tranent – previous winners – in the Junior Cup fifth round of 1935, rejecting a request to play closer to the central belt. Their record run ended there, but Tranent beat Petershill in the final that May. Kintyre retained a junior presence after the Second World War. In those days, Kintyre teams were seeded to face each other in the early sounds of the cup, before facing the rest of Scotland as late as the fourth round. Contrary to popular belief, Ardrossan Winton Rovers did not fly to face Drumlemble on November 5th 1960. Four seasons earlier however, Aberdeen Mugiemoss did charter a flight to Kintyre’s Machrihanish Airport for their visit to United on 5th January 1957, in the Scottish Junior Cup fourth round. After a score draw, the replay to Aberdeen resembled a scene from Robin Jenkins’ classic football novel The Thistle and The Grail: with few fans travelling north, a phone link was set up between Linksfield Stadium and United’s local Kinloch Bar – which happened to be closed between 2-5pm. The fervent fans instead loitered around the streets with a runner relaying updates – which were also chalked into the road surface! United battled for a 3-2 win to reach the fifth round, the first time for a local side since 1938. Loanhead Mayflower ended the run, in front of a record 3,500 at Kintyre Park. But local football was on its last legs, with the local league declining from six members in 1953 to four in 1957. Kintyre’s last hurrah was the Junior Cup first round of 1961/62, as Campbeltown Hearts lost 0-11 at home to Dundee St Josephs, while Drumlemble were beaten 1-5 at Linlithgow. That October 14th, the local league closed down. The Kintyre Amateur Football League amateur league continued as once-junior side Campbeltown Pupils reformed, winning the league and cup in their first season back. The industry that defined the area changed: Argyll Colliery closed in 1967, though a NATO fuel depot and the opening of RAF Machrihanish reshaped the local economy. The base itself produced a side to challenge Pupils’ dominance, though before long Pupils first transferred to the Mid-Argyll League in 1971, and then the Scottish Amateur Football League in 1977/78 – winning the Seventh Division undefeated with 122 goals scored in their first attempt. It would be the beginning of a golden era for Kintyre football. At their peak during the late 70s and early 80s, Pupils had 400 season ticket holders – as an amateur side! – and attracted crowds as big as 700 to Kintyre Park. Their record Scottish Amateur Cup run came in 1980, where they beat Fenwick Thistle and Arden Villa on the way to the quarter-finals before losing at eventual winners Newarthill Hearts, while local rivals Carradale and Tarbert – not to mention Oban Saints – also competed in Scotland’s most prestigious amateur league. 1200 fans came to Kintyre Park in August 1983 to witness Pupils lose 1-3 to a Celtic XI featuring David Moyes, Peter Grant, Owen Archdeacon and Bobby Lennox. That year, Pupils were joined in the SAFL by Campbeltown Boys. Boys’ greatest achievement was winning the Premier Division Two in 1996, before Boys and Pupils merged during 2010/11. In 1988, Kevin Gilchrist became the first local player to be capped for Scotland’s amateurs since pre-WWI. Three seasons later, Pupils were inaugural members of the SAFL Premier, admitted due to their Kintyre Park facilities; they would later be joined at the top table by Argyll foes Oban Saints. Pupils won the SAFL’s top tier in 2000: the triumphant side opened that season with a friendly against Kenny Shiels’ Coleraine, drawing 3-3 and prompting the Irish side to comment “Pupils have several very good players who would do well in Irish senior football”. Despite local success down the years, like many amateurs Pupils now battle to keep young men interested in football. Just a few weeks ago, they returned home from East Kilbride’s Claremont after a 0-5 defeat, having signed five names on the day: their Twitter bemoaned uncommitted players. Where once there were ten Argyle teams in the SAFL (and twelve leagues), there are now six sides and just THREE leagues, though Carradale ply their trade in the Greater Glasgow League. The Kintyre league ceased in 1998. But young players can give the peninsula hope. Pupils’ 2005s currently sit top of the Dunbartonshire YDL with three games left. Perhaps with the growing pyramid system, an ambitious young Kintyre side could compete at an even higher level – and give us new trips, preferably burst tyres not included! This article was written thanks to the following: “Scottish Junior Cup 1960-1968 and 1950-1960”, both by Stewart Davidson, "Kit and Caboodle: A History of Football in Campbeltown” by Alex McKinven, and the National Library of Scotland’s archives of the Campbeltown Courier and Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald.