I saw on Largs Thistle’s Facebook page that it’s been four years since we witnessed the magnificent comeback at St Rochs in our Scottish Junior Cup campaign. We were losing 0-2 in the 5th Round Replay with 16 minutes remaining and ended up winning 5-2.
We went on to reach the Final and played Talbot. I’ve never been so confident of a victory despite us being underdogs, however we lost 2-0. Ouch!
Interestingly, writing this a few hours after our victory v Arthurlie, only four of our players today actually played in that game at James McGrory Park (I recommend you watch the video, Addy giving it big windmills after one of our goals). Only three played in the final, Messrs McMaster, Faulds and Adam.
So, where am I going with this? Well, let’s give a round of applause to our boss Stuart Davidson (Arnie).
Build a team, lose a team, build a team, lose a team. The more successful your team, the more potential suitors there are to entice players away to places where the grass seems greener.
In recent years we’ve lost local players to other clubs such as George and Will Sewell, Creag Little, also players from nearby such as Marty Orr and Nicky Jamieson. As an aside, I’m planning to watch Will and Nicky play for Stenhousemuir on 25 th February at Bonnyrigg when we entertain Petershill.
Pretty sure the referee and lino at Barrfields will be pleased but their counterparts at New Dundas Park might not enjoy the volley of abuse from me.
It was ever thus. From my old man memory I’ve waved goodbye and wished good luck to John Fraser (St Johnstone), Craw Boyd (Queen of the South & Hearts), Ian Baillie (trialist at Celtic but signed for that lot over the hill), Davie Paterson (Blackpool) and Brian Reid (Ayr United).
Arnie has bought into the atmosphere at Largs Thistle. Wife Amanda and brother Gary attend almost every game along with wee yins (well they’re adults now, shows how long Arnie has been here) and associated family. It’s heartening to see that Committee members old and new are actively working towards building a better financial platform for Arnie and the Club, I’m looking forward to help support the forthcoming fundraisers. We really need businesses and the people of Largs, Fairlie, Millport and West Kilbride to back our team and we can go from strength to strength.
Going back to the Arthurlie game, it was great to see Stuart Sinclair walking around the pitch with the raffle board shouting ‘half time draw’. Pretty sure it’s the same board that I carried in the early/mid 1970’s and the guy that sold the tickets at the gates would shout ‘Erra five for a bob for a pound draw’, Pat Rall will remember his name. For the young yins, pay 5 pence for a strip of 5 raffle tickets and win a pound. Raising money to keep clubs going has always been a thing.