5 favourite seasons

[DeeGeeOneHamer]

13 hours ago, Monkey Tennis said:

1.  2001/02.  Easily my favourite.  We won the 3rd tier with some memorable wins on the way.  I also moved house that season to within 100 yards of Palmerston, making them feel more like my club than ever.  We had a baby on the way as the season drew to a close and it felt like things were coming together nicely.  A crowd of 6,000 for our final home fixture against Morton felt as unlikely then as it would now.  It was great to support a club that was on the up.

2. 1985/86.  Promotion from the bottom tier to the middle one.  We had a good side.  I was going to games with mates and it was a rare season when you felt confident of winning each week.  Downsides were missing the big April win over Dunfermline as I was on holiday, and failing to win the title by slumping a bit after sealing promotion.

3. 2007/08.  The Cup final season.  Much of it was pretty unmemorable actually.  Indeed, we were in danger of going bottom in December.  However, our good, comparatively expensive side got an act together in the new year.  Every Queens fan will take memories of the cup ties to the grave with them.  An incredible experience that I'd never imagined I would have as a Queens fan.

4.  1981/82. An odd choice this, as we managed to get relegated and were a pretty grim outfit, out of our depth in the middle division.  However, it was my first real season as a regular, going to games with the lads next door.  I'd been to several one off games over the handful of years before this one, but this was the one in which I developed the habit I'm still lumbered with.

5.  2014/15. This was a strong, young Queens side who finished 'best of the rest' behind Hearts, Hibs and Rangers.  Rangers only took 4 points from us, but squeaked past us narrowly in the play-offs.  We did blow a chance in the Cup though, losing a home quarter final to Falkirk who went on to lose the final to ICT.  Despite Dobbie arriving back later, that was probably the last season we had a genuinely good side.

I'll swap #4 for 2002/03 where after winning the league we then backed it up winning the Challenge Cup and finish 5th in the First Division.  What a time to be a Queens fan, felt like the start of something after all those crap years in the late 80s and 90s.

[Hawk89]

11 hours ago, AuAl said:

There has been a lot of shite, the first season I can really remember regularly being at games was 2004/2005 - 8th in what was division two at the time. Surprised I stuck with it tbh. Thankfully, there have been some high points. I've witnessed 4 promotions and they are all unsurprisingly included here.

1. 2017-2018. Until this point I had seen three promotions to the 2nd tier. In each case we had won the playoffs (before returning to league one at the first attempt the best year).

That year, we had built an excellent side for the division. The season started with beating killie at Somerset Park, before topping the LC group and pumping Dundee at Dens in the last 16. The best attacking team I've seen from Ayr, we scored a ridiculous amount of goals. Shankland, Moffat, Moore, Forrest, McDaid, Crawford, Docherty, Kerr, Geggan, Bell, Adams, Rose. What I'd give to have that team back now. We won the league....just. Thought it was gone of course (that's the fucking left back). Winning the title at Somerset was incredible, The celebrations after unforgettable. More than anything, it felt that this promotion was different, that this squad was really capable, and we wouldn't be seeing League 1 again for a while.

2. 2018-2019. I expected us to do better than many expected going into this season but I think even the most optimistic Ayr fan wouldn't have seen the first half of this season coming. We were excellent, we battered teams most weeks and like the previous season, at our best, we were a real joy to watch. Particular highlights were early home wins against partick and dunfermline and scoring 5 away at Cappielow and Tannadice. Obviously the season tailed off around Christmas and our form never recovered, but finishing 4th in the championship after the previous league win was great. Although, there is a definite "what if" factor, especially considering just how good that team was when they played at their best.

3. 2008/2009. We were promoted this season through the playoffs, winning the final away at Airdrie. Again, we had a decent squad that season, and Brian Reid was certainly an improvement on the previous few managers. This was the first time I had watched an Ayr team that had success most weeks and I didn't miss a single home game. This year also included my first ever Ayrshire Derby, a sell out in the rain at Somerset.  In the end, we lost the title to Raith but we eased past Brechin in the play off semi final and found ourselves up against Airdrie to win promotion. 2-0 down at home at HT in the first leg, we fought back to draw and then win 1-0 away with a Stevo winner. Don't think I've celebrated anything like it since, it was the first time I had experienced anything like it. It was Airdrie as well, so that made it sweeter.

4. 2015/2016. Hard to choose between this promotion year and the one that sits at number 5. This takes it on the basis that I remember more of it and it came immediately after the worst I've seen, under Mark Roberts as we struggled to 8th in L1. This was the first full season under McCall, and despite some very patchy form at points we were a decent side when we needed to be. Also, Jamie Adams arrived this year, nuff said. In what is clearly a common theme, despite a good start, we finished behind dunfermline. We did manage to hold onto 2nd place (which at one point looked unlikely), and cruised past Peterhead to play Stranraer in the playoff final. That final was awful and we were very lucky, however it was great to win a promotion at Somerset with a huge crowd.

5. 2010/2011. Like Number 4, this promotion winning squad was nothing on the teams from 1 or 3. We finished miles off of Livingston who won the league, but I still enjoyed the season. Mostly, it was because I really started to get to away games. Before this I would have occasionally made an important away game or cup tie, but this year my Dad/mates were all more up for away days, and I loved it. In truth, I don't think we were very good, but in the end we finished 2nd on 59 points and won the playoffs. The final away at Brechin is still one of my favourite Ayr memories. Moffat's last minute winner sent a huge travelling support wild and he would go on to become a modern Ayr United legend. Some day.

A very play off win heavy shortlist. I sadly didn't get to experience the very early 2000's and the cup runs that went along with it.

We must have started going to games around the same time, my first game was the John Traynor testimonial. The next game was Edinburgh City (h) in the cup, I think it was Stewart Kean's last game for Ayr? Started going to games with a couple of pals from school and ended up hooked even though we were terrible most of the time with the succession of chancers in the dugout until Reid came in. I would agree mostly with what you have but would include 14/15 when Roberts left and McCall came in, over Number 3 as I missed most of that season due to working in SW Wales. There was an obvious change from day 1 of the McCall era, suddenly the doom and gloom disappeared and there was a feeling we'd somehow stay up. Can remember going up to Forfar on the last day of the season, they had a chance of winning the title as well so it was a very decent crowd at Station Park. 

[TheScarf]

1.  2014/15.  Our greatest in the clubs short, but fairly successful history.  We won the Scottish cup.  It doesn't get any better than that.  We also finished 3rd and qualified for Europe which was nice.  Our squad that season was disgusting, in a good way.  

2.  2009/10.  What I still refer to as 'The Dundee Season'. We had come down with what I thought was a squad good enough to stay up, but some really poor displays in the final month sent us down.  Dundee then spent big, as they always do, singing guys like Leigh Griffiths, Gary Harkins and Brian Kerr.  We started off poorly.  I was at a 1-1 draw at Airdrie in about October and it was dire, the pits.  We then got to the Challenge Cup final, were 2-0 up and cruising against Dundee, then collapsed in hilarious fashion.  I thought 'Ah well that's Dundee's quality shining through now', but how wrong I was.  Butcher started playing 4-2-3-1 and our front 4 of Odhiambo, Foran, Hayes and Rooney took the utter c**t for the rest of the season, whereas Dundee were stumbling along losing or drawing most weeks.  Think they were 15 ahead of us at one point and we finished 12 ahead of them.  Dundee lost/drew to Raith ( I cant remember which) in midweek which handed us the title before the the penultimate games of the season which saw us go down to Somerset Park and beat Ayr 7-0.  I think the players decided to stop at 7.

3.  2003/04.  What a season and what a squad.  Falkirk and St Johnstone were strong favourites with the bookies but is was us and Clyde who turned out to be the best teams by a mile.  Neck and neck for most of the season and it came down to the penultimate game at Broadwood which was a cagey affair with Stevie Hislop scoring late to win it for us 2-1.  A nice 3-1 win at home to St Johnstone in front of a sun-kissed, packed TCS sealed off what was a great ending to a team that had served us well for the best part of 5 years before that. 

4.  1996/97.  I was only 11/12 during this season so the memory are becoming vague as I reach my mid 30s but Pele had come in a year before and signed some of the best HL players and Barry Wilson from Raith and it was a perfect mix.  Wee Iain Stewart banging them in every week and Barry Wilson and Daisy Ross supplying him was a thing of beauty.  A fantastic team where you just knew we were going to win most weeks.  First season at the TCS too and what better way than to win the title?

5.  2005/06.  Possibly a strange choice as naturally 1998/99 should be ahead of it as we won promotion that season.  But this season was great.  Finished 7th but on 60 points as we won all our 5 post-split games (all 1-0 I think?).  We had a great team.  Still had the remnants of the 2003/04 title winning side then when you add in guys like Darren Dods and Craig Dargo, you're onto a winner.  We had some great wins that season at home and on the road including I think winning 4 out of 4 against Hibs.

Edited November 1, 2021 by TheScarf

[Broken Algorithms]

2.  2009/10.  What I still refer to as 'The Dundee Season'. We had come down with what I thought was a squad good enough to stay up, but some really poor displays in the final month sent us down.  Dundee then spent big, as they always do, singing guys like Leigh Griffiths, Gary Harkins and Brian Kerr.  We started off poorly.  I was at a 1-1 draw at Airdrie in about October and it was dire, the pits.  We then got to the Challenge Cup final, were 2-0 up and cruising against Dundee, then collapsed in hilarious fashion.  I thought 'Ah well that's Dundee's quality shining through now', but how wrong I was.  Butcher started playing 4-2-3-2 and our front 4 of Odhiambo, Foran, Hayes and Rooney took the utter cunt for the rest of the season, whereas Dundee were stumbling along losing or drawing most weeks.  Think they were 15 ahead of us at one point and we finished 12 ahead of them.  Dundee lost/drew to Raith ( I cant remember which) in midweek which handed us the title before the the penultimate games of the season which saw us go down to Somerset Park and beat Ayr 7-0.  I think the players decided to stop at 7.

We beat them to give you the league. It came about under some strange circumstances too: Dundee were down at the bare bones for goalkeepers and started with Tony Bullock in goals with 49 year old goal keeping coach Bobby Geddes on the bench. Bullock then pulled his hamstring and couldn't continue making Geddes made his first league appearance since 2000. We ran out 1-0 winners.

Still bizarre to look back at how strong Dundee looked at the start only to completely crumble.

[Richey Edwards]

Tbf, it's way easier to understand with a rudimentary knowledge of the French revolution.

[btb]

16 hours ago, Ro Sham Bo said:

 

1. 1992/93 - quite simply the best Rovers side of the 'modern' era. Unbeaten at home all season, playing superb football with Brewster and Dalziel banging in more than 50 goals between them. 

 

The 7-0 opening day defeat at your place is a particular lowlight in my Saints memories although I feel we evened the score in 99/00.

[killiepiemuncher]

2. 1992/1993 - The football that year was amazing, an absolutely joy to watch, finishing in a stroll to the title. Beating Killie 2-0 in a packed Stark’s Park with the Sportscene cameras there a great memory. 

I was at that match, a big crowd and a good number of Killie fans making the trip. Rovers had a very good team at that time and my clearest memory of that day was the home fans singing “Your only 12 points behind us” as we walked down that hill after the game.

[RiG]

2 hours ago, TheScarf said:

2.  2009/10. ...Butcher started playing 4-2-3-2...

No wonder we ended up cigaring the league that season 

Edited November 1, 2021 by RiG

[roverthemoon]

1 hour ago, btb said:

The 7-0 opening day defeat at your place is a particular lowlight in my Saints memories although I feel we evened the score in 99/00.

What a start to the season that was. Never looked back after that. The most entertaining Rovers squad I’ve ever watched. 

[roverthemoon]

1 hour ago, killiepiemuncher said:

I was at that match, a big crowd and a good number of Killie fans making the trip. Rovers had a very good team at that time and my clearest memory of that day was the home fans singing “Your only 12 points behind us” as we walked down that hill after the game.

Full Sportscene highlights here. Was rare for a First Division game to be picked in those days, so shows you how big a game it was. 

 

That was the game we knew it was over. We’d had some right doings at Rugby Park that season so it was good to get the win and put us out of sight. After that we strolled to the title. Still mad to think you had stayed up ever since until last season and we went on to have a rollercoaster 20 years. 

[Ro Sham Bo]

1 hour ago, btb said:

The 7-0 opening day defeat at your place is a particular lowlight in my Saints memories although I feel we evened the score in 99/00.

That was the 6-0 game? I remember all I could think after the sixth was "don't let them get another!" 

[roverthemoon]

16 hours ago, stevoraith said:

This.
I started going in 91/92. Had my first season ticket in 92/93.
I just assumed that’s what supporting the Rovers would always be like.

The only part I’d disagree with was that it didn’t really dawn on me for about ten years that we wouldn’t always be fighting for promotion to the top league.

I’ll always feel that I got lucky. Started going in the 80s when we were dross so by the time the 90s came around it made it even more special and I really appreciated it. Was also at an age where I could say ‘f**k it’ and go to all three European away fixtures. Credit cards took a battering but unforgettable times and absolutely worth it. 

[btb]

27 minutes ago, Ro Sham Bo said:

That was the 6-0 game? I remember all I could think after the sixth was "don't let them get another!" 

4/4 victories that season sorry to remind you , but even better than the above game was coming back to win 2-1 at Starks after you had taken the lead with 5 mins to go.

 

As I've said elsewhere that's my all-time favourite season by a mile, you had a player sent off the afternoon of the 1-2 game one of the 12 (yes twelve) players sent off against us that season.

Edited November 1, 2021 by btb

[DA Baracus]

13 hours ago, Cardle is Magic said:

The best Pars team I’ve seen in person. 4th in the SPL and reached the Scottish Cup final. Beat Celtic at Parkhead and Rangers at Ibrox - both on TV.

Don't let Leishman see this!

Edited November 1, 2021 by DA Baracus

[Monkey Tennis]

7 hours ago, DeeGeeOneHamer said:

I'll swap #4 for 2002/03 where after winning the league we then backed it up winning the Challenge Cup and finish 5th in the First Division.  What a time to be a Queens fan, felt like the start of something after all those crap years in the late 80s and 90s.

Yes, those first few years up were fun.

2012/13 would be an obvious choice I suppose.  The Challenge Cup was good with the win at Ibrox and the memorable final.  I found the league dominance a bit dull though.

[Cardle is Magic]

4 hours ago, DA Baracus said:

Don't let Leishman see this!

Ah, good catch! Fixed now.

[AyrshireTon]

1979-80 - The season we briefly topped the Premier League with a team of part-timers. Got to the League Cup semi and the Anglo-Scottish Cup semi. October probably saw us at our strongest with a 2-2 draw at Ibrox, a 1-0 win over unbeaten Celtic and a 4-1 win at Firhill. 3rd of November we went top after a goalless draw against St. Mirren in a monsoon. Ran out of steam after Christmas (and famously being victims to two very dodgy refereeing decisions in favour of both cheeks). Saw my first ever away win - 3-0 at Love Street.

1986-87 - A slow burner where we only managed one home Saturday win in the opening half of the season. Recorded three 5-2 wins in the space of a few weeks in the Autumn with Rowan Alexander and Dougie Robertson on great form. Dunfermline had been the early pace setters but after our 2-1 win at EEP in March they really struggled for points. Overtook them on the penultimate day as they lost at Airdrie. We lost at Airdrie on the final day, but the Pars lost at Montrose.

1994-95 - After being one of five teams relegated for reconstruction, we did not start our promotion campaign very well. Only after the return from injury of Derek McInnes and the signing of two Finns did we start to look like a team. After around 6 teams being in with a shout of promotion, we eventually put fate in our own hands after a crazy 4-3 win at Berwick. Beating Dumbarton 2-0 at Scapa sealed the title with a game to spare.

2002-03 - Two years after nearly going out of business, we had to get ourselves out of the 3rd division. In truth, the away trips that season were fantastic but as usual we made heavy weather of the title. A 2-1 defeat at Cliftonhill (fat Yardley scoring the winner) made promotion look all but gone. Davie McGregor was then ruled out for the last five games with an injury. Incredibly, we won all five without conceding, with an emotional final day title decider against Peterhead where nearly 8500 saw Scott Bannerman score the only goal.

2014-15 - After a disastrous relegation season (the only bright spot being that win at Parkhead)  we needed to bounce back at the first attempt. In typical Morton style we nearly blew it. Two vital comebacks stand out from that season - a 2-1 win against Ayr where we were 1-0 down in injury time and coming back from 2-0 against Stenny with three late goals. A televised game at Stranraer saw us go top with Peterhead again being the final day opposition. Chose this as it was my son's first time witnessing a title win.

 

Edited November 1, 2021 by AyrshireTon
Typo

[Squirrelhumper]

On 31/10/2021 at 18:42, 1nickydevlin said:

None we've always been shite wfaanw and all that .

Great content. Would read again.

[Richey Edwards]

I have been an Ayr United fan since 1999 but lived elsewhere until 2002 so didn't get to regularly go to games, so I am excluding the seasons in the early 2000s when we had good cup runs as I only got to go to games when I was visiting my grandparents.

 

 

2017-18 - A season that started with beating Kilmarnock in the League Cup ended with the only league title we have won in my time of being a fan. The football we played this season was a joy to watch. The moment when we won the title on the last day of the season will live with me forever.

 

2008-2009 - watching Ayr United regularly since the early 2000s, this was the first season I watched were we were actually decent and I expected Ayr United to win games. For all of Brian Reid's shortcomings, this team never knew when they were beaten and there were a few comeback wins this season. Winning promotion via the playoffs was some buzz as well - although it was disappointing to not win the league.

 

2010-2011 - another playoff winning season. The win over Hibernian in the Scottish Cup had special significance to me because it was the final Ayr United match of my Papa's lifetime, and I visited him in the hospice the next day and the first thing he asked me was what the score was. He died two days later. The winning goal wasn't bad either.

 

2018-19 - this season didn't end too well, but the first half was absolutely fantastic and was one of my favourite periods of supporting the club. Unfortunately the wheels came off in the second half of the season.

 

2002-2003 - this was the first season were I went to every home game, although it wasn't a particularly great season with a mid table finish in the second tier. Little did I know, future seasons of toiling in the third tier would make this season seem like a golden age.

 

[Broken Algorithms]

I started going to Rovers games regularly in 2004, so there's quite slim pickings for this. So in no particular order:

2008/09: After losing out to Airdrie in the playoffs, McGlynn went out and brought in David McGurn and a few other faces as we went head to head against Ayr for the title. We scored a disgusting amount of 90th minute goals (at least 5 or 6 over the course of the season). With 10 games left, Ayr game to Stark's Park and took the initiative in the title race. We then went unbeaten for the rest of the season, conceding only once before winning the league in a bit of an unexpected manner at Hampden. It was a season filled with plenty of memorable moments: The derbies against East Fife and the return of Willie Gray, Graham Weir's last minute winner against Ayr moments after they'd equalised, the Sloan freekick against Brechin. 

 

2009/10: Our first season back up in the 'first division' and one which was quite significant in giving the club a lot of belief after a few years in the wilderness. After waiting almost a decade for a derby, we got two in a week - the first we got pumped by an inspired performance from Willie Gibson, the second saw Grant Murray's thunderb*****d, McGurn's wondersave and the Casalinuovo goal on the counter. In the league, we toiled in one of our many winters of discontent after the clocks went back.

But it was in the Scottish Cup where the real magic took place. After seeing off Peterhead and Airdrie (who we played 7 times that season - 1 friendly, 2 Scottish Cup games and 4 league games after the demise of Gretna), we then played Aberdeen. We got robbed of a draw at home, then Mark Campbell almost died in a car-crash, and the replay saw us line up with a backline of 2 midfielders, a centre half and a right back with the flu. That night Gregory Tade wrote himself into folklore. We then played a freespending Dundee in the quarter finals and somehow went two up within 10 minutes to set up the most nervy 80 minutes I'll ever watch. 

 

2019/20: With Falkirk coming down, and Rovers moving to a hybrid system nobody really gave us much of a chance. McGlynn brought back fan favourites McGurn and Grant Anderson before we somehow convinced Regan Hendry that he should spend time in league 1. We brought in Kieran MacDonald, who Airdrie fans assured us was shite, along with Brad Spencer from Forfar. The friendlies and league cup saw 16 year old Kieron Bowie grab his opportunity to make a mark. The real masterstroke from McGlynn was to bring back John Baird who had recently emigrated to Australia.

As the season went on, we grew in belief as Falkirk bombed out snakey Ray to bring in complete novices in "Big Sexy" Lee Miller and David "Cracks" McCracken. In January, we brought in Steven MacLean while they brought in Rafa Da Vita, Ben Hall and Josh Todd. MacLean's experience was vital and he formed solid partnerships with both Bowie and Baird. By the time we'd hit March, it was clear the UK government were a bunch of useless gimps and that the pandemic was going to f**k everything up. Falkirk came to Stark's and their management team shat it by playing for a draw. After beating Forfar, the league was halted midweek thanks to COVID spiralling out of control and we won the league despite "Falkirk being only a point behind with a far superior goal difference". We then went into a summer of memes and shithousing. Great times...

Spoiler

2020/21: A bizarre entry given we didn't get into a single game. A lot of people wrote us off immediately because we didn't deserve promotion or something. We started the season in excellent form as we continued our freeflowing football. We gave a decent account of ourselves in the league cup too, albeit we got knocked out in the group stages. We brought in the unknowns of Duku and Musonda who were both outstanding in the opening games, and we didn't seem to fear anyone. We also brought in Ethan Ross on loan who overall added a bit of further technique and ability to go alongside Dan Armstrong. 

Throughout the season, we won four games by putting 5 past opposition. We had a COVID outbreak, then after one day of training went to Tynecastle and beat Hearts 3-2. We comfortably beat Dundee at Stark's with Reghan Tumilty scoring an absolute beauty of a goal. The season peaked when we tore Dunfermline to shreds. The derby games I'd seen had always either been Dunfermline brutalising us with wave after wave of attack, or us grinding out a hard fought win. We narrowly missed out on second, with Dundee sneaking in on the last day (and having signed 5 previous Championship winners over the course of the season), beat Dunfermline in the playoffs and then lost out to Dundee. I'm still at a loss how someone picked James McPake to be manager of the year last season. Nobody gave us a chance, and yet we ended up coming so close. 

 

2010/11: 90% of this season was excellent. The final 2 and a half games...nah. We'd signed Baird on a pre-contract from Airdrie, and again nobody really expected much from us. John McGlynn v1 basically had a simple strategy: get the ball up to Baird and Tade - they're both quite quick and if defenders chase one of them, the other can find space. It wasn't pretty, but I don't think I've seen defenders in that much terror since we had Marvin Andrews, Mark Campbell and Andy Tod go up for corners back in 07/08. 

High points were beating the Pars at Stark's twice, Allan Walker's 90th minute equaliser having been 2 goals down with 10 minutes to go, and Walker's absolute screamer to put to bed the whole deefiant birthday caird pish of Dundee after they retained a ridiculously strong squad in their administration. It was a strange season as at the start of every month, pretty much most fans said "surely they're going to fall apart soon" but it never came to pass. It was shite to lose it in the way that we did, but had we overspent even further I don't want to think about what the consequences would've been. Probably administration. 

 

Honourable mention for the 2013/14 side who beat Hibs away in the Scottish Cup and Rangers in the Diddy Cup final - two of the best footballing days I'll have in my life. 

 

It probably speaks volumes that every season I've picked in the top 5 was under John McGlynn. That guy has pulled out club out the pits twice. He's given us some incredible memories and the team we've had over the last 3 seasons has played some truly outstanding football. We were completely hopeless before he came back for his second stint. It's easy to forget how quickly a football club can fall into a farcial situation. As it stands, while the club don't always get it right, our management, players and fans all seem to be enjoying the good times. The 2021/22 season has been excellent so far.