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The Mantis

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  1. The Mantis
    Lower League Ramblings
    Here I am again, baring my soul for all you lot to see. Yes I watch Love Island. I’m not proud of it but I live for the drama in the villa and I make sure I rush home to watch it every night. Like everyone else I am praying for them to chuck in a wee ugly fat guy from Greenock with incredible patter to represent our fine nation in front of millions. My prayers have not been answered. Instead they have chucked in an Edinburgh born hunk of a man, tattoos covering his chest and arms and teeth whiter than a Donald Trump rally. His first conversation made my blood boil, veins popping out my forehead and left my body more anger laden than an old firm statement about referees.

    Scottish Jamie: I’m from Edinburgh

    Essex Shaugna: So do you support Celtic or Rangers?

    I was…
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  2. The Mantis
    YouTube: ICT and The Pars coming out, 2005
    A few memories and photos of East End Park before I head off to the Women’s Euros in The Netherlands where I hope to be blogging a few reports from the Scotland games.
    As usual I hope the Pars supporters will excuse any glaring errors. I try to use my own photography on these blogs and I apologise for any images not bearing my personal watermark as that means I have nicked them off the internet
    * Some perspective – although I have spent many a pleasant afternoon on the terraces at East End Park, none of them compares to The Stranglers backed by The Skids at the Kinema in 1978
    Formed in 1885, the Pars have traditionally been the big club in Fife, with a European pedigree, although they have recently spent 3 seasons in the third tier (League 1) following a period of administration. The stadium has been their home since their formation and they were elected to the League in 1912. Their most successful period came after Jock Stein became manager in 1960. They won the Scottish Cup in 1961 and again in 1968, while reaching the final in 1965, and again twice in the noughties. They have won Scottish Football’s second tier 4 times. In 1969 they reached the semi-final of the Cup-Winners’ Cup, beating West Brom before going out to Slovan Bratislava, who went on to beat Barcelona in the Final.
    Construction of the 3000 seat Main Stand in 1962. The overall ground capacity is about 12000, depending on who you ask…Checking back I see that I first went there in April 1969 when I was still at school. On the Saturday Rangers had been demolished 4-0 by Celtic in the Cup Final which ended Alex Ferguson’s Rangers career, after he failed to mark Billy McNeill at a corner in the 2nd minute. Not so well known is that Fergie fell over in 33 minutes when he had a chance to equalise from a rebound! He was dropped for the Monday night when Rangers drew with Dundee at Ibrox in front of only 6800, and didn’t appear in this game on the Wednesday. Rangers still had a Fairs’ Cup semi to play against Newcastle but poor Fergie didn’t feature in either leg. Fergie, of course, had joined Rangers from Dunfermline for £65000, a record between 2 Scottish clubs at the time.

    On to the Wednesday night and 11700 turned out to see Dunfermline and Rangers finish their league campaign. The Pars could have finished level with Rangers if they had won but their goal average was far worse. In the end Rangers won 3-0 to finish 4 points ahead of 3rd placed Dunfermline and 5 behind champions Celtic.
    In a day when the reputation of Scottish football was much higher than now, the teams are worth a mention:
    Dunfermline: Martin, Callaghan, Lunn, Fraser, Barry, Robertson, McLean, McKimmie (Renton), Edwards, Gardner, Mitchell.
    Rangers: Neef, Johansen, Mathieson, Greig, Provan, D.Smith, Henderson, Jardine, Penman, Johnston, Persson.
    Amongst the Scandinavians there were a couple of Fifers, Willie Johnston and Billy Mathieson, in the Rangers side, and Johnston scored two before half time, while Penman added a late 3rd.
    By the following March Rangers, as was their habit, had moved on to the next big-money striker, £100000 Colin Stein, who put them ahead, but it was to no avail as another Rangers “reject”, George McLean, belted the ball past the Girvan Lighthouse, Peter McCloy, for the Pars’ winner after a McLaren equaliser.
    The Pars featured pretty heavily at the end of the 67-68 season. Rangers had led the league for most of that season but they had drawn away at Morton which was to set the nerves jangling. On April 27th Dunfermline beat Hearts 3-1 at Hampden to win their second ever Scottish Cup, in front of 56000, with goals from Pat Gardner (2) and Ian Lister, while John Lunn’s own goal counted for Hearts.
    Meanwhile, even though it was Cup Final day, there was a league programme on. Rangers lost 3-2 at home to Aberdeen with an 89th minute goal, which effectively made Celtic champions on goal average, even if they lost at East End Park in their final match. However the match on the following Tuesday ended 2-1 to Celtic, in front of a ground record of 27816, many of whom watched from the floodlight pylons and enclosure roof. Unfortunately there was one fatality that evening and many injuries.

     
    Another healthy away following – Falkirk visit in 1994:

    McCathie scores as Clydebank are beaten in 1995.
    The next few photos are from a match in September 1995 where Dunfermline beat St Johnstone 2-1.
    I went along to a Scottish Cup tie with a Ross County supporting mate in 1997. County were soundly beaten 4-0 and, in true ‘wee club’ fashion, as the Pars scored the 4th, the County fans were actually jumping around at the news that ICT had conceded a goal in their cup tie at Inverness.
    The next time I went the end terracing had been replaced in 1998 by two spanking new 3000 seater stands, the Norrie McCathie at the West End facing the traditional away stand at the East. So this was 1999 and we ICT supporters were pinching ourselves as our 5 year old club had reached tier 2 of the Scottish game, and was competing on an even keel with the likes of Falkirk, St Mirren and Dunfermline.
    ICT had found the first season in Div 1 hard going, and on the opening day they were humbled 4-0 after having Barry Wilson injured and young centre half Andrew Allan sent off. The week before Christmas ICT were back at East End, having scraped together 5 wins in the league, and for much of the game they gave as good as they got. However their hearts were broken in injury time when Andy Tod thumped home a header from an Owen Coyle cross.
    Two months later history was made with “SuperCaleyGoBallisticCelticAreAtrocious” at Parkhead in the Scottish Cup, and the Pars were promoted at the end of the season with ICT a creditable 6th.
    Pars fans may not want to read this, but the Falkirk support in the East Stand was swollen by a couple of busloads of ICT fans in January 2000 after their game at Ayr was called off at short notice. The deadly rivals served up a 2-2 draw with some great strikes.
    Since then I have witnessed 6 draws and 3 ICT wins at East End. The photos below are from a dull 0-0 draw in 2005 on the Pars’ short lived plastic pitch. Pars legend Craig Brewster is playing for ICT here.
    Only one of the 6 draws produced a goal glut and that was in August 2011 with both clubs in the SPL. Andy Kirk twice put the Pars ahead with Greg Tansey and Johnny Hayes equalising. With 7 minutes left, Tansey looked to have won it for ICT, but big mad mental Martin Hardie saved a point in the 90th minute.
    And so on the eve of the new season, the clubs prepare to meet in a league match for the first time since 2010, after being 2 divisions apart for a spell. A year ago ICT fans were optimistic about the new season as their Premiership squad, under Richie Foran, came to town and beat the Pars 5-1 in the League Cup. With hindsight, this would be pretty much our best result of the whole season (apart from taking a point against Celtic and beating Rangers in February) as we ended up relegated on the last day.

    I’ll be reporting in a couple of weeks from Scotland Women v England in Utrecht. TTFN.
     
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  3. The Mantis
    First stop on the Euro 2017 tour is the 24426 capacity Stadion Galgenwaard in Utrecht. FC Utrecht were formed as recently as 1970 by a merger of 3 clubs. Utrecht are the only club outside the big three (Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV) never to be relegated from the Eredivisie and last season they were 4th. Their average attendance was just over 18000.
    The modern stadium dates from 1982 but has had a couple more revamps since then and the current look of the place dates from 2004. Apparently the name is from the site in Utrecht where the gallows was. Our tickets were in the Noordzijde which is the main stand. To our right, the Cityside, and to our left, the Bunnikside. We were actually staying in Bunnik, a village to the East of Utrecht, so at least we knew our way home.
    The day started for us at 6am. When we got up, we discovered a text from EasyJet saying our 10.10 flight from Edinburgh was delayed till 12.35. We still had to check in on time anyway and then somebody took the **** big time as our gate was announced as 6, then 7, then 19, then 7, then 14, so there was a plane load of angry fliers keeping fit by traipsing from one end of the airport to the other. Eventually we boarded and sat on the tarmac for ages, but finally we got away and emerged into a baking hot day in Schiphol, almost 30 degrees, at about 2.30 local time.
    The next problem presented itself at the car hire. My computer had given up the ghost a few days earlier so I just had an email on my phone from Rentalcars which was not the hirer, just an agent, and no reference number. I spent a (not so) happy hour asking at various desks whether they actually had my name down for a car. Eventually I found an angel of a young woman at Sixt who made a few calls with only my email address for ID, and she found that my car was with Dollar, out at Hoofddorp. One shuttle bus later and we had the keys to a dinky wee Fiat 500. Not long after that we were clear of Amsterdam and heading round the Utrecht ring in rush hour, and into the village of Bunnik.

    A quick shower, bite to eat and a beer, change of togs into the match gear and off we go. We’re based about 5km east of Utrecht but, this being Europe, there’s a regular bus service for €2.70 that stops right outside the stadium and runs till about 1am. What exactly were these imbeciles hoping to get by voting to leave? I’ve forgotten.
    Being early, we had a walk right round the outside of the Gargenwaald, a very pleasant wooded area with canals. Utrecht is a very bike-friendly city with bike traffic lights at the busiest junctions. There are, however, no bars in the vicinity of the ground so I asked one of the orange-shirted helpers (they have a huge balloon floating above them with a question mark on it) if there was beer sold inside. He assured me there was, so in we went, to find that the only beer was 0.5% Carlsberg in plastic glasses of maybe 250ml, or possibly 330ml, for €3 a pop. Oh well, never mind.
    Anyway, no putting it off any longer. Well, just a little longer. I was chatting to a couple from Stirling when these two England lads with the cross of St George painted right across their faces started putting up this huge flag right in front of us with the Butcher’s Apron on it and they were told to remove themselves…

    The line-up on a historic occasion for the Scots:

    Anyway we’ll quickly skim over the match details. Scotland drove forward from the start and Jane Ross hooked in a shot from 30 yards out which was tipped over by Karen Bardsley for a Scotland corner. And, emmm, that’s about as good as it got.
    Not forgetting that England are ranked no 5 in the world and Scotland 21, it was a disappointing night as Scotland enjoyed a lot of possession and corners, and won most of the fouls against the England girls, who showed their class at times, especially on the break where sloppy passes by Scotland were quickly punished. Despite Scotland forcing the majority of the corners, they were all cleared by English heads.

    The Scots lassies also gave away a bit in size and physicality to their opponents, who weren’t averse to the occasional cynical challenge, and there were bookings for Houghton and Scott, while Caroline Weir was also booked late on for Scotland. It has to be said that the Scotland defending was suicidal at times, starting with the 10th minute opener, and #ourgirlsourgame will be looking for a big improvement on Sunday in Rotterdam. The attendance was 5587 and although outnumbered the Scottish support were magnificent as always.

    At the end of the game we only had a 5 minute wait for the 41 bus back to Bunnik and a walk in the dark back to the very comfortable hostel in the company of some Belgian fans who had been at the game. They were very knowledgable and had a lot of encouraging things to say about the team. They were playing down in Breda the following night and beat Norway 2-0, a terrific result. Still time for a nightcap – La Trappe Tripel from  Brouwerij de Koningshoeven near Tilburg.
    We’ve been chilling out and biking around Utrecht today and trying even more excellent  beers. My experience of Dutch beer before now was Heineken and Amstel but it’s been a revelation.
    We leave Utrecht behind tomorrow and head north to Groningen and Ameland in the Friesian Islands. We’ll stay a couple of nights at a B&B called ‘Middle of Nowhere’ up at Warfstermolen before heading back down to Rotterdam on Sunday for the Portugal game. In the meantime here’s a bit more of Utrecht for you:

     
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  4. The Mantis
    After leaving Utrecht we headed up north for a couple of days and spent an afternoon in Groningen. Groningen is a university city, the largest city in the North with a population of just over 200000 and it was supposed to be quieter during the summer, but we had the usual hectic game of ‘dodge the bike’ – Groningen has been called the ‘World Cycling City’. We did the obligatory Groninger Museum and were mightily impressed with the building, which stands in the middle of the canal and links the railway station to the city centre.
    Of course, before leaving Groningen I had a nosey at the Noordlease Stadion where Groningen, the Pride of the North, play in the Eredivisie. Pinching your nickname off ICT, whatever next.
    Grote Markt, Groningen

    We then headed westwards to a B&B called ‘Middle of Nowhere’ where we spent a nice chilled couple of days with a fabulous sunset, and visited Ameland, one of the Friesian Islands, which is a 45 minute ferry trip, and hired bikes to get around.
    We also had great meal at Logement Doosje run by a couple called Bennie and Dina. Bennie is fanatical about whisky and Scotland and has an astonishing selection of over 100 malts.
    Middle of Nowhere
    On Sunday we had a run down to Rotterdam via the 32 km Afsluitdijk which encloses the IJsselmeer from the outer sea and connects Friesland to Noord-Holland. When I was at school our primary teacher told us it was the Zuiderzee.
    It was a bit of a culture shock going from roads in the North with passing places, to 5 lane motorways round Amsterdam, especially in torrential showers, but eventually we found our way into Rotterdam and booked into our room at the Stayokay in the famous Cube Houses designed by Piet Blom. No getting away from the parking charges in central Rotterdam at €20 per day.

     

    So same routine as last time: shower, change into match gear, beer, pizza. The Stayokay (what the Dutch call their hostels) had decent Trappist beers on tap.

    Het Kasteel (The Castle) is rooted in the Spangen area of Rotterdam and holds 11926. It was a simple Metro ride from our station at Blaak to Marconiplein. We fancied getting the leisurely no 8 tram right to the front door but we wasted too much time on beer and pizza and we had to rush, so the Metro it was.


    To the right was the Denis Neville Stand which is the traditional home end. The Scotland fans who bought tickets from the SFA were housed in here. We had been too quick off the mark and had got more expensive seats as part of a 3 game Scotland package from UEFA. The Portuguese fans were away to our left but we were able to mix freely. Both sets of fans kept up a series of chants and in a small stadium the atmosphere was much better than the England game. The Bok de Korver Stand at the other end was empty. Opposite us was the Tonny van Ede Stand which is the main stand with the hospitality boxes and players’ tunnel.

    As Arthur Montford would say, disaster for Scotland…
    Here’s the lineup for matchday 2:

    So one enforced change from the first game, with Jane Ross ruled out, and both full backs, Kirsty Smith in for Chloe Arthur, and Rachel McLauchlan replacing Frankie Brown. Yet another game which was lost by defensive howlers. Scotland badly missed Jen Beattie who was injured before the tournament, as well as veteran midfielder Kim Little. Striker Jane Ross had scored ten times during the qualifiers but sustained a shoulder injury against England. Lana Clelland replaced her up front and did well, but it took substitute Erin Cuthbert to finally bring a goal for the supporters to cheer, when Caroline Weir played her in to equalise the first half goal from Mendes.
    The joy was short lived as Portugal’s winner came 4 minutes later via route one, as Leite ran on to a header and outpaced Vaila Barsley to slip the ball past Gemma Fay. Scotland still had time to miss a couple of chances and Weir rattled the crossbar. Although Scotland physically dominated their smaller, more technically gifted opponents in midfield, it was ironic that the winner came in Wimbledon style…
    Portugal also had 5 bookings, including the goalkeeper, who was booed repeatedly during the second half for blatant timewasting. Rachel Corsie was also booked 2 minutes after the winner as frustration got the better of her. A huge opportunity missed for Scotland and now they have the unenviable task of beating Spain by 2 goals to stay in the competition. The attendance was 3123. highlights are here

    .
    Time to do what Scottish fans do best and drown our sorrows:

    Next day we had a rake around the Oude Haven, the old harbour. Before we left Rotterdam next morning I was keen to get another look at Stadion Feijenoord (De Kuip – The Tub).
    We had been here in 2002 for a match against NAC Breda which sadly finished goalless. Christine and I got off the train at Feyenoord Station right outside and somehow managed to blag tickets despite not being members. It was fascinating to see the Breda fans arrive on the opposite platform and be taken by a walkway right over the top and into the stadium without meeting any home fans at all, and take their place in a wee section at one end behind a net. Here’s a pano which I made back then:

    And here’s a couple of shots I found on the internet that I really like: an aerial pic from 1956 and another from about 1960…
    Finally here’s de Kuip, home of the Kampioen, as it looks today:

    Next up is Scotland v Spain in Deventer on Thursday, but first we’re hopping up to Volendam for a couple of days. See you.
     
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  5. The Mantis
    So on Monday morning, after the disappointment against Portugal, which meant Scotland would be eliminated unless they could achieve the daunting task of beating Spain 2-0, we left Rotterdam and headed up the A4 motorway past Amsterdam, to Volendam where we would spend a couple of days. Before leaving Rotterdam we had a quick wander around the Oude Haven (Old Harbour). We also had a quick stop for photos at de Kuip or Stadion Feijenoord (see previous blog).

    We had been to Volendam 15 years before. On a city break to Amsterdam we took the bus to Volendam one evening for a meal and a wander around. It was a quaint touristy village and we were able to see the sea by stepping up to the top of a dike. The place seemed to have changed a lot. Our hotel was at the Haven but only residents could enter this area with cars as it was all protected by barriers and swipe cards. Our SatNav was working overtime trying to get us into the area around the Slobbeland area and we had Billy Connolly as a voice, so he was doing well to keep his temper.

    Eventually we found free parking about 1/4 mile away from the hotel and walked in, trundling our luggage. However some beer and fish soup in the sunshine soon restored us. The place was heaving with tourists but it quietened down when the souvenir shops started to close. We had a walk up the shore to the north and once we had passed through 1/4 mile of shops selling windmills, clogs and other tat we escaped the crowds and walked along the dike for a bit.
    We saw a couple of Great Crested Grebes which are quite tame here and it’s easy to get photos compared to Scotland where they’re very shy. Back in Bunnik I had managed a shot of a female GCG feeding a fish to its chick. Obviously this photo would have won all the wildlife photographer of the year awards but for some inexplicable reason I deleted it when I got home. Boo-hoo.

    A nice meal and yet more beers, and before bedtime I was creeping around Volendam Harbour taking night photos.

    On Tuesday we walked to Edam along the dike and accidentally came upon the wee stadium of Edamse Voetbal Club or E.V.C.

    We also found a windmill to photograph in Volendam and I watched FC Volendam training at their 7164 capacity Kras Stadion. At the moment they play in the Eerste Divisie which is a level below Ajax etc.
    Another evening, more food and more beers…
    On Wednesday we packed up and headed for Deventer for the Spain match. First we went to the famous Wednesday Kaasmarkt (cheese market) in Edam, which was absolutely mobbed long before the 10.30 start, and then over to Zaanse Schans which is a sort of windmills theme park. It was mobbed and we didn’t stay long. Besides, we had to nip back to Volendam as we were missing one camera and were too worried to enjoy Zaanse Schans. Thankfully our hotel had found the camera (or you wouldn’t be seeing half of these masterpieces).
    An hour and a half of motorway slog later, we were coming into Deventer over the large arched bridge over the river IJssel. Deventer was less obviously touristy than a lot of other places, in fact it had a distinctly businesslike feel, but later we discovered the Brink, the large market square, where the fanzone was set up the following day. We discovered that the in the film A Bridge Too Far, the Arnhem scenes were all set in Deventer, as Arnhem had lost its historic centre. We were staying in Bergpoort, a quiet street with absolutely no on-street parking, which made it a wee bit like Coronation Street. St Nicolas church with its twin towers is called the Bergkerk or Mountain Church as it stands on The Berg which is a molehill in the centre of Deventer.
    The stadium, De Adelaarshorst, was only about a mile away from our apartment, and even less from the Brink. Although the game wasn’t until Thursday I did attempt a wee recce. However the Spain Women were training in the stadium and there were stewards barring access.

    De Adelaarshorst (The Eagle’s Nest) was built in 1920 and holds about 10500 people. It is the home of Eredivisie club Go Ahead Eagles. They were founded in 1902 as Be Quick, then Go Ahead, and the Eagles was added in 1971. The club has produced a handful of famous players of whom Marc Overmars and Bert van Marwijk are the two that are most recognisable to me. The last time they won the Eredivisie was 1933. Their main rivals are PEC Zwolle who are also on the river IJssel. Jimmy Calderwood was manager for 3 months in 2012
    With a crowd of 4814 turning up the Scotland -Spain match had the best atmosphere of the 3 games. It seems that many more Scotland fans had made the effort for this one and at times the place was rocking. Scotland lineup:
    Fay
    Frankie Brown, Dieke, Corsie, Arthur
    Crichton
    Evans, Love (Fiona Brown 73), Weir, L. Ross (Clelland 46)
    Cuthbert
    It’s fair to say that the girls rode their luck to pull off a win. Spain dominated possession and missed chances before Caroline Weir put the Scots ahead 4 minutes from the break, after Erin Cuthbert challenged the goalkeeper at the edge of the box. A scrappy goal but it certainly raised the spirits at the interval. Spain continued to dominate after the break, hitting the bar, and forcing a goal-line clearance from Ifeoma Dieke, but Scotland passed up an amazing chance when Leanne Crichton volleyed over from close in from a Weir corner.
    At the end Scotland just came short of the required 2-0 win although it would have been harsh on Spain to go out. There were many tears as the girls came over to salute the Scotland support. Christie Murray and Joanne Love jumped the barriers to meet with friends and family. In Scotland’s first major tournament, injuries to key players had cost them heavily. With a full squad, who knows. Highlights
    As we all filed out into the Deventer night, we had the bizarre sight of a bike traffic jam being handled by a steward. The bikes would be one of the overriding memories of the trip. Back to the apartment to finish the packing for the early rise and drive to Schiphol via the car hire at Hoofddorp, and pick up a lovely bottle of Ardbeg in duty free. Caroline Weir’s parents were sitting next to us on the flight. More than once we had been told “Amsterdam is not The Netherlands” and we had learned a lot about this wonderful country and would be keen to come back soon.
     
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  6. The Mantis
    Right, time to get the blog up and running after that long hibernation…
    In 2015 I finally got around to visiting Peterhead’s ‘new’ stadium, which had actually opened 18 years earlier. So having ‘Completed The 42’ as they say, away back in the day, I once more slotted in the last part of the jigsaw and ticked off the missing ground. Not much of a groundhopper then. Some people would have been there the day it opened.
    All of the photos below are mine, except for the first one, which I couldn’t resist using as it’s a lovely shot, pinched from the internet – sorry if the owner is reading this. Probably from a drone. A nice slope on the North Sea though, handy for water-skiers.

    ICT had played there before, but it was usually pre-season friendlies or midweek ties in the League Cup, so I hadn’t bothered trekking up, and let’s face it, it is a bit of a trek. Heaven help anybody visiting relatives in the recently closed HMP Peterhead, which is now a museum, or the new HMP Grampian. HMP Peterhead was the scene of a riot in 1987 which old Ice-Cream Cornet Heid, aka Home Secretary Douglas Hurd, ended by bringing in the SAS.
    Peterhead’s old ground was Recreation Park in Queen Street, the site of which is now occupied by a Morrison’s, just down the road from the new stadium. I have one snap of the old Recreation Park which I took in October 1992 when Peterhead, then in the Highland League, played Caley in the old Qualifying Cup.

    Caley had a wonderful run to the 4th round of the Scottish Cup in 1991-2, beating Stenhousemuir and Clyde before going out to Premier Division St Johnstone after a replay. They had great hopes of doing something similar in 92-93 but it was not to be. After coming through a difficult tie at Elgin, they could be forgiven for thinking that the hard work was done. Only Peterhead stood between Caley and a place in the semi-final, and hence the Scottish Cup proper, as happened in those days.
    I drove up from Edinburgh with my old mucker Dave Mackay. Back in those days we could get up to a Caley home game in Inverness for about £14 worth of diesel. It was a nice sunny autumnal day and we had a tape of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells 2 in the car. This was a recording of the previous month’s World Premier at Edinburgh Castle. Happy days.
    I insisted in stopping at Charles McHardy butchers in Stonehaven on the way up. I loved their home made pork pies, and apparently they were named Britain’s best butcher in 1997. We ate them sitting in the sunshine on the harbour wall, before battering on up to The Blue Toon.
    For the record, the teams were:
    Peterhead: Dunbar, Watson, Burke, King, Coull, Gerrard, Campbell, Emslie, McGachie, Brown, Fraser. Subs: Madden, Watson.
    Caledonian: McRitchie, Skinner, Mann, Gilmour, Sinclair, Andrew, MacDonald, Lisle, Urquhart, Christie, Robertson. Subs: McAllister, Caldwell.
    The game was settled by a Bruce Campbell goal after 15 minutes. For all Caley’s second half pressure, it was The Blue Toon who deservedly progressed, gaining revenge for their 3-2 defeat in the previous year’s Final. Peterhead lost at Cove in the next round, and by one of those quirks, also lost there in the first round of the Scottish.
     

    One great thing about the old park was that it backed onto Raemoss Park where Buchanhaven Hearts played, so at half time we watched a bit of their game which I believe they won 5-1. Indeed, Recreation Park was originally part of Raemoss Park and was gifted to the club.
    The old ground saw its record crowd as recently as 1987, when anything between 6500 – 8500 are reported to have witnessed a 3-3 draw against Raith Rovers in a 4th round replay. The Blue Toon had previously beaten East Stirlingshire, Rothes and Clyde, and drawn 2-2 at Starks Park, before going out 3-0 in the second replay at Gayfield. However Balmoor saw the club’s record victory, 17-0 versus Fort William in 1998, which demonstrates that, for The Fort, little changes.

    So, fast forward to 2015 and Balmoor Stadium. ICT were playing on Sunday against Celtic, so with Livingston visiting Peterhead on Scottish Cup business, it was a perfect opportunity to tick off the last ground of the SPFL. No driving for me this time – using the newly acquired Bus Pass on the Megabus Gold and the Aberdeen to Peterhead bus meant that I could have a few refreshments.
    I mentioned McHardy’s the butcher, but in Peterhead you have to try the pies by Coutts & Son. I would say they are the best I’ve ever had at a game anywhere. As well as that, the club shop had what they called ‘toffee’ at £1 a bag. This turned out to be the local name for what I always knew as ‘tablet’.

    A bit about Peterhead FC. Founded in 1890, they were admitted to the Highland League in 1931, winning it 5 times, the last being 1998-99, before being admitted to the Scottish league along with Elgin City for season 2000-1. Balmoor Stadium had been opened on 28/9/97 and probably played a significant part in the application. The capacity of the new facility is quoted as 3150, although it hosted a record crowd of 4885 against Rangers in 2013, apparently by using temporary terracing. The two stands look almost identical, but the main stand is slightly larger, and total seating is reported as 998. Behind both goals are hard standing areas.
    Livi celebrate going a goal up
    Peterhead spent their first 5 seasons in the bottom tier but with the arrival of ex-ICT legend Iain Stewart that was about to change. Stewart came to the club as a striker, but in his first  full season as manager, replacing ex-Scotland Internationalist Ian Wilson, he guided them to promotion on the coat-tails of Gretna in 2005. They were relegated in 2010-11 but returned as champions in 2013. Another ICT legend, Steve Paterson, managed the club from 2006-2008.
    As I write, they have won through to the 2018 League 1 playoff final and will meet Stenhousemuir.

    So, back to the Scottish Cup and the Round 3 match against Livingston. Like many followers of the Cup, I travelled up hoping for an upset on the day. Livingston were in the Championship but ended up being relegated by the playoffs. Peterhead were in League 1 and just missed out on promotion in the same playoffs.
    The Peterhead side included the high scoring Rory McAllister, who had a spell in the SPL with ICT, but never really cut it, despite 49 appearances. He then attained legendary status at Brechin City, before winning the hearts of the Peterhead faithful. Peterhead also had Shane Sutherland, who had a similar record at ICT, before having his best days at Elgin.

    Livi had Liam Buchanan, man of many clubs, whom I had met a couple of times as he had joined in pre-season training at Whitehill. Any thoughts of a shock were quickly washed away as Livi totally dominated, taking the lead through ex-Hearts and Ross County striker Gary Glen after quarter of an hour, and adding a further 2 goals from Jordan White to qualify comfortably for the last 32. Rory McAllister added a consolation from the penalty spot in stoppage time. Final score 1-3.
    I slipped away just as the final whistle sounded and reached the bus station for the 5pm connection to Aberdeen. Due to congestion in Union Street I made the Megabus to Edinburgh with about 4 minutes to spare. Match Highlights Here.
     
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  7. The Mantis
    Right, time to get the blog up and running after that long hibernation…
    In 2015 I finally got around to visiting Peterhead’s ‘new’ stadium, which had actually opened 18 years earlier. So having ‘Completed The 42’ as they say, away back in the day, I once more slotted in the last part of the jigsaw and ticked off the missing ground. Not much of a groundhopper then. Some people would have been there the day it opened.
    All of the photos below are mine, except for the first one, which I couldn’t resist using as it’s a lovely shot, pinched from the internet – sorry if the owner is reading this. Probably from a drone. A nice slope on the North Sea though, handy for water-skiers.

    ICT had played there before, but it was usually pre-season friendlies or midweek ties in the League Cup, so I hadn’t bothered trekking up, and let’s face it, it is a bit of a trek. Heaven help anybody visiting relatives in the recently closed HMP Peterhead, which is now a museum, or the new HMP Grampian. HMP Peterhead was the scene of a riot in 1987 which old Ice-Cream Cornet Heid, aka Home Secretary Douglas Hurd, ended by bringing in the SAS.
    Peterhead’s old ground was Recreation Park in Queen Street, the site of which is now occupied by a Morrison’s, just down the road from the new stadium. I have one snap of the old Recreation Park which I took in October 1992 when Peterhead, then in the Highland League, played Caley in the old Qualifying Cup.

    Caley had a wonderful run to the 4th round of the Scottish Cup in 1991-2, beating Stenhousemuir and Clyde before going out to Premier Division St Johnstone after a replay. They had great hopes of doing something similar in 92-93 but it was not to be. After coming through a difficult tie at Elgin, they could be forgiven for thinking that the hard work was done. Only Peterhead stood between Caley and a place in the semi-final, and hence the Scottish Cup proper, as happened in those days.
    I drove up from Edinburgh with my old mucker Dave Mackay. Back in those days we could get up to a Caley home game in Inverness for about £14 worth of diesel. It was a nice sunny autumnal day and we had a tape of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells 2 in the car. This was a recording of the previous month’s World Premier at Edinburgh Castle. Happy days.
    I insisted in stopping at Charles McHardy butchers in Stonehaven on the way up. I loved their home made pork pies, and apparently they were named Britain’s best butcher in 1997. We ate them sitting in the sunshine on the harbour wall, before battering on up to The Blue Toon.
    For the record, the teams were:
    Peterhead: Dunbar, Watson, Burke, King, Coull, Gerrard, Campbell, Emslie, McGachie, Brown, Fraser. Subs: Madden, Watson.
    Caledonian: McRitchie, Skinner, Mann, Gilmour, Sinclair, Andrew, MacDonald, Lisle, Urquhart, Christie, Robertson. Subs: McAllister, Caldwell.
    The game was settled by a Bruce Campbell goal after 15 minutes. For all Caley’s second half pressure, it was The Blue Toon who deservedly progressed, gaining revenge for their 3-2 defeat in the previous year’s Final. Peterhead lost at Cove in the next round, and by one of those quirks, also lost there in the first round of the Scottish.
     

    One great thing about the old park was that it backed onto Raemoss Park where Buchanhaven Hearts played, so at half time we watched a bit of their game which I believe they won 5-1. Indeed, Recreation Park was originally part of Raemoss Park and was gifted to the club.
    The old ground saw its record crowd as recently as 1987, when anything between 6500 – 8500 are reported to have witnessed a 3-3 draw against Raith Rovers in a 4th round replay. The Blue Toon had previously beaten East Stirlingshire, Rothes and Clyde, and drawn 2-2 at Starks Park, before going out 3-0 in the second replay at Gayfield. However Balmoor saw the club’s record victory, 17-0 versus Fort William in 1998, which demonstrates that, for The Fort, little changes.

    So, fast forward to 2015 and Balmoor Stadium. ICT were playing on Sunday against Celtic, so with Livingston visiting Peterhead on Scottish Cup business, it was a perfect opportunity to tick off the last ground of the SPFL. No driving for me this time – using the newly acquired Bus Pass on the Megabus Gold and the Aberdeen to Peterhead bus meant that I could have a few refreshments.
    I mentioned McHardy’s the butcher, but in Peterhead you have to try the pies by Coutts & Son. I would say they are the best I’ve ever had at a game anywhere. As well as that, the club shop had what they called ‘toffee’ at £1 a bag. This turned out to be the local name for what I always knew as ‘tablet’.

    A bit about Peterhead FC. Founded in 1890, they were admitted to the Highland League in 1931, winning it 5 times, the last being 1998-99, before being admitted to the Scottish league along with Elgin City for season 2000-1. Balmoor Stadium had been opened on 28/9/97 and probably played a significant part in the application. The capacity of the new facility is quoted as 3150, although it hosted a record crowd of 4885 against Rangers in 2013, apparently by using temporary terracing. The two stands look almost identical, but the main stand is slightly larger, and total seating is reported as 998. Behind both goals are hard standing areas.
    Livi celebrate going a goal up Peterhead spent their first 5 seasons in the bottom tier but with the arrival of ex-ICT legend Iain Stewart that was about to change. Stewart came to the club as a striker, but in his first  full season as manager, replacing ex-Scotland Internationalist Ian Wilson, he guided them to promotion on the coat-tails of Gretna in 2005. They were relegated in 2010-11 but returned as champions in 2013. Another ICT legend, Steve Paterson, managed the club from 2006-2008.
    As I write, they have won through to the 2018 League 1 playoff final and will meet Stenhousemuir.

    So, back to the Scottish Cup and the Round 3 match against Livingston. Like many followers of the Cup, I travelled up hoping for an upset on the day. Livingston were in the Championship but ended up being relegated by the playoffs. Peterhead were in League 1 and just missed out on promotion in the same playoffs.
    The Peterhead side included the high scoring Rory McAllister, who had a spell in the SPL with ICT, but never really cut it, despite 49 appearances. He then attained legendary status at Brechin City, before winning the hearts of the Peterhead faithful. Peterhead also had Shane Sutherland, who had a similar record at ICT, before having his best days at Elgin.

    Livi had Liam Buchanan, man of many clubs, whom I had met a couple of times as he had joined in pre-season training at Whitehill. Any thoughts of a shock were quickly washed away as Livi totally dominated, taking the lead through ex-Hearts and Ross County striker Gary Glen after quarter of an hour, and adding a further 2 goals from Jordan White to qualify comfortably for the last 32. Rory McAllister added a consolation from the penalty spot in stoppage time. Final score 1-3.
    I slipped away just as the final whistle sounded and reached the bus station for the 5pm connection to Aberdeen. Due to congestion in Union Street I made the Megabus to Edinburgh with about 4 minutes to spare. Match Highlights Here.
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  8. The Mantis
    So on Monday morning, after the disappointment against Portugal, which meant Scotland would be eliminated unless they could achieve the daunting task of beating Spain 2-0, we left Rotterdam and headed up the A4 motorway past Amsterdam, to Volendam where we would spend a couple of days. Before leaving Rotterdam we had a quick wander around the Oude Haven (Old Harbour). We also had a quick stop for photos at de Kuip or Stadion Feijenoord (see previous blog).

    We had been to Volendam 15 years before. On a city break to Amsterdam we took the bus to Volendam one evening for a meal and a wander around. It was a quaint touristy village and we were able to see the sea by stepping up to the top of a dike. The place seemed to have changed a lot. Our hotel was at the Haven but only residents could enter this area with cars as it was all protected by barriers and swipe cards. Our SatNav was working overtime trying to get us into the area around the Slobbeland area and we had Billy Connolly as a voice, so he was doing well to keep his temper.

    Eventually we found free parking about 1/4 mile away from the hotel and walked in, trundling our luggage. However some beer and fish soup in the sunshine soon restored us. The place was heaving with tourists but it quietened down when the souvenir shops started to close. We had a walk up the shore to the north and once we had passed through 1/4 mile of shops selling windmills, clogs and other tat we escaped the crowds and walked along the dike for a bit.
    We saw a couple of Great Crested Grebes which are quite tame here and it’s easy to get photos compared to Scotland where they’re very shy. Back in Bunnik I had managed a shot of a female GCG feeding a fish to its chick. Obviously this photo would have won all the wildlife photographer of the year awards but for some inexplicable reason I deleted it when I got home. Boo-hoo.

    A nice meal and yet more beers, and before bedtime I was creeping around Volendam Harbour taking night photos.

    On Tuesday we walked to Edam along the dike and accidentally came upon the wee stadium of Edamse Voetbal Club or E.V.C.

    We also found a windmill to photograph in Volendam and I watched FC Volendam training at their 7164 capacity Kras Stadion. At the moment they play in the Eerste Divisie which is a level below Ajax etc.
    Another evening, more food and more beers…
    On Wednesday we packed up and headed for Deventer for the Spain match. First we went to the famous Wednesday Kaasmarkt (cheese market) in Edam, which was absolutely mobbed long before the 10.30 start, and then over to Zaanse Schans which is a sort of windmills theme park. It was mobbed and we didn’t stay long. Besides, we had to nip back to Volendam as we were missing one camera and were too worried to enjoy Zaanse Schans. Thankfully our hotel had found the camera (or you wouldn’t be seeing half of these masterpieces).
    An hour and a half of motorway slog later, we were coming into Deventer over the large arched bridge over the river IJssel. Deventer was less obviously touristy than a lot of other places, in fact it had a distinctly businesslike feel, but later we discovered the Brink, the large market square, where the fanzone was set up the following day. We discovered that the in the film A Bridge Too Far, the Arnhem scenes were all set in Deventer, as Arnhem had lost its historic centre. We were staying in Bergpoort, a quiet street with absolutely no on-street parking, which made it a wee bit like Coronation Street. St Nicolas church with its twin towers is called the Bergkerk or Mountain Church as it stands on The Berg which is a molehill in the centre of Deventer.
    The stadium, De Adelaarshorst, was only about a mile away from our apartment, and even less from the Brink. Although the game wasn’t until Thursday I did attempt a wee recce. However the Spain Women were training in the stadium and there were stewards barring access.

    De Adelaarshorst (The Eagle’s Nest) was built in 1920 and holds about 10500 people. It is the home of Eredivisie club Go Ahead Eagles. They were founded in 1902 as Be Quick, then Go Ahead, and the Eagles was added in 1971. The club has produced a handful of famous players of whom Marc Overmars and Bert van Marwijk are the two that are most recognisable to me. The last time they won the Eredivisie was 1933. Their main rivals are PEC Zwolle who are also on the river IJssel. Jimmy Calderwood was manager for 3 months in 2012
    With a crowd of 4814 turning up the Scotland -Spain match had the best atmosphere of the 3 games. It seems that many more Scotland fans had made the effort for this one and at times the place was rocking. Scotland lineup:
    Fay
    Frankie Brown, Dieke, Corsie, Arthur
    Crichton
    Evans, Love (Fiona Brown 73), Weir, L. Ross (Clelland 46)
    Cuthbert
    It’s fair to say that the girls rode their luck to pull off a win. Spain dominated possession and missed chances before Caroline Weir put the Scots ahead 4 minutes from the break, after Erin Cuthbert challenged the goalkeeper at the edge of the box. A scrappy goal but it certainly raised the spirits at the interval. Spain continued to dominate after the break, hitting the bar, and forcing a goal-line clearance from Ifeoma Dieke, but Scotland passed up an amazing chance when Leanne Crichton volleyed over from close in from a Weir corner.
    At the end Scotland just came short of the required 2-0 win although it would have been harsh on Spain to go out. There were many tears as the girls came over to salute the Scotland support. Christie Murray and Joanne Love jumped the barriers to meet with friends and family. In Scotland’s first major tournament, injuries to key players had cost them heavily. With a full squad, who knows. Highlights
    As we all filed out into the Deventer night, we had the bizarre sight of a bike traffic jam being handled by a steward. The bikes would be one of the overriding memories of the trip. Back to the apartment to finish the packing for the early rise and drive to Schiphol via the car hire at Hoofddorp, and pick up a lovely bottle of Ardbeg in duty free. Caroline Weir’s parents were sitting next to us on the flight. More than once we had been told “Amsterdam is not The Netherlands” and we had learned a lot about this wonderful country and would be keen to come back soon.
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  9. The Mantis
    After leaving Utrecht we headed up north for a couple of days and spent an afternoon in Groningen. Groningen is a university city, the largest city in the North with a population of just over 200000 and it was supposed to be quieter during the summer, but we had the usual hectic game of ‘dodge the bike’ – Groningen has been called the ‘World Cycling City’. We did the obligatory Groninger Museum and were mightily impressed with the building, which stands in the middle of the canal and links the railway station to the city centre.
    Of course, before leaving Groningen I had a nosey at the Noordlease Stadion where Groningen, the Pride of the North, play in the Eredivisie. Pinching your nickname off ICT, whatever next.
    Grote Markt, Groningen
    We then headed westwards to a B&B called ‘Middle of Nowhere’ where we spent a nice chilled couple of days with a fabulous sunset, and visited Ameland, one of the Friesian Islands, which is a 45 minute ferry trip, and hired bikes to get around.
    We also had great meal at Logement Doosje run by a couple called Bennie and Dina. Bennie is fanatical about whisky and Scotland and has an astonishing selection of over 100 malts.
    Middle of Nowhere On Sunday we had a run down to Rotterdam via the 32 km Afsluitdijk which encloses the IJsselmeer from the outer sea and connects Friesland to Noord-Holland. When I was at school our primary teacher told us it was the Zuiderzee.
    It was a bit of a culture shock going from roads in the North with passing places, to 5 lane motorways round Amsterdam, especially in torrential showers, but eventually we found our way into Rotterdam and booked into our room at the Stayokay in the famous Cube Houses designed by Piet Blom. No getting away from the parking charges in central Rotterdam at €20 per day.

     

    So same routine as last time: shower, change into match gear, beer, pizza. The Stayokay (what the Dutch call their hostels) had decent Trappist beers on tap.

    Het Kasteel (The Castle) is rooted in the Spangen area of Rotterdam and holds 11926. It was a simple Metro ride from our station at Blaak to Marconiplein. We fancied getting the leisurely no 8 tram right to the front door but we wasted too much time on beer and pizza and we had to rush, so the Metro it was.


    To the right was the Denis Neville Stand which is the traditional home end. The Scotland fans who bought tickets from the SFA were housed in here. We had been too quick off the mark and had got more expensive seats as part of a 3 game Scotland package from UEFA. The Portuguese fans were away to our left but we were able to mix freely. Both sets of fans kept up a series of chants and in a small stadium the atmosphere was much better than the England game. The Bok de Korver Stand at the other end was empty. Opposite us was the Tonny van Ede Stand which is the main stand with the hospitality boxes and players’ tunnel.

    As Arthur Montford would say, disaster for Scotland…
    Here’s the lineup for matchday 2:

    So one enforced change from the first game, with Jane Ross ruled out, and both full backs, Kirsty Smith in for Chloe Arthur, and Rachel McLauchlan replacing Frankie Brown. Yet another game which was lost by defensive howlers. Scotland badly missed Jen Beattie who was injured before the tournament, as well as veteran midfielder Kim Little. Striker Jane Ross had scored ten times during the qualifiers but sustained a shoulder injury against England. Lana Clelland replaced her up front and did well, but it took substitute Erin Cuthbert to finally bring a goal for the supporters to cheer, when Caroline Weir played her in to equalise the first half goal from Mendes.
    The joy was short lived as Portugal’s winner came 4 minutes later via route one, as Leite ran on to a header and outpaced Vaila Barsley to slip the ball past Gemma Fay. Scotland still had time to miss a couple of chances and Weir rattled the crossbar. Although Scotland physically dominated their smaller, more technically gifted opponents in midfield, it was ironic that the winner came in Wimbledon style…
    Portugal also had 5 bookings, including the goalkeeper, who was booed repeatedly during the second half for blatant timewasting. Rachel Corsie was also booked 2 minutes after the winner as frustration got the better of her. A huge opportunity missed for Scotland and now they have the unenviable task of beating Spain by 2 goals to stay in the competition. The attendance was 3123. highlights are here

    . Time to do what Scottish fans do best and drown our sorrows:

    Next day we had a rake around the Oude Haven, the old harbour. Before we left Rotterdam next morning I was keen to get another look at Stadion Feijenoord (De Kuip – The Tub).
    We had been here in 2002 for a match against NAC Breda which sadly finished goalless. Christine and I got off the train at Feyenoord Station right outside and somehow managed to blag tickets despite not being members. It was fascinating to see the Breda fans arrive on the opposite platform and be taken by a walkway right over the top and into the stadium without meeting any home fans at all, and take their place in a wee section at one end behind a net. Here’s a pano which I made back then:

    And here’s a couple of shots I found on the internet that I really like: an aerial pic from 1956 and another from about 1960…
    Finally here’s de Kuip, home of the Kampioen, as it looks today:

    Next up is Scotland v Spain in Deventer on Thursday, but first we’re hopping up to Volendam for a couple of days. See you.
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  10. The Mantis
    First stop on the Euro 2017 tour is the 24426 capacity Stadion Galgenwaard in Utrecht. FC Utrecht were formed as recently as 1970 by a merger of 3 clubs. Utrecht are the only club outside the big three (Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV) never to be relegated from the Eredivisie and last season they were 4th. Their average attendance was just over 18000.
    The modern stadium dates from 1982 but has had a couple more revamps since then and the current look of the place dates from 2004. Apparently the name is from the site in Utrecht where the gallows was. Our tickets were in the Noordzijde which is the main stand. To our right, the Cityside, and to our left, the Bunnikside. We were actually staying in Bunnik, a village to the East of Utrecht, so at least we knew our way home.
    The day started for us at 6am. When we got up, we discovered a text from EasyJet saying our 10.10 flight from Edinburgh was delayed till 12.35. We still had to check in on time anyway and then somebody took the **** big time as our gate was announced as 6, then 7, then 19, then 7, then 14, so there was a plane load of angry fliers keeping fit by traipsing from one end of the airport to the other. Eventually we boarded and sat on the tarmac for ages, but finally we got away and emerged into a baking hot day in Schiphol, almost 30 degrees, at about 2.30 local time.
    The next problem presented itself at the car hire. My computer had given up the ghost a few days earlier so I just had an email on my phone from Rentalcars which was not the hirer, just an agent, and no reference number. I spent a (not so) happy hour asking at various desks whether they actually had my name down for a car. Eventually I found an angel of a young woman at Sixt who made a few calls with only my email address for ID, and she found that my car was with Dollar, out at Hoofddorp. One shuttle bus later and we had the keys to a dinky wee Fiat 500. Not long after that we were clear of Amsterdam and heading round the Utrecht ring in rush hour, and into the village of Bunnik.

    A quick shower, bite to eat and a beer, change of togs into the match gear and off we go. We’re based about 5km east of Utrecht but, this being Europe, there’s a regular bus service for €2.70 that stops right outside the stadium and runs till about 1am. What exactly were these imbeciles hoping to get by voting to leave? I’ve forgotten.
    Being early, we had a walk right round the outside of the Gargenwaald, a very pleasant wooded area with canals. Utrecht is a very bike-friendly city with bike traffic lights at the busiest junctions. There are, however, no bars in the vicinity of the ground so I asked one of the orange-shirted helpers (they have a huge balloon floating above them with a question mark on it) if there was beer sold inside. He assured me there was, so in we went, to find that the only beer was 0.5% Carlsberg in plastic glasses of maybe 250ml, or possibly 330ml, for €3 a pop. Oh well, never mind.
    Anyway, no putting it off any longer. Well, just a little longer. I was chatting to a couple from Stirling when these two England lads with the cross of St George painted right across their faces started putting up this huge flag right in front of us with the Butcher’s Apron on it and they were told to remove themselves…

    The line-up on a historic occasion for the Scots:

    Anyway we’ll quickly skim over the match details. Scotland drove forward from the start and Jane Ross hooked in a shot from 30 yards out which was tipped over by Karen Bardsley for a Scotland corner. And, emmm, that’s about as good as it got.
    Not forgetting that England are ranked no 5 in the world and Scotland 21, it was a disappointing night as Scotland enjoyed a lot of possession and corners, and won most of the fouls against the England girls, who showed their class at times, especially on the break where sloppy passes by Scotland were quickly punished. Despite Scotland forcing the majority of the corners, they were all cleared by English heads.

    The Scots lassies also gave away a bit in size and physicality to their opponents, who weren’t averse to the occasional cynical challenge, and there were bookings for Houghton and Scott, while Caroline Weir was also booked late on for Scotland. It has to be said that the Scotland defending was suicidal at times, starting with the 10th minute opener, and #ourgirlsourgame will be looking for a big improvement on Sunday in Rotterdam. The attendance was 5587 and although outnumbered the Scottish support were magnificent as always.

    At the end of the game we only had a 5 minute wait for the 41 bus back to Bunnik and a walk in the dark back to the very comfortable hostel in the company of some Belgian fans who had been at the game. They were very knowledgable and had a lot of encouraging things to say about the team. They were playing down in Breda the following night and beat Norway 2-0, a terrific result. Still time for a nightcap – La Trappe Tripel from  Brouwerij de Koningshoeven near Tilburg.
    We’ve been chilling out and biking around Utrecht today and trying even more excellent  beers. My experience of Dutch beer before now was Heineken and Amstel but it’s been a revelation.
    We leave Utrecht behind tomorrow and head north to Groningen and Ameland in the Friesian Islands. We’ll stay a couple of nights at a B&B called ‘Middle of Nowhere’ up at Warfstermolen before heading back down to Rotterdam on Sunday for the Portugal game. In the meantime here’s a bit more of Utrecht for you:

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  11. The Mantis
    YouTube: ICT and The Pars coming out, 2005
    A few memories and photos of East End Park before I head off to the Women’s Euros in The Netherlands where I hope to be blogging a few reports from the Scotland games.
    As usual I hope the Pars supporters will excuse any glaring errors. I try to use my own photography on these blogs and I apologise for any images not bearing my personal watermark as that means I have nicked them off the internet
    * Some perspective – although I have spent many a pleasant afternoon on the terraces at East End Park, none of them compares to The Stranglers backed by The Skids at the Kinema in 1978
    Formed in 1885, the Pars have traditionally been the big club in Fife, with a European pedigree, although they have recently spent 3 seasons in the third tier (League 1) following a period of administration. The stadium has been their home since their formation and they were elected to the League in 1912. Their most successful period came after Jock Stein became manager in 1960. They won the Scottish Cup in 1961 and again in 1968, while reaching the final in 1965, and again twice in the noughties. They have won Scottish Football’s second tier 4 times. In 1969 they reached the semi-final of the Cup-Winners’ Cup, beating West Brom before going out to Slovan Bratislava, who went on to beat Barcelona in the Final.
    Construction of the 3000 seat Main Stand in 1962. The overall ground capacity is about 12000, depending on who you ask…Checking back I see that I first went there in April 1969 when I was still at school. On the Saturday Rangers had been demolished 4-0 by Celtic in the Cup Final which ended Alex Ferguson’s Rangers career, after he failed to mark Billy McNeill at a corner in the 2nd minute. Not so well known is that Fergie fell over in 33 minutes when he had a chance to equalise from a rebound! He was dropped for the Monday night when Rangers drew with Dundee at Ibrox in front of only 6800, and didn’t appear in this game on the Wednesday. Rangers still had a Fairs’ Cup semi to play against Newcastle but poor Fergie didn’t feature in either leg. Fergie, of course, had joined Rangers from Dunfermline for £65000, a record between 2 Scottish clubs at the time.

    On to the Wednesday night and 11700 turned out to see Dunfermline and Rangers finish their league campaign. The Pars could have finished level with Rangers if they had won but their goal average was far worse. In the end Rangers won 3-0 to finish 4 points ahead of 3rd placed Dunfermline and 5 behind champions Celtic.
    In a day when the reputation of Scottish football was much higher than now, the teams are worth a mention:
    Dunfermline: Martin, Callaghan, Lunn, Fraser, Barry, Robertson, McLean, McKimmie (Renton), Edwards, Gardner, Mitchell.
    Rangers: Neef, Johansen, Mathieson, Greig, Provan, D.Smith, Henderson, Jardine, Penman, Johnston, Persson.
    Amongst the Scandinavians there were a couple of Fifers, Willie Johnston and Billy Mathieson, in the Rangers side, and Johnston scored two before half time, while Penman added a late 3rd.
    By the following March Rangers, as was their habit, had moved on to the next big-money striker, £100000 Colin Stein, who put them ahead, but it was to no avail as another Rangers “reject”, George McLean, belted the ball past the Girvan Lighthouse, Peter McCloy, for the Pars’ winner after a McLaren equaliser.
    The Pars featured pretty heavily at the end of the 67-68 season. Rangers had led the league for most of that season but they had drawn away at Morton which was to set the nerves jangling. On April 27th Dunfermline beat Hearts 3-1 at Hampden to win their second ever Scottish Cup, in front of 56000, with goals from Pat Gardner (2) and Ian Lister, while John Lunn’s own goal counted for Hearts.
    Meanwhile, even though it was Cup Final day, there was a league programme on. Rangers lost 3-2 at home to Aberdeen with an 89th minute goal, which effectively made Celtic champions on goal average, even if they lost at East End Park in their final match. However the match on the following Tuesday ended 2-1 to Celtic, in front of a ground record of 27816, many of whom watched from the floodlight pylons and enclosure roof. Unfortunately there was one fatality that evening and many injuries.

     
    Another healthy away following – Falkirk visit in 1994:

    McCathie scores as Clydebank are beaten in 1995.
    The next few photos are from a match in September 1995 where Dunfermline beat St Johnstone 2-1.
    I went along to a Scottish Cup tie with a Ross County supporting mate in 1997. County were soundly beaten 4-0 and, in true ‘wee club’ fashion, as the Pars scored the 4th, the County fans were actually jumping around at the news that ICT had conceded a goal in their cup tie at Inverness.
    The next time I went the end terracing had been replaced in 1998 by two spanking new 3000 seater stands, the Norrie McCathie at the West End facing the traditional away stand at the East. So this was 1999 and we ICT supporters were pinching ourselves as our 5 year old club had reached tier 2 of the Scottish game, and was competing on an even keel with the likes of Falkirk, St Mirren and Dunfermline.
    ICT had found the first season in Div 1 hard going, and on the opening day they were humbled 4-0 after having Barry Wilson injured and young centre half Andrew Allan sent off. The week before Christmas ICT were back at East End, having scraped together 5 wins in the league, and for much of the game they gave as good as they got. However their hearts were broken in injury time when Andy Tod thumped home a header from an Owen Coyle cross.
    Two months later history was made with “SuperCaleyGoBallisticCelticAreAtrocious” at Parkhead in the Scottish Cup, and the Pars were promoted at the end of the season with ICT a creditable 6th.
    Pars fans may not want to read this, but the Falkirk support in the East Stand was swollen by a couple of busloads of ICT fans in January 2000 after their game at Ayr was called off at short notice. The deadly rivals served up a 2-2 draw with some great strikes.
    Since then I have witnessed 6 draws and 3 ICT wins at East End. The photos below are from a dull 0-0 draw in 2005 on the Pars’ short lived plastic pitch. Pars legend Craig Brewster is playing for ICT here.
    Only one of the 6 draws produced a goal glut and that was in August 2011 with both clubs in the SPL. Andy Kirk twice put the Pars ahead with Greg Tansey and Johnny Hayes equalising. With 7 minutes left, Tansey looked to have won it for ICT, but big mad mental Martin Hardie saved a point in the 90th minute.
    And so on the eve of the new season, the clubs prepare to meet in a league match for the first time since 2010, after being 2 divisions apart for a spell. A year ago ICT fans were optimistic about the new season as their Premiership squad, under Richie Foran, came to town and beat the Pars 5-1 in the League Cup. With hindsight, this would be pretty much our best result of the whole season (apart from taking a point against Celtic and beating Rangers in February) as we ended up relegated on the last day.

    I’ll be reporting in a couple of weeks from Scotland Women v England in Utrecht. TTFN.
    View the full article
  12. The Mantis
    That’s my season over. It started away back on July 2nd when I was missing my fix badly enough to go along to Cliftonhill to see Albion Rovers lose 3-1 to Motherwell in a friendly, with torrential sunshowers coming along every 15 minutes to test the leaks in the old stand. Since then I’ve seen Internationals with Scotland (men and women), Premiership in Scotland, England, Portugal, Iceland, Northern Ireland and Faroes, Highland League, U20 Development, East and West Juniors, Northern League in England, and meanwhile tried to keep tabs on Whitehill Welfare and ICT.
    I nearly called a halt after the Junior Cup Final last week – I like a few weeks off to get away from football, even briefly.  But I saw more fixtures go up and decided to go for an 87th and final game of 2016-17 and make it a day trip to Largs for something a bit different.
    I managed to tempt my missus along for company on the drive with a meal out as a bribe, so we set off early in the afternoon and covered the 81 miles to Largs in dull, showery weather, although the forecast was for an improvement later.
    When we reached Largs we hopped on the Calmac ferry Loch Riddon which was just leaving for Cumbrae. If you’ve never been over, it’s a 10 minute hop to Cumbrae slip but another 3 miles into Millport by connecting bus. We had planned to walk to Millport but the weather was still dodgy. Arriving in Millport we discovered The Wedge, which is reputed to be Britain’s narrowest house…
    Feel free to avoid the next bit as I slide into ‘Sunday Post Reader’ mode. Next door was the Round Island Cafe which I can highly recommend for their coffee, scones, and a great selection of craft beers from the Tempest Brewery amongst others. Quite a few cafes and pubs in Millport but I’d be surprised if this one was beaten.
    Although it was a Monday, it was mid June and Millport was pretty deserted I thought. The only sign of life was a huge party of foreign youngsters who had hired bikes.

    I then had to keep my part of the bargain as Mrs Mantis is a keen geocacher (don’t ask), so we spent an hour or two ferreting around the town for caches. I did discover that there’s a Howitzer Gun from WW1 which lies partly buried under a wall on the shore and nobody’s 100% certain how it got there. There were actually two and the best guess is they were just used for foundations.
    By this time we had to get going back to the ferry slip. The other vessel, the far more modern Loch Shira, quickly took us back to Largs. Here you can see it coming in with Largs in the background.


    By this time it was only two hours to kick off and the tension was mounting (OK, I made that bit up. Largs were playing Auchinleck in a meaningless end of season game and down by the ferry terminal Largs was just getting on with its business).
    We headed into Nardini’s who, at the back of their famous cafe, have the Ristorante 1890. For the record, I can recommend their Gamberi (King Prawns with spicy tomato sauce and baked bean mash) and their Pizza Parmigiana. Also the amazing ice cream and Italian coffee. The Moretti was welcome too.
    So… half a blog and we haven’t got to the fitba. Barrfields Stadium is a 10 minute stroll from Nardini’s cafe. Along the seafront, turn up Beachway, into Brisbane Road and there it is, a proper wee gem of a ground. Ancient terracing in a huge oval, a barrel-roofed stand, and…. ok, a 3G pitch. After a feed like that, there was no way I was trying the pies.
    Largs Thistle were formed in 1889. Their main claim to fame is winning the national trophy in 1994 when they beat Glenafton at Ibrox. They were also runners up to Linlithgow in 2010 at Rugby Park. In recent years they have yo-yo’d between the top divisions, coming up to the Premier last season as runners up to Cumnock. A year later, and they are yo-yo-ing back down again.
    Thistle have been playing at Barrfields since 1930. In the early days the ground is said to have held crowds of 9000, although the record is given as 6512 v Clydebank in 1952-3. The stand can take 800 and the new carpet dates from 2012. A notable former manager is Erik Sørensen who played for Morton and Rangers, with probably the most prominent former players being Gordon McQueen and Tommy Turner.
    So here we were on a Monday night in mid June. Thistle’s final fixture of the season and everybody bustling about selling raffles, programmes and pies. And a weirdo from Midlothian paying his £6 to stand amongst the Ayrshire stalwarts.
    Relegated Largs were playing Talbot who were destined to finish 4th unless they won by a barrowload so it was a dead rubber. Talbot rested players with Wednesday’s Cup Final against Cumnock in mind. When the teams came out I got them mixed up as Largs were in the black and gold, but the penny dropped when I caught sight of manager Tucker Sloan wearing no 7, 52 years young and counting, and realised Talbot were in their blue change strip. Tucker lasted a creditable 80 minutes before being subbed.
    Talbot seemed to have the edge in the first half as Sloan hit the post, and you could imagine if they got their noses in front that would be that, but I felt that after the break Largs went for it and could have won.However it was a game of very few chances and defences on top. Wilson missed a good chance to break the deadlock for Talbot but it ended goalless. It was a nice evening for football and I actually enjoyed the game and the surroundings despite the lack of any real excitement. I estimated the crowd at about 180. Highlights do exist.

    View the full article
  13. The Mantis
    That’s my season over. It started away back on July 2nd when I was missing my fix badly enough to go along to Cliftonhill to see Albion Rovers lose 3-1 to Motherwell in a friendly, with torrential sunshowers coming along every 15 minutes to test the leaks in the old stand. Since then I’ve seen Internationals with Scotland (men and women), Premiership in Scotland, England, Portugal, Iceland, Northern Ireland and Faroes, Highland League, U20 Development, East and West Juniors, Northern League in England, and meanwhile tried to keep tabs on Whitehill Welfare and ICT.
    I nearly called a halt after the Junior Cup Final last week – I like a few weeks off to get away from football, even briefly.  But I saw more fixtures go up and decided to go for an 87th and final game of 2016-17 and make it a day trip to Largs for something a bit different.
    I managed to tempt my missus along for company on the drive with a meal out as a bribe, so we set off early in the afternoon and covered the 81 miles to Largs in dull, showery weather, although the forecast was for an improvement later.
    When we reached Largs we hopped on the Calmac ferry Loch Riddon which was just leaving for Cumbrae. If you’ve never been over, it’s a 10 minute hop to Cumbrae slip but another 3 miles into Millport by connecting bus. We had planned to walk to Millport but the weather was still dodgy. Arriving in Millport we discovered The Wedge, which is reputed to be Britain’s narrowest house…
    Feel free to avoid the next bit as I slide into ‘Sunday Post Reader’ mode. Next door was the Round Island Cafe which I can highly recommend for their coffee, scones, and a great selection of craft beers from the Tempest Brewery amongst others. Quite a few cafes and pubs in Millport but I’d be surprised if this one was beaten.
    Although it was a Monday, it was mid June and Millport was pretty deserted I thought. The only sign of life was a huge party of foreign youngsters who had hired bikes.

    I then had to keep my part of the bargain as Mrs Mantis is a keen geocacher (don’t ask), so we spent an hour or two ferreting around the town for caches. I did discover that there’s a Howitzer Gun from WW1 which lies partly buried under a wall on the shore and nobody’s 100% certain how it got there. There were actually two and the best guess is they were just used for foundations.
    By this time we had to get going back to the ferry slip. The other vessel, the far more modern Loch Shira, quickly took us back to Largs. Here you can see it coming in with Largs in the background.


    By this time it was only two hours to kick off and the tension was mounting (OK, I made that bit up. Largs were playing Auchinleck in a meaningless end of season game and down by the ferry terminal Largs was just getting on with its business).
    We headed into Nardini’s who, at the back of their famous cafe, have the Ristorante 1890. For the record, I can recommend their Gamberi (King Prawns with spicy tomato sauce and baked bean mash) and their Pizza Parmigiana. Also the amazing ice cream and Italian coffee. The Moretti was welcome too.
    So… half a blog and we haven’t got to the fitba. Barrfields Stadium is a 10 minute stroll from Nardini’s cafe. Along the seafront, turn up Beachway, into Brisbane Road and there it is, a proper wee gem of a ground. Ancient terracing in a huge oval, a barrel-roofed stand, and…. ok, a 3G pitch. After a feed like that, there was no way I was trying the pies.
    Largs Thistle were formed in 1889. Their main claim to fame is winning the national trophy in 1994 when they beat Glenafton at Ibrox. They were also runners up to Linlithgow in 2010 at Rugby Park. In recent years they have yo-yo’d between the top divisions, coming up to the Premier last season as runners up to Cumnock. A year later, and they are yo-yo-ing back down again.
    Thistle have been playing at Barrfields since 1930. In the early days the ground is said to have held crowds of 9000, although the record is given as 6512 v Clydebank in 1952-3. The stand can take 800 and the new carpet dates from 2012. A notable former manager is Erik Sørensen who played for Morton and Rangers, with probably the most prominent former players being Gordon McQueen and Tommy Turner.
    So here we were on a Monday night in mid June. Thistle’s final fixture of the season and everybody bustling about selling raffles, programmes and pies. And a weirdo from Midlothian paying his £6 to stand amongst the Ayrshire stalwarts.
    Relegated Largs were playing Talbot who were destined to finish 4th unless they won by a barrowload so it was a dead rubber. Talbot rested players with Wednesday’s Cup Final against Cumnock in mind. When the teams came out I got them mixed up as Largs were in the black and gold, but the penny dropped when I caught sight of manager Tucker Sloan wearing no 7, 52 years young and counting, and realised Talbot were in their blue change strip. Tucker lasted a creditable 80 minutes before being subbed.
    Talbot seemed to have the edge in the first half as Sloan hit the post, and you could imagine if they got their noses in front that would be that, but I felt that after the break Largs went for it and could have won.However it was a game of very few chances and defences on top. Wilson missed a good chance to break the deadlock for Talbot but it ended goalless. It was a nice evening for football and I actually enjoyed the game and the surroundings despite the lack of any real excitement. I estimated the crowd at about 180. Highlights do exist.


    View the full article
  14. The Mantis
    I picked two pretty obscure clubs to blog about this time, but I have to say I enjoyed researching them, although there’s not much out there. If anybody has anything to add to this blog, or just corrections, don’t hold back…
    I became aware of the villages when I started youth hostelling with my mates before I left school. One year we got the bus to Perth and walked to Birnam, where there was a hostel in an old schoolhouse, but this has now been demolished. I had a look for it last year when we were up in Dunkeld for a Saw Doctors concert. In those days the A9 passed through nearly every village and it’s remarkable to think about it now, when you can drive from Edinburgh to Inverness in under 3 hours.
    Back to the youth hostelling trip and I got served my first pint at the Royal Dunkeld Hotel. The following evening I had my first experience of getting absolutely pished at the Perth Arms in Dunkeld, and then trying to sneak back into the hostel before lights out even though my legs weren’t working properly. I had a look there last week before the Luncarty game and the pub was vaguely familiar,  but now they had excellent beers by the Strathbraan Brewery, rather than Drybrough’s Heavy or whatever back in the 70s.
    Bankfoot Athletic were formed in 1919 and played at Coronation Park in Bankfoot. They had a less than illustrious history. They did win a few local cups, but the high point was probably 2001, when they finished as Tayside Div 1 champions, and were promoted to the Tayside Premier, but they were relegated a year later. In 2006-7 the leagues were reorganised and Bankfoot were placed in the East Region, Central Division.
    At the end of 2012-13 they went into abeyance for a year due to lack of committee, but sadly haven’t returned. Notable ex-players are Paul Sturrock and Jim Weir.
    The photo below shows Coronation Park in 2016.

    I visited Coronation Park in 2003 to see Caledonian in a pre-season friendly, which they won 2-1. The ambulance on the pitch is due to Caley’s midfielder, Danny MacDonald, suffering a recurrence of a knee injury within 1 minute of kickoff. A sad waste as Danny was an excellent talent.

    Below: the same view in 2016

    Luncarty JFC were formed in 1886 by employees of Luncarty bleachworks, which itself had been going since 1732 and must have been the major employer in the village. They joined the Junior setup in 1921. Like Bankfoot they have a long list of local cups won.
    The Bleachers also finished second in the Tayside Div 1 in 2005-6 and would have entered the Premier but for reorganisation, and, along with Bankfoot, were placed in the East Region, Central Division, where they finished 6th out of 12, with Bankfoot bottom.
    They play at Brownlands Park which is on the main road, and is bounded on the west by the embankment carrying the main Perth-Inverness railway, with the rest of the village being to the east. I had passed the ground many times as I used to go kayaking at Stanley, and was dismayed to hear the club had gone into abeyance at the end of season 2014-15, but as they returned in 2016-17 I was able to get to a game recently. Visiting the ospreys at Loch of the Lowes I was able to make a day of it, and grab a pint at the previously-mentioned Perth Arms in Dunkeld before the 7 pm kickoff.

    This season the Bleachers have had a decent run in the Scottish Junior Cup. They disposed of Fraserburgh Utd, Rosyth and Cumbernauld, the latter a creditable 3-1 win away at Guy’s Meadow. In the last 16 they got the draw nobody wants, away at Beechwood Park to the juggernaut that is Auchinleck Talbot, where they went down 4-0.

    Arriving at the park I was impressed by the facilities, the social club, and the pies, of which I had two. Don’t be fooled by the sunny photo above, which was taken last summer. On the night it was drizzly and dark and my camera was struggling to cope with any movement of the players.
    The Bleachers were playing league leaders Kirriemuir Thistle and were soon a goal down. However it remained 1-0 at half time with Luncarty giving as good as they got. They were dealt two fatal blows soon after half time. Kirrie’s second seemed to be well offside and the referee appeared to be in the ‘near retirement’ category. A third goal followed immediately and effectively killed the game. Luncarty battled on and got two goals, going down rather undeservedly 3-2 in the end. The attendance was about 60.

    The 3 points effectively made Kirrie champions due to their superior goal difference over  second-placed Thornton Hibs. Both will be playing in the East Premier next season.
    While it’s unlikely that Bankfoot and Luncarty ever had a local derby to rival the Old Firm, there must have been some tussles over the years. I found one account here – SJFA article from Mud and Glory
    View the full article
  15. The Mantis
    I picked two pretty obscure clubs to blog about this time, but I have to say I enjoyed researching them, although there’s not much out there. If anybody has anything to add to this blog, or just corrections, don’t hold back…
    I became aware of the villages when I started youth hostelling with my mates before I left school. One year we got the bus to Perth and walked to Birnam, where there was a hostel in an old schoolhouse, but this has now been demolished. I had a look for it last year when we were up in Dunkeld for a Saw Doctors concert. In those days the A9 passed through nearly every village and it’s remarkable to think about it now, when you can drive from Edinburgh to Inverness in under 3 hours.
    Back to the youth hostelling trip and I got served my first pint at the Royal Dunkeld Hotel. The following evening I had my first experience of getting absolutely pished at the Perth Arms in Dunkeld, and then trying to sneak back into the hostel before lights out even though my legs weren’t working properly. I had a look there last week before the Luncarty game and the pub was vaguely familiar,  but now they had excellent beers by the Strathbraan Brewery, rather than Drybrough’s Heavy or whatever back in the 70s.
    Bankfoot Athletic were formed in 1919 and played at Coronation Park in Bankfoot. They had a less than illustrious history. They did win a few local cups, but the high point was probably 2001, when they finished as Tayside Div 1 champions, and were promoted to the Tayside Premier, but they were relegated a year later. In 2006-7 the leagues were reorganised and Bankfoot were placed in the East Region, Central Division.
    At the end of 2012-13 they went into abeyance for a year due to lack of committee, but sadly haven’t returned. Notable ex-players are Paul Sturrock and Jim Weir.
    The photo below shows Coronation Park in 2016.

    I visited Coronation Park in 2003 to see Caledonian in a pre-season friendly, which they won 2-1. The ambulance on the pitch is due to Caley’s midfielder, Danny MacDonald, suffering a recurrence of a knee injury within 1 minute of kickoff. A sad waste as Danny was an excellent talent.

    Below: the same view in 2016

    Luncarty JFC were formed in 1886 by employees of Luncarty bleachworks, which itself had been going since 1732 and must have been the major employer in the village. They joined the Junior setup in 1921. Like Bankfoot they have a long list of local cups won.
    The Bleachers also finished second in the Tayside Div 1 in 2005-6 and would have entered the Premier but for reorganisation, and, along with Bankfoot, were placed in the East Region, Central Division, where they finished 6th out of 12, with Bankfoot bottom.
    They play at Brownlands Park which is on the main road, and is bounded on the west by the embankment carrying the main Perth-Inverness railway, with the rest of the village being to the east. I had passed the ground many times as I used to go kayaking at Stanley, and was dismayed to hear the club had gone into abeyance at the end of season 2014-15, but as they returned in 2016-17 I was able to get to a game recently. Visiting the ospreys at Loch of the Lowes I was able to make a day of it, and grab a pint at the previously-mentioned Perth Arms in Dunkeld before the 7 pm kickoff.

    This season the Bleachers have had a decent run in the Scottish Junior Cup. They disposed of Fraserburgh Utd, Rosyth and Cumbernauld, the latter a creditable 3-1 win away at Guy’s Meadow. In the last 16 they got the draw nobody wants, away at Beechwood Park to the juggernaut that is Auchinleck Talbot, where they went down 4-0.

    Arriving at the park I was impressed by the facilities, the social club, and the pies, of which I had two. Don’t be fooled by the sunny photo above, which was taken last summer. On the night it was drizzly and dark and my camera was struggling to cope with any movement of the players.
    The Bleachers were playing league leaders Kirriemuir Thistle and were soon a goal down. However it remained 1-0 at half time with Luncarty giving as good as they got. They were dealt two fatal blows soon after half time. Kirrie’s second seemed to be well offside and the referee appeared to be in the ‘near retirement’ category. A third goal followed immediately and effectively killed the game. Luncarty battled on and got two goals, going down rather undeservedly 3-2 in the end. The attendance was about 60.

    The 3 points effectively made Kirrie champions due to their superior goal difference over  second-placed Thornton Hibs. Both will be playing in the East Premier next season.
    While it’s unlikely that Bankfoot and Luncarty ever had a local derby to rival the Old Firm, there must have been some tussles over the years. I found one account here – SJFA article from Mud and Glory

    View the full article
  16. The Mantis
    Can’t really blog about anybody else this week as The Blue Brazil are very much in the news. Having been part of the Scottish League system since 1905, they have finished this season as the dreaded Club 42 and face a two-legged playoff against East Kilbride to avoid dropping into the Lowland League. Worse still, this would represent a 3rd consecutive relegation.
    The club’s foundation is disputed (either 1881 or 1882) but they have played at Central Park since 1917. Usually dismissed as a dump by those philistines whose IQ is about the same as their age, the grand old stadium did see a crowd of 25586 when Rangers visited in 1949, in the second leg of a League Cup Quarter Final. Cowden had won 3-2 at Ibrox hence the large crowd, but lost out overall. These days the capacity is pegged at 4309, which, with home attendances averaging 3-400, is rarely tested. The floodlights date back to 1968 and a match against Celtic. They did once beat Johnstone 12-0 but that was in 1928. As recently as 2015 they lost a record-equalling 10-0 to Hearts in the Championship.
    I’m old enough to remember season 1970-71, which was Cowden’s only season in the top flight since the war. Andy Matthew was in charge for 6 years back in those relatively stable times for football managers, and the previous two, Harry Colville and Archie Robertson, got 4 years each.
    Due to the Ibrox Disaster on 2/1/71, Cowden’s match at home to Rangers on the 9th was postponed. As a young lad I had a ticket for this which I carried around in my wallet until the game was eventually played on 14th April. Back then if a game was all ticket, boys just had to pay the adult price, which in those days was 5 shillings (or 25p as decimalisation came in before the game was eventually played). A couple of years ago I was having a clear out and I sold the ticket on eBay for £24 as it had a few autographs on the back, including Willie Waddell, Derek Johnstone and Colin Jackson, the Rangers centre half who was known as The Caramel Wafer because he was ‘Gray and Dunn’. On the night Rangers won 3-1 with goals from Jardine, Greig and Stein after Kennedy had given Cowden the lead. The crowd was given as 6000 which was obviously well down as it was a meaningless midweek fixture. The teams were:
    Cowdenbeath: McArthur, McLaughlan, Bostock, Taylor, Kinnell, Moore, Harper, Dickson, Laing, Kennedy, Thomson.
    Rangers: McCloy, Alexander, Mathieson, Jardine (Penman), McKinnon, Jackson, Henderson, MacDonald, Stein, Greig, Johnston.
    Sandy Jardine broke his leg that night. He was in great form and would surely have started against England at Wembley a month later.
    Being of school age we had very little chance of getting from Midlothian over to Fife in midweek to use our long-cherished match tickets but we managed to persuade a friend, Ian Stenhouse, to drive and we piled into his Reliant Robin. For younger readers, think ‘Only Fools and Horses’. Stenny’s Robin was a 3 wheeler car with a fibreglass body. I think it was classed as a motorbike for tax and insurance purposes.
    No photos from that visit but I found an even older one on the internet:

    At the time of my first visit there was a roof over the Chapel Street end (left in this photo) but this blew away in 1983.
    The ground was also used for greyhounds and speedway, but in 1970 the stock cars moved in and remain to this day. I actually knew Gordon McDougall, who became Cowdenbeath owner, back in the day, as he had a small garage in Leith.
    The image below is from a match in September 1993 when the visitors, Albion Rovers, won 1-0.  I think John Reilly was manager at the time. You can see that work is underway on the new Alex Menzies stand, which opened in 1995, after half the old stand was destroyed in 2 separate fires. One other thing I noticed, standing on the main terracing, was that the natives were revolting. The team and manager were getting abuse before the game had even started. The following season the SFL went to 4 leagues of 10 and ICT were admitted along with Ross County.
    ICT crossed swords with Cowden for 3 seasons before being promoted as champions in 1997. In October of that season ICT scored twice in abundant stoppage time, in front of 330, to win 4-3 leaving the home support disgusted with referee Ian Elmslie. However, the following April, 282 turned up to witness Cowden beating ICT 2-1 at Central Park to end a fine 22 game unbeaten run.
    Compare the shot above from 1993 with the one below, 20 years later:
    Following ICT’s ascent to the big time, it was to be 16 years before I set foot inside CP again. My fitba daft mate Jamie McQueen suggested going over in the train for a pre-season game in July 2013 and we enjoyed a few pints. New Sheffield Utd boss Davie Weir brought his side north for a friendly in the sunshine which ended 1-1. A decent travelling support came to witness a fresh dawn under Weir, but he was gone by October.

    A (very) short movie from 2013
    In March of this year, on a free Saturday due to postponements in the Lowland League, I ventured over to see whether Cowden, under ex-ICT man Liam Fox, were really as bad as everybody said, and whether they could overcome Stirling Albion. I used my Jamie McQueen card to ingratiate myself with programme editor Andy Mullen and we had a good blether about the LL and League 2 matters. I sat in the New Stand first half then joined the Binos fans in the gloom of the Old Stand for a second half in which they showed what a lively bunch they were, in a crowd of 381.
    As for the game itself, Cowden started brightly before Dale Carrick missed an early penalty and the Binos went on to prevail 2-0, including an impressive strike from Sean Dickson. It was uncannily similar to watching Richie Foran’s ICT side, totally fragile and lacking in confidence, right down to the missed chances, loss of the first goal and the heads going down.
    Soon afterwards, Fox was dismissed and man of many clubs Gary Locke took his place and has steadied the ship, but has not been able to avoid the dreaded bottom place finish. Showing my age once again, I played in the same school team as Gary’s dad Danny.
    The rest is (fairly recent) history and so the 2-legged showdown looms. EK beat Highland League champions Buckie Thistle in a fairly towsy couple of matches and this Saturday Cowden will visit K Park for the first time in front of an all-ticket gathering of 660 before hosting the Lowland League champions on the 20th at Central Park.
    Let battle commence.
    “When the Sun Shines”. A very nice documentary by Ross Cunningham
    View the full article
  17. The Mantis
    Can’t really blog about anybody else this week as The Blue Brazil are very much in the news. Having been part of the Scottish League system since 1905, they have finished this season as the dreaded Club 42 and face a two-legged playoff against East Kilbride to avoid dropping into the Lowland League. Worse still, this would represent a 3rd consecutive relegation.
    The club’s foundation is disputed (either 1881 or 1882) but they have played at Central Park since 1917. Usually dismissed as a dump by those philistines whose IQ is about the same as their age, the grand old stadium did see a crowd of 25586 when Rangers visited in 1949, in the second leg of a League Cup Quarter Final. Cowden had won 3-2 at Ibrox hence the large crowd, but lost out overall. These days the capacity is pegged at 4309, which, with home attendances averaging 3-400, is rarely tested. The floodlights date back to 1968 and a match against Celtic. They did once beat Johnstone 12-0 but that was in 1928. As recently as 2015 they lost a record-equalling 10-0 to Hearts in the Championship.
    I’m old enough to remember season 1970-71, which was Cowden’s only season in the top flight since the war. Andy Matthew was in charge for 6 years back in those relatively stable times for football managers, and the previous two, Harry Colville and Archie Robertson, got 4 years each.
    Due to the Ibrox Disaster on 2/1/71, Cowden’s match at home to Rangers on the 9th was postponed. As a young lad I had a ticket for this which I carried around in my wallet until the game was eventually played on 14th April. Back then if a game was all ticket, boys just had to pay the adult price, which in those days was 5 shillings (or 25p as decimalisation came in before the game was eventually played). A couple of years ago I was having a clear out and I sold the ticket on eBay for £24 as it had a few autographs on the back, including Willie Waddell, Derek Johnstone and Colin Jackson, the Rangers centre half who was known as The Caramel Wafer because he was ‘Gray and Dunn’. On the night Rangers won 3-1 with goals from Jardine, Greig and Stein after Kennedy had given Cowden the lead. The crowd was given as 6000 which was obviously well down as it was a meaningless midweek fixture. The teams were:
    Cowdenbeath: McArthur, McLaughlan, Bostock, Taylor, Kinnell, Moore, Harper, Dickson, Laing, Kennedy, Thomson.
    Rangers: McCloy, Alexander, Mathieson, Jardine (Penman), McKinnon, Jackson, Henderson, MacDonald, Stein, Greig, Johnston.
    Sandy Jardine broke his leg that night. He was in great form and would surely have started against England at Wembley a month later.
    Being of school age we had very little chance of getting from Midlothian over to Fife in midweek to use our long-cherished match tickets but we managed to persuade a friend, Ian Stenhouse, to drive and we piled into his Reliant Robin. For younger readers, think ‘Only Fools and Horses’. Stenny’s Robin was a 3 wheeler car with a fibreglass body. I think it was classed as a motorbike for tax and insurance purposes.
    No photos from that visit but I found an even older one on the internet:

    At the time of my first visit there was a roof over the Chapel Street end (left in this photo) but this blew away in 1983.
    The ground was also used for greyhounds and speedway, but in 1970 the stock cars moved in and remain to this day. I actually knew Gordon McDougall, who became Cowdenbeath owner, back in the day, as he had a small garage in Leith.
    The image below is from a match in September 1993 when the visitors, Albion Rovers, won 1-0.  I think John Reilly was manager at the time. You can see that work is underway on the new Alex Menzies stand, which opened in 1995, after half the old stand was destroyed in 2 separate fires. One other thing I noticed, standing on the main terracing, was that the natives were revolting. The team and manager were getting abuse before the game had even started. The following season the SFL went to 4 leagues of 10 and ICT were admitted along with Ross County.
    ICT crossed swords with Cowden for 3 seasons before being promoted as champions in 1997. In October of that season ICT scored twice in abundant stoppage time, in front of 330, to win 4-3 leaving the home support disgusted with referee Ian Elmslie. However, the following April, 282 turned up to witness Cowden beating ICT 2-1 at Central Park to end a fine 22 game unbeaten run.
    Compare the shot above from 1993 with the one below, 20 years later:
    Following ICT’s ascent to the big time, it was to be 16 years before I set foot inside CP again. My fitba daft mate Jamie McQueen suggested going over in the train for a pre-season game in July 2013 and we enjoyed a few pints. New Sheffield Utd boss Davie Weir brought his side north for a friendly in the sunshine which ended 1-1. A decent travelling support came to witness a fresh dawn under Weir, but he was gone by October.

    A (very) short movie from 2013
    In March of this year, on a free Saturday due to postponements in the Lowland League, I ventured over to see whether Cowden, under ex-ICT man Liam Fox, were really as bad as everybody said, and whether they could overcome Stirling Albion. I used my Jamie McQueen card to ingratiate myself with programme editor Andy Mullen and we had a good blether about the LL and League 2 matters. I sat in the New Stand first half then joined the Binos fans in the gloom of the Old Stand for a second half in which they showed what a lively bunch they were, in a crowd of 381.
    As for the game itself, Cowden started brightly before Dale Carrick missed an early penalty and the Binos went on to prevail 2-0, including an impressive strike from Sean Dickson. It was uncannily similar to watching Richie Foran’s ICT side, totally fragile and lacking in confidence, right down to the missed chances, loss of the first goal and the heads going down.
    Soon afterwards, Fox was dismissed and man of many clubs Gary Locke took his place and has steadied the ship, but has not been able to avoid the dreaded bottom place finish. Showing my age once again, I played in the same school team as Gary’s dad Danny.
    The rest is (fairly recent) history and so the 2-legged showdown looms. EK beat Highland League champions Buckie Thistle in a fairly towsy couple of matches and this Saturday Cowden will visit K Park for the first time in front of an all-ticket gathering of 660 before hosting the Lowland League champions on the 20th at Central Park.
    Let battle commence.
    “When the Sun Shines”. A very nice documentary by Ross Cunningham

    View the full article
  18. The Mantis

    Shire and Stenny

    By The Mantis,

    One of the benefits of being an old git is being able to bore people about how things used to be. Back in the 90s you had Stenhousemuir playing at Ochilview, and East Stirlingshire at Firs Park. So over the years I’ve seen Stenny with the old stand shown below, which is opposite where the new 626 seater Norway Stand is. The old “Doll’s House” stand had 310 bench seats and was built in 1928, 7 years after the Warriors joined the League, to replace the old wooden stand which had burned down. They say the external stairs were an afterthought as the architect forgot to put them in.
    Ochilview in 1992 The first time I was there was 1992 to see Caley in the Scottish Cup. At that time there was a covered terracing opposite the stand with railway sleepers and cinder, which was quite common back then in football grounds. The photo above was taken from the large Tryst Road terracing behind the goals, which was covered in 2004-5. Nowadays the Tryst Road terracing is used for the away support, but for East Stirlingshire matches in the Lowland League, and U20 Development matches, it is closed. The other two sides of the ground are no longer in use. Also gone is the McCowan’s toffee factory which produced Highland Toffee, Wham bars and Irn Bru bars.
    Norway Stand Tryst Road End Over the years, Stirling Albion and Falkirk have both groundshared at Ochilview, and currently East Stirlingshire are tenants. Indeed Stenhousemuir themselves might have moved back in 1992 and Ochilview might have been replaced by a supermarket if not for planning difficulties.
    There is now a synthetic pitch which helps Stenhousemuir to raise much needed revenue. In 1949-50 Ochilview held a record 12500 for a Scottish Cup tie against East Fife, and in 1951 the floodlights were first used in a match against Hibernian, and paid for by Tommy Douglas the butcher. In 1964, Rangers formulated a plan to remove the Warriors and 4 other small clubs from the league, but this failed and they are still alive and kicking, having won 2-1 at Ibrox in the League Cup in 1972 just to rub it in.
    Anyway, back to January 1992. Caley came to town in a Scottish Cup round 2 tie. The pre-match comments of Warriors boss Dennis Lawson showed that he was less than confident about the outcome, with Warriors struggling near the bottom of the old second division. Inverness bookmakers had Caley at 7/4 but the large travelling contingent were delighted to see that in Larbert, Caley were being offered at 11/4…
    Stenny had their highest gate for 3 years, around 1500, and went ahead after Caley had lost key midfielder Danny MacDonald to a serious injury. However the second half was all Caley as they struck four times, and finally Warriors centre-half Stevie Prior was sent off after a kick at Charlie Christie.
    Another significant match was in 1999 when the Warriors gained a 1-1 draw at Rosewell against Whitehill Welfare. Much to the disgust of the Whitehill faithful, the two goals which decided the replay at Ochilview were scored by a young whippet called Kenny Miller. Kenny was on loan from Hibs and it is said that Stenny paid Hibs £8000 to allow him to play in the Scottish Cup, as the reward would be a tie against Rangers…

    The Ochils in sunshine: Shire v Whitehill in the Lowland League Since 1992, the Warriors have had a hard core of about 100 supporters in Norway, who own 5% of the club.

    In 2008, Falkirk’s ‘other’ club, The Shire, vacated their home at Firs Park after 87 years, and began groundsharing at Ochilview. They had been at Firs Park since moving from Merchiston Park in Bainsford in 1921. That year, Firs Park held its record crowd of 12000 for a cup match against Partick Thistle. Shire have long been held up, even ridiculed, as an example of a club which nobody needs, and indeed when the SPFL introduced a playoff system, Shire were the first victims, being relegated to the Lowland League in 2016 by Edinburgh City. A young Alex Ferguson started his management career there in 1974 but the high point of their history is probably being promoted as champions to the top tier of Scottish Football in 1932.
    But Shire are nothing if not survivors and their hardy band of volunteers and supporters have survived worse, including a merger with Clydebank Juniors which briefly produced the club ES Clydebank, playing out of Kilbowie Park in 1964.
    Hidden Away up Firs Street When I first visited Firs Park, people were free to wander around all sides of the pitch. There was a decent sized terracing at the North End, and another covered shelter along the side. The decaying barrel-roofed main stand had been replaced by a smart 200-seat replica in 1992. By the time Shire left, things were a bit more restricted and there was a huge wall at the south end with no access.
    The photos below are from a friendly against Chester City in 1992. Later that season I witnessed a 3-2 extra-time win over Vale of Leithen on a freezing, foggy night in the Christmas holidays.

    The next time I visited Firs Park was a historic one, as it was the first competitive match for Caledonian Thistle, later ICT, who won 2-0 in a League Cup tie on 9/8/94. Caley legend Wilson Robertson opened the scoring and the attendance was 899.
    Earlier I referred to Shire as Falkirk’s other club, but in fact their tannoy announcer always made a point of saying ‘welcome to Falkirk’s Premier Football Club’. Unfortunately I don’t have his name, but he was a legend. One match against Ross County took place on a Sunday in 1995. When it came to half time he apologised that he had no half time scores to read out as it was the day’s only fixture, so he proceeded to go through the entire card from the day before.
    My final game at Firs Park was in January 1998 when Shire met Edinburgh City, then of the East of Scotland League, in the second round of the Scottish Cup. The game ended 1-1.  The replay at Meadowbank was goalless and Shire went out 4-3 on penalties. City went on to be humbled 7-2 by Dunfermline at East End Park so maybe they did the Shire a favour.
    Shire left Firs Park at the end of 2007-8 as the cost of upgrading the stadium would have been ruinous. The final match was a 3-1 win against Montrose, which spared Shire the embarrassment of finishing bottom for the sixth time in a row. By this time the ground capacity was a mere 1800, including 200 seated.
    Some match footage from 1994
    Some match footage from 2008
    Even More Footage
    View the full article
  19. The Mantis

    Shire and Stenny

    By The Mantis,

    One of the benefits of being an old git is being able to bore people about how things used to be. Back in the 90s you had Stenhousemuir playing at Ochilview, and East Stirlingshire at Firs Park. So over the years I’ve seen Stenny with the old stand shown below, which is opposite where the new 626 seater Norway Stand is. The old “Doll’s House” stand had 310 bench seats and was built in 1928, 7 years after the Warriors joined the League, to replace the old wooden stand which had burned down. They say the external stairs were an afterthought as the architect forgot to put them in.
    Ochilview in 1992 The first time I was there was 1992 to see Caley in the Scottish Cup. At that time there was a covered terracing opposite the stand with railway sleepers and cinder, which was quite common back then in football grounds. The photo above was taken from the large Tryst Road terracing behind the goals, which was covered in 2004-5. Nowadays the Tryst Road terracing is used for the away support, but for East Stirlingshire matches in the Lowland League, and U20 Development matches, it is closed. The other two sides of the ground are no longer in use. Also gone is the McCowan’s toffee factory which produced Highland Toffee, Wham bars and Irn Bru bars.
    Norway Stand Tryst Road End Over the years, Stirling Albion and Falkirk have both groundshared at Ochilview, and currently East Stirlingshire are tenants. Indeed Stenhousemuir themselves might have moved back in 1992 and Ochilview might have been replaced by a supermarket if not for planning difficulties.
    There is now a synthetic pitch which helps Stenhousemuir to raise much needed revenue. In 1949-50 Ochilview held a record 12500 for a Scottish Cup tie against East Fife, and in 1951 the floodlights were first used in a match against Hibernian, and paid for by Tommy Douglas the butcher. In 1964, Rangers formulated a plan to remove the Warriors and 4 other small clubs from the league, but this failed and they are still alive and kicking, having won 2-1 at Ibrox in the League Cup in 1972 just to rub it in.
    Anyway, back to January 1992. Caley came to town in a Scottish Cup round 2 tie. The pre-match comments of Warriors boss Dennis Lawson showed that he was less than confident about the outcome, with Warriors struggling near the bottom of the old second division. Inverness bookmakers had Caley at 7/4 but the large travelling contingent were delighted to see that in Larbert, Caley were being offered at 11/4…
    Stenny had their highest gate for 3 years, around 1500, and went ahead after Caley had lost key midfielder Danny MacDonald to a serious injury. However the second half was all Caley as they struck four times, and finally Warriors centre-half Stevie Prior was sent off after a kick at Charlie Christie.
    Another significant match was in 1999 when the Warriors gained a 1-1 draw at Rosewell against Whitehill Welfare. Much to the disgust of the Whitehill faithful, the two goals which decided the replay at Ochilview were scored by a young whippet called Kenny Miller. Kenny was on loan from Hibs and it is said that Stenny paid Hibs £8000 to allow him to play in the Scottish Cup, as the reward would be a tie against Rangers…

    The Ochils in sunshine: Shire v Whitehill in the Lowland League Since 1992, the Warriors have had a hard core of about 100 supporters in Norway, who own 5% of the club.

    In 2008, Falkirk’s ‘other’ club, The Shire, vacated their home at Firs Park after 87 years, and began groundsharing at Ochilview. They had been at Firs Park since moving from Merchiston Park in Bainsford in 1921. That year, Firs Park held its record crowd of 12000 for a cup match against Partick Thistle. Shire have long been held up, even ridiculed, as an example of a club which nobody needs, and indeed when the SPFL introduced a playoff system, Shire were the first victims, being relegated to the Lowland League in 2016 by Edinburgh City. A young Alex Ferguson started his management career there in 1974 but the high point of their history is probably being promoted as champions to the top tier of Scottish Football in 1932.
    But Shire are nothing if not survivors and their hardy band of volunteers and supporters have survived worse, including a merger with Clydebank Juniors which briefly produced the club ES Clydebank, playing out of Kilbowie Park in 1964.
    Hidden Away up Firs Street When I first visited Firs Park, people were free to wander around all sides of the pitch. There was a decent sized terracing at the North End, and another covered shelter along the side. The decaying barrel-roofed main stand had been replaced by a smart 200-seat replica in 1992. By the time Shire left, things were a bit more restricted and there was a huge wall at the south end with no access.
    The photos below are from a friendly against Chester City in 1992. Later that season I witnessed a 3-2 extra-time win over Vale of Leithen on a freezing, foggy night in the Christmas holidays.

    The next time I visited Firs Park was a historic one, as it was the first competitive match for Caledonian Thistle, later ICT, who won 2-0 in a League Cup tie on 9/8/94. Caley legend Wilson Robertson opened the scoring and the attendance was 899.
    Earlier I referred to Shire as Falkirk’s other club, but in fact their tannoy announcer always made a point of saying ‘welcome to Falkirk’s Premier Football Club’. Unfortunately I don’t have his name, but he was a legend. One match against Ross County took place on a Sunday in 1995. When it came to half time he apologised that he had no half time scores to read out as it was the day’s only fixture, so he proceeded to go through the entire card from the day before.
    My final game at Firs Park was in January 1998 when Shire met Edinburgh City, then of the East of Scotland League, in the second round of the Scottish Cup. The game ended 1-1.  The replay at Meadowbank was goalless and Shire went out 4-3 on penalties. City went on to be humbled 7-2 by Dunfermline at East End Park so maybe they did the Shire a favour.
    Shire left Firs Park at the end of 2007-8 as the cost of upgrading the stadium would have been ruinous. The final match was a 3-1 win against Montrose, which spared Shire the embarrassment of finishing bottom for the sixth time in a row. By this time the ground capacity was a mere 1800, including 200 seated.
    Some match footage from 1994
    Some match footage from 2008
    Even More Footage

    View the full article
  20. The Mantis
    Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja is quite a mouthful so I’ll be referring to them as ÍBV from now on. I had been to Iceland twice before and caught a glimpse of these islands off the south coast.
    I managed to persuade my missus to go back to Iceland in September of 2016 and we spent four nights in Vestmannaeyjar, or the Westman Islands as everybody calls them in English. Apparently the West Men were the Irish.
    To get to Vestmannaeyjar is not the easiest task. You can get to the ferry by car but we decided to use public transport this time. From central Reykjavík you make your way to a bus station at Mjódd in the south east of the city. From there it is a 2 1/2 hour run to the new ferry terminal at Landeyjahöfn in the south, and a 40 minute crossing aboard the ferry Herjólfur. This takes you to Heimaey, the main island with a population of 4000. Although the new harbour at Landeyjahöfn makes for a very short crossing, it is vulnerable in certain weathers. When the weather is not suitable the ferry goes from the old terminal at Þorlákshöfn and takes 2 3/4 hours, although Þorlákshöfn is much nearer Reykjavík so the bus journey is short.
    So after piddling around Reykjavík for most of the day, we got the bus from Mjódd at 4.30 and got to Landeyjahöfn around 7pm. By the time we sailed, our introduction to Heimaey was in the dark. Luckily our hotel was only a couple of hundred yards from the ferry.
    Heimaey is only about 7km long and has an area of about 13 sq km so there’s no problem getting around. The first view we got when we looked out of the window next morning was Eldfell, 200m high.
    Eldfell and Helgafell This mountain only appeared in 1973 after a volcanic eruption which buried about 400 houses  in lava and ash, and added about 2 sq km to the east side of the island. The islanders had to evacuate. Helgafell (227m) is the neighbour of Eldfell but is positively ancient at 6000 years.
    Today, the lava forms a visible barrier to the east of the town, and it is easy to climb up 10m or so and overlook the town from it. If you carry on and climb Eldfell, maybe, like me, you can stand on a mountain which is younger than you
    Meanwhile, back in 1973, the harbour was saved by pouring billions of gallons of seawater on the lava which threatened to envelop the whole harbour area. This harbour accounts for over a third of Iceland’s fish catch.
    During our 4 days on Heimaey we got around a fair bit despite the poor weather, including a walk to the lighthouse at Stórhöfði at the south end, which claims to be the windiest place in Europe. We climbed Eldfell, where it is red-brown basalt gravel underfoot, and apparently if you were to dig down 1 metre it would be about 800 degrees C.
    ÍBV are the island team. They have won the Icelandic championship, or Úrvalsdeild, currently known as the Pepsi Deild, in 1979, 1997 and in 1998, when they did the double.
    I knew that ÍBV had a fixture arranged for Thursday 15th, against Stjarnan from Reykjavík. Stjarnan had faced Celtic the previous season and after we returned to Reykjavík I was able to catch one of their games at the Samsungvöllur before we went home. Stjarnan were to finish second to FH in the league.
    ÍBV had faced Hearts in 2000 but the Hásteinsvöllur had no stand and was not suitable at the time so the game was played at the national stadium in Reykjavík where only 815 turned up. The stadium was renovated in 2012 so I assume that’s when the covered stand was built. The capacity of the Hásteinsvöllur is listed as 2834 with 534 seated. Man of many clubs, goalkeeper David James, was player-coach at ÍBV in 2013 before retiring.
    At the risk of stating the obvious, the Samsungvöllur experience didn’t come near the magical heights that the Hásteinsvöllur reached.
    On the Thursday afternoon I sauntered up to the Hásteinsvöllur for the 5pm kickoff, taking advantage of a welcome break in the weather. To my dismay there was a board on the way to the ground which, with my limited knowledge of Icelandic, seemed to be saying that there was no game. I saw the home team having a training session and had a chat with one of the players. The Stjarnan team had not been able to make it due to ferry disruption.
    The good news was that the game would be played on the Friday evening instead. So the following afternoon it was take two. The weather was even better so I mostly retook all the photos from before.

    The game was played out in heavy showers alternating with blinding sunshine. Stjarnan, in blue, led in 16 minutes through Guðjón Baldvinsson,  who celebrated with a small knot of away fans. After much pressure and many missed chances, the home team finally equalised after an hour through Aron Bjarnason.

    The home fans took heart from this and for a while it looked like their team might go on and grab the winner, but their hopes were dashed in 72 minutes when Baldvinsson restored the Stjarnan lead with a lob from outside the box. The crowd was given as 403 on the excellent Soccerway website.
    The white shirts of ÍBV pushed for a point but it wasn’t to be. Full time ÍBV 1 Stjarnan 2.
    I can’t leave ÍBV without a short report on the fan experience! Admission was free. During my trip i went to 2 other Pepsi Dield matches in Reykjavík where the admission was 1500 ÍKR (about £11). On the way in you could help yourself to laminated ‘clappers’ which had a team photo on one side and a club badge on the reverse. These concertina-ed to make a noisy clapping aid  and again were free, so I brought back a few for the mates
    There was one fan who was completely driven by his passion for the team and started the same frenzied chant every few minutes. To me it sounded like ‘eBay Vuff’ till I realised that’s how they pronounced ÍBV…
    You can just about see the clapper in the photos:

    We were sorry to leave Heimaey on the Sunday morning ferry at 8.30. We’re used to crossing the Minch in all seasons, but although the sea didn’t seem rough, the conditions were unsuitable for landing at Landeyjahöfn, and so we had the longer journey to Þorlákshöfn on the mainland. It was a fine autumnal morning with great views to the Eyjafjallajökull glacier on the mainland, and back to the magical island of Elliðaey.
    View the full article
  21. The Mantis
    Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja is quite a mouthful so I’ll be referring to them as ÍBV from now on. I had been to Iceland twice before and caught a glimpse of these islands off the south coast.
    I managed to persuade my missus to go back to Iceland in September of 2016 and we spent four nights in Vestmannaeyjar, or the Westman Islands as everybody calls them in English. Apparently the West Men were the Irish.
    To get to Vestmannaeyjar is not the easiest task. You can get to the ferry by car but we decided to use public transport this time. From central Reykjavík you make your way to a bus station at Mjódd in the south east of the city. From there it is a 2 1/2 hour run to the new ferry terminal at Landeyjahöfn in the south, and a 40 minute crossing aboard the ferry Herjólfur. This takes you to Heimaey, the main island with a population of 4000. Although the new harbour at Landeyjahöfn makes for a very short crossing, it is vulnerable in certain weathers. When the weather is not suitable the ferry goes from the old terminal at Þorlákshöfn and takes 2 3/4 hours, although Þorlákshöfn is much nearer Reykjavík so the bus journey is short.
    So after piddling around Reykjavík for most of the day, we got the bus from Mjódd at 4.30 and got to Landeyjahöfn around 7pm. By the time we sailed, our introduction to Heimaey was in the dark. Luckily our hotel was only a couple of hundred yards from the ferry.
    Heimaey is only about 7km long and has an area of about 13 sq km so there’s no problem getting around. The first view we got when we looked out of the window next morning was Eldfell, 200m high.
    Eldfell and Helgafell This mountain only appeared in 1973 after a volcanic eruption which buried about 400 houses  in lava and ash, and added about 2 sq km to the east side of the island. The islanders had to evacuate. Helgafell (227m) is the neighbour of Eldfell but is positively ancient at 6000 years.
    Today, the lava forms a visible barrier to the east of the town, and it is easy to climb up 10m or so and overlook the town from it. If you carry on and climb Eldfell, maybe, like me, you can stand on a mountain which is younger than you
    Meanwhile, back in 1973, the harbour was saved by pouring billions of gallons of seawater on the lava which threatened to envelop the whole harbour area. This harbour accounts for over a third of Iceland’s fish catch.
    During our 4 days on Heimaey we got around a fair bit despite the poor weather, including a walk to the lighthouse at Stórhöfði at the south end, which claims to be the windiest place in Europe. We climbed Eldfell, where it is red-brown basalt gravel underfoot, and apparently if you were to dig down 1 metre it would be about 800 degrees C.
    ÍBV are the island team. They have won the Icelandic championship, or Úrvalsdeild, currently known as the Pepsi Deild, in 1979, 1997 and in 1998, when they did the double.
    I knew that ÍBV had a fixture arranged for Thursday 15th, against Stjarnan from Reykjavík. Stjarnan had faced Celtic the previous season and after we returned to Reykjavík I was able to catch one of their games at the Samsungvöllur before we went home. Stjarnan were to finish second to FH in the league.
    ÍBV had faced Hearts in 2000 but the Hásteinsvöllur had no stand and was not suitable at the time so the game was played at the national stadium in Reykjavík where only 815 turned up. The stadium was renovated in 2012 so I assume that’s when the covered stand was built. The capacity of the Hásteinsvöllur is listed as 2834 with 534 seated. Man of many clubs, goalkeeper David James, was player-coach at ÍBV in 2013 before retiring.
    At the risk of stating the obvious, the Samsungvöllur experience didn’t come near the magical heights that the Hásteinsvöllur reached.
    On the Thursday afternoon I sauntered up to the Hásteinsvöllur for the 5pm kickoff, taking advantage of a welcome break in the weather. To my dismay there was a board on the way to the ground which, with my limited knowledge of Icelandic, seemed to be saying that there was no game. I saw the home team having a training session and had a chat with one of the players. The Stjarnan team had not been able to make it due to ferry disruption.
    The good news was that the game would be played on the Friday evening instead. So the following afternoon it was take two. The weather was even better so I mostly retook all the photos from before.

    The game was played out in heavy showers alternating with blinding sunshine. Stjarnan, in blue, led in 16 minutes through Guðjón Baldvinsson,  who celebrated with a small knot of away fans. After much pressure and many missed chances, the home team finally equalised after an hour through Aron Bjarnason.

    The home fans took heart from this and for a while it looked like their team might go on and grab the winner, but their hopes were dashed in 72 minutes when Baldvinsson restored the Stjarnan lead with a lob from outside the box. The crowd was given as 403 on the excellent Soccerway website.
    The white shirts of ÍBV pushed for a point but it wasn’t to be. Full time ÍBV 1 Stjarnan 2.
    I can’t leave ÍBV without a short report on the fan experience! Admission was free. During my trip i went to 2 other Pepsi Dield matches in Reykjavík where the admission was 1500 ÍKR (about £11). On the way in you could help yourself to laminated ‘clappers’ which had a team photo on one side and a club badge on the reverse. These concertina-ed to make a noisy clapping aid  and again were free, so I brought back a few for the mates
    There was one fan who was completely driven by his passion for the team and started the same frenzied chant every few minutes. To me it sounded like ‘eBay Vuff’ till I realised that’s how they pronounced ÍBV…
    You can just about see the clapper in the photos:

    We were sorry to leave Heimaey on the Sunday morning ferry at 8.30. We’re used to crossing the Minch in all seasons, but although the sea didn’t seem rough, the conditions were unsuitable for landing at Landeyjahöfn, and so we had the longer journey to Þorlákshöfn on the mainland. It was a fine autumnal morning with great views to the Eyjafjallajökull glacier on the mainland, and back to the magical island of Elliðaey.

    View the full article
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