Queen’s Park Brechin City

ANDY MURPHY

GAVIN MITCHELL

SCOTT GIBSON

ANTHONY QUINN

CONOR MCVEY

PAUL WOODS

SEAN BURNS

JOHN CARTER

BRYAN WHARTON

CRAIG MCLEISH

DAVID GALT

JAMIE MCKERNON

BILLY MORTIMER

GREGOR FOTHERINGHAM

ANTON BRADY

AIDEN MALONE

DARREN MILLER

ROSS MILLEN

LIAM BROWN

JOSH WATT

EWAN MACPHERSON

OWEN STOTT

ADAM CUMMINS WILLIE MUIR

ROBBIE BUCHANAN

ROSS CALDWELL

JAMES DALE

DARREN DODS

WILLIE DYER

ELLIOT FORD

GARY FUSCO

FINN GRAHAM

DOUGIE HILL

ANDY JACKSON

ALLY LOVE

ARON LYNAS

DARREN MCCORMACK

PAUL MCLEAN

CHRIS O'NEIL

PATRICK O'NEIL

GARETH RODGER

EUAN SMITH

GRAEME SMITH

LEWIS SPENCE

ALAN TROUTEN

Referee: Mike Roncone AR1: Ross Haswell AR2: Alastair Grieve

OFFICIAL MATCH PROGRAMME

SPFL League 1

Queen’s Park FC

v

Brechin City FC

Saturday 3rd December Hampden Park, 3PM

www.queensparkfc.co.uk Follow us @queensparkfc

Contact: 0141 632-1275 secretary@queensparkfc.co.uk

President: Dr Alan Hutchison Company Secretary: Christine Wright

Programme Contributors: Scottish Football Museum, Keith McAllister,

Frank McCrossan, Sean Davenport. Pictures by: Ian Cairns

If you have any ideas or questions regarding our programme then don’t hesitate

to contact us programme@queensparkfc.co.uk

Club Policies available to view here

*Please note that all articles and match reports are the views of individual

contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the club.

A warm welcome to our

supporters and to our visitors

who have made the journey

from Brechin this afternoon.

We are back into league 1

action today after our first

Scottish Cup fixture on

Tuesday night. We were

delighted with the result

against Montrose, it was a

difficult game but the players

took the opportunities and

turned them in to a win. As

with any cup fixture the aim is

to progress and that’s what

we’ve done.

Brechin have done well this

season so far sitting in a

comfortable position. We are

on a good run of form and we

must continue to work hard

and demonstrate the

standard that we’ve already

shown we are capable of.

Enjoy the Game

Gus MacPherson.

Keith McAllister

I’m generally someone who has no strong views on individuals. However, there are some people in this life that I can’t abide;

some people in football that I can’t abide. In the case of the latter this is, of course, this is largely driven by jealousy. They have bags of cash, bags of skill, loved by the hoi polloi and the beautiful people in equal mounts, and they have their pick of the bank of ladies who gravitate to the rich and famous. So, of course, I’m insanely jealous. But, in the vast majority of cases, that’s fine, and I wish them well. My jealousy is a jealousy of admiration; relatively benign. I like the guy Beckham, for example; seems like a nice lad who loves his family, irrespective of the bonkers names that he’s saddled them with. Guys like Ronaldo and Mourinho, Pierre van Hoijdonk to go back a bit…the arrogant guys….can’t go them, and I revel in any distress that they suffer. Ain’t that disgraceful? I will roast in the bad fire. But I did feel sorry for Ronaldo this week. Following the tragic crash in South America that all but wiped out the Brazilian football team, Chapecoense, it was widely reported in the press that Ronaldo had donated 3 million euros to the charity being set up to support the families. Ditto, Paris St Germain FC, who were reported to have

40 million euros heading over. I felt quite bad about the wax effigy of the guy Ronaldo with pins in it, hidden in my “wee secret place” in the hoose Obviously, I had totally misjudged the guy. However, it transpires that both “donations” were being reported by “daft wee boy” websites like LAD Bible and Benchwarmers who feed off anything interesting and pass it off as fact. Both Ronaldo and the PSG club had to take to the ether to deny the stories. How embarrassing is that? They end up looking bad, simply to correct a spurious story that some halfwit without a real life outside his bedroom had cobbled together. It does illustrate perfectly one of the very real problems of social media. I don’t have too much sympathy with those that set themselves us for ridicule (been there, done that….repeatedly), but I do have a great deal of sympathy for those caught up in the crossfire, or who, like Ronaldo, have downright lies told about them. I don’t subscribe to the view that those in the public eye have to accept that they are legitimate targets for the sort of dullard that live their lives through others. The Ronaldo story was fired about by a feedsite that later “clarified” that there was no substance to the story…they were simply repeating “reports”….and this was to their 1.8 MILLION followers on Facebook. 1.8 million people who will view the adverts on the site and

produce revenue for the site. The site needs “NEWS!”…and this was it. Football, of course, is not alone in being used by the unscrupulous and the lazy to exploit their position and power, but incidents like this only serve to further commercialise the game and take it further from what it is…sport, and a source of enjoyment for countless millions. To veer away slightly….I was reading a thread on a football forum on the Cup tie between Beith and Morton. These things take twists and turns and someone asked if there was a pub in Beith showing the afternoon’s Real v Barca match. As this match clashed with our 3.00pm kick off times and would thus not be allowed on TV in the

UK, the comment was made that this ruling, made in the 1960s, was to the cost of UK fans. And I’m thinking….what are you on about? This, unfortunately, is the view of so many of today’s fans who can’t get off their backsides to actually attend a game. I know their sort….”lads” with can after can of Pringles crisps and pseudo-American “lite” beer. The sort of guys who contribute to “lad” websites; the sort who need to be re-educated and turned in proper fitba fans, watching proper fitba. In the wet; in the rain, in the cold. Win lose or draw…and supporting a rteam that doesn’t win every week. A real team; like mine. I don’t like these guys much. But then I’m going to the bad fire.

ON THIS DAY– 3rd Dec 1927 – Frank McCrossan

Queen’s Park 8 Raith Rovers 1 On this day 89 years ago, Queen’s Park

were at home to Raith Rovers in a

Scottish League Division One match.

Queen’s were in need of all the points

they could get but it was expected that

Raith Rovers would provide stiff

opposition. No one could have

anticipated the eventual outcome of the

match.

Queen’s Park opened promisingly and

came close on several occasions before

taking the lead in seven minutes. Dougie

McLelland met a Jimmy Crawford cross

and headed the ball well out of the reach

of Rovers’ goalkeeper James Muir. Five

minutes later, the Spiders lead was

doubled when Jimmy McAlpine hit a

volley from 30 yards high into the net.

The Raith forwards were dangerous and

Billy Birrell hit the post but it was

Queen’s who were to score again in 15

minutes through Dougie McLelland. To

the delight of the majority of the 10,000

spectators, Queen’s Park scored a fourth

goal in 23 minutes when Jimmy

Crawford was on the end of a Willie

Nicholson corner kick. Thomas Turner

pulled a goal back for the Kirkcaldy men

before the interval.

Four minutes into the second half,

Queen’s Park scored a fifth goal and it

was a truly spectacular effort. Jimmy

McAlpine waltzed past three defenders

and smashed the ball past Muir. Queen’s

continued to press and Dougie

McLelland competed his hat trick when

he fired home a McAlpine cross. In 59

minutes, it was 7-1 when Stewart

Chalmers squeezed a shot past Muir.

Raith Rovers were completely

demoralised by this point and it looked

as if the score might reach double

figures. However, the Spiders took

their foot off the pedal and scored only

once more. The man who got goal

number eight was Jimmy McAlpine to

complete the second hat trick of the

day.

The two sides on that December

afternoon at Hampden were: -

Queen’s Park – Jack Harkness; Kerr

Campbell and Willie Wiseman; John

“Bunty” Macdonald, Bob Gillespie and

Willie King; Jimmy Crawford, and

Stewart Chalmers; Dougie McLelland;

Jimmy McAlpine and Willie Nicolson.

Raith Rovers – Muir; Barton and

Graham; McAllister, Pitcairn and

Batchelor; Beath and Birrell; Pigg;

Allison and Turner.

Any hopes that the big win would lead

to a longer term resurgence in the

team’s fortunes were dashed on the

following Saturday when the Spiders

went down 1-0 to Falkirk at Hampden

Park.

Queen’s Park’s second eleven, the Strollers, emulated the feat of their senior

counterparts in defeating Raith Rovers A 2-0 at Starks Park in Kirkcaldy.

Hamilton Parish Council was investigating claims that lazy workmen were quitting

their jobs and moving to Hamilton to take advantage of the generous scale of relief

in the town. Some members of the Parish Council were now pressing for

reductions in the rates of relief.

There were over 2,000 spectators at the Edinburgh Ice Rink to see T R Murray of

Symington beat Andrew Semple of Kirknewtown in the final of the World Curling

Championships. It would be true to say that the World Championships in 1927

were not quite the international event they are today.

In 1927, as well as Hampden Park, Hampden Terrace and the Hampden Bowling

Club, there was a Hampden Picture House – “the rendezvous of thousands”. On

this day, the main feature was The Unknown Cavalier, which was apparently “a

whirlwind of action and thrills”. The building, which was located in

Westmoreland Street in Govanhill, continued as a cinema until 1969 and was

eventually demolished in 2007.

Airdrieonians introduced Bob Skinner, a new signing from Dunfermline, into the

side that faced Aberdeen at Pittodrie. Unfortunately for Bob, he had to be carried

off on a stretcher after a collision. He had suffered a broken right shinbone and

was out for the rest of the season.

Two significant show business events took place on this day. Singer Andy

Williams was born in Iowa and Laurel and Hardy’s first film as a comedy team

“Putting Pants on Percy” was released.

Galashiels is not a place you would associate with football hooliganism. However,

on this day, a Marshall Junior cup tie between Whitrigg United and Gala Hailes

Villa came to an abrupt end two minutes from time after a riot broke out. A

Whitrigg player struck an opponent and was ordered off but refused to go. A mass

brawl ensued involving players and spectators and the referee abandoned the game.

A wedding had been due to take place in Gatehouse-of -Fleet Town Hall on the

Friday evening. Guests had travelled from a wide area, an orchestra had been

engaged and the bride, best man and minister were all present. But there was no

sign of the groom. They waited for an hour and a half and then reluctantly

dispersed. The groom was a well-known farm worker and his non-appearance

gave rise to a deal of concern. However, it was all to end happily. The young man

turned up at the bride’s house on the Saturday morning and the wedding went

ahead in the manse of Girthon.

Events Elsewhere on 3rd Dec

SUPPORTERS NOTES

Souvenir Shop - New Home Kit Update With a fair wind and avoiding pirates and sundry seabound baddies that may hold up the ship carrying it from a foreign land, we HOPE to have the second batch of home kit available in the souvenir shop next Saturday (10th December). Late night Christmas shopping We will open the shop facility in the members’ bar at the JB McAlpine Pavilion on Thursday 15th December from 7.00pm until 8.30pm, and then on Wednesday 21st December at the same times. On sale, of course, will be the new home kit and the other new t-shirts etc that we have introduced over the past couple of weeks. And…… We have a new range of “retro” / “vintage” t-shirts in stock, advertising the first football international (which we didn’t lose) and ones with cigarette card pictures. The first of these is RS McColl. These are exclusive to the Queen’s Park souvenir shop, look absolutely terrific and are a snip at £12. The slow grind to producing a range of 150th anniversary merchandise picks up…..at the next home game, we will have wee button badges celebrating the feat of staying in the game so long, plus badges with both the home and away kits. These are all available at 60p. Enamel badges are now on order. The club has a special, limited edition, 150th anniversary tie for sale. These are priced at £15 and are available from the office, bistro and the QP shop. Due to popular demand, we should have t-shirts with our new mascot WEBSTER on them now on sale at £7.00 for kiddie sizes. Although we will be concentrating on stocking kiddie sizes, it won’t be a problem to have adult t-shirts made up as our obliging local supplier makes to order….and, in fact, they are already available at the knock-down price of £10. On the run-up to Christmas, we’ll be bringing in a number of new-design t-shirts. We’ll also have them for sale via the online shop. You can access this via the official QPFC website. Happy shopping! Quiz Night – Saturday 10 December A date for your diary – the next supporters’ quiz will be held next Saturday 10th December. Entry will be £3 and we’re looking for teams of no more than 6. If you don’t have a team, we’ll sort that out for you. We’ll have a raffle at this one and any offers of prizes will be most gratefully received. Funds raised on the night will go to keeping the away buses running. It’ll be the usual format…a mix of general knowledge and sport. We’ll get under way just about 7.00pm and under 18s will be made very welcome (until 10.00pm – it’s the law!!). We aim to finish about 9.30pm and hope that you will support this evening as well as previous events. Christmas Raffle John Richmond will be having another Christmas raffle this year to help us support the away buses. We will have two bumper Christmas hampers and a substantial voucher for the souvenir shop as prizes. Tickets should be on sale from John and the souvenir shop from the next home match. The draw will be made at the Quiz Night.

AWAY TRAVEL 17th December: Alloa – Clarkston – 12.00, Mount Florida – 12.15 and High Street – 12.30 – Cost £12 and £10 24

th December: Livingston – Clarkston – 11.30, Mount Florida – 11.45 and High

Street – 12.00 – Cost £10 and £8 (Note that the match at Livingston has a 2.00PM kick off). Again, we’d ask you to help us by booking for every match. Contact Graeme Shields at gshields.65@btinternet.com or 07730 587526 to book. Tickets will also be available at the souvenir shop or from myself. YOUNG FANS! The Black and White Club for younger fans will run again this year. New members must be twelve years of age or under, but existing fans can remain in the Club until they’re 16. Membership forms can be obtained from the club shop on match days, from Frank McCrossan, John Richmond or by emailing f.mccrossan@ntlworld.com Membership is free and we’re hoping that we can attract a record number of members this year. Keith McAllister hampdenfan@yahoo.co.uk

Spotlight on 1966-67

3rd December 1966

On 3rd December 1966 Queen’s Park

crossed the border to face Berwick Rangers

in a Second division fixture.

The home side had recently appointed

Goalkeeper Jock Wallace as Player

Manager. Jock would go on to find success

as manager of another Rangers, but here he

was on the losing side.

In each area of the field queens were the

better and faster team.

Berwick often gave the ball away. Indeed

they had Wallace to thank for not losing

more heavily. The player boss made several

fine saves. Although the Keeper was at fault

with both goals in a 2-0 win for the Spiders.

In a goal mouth stramash (Trade mark

Arthur Montford) Jock was left scrambling on

the ground,trying to grab the ball , as

Buchanan forced the ball home.For the

second the Keeper tried to punch clear,But

missed the Ball, allowing Campbell to knock

it into the empty net.

Berwick had a spell of pressure early in the

second half, but couldn’t pull a goal back.

The Queens team was J Taylor, T Barr, C

Gilmour, J McLaughlin,W Neil,E Hunter,M

Hay, W Carter,P Buchanan,J Campbell, And

J Laing-Watson.

Todays opponents Brechin City were also in

Second Division action. In a high scoring

match. City went down 5-4 to

Stenhousemuir at Glebe Park.Irvin(2), Begg

and Dunn scored for Brechin. McGregor

(“0,Muir, Black and Russell were on target

for Stenny.

Third Lanark played out a goal less draw

with East Stirlingshire at Cathkin,watched by

a very small crowd.

In the First Division Rangers lost 3-2 away to

Dunfermline. The 2 teams produced a

thrilling match from start to Finish. In the

opening Minutes the home team created

several good chances. However it was

Rangers who took the lead through Forest

after 6 Minutes. The Pars were ahead at

half time though, wwith goals coming from

Alex ferguson and alex Edwards. Alex Smith

equalised early in the Second half. Only for

With a fair wind and avoiding pirates and sundry seabound baddies that may hold up the ship carrying it from a foreign land, we HOPE to have the second batch of home

t lose) and ones with cigarette card pictures. The s Park souvenir shop,

at the next home game, we will have wee button badges celebrating the feat of staying

shirts with our new mascot WEBSTER on

and, in fact, they are already available at the

ll also have them for sale via the online shop. You can access this via the official

ll have a raffle at this one and any

voucher for the souvenir shop as prizes. Tickets should be on sale from John and the

Ferguson to score again to complete the

scoring.

Celtic drew 0-0 at Kilmarnock. The Celts

were denied victory by the home team’s

resolute defence. Goalie Ferguson in

particular was in fine form. The only time

he was beaten was from a McNeill

Header following a corner. This was

cleared off the line by King.

The Following midweek Rangers were

involved in a noteworthy European

Encounter. The Gers were in west

Germany for a second Round Second

Leg Cup winners Cup Game against

trophy holders Borussia Dortmund.

Rangers had won the first Leg 2-1, and

clinched the tie with a goal less draw. This

was achieved despite playing with 10 men

for over half the Game. This being the

result of a shocking incident, and the fact

that no Substitutes were allowed at this

time. From the start there had been

friction between Gers Centre Half

McKinnon and German forward

Emmerich. An early incident had left

Emmerich with a bleeding nose.

TheGerman obviously found that he could

not intimidate McKinnon, and instead

committed a terrible foul on Midfielder

Watson. That left the Rangers man with a

bad ankle injury. This happened after 37

Minutes. Emmerich was not even

cautioned by the Referee. A backs to the

wall performance was required from the

Scots was required to see out the game.

The next night Celtic entertained Nantes

of France in the European Cup, and

defeated them 3-1.They had earlier won

the away leg by the same score.

Catch you next home game

Yours in the Beautiful game

Dave MacPuzzle

Scottish Football Museum

This article is dedicated to my Museum

Colleague and all round good chap

Bob Laird who Passed away recently.

The Opposition– by Sean Davnport

Brechin City FC We welcome Darren Dods and his Brechin City side to Hampden for today’s League One clash.

Brechin currently sit third in the table just 2 points behind leaders Livingston. They go into the

game on the back of what can only be described as a run of inconsistent results which has saw

them win 3 and lose 3 of their last 6 league matches. Their last match was a 1-0 home defeat in

the Third Round of the Scottish Cup on Tuesday night.

The Manager – Darren Dods

Darren Dods secured his first managerial appointment when, in June 2015 and having just

celebrated his 40th birthday, he accepted the role of Player Manager at Brechin.

Dods joined City having spent the previous two seasons with near neighbours Forfar Athletic,

where he made 79 appearances with the Station Park club, scoring 5 goals – 2 of which were in

victories against City. Known as a composed yet no-nonsense central defender, Darren started

his senior playing career almost 20 years prior with home-town club Hibernian before embarking

on a 6-year spell with St Johnstone who paid £70,000 for his signature. He then moved north to

sign for Inverness Caledonian Thistle, winning the fans Player of the Year award in his first

season. After 3 seasons in the Highland capital, he followed the trail set by manager Craig

Brewster and headed to Tannadice Park to sign for Dundee United, remaining there for 4

seasons – albeit this being under Brewster’s successor Craig Levein. He then signed for Falkirk in

summer 2011, heading home a winning goal for The Bairns on his competitive debut in a

Ramsdens Cup Tie against Brechin City at The Glebe.

On accepting the role, Dods immediately secured the services of former City striker Lee Bailey as

his assistant, and stated that it was his intention to remain on the playing staff for the season

ahead. Darren would go on to make 23 appearances, scoring twice for City during the season

that would become known as “The Great Escape”. Darren remains signed as a player for season

2016/17

Key Players

Graeme Smith (Goalkeeper)

Graeme Smith (Goalkeeper) - 33 year-old Graeme Smith is one of the most experienced

goalkeepers in League One having plied his trade with no fewer than nine club's over the course

of eleven years. 'Buzz' began his senior career with Rangers in 2003 but made no first-team

appearances at Ibrox and he was subsequently loaned out to Ross County in 2004. After leaving

Rangers he spent four years at Motherwell before moving down south to join up at Brighton &

Hove Albion where he remained for a year. Further short spells followed at Hibs, Partick and Ayr

before he joined City in 2013

Ally Love (Midfielder) Ally began his senior career with St Mirren and during his time at Paisley he also had a short

spell on loan with Stenhousemuir. Following his departure from Saints, Ally played for a short period of time with East Stirlingshire and Annan Athletic. He signed for Albion Rovers in 2014

and spent two seasons at Cliftonhill and was the club's top scorer last season. Ally joined up at Glebe Park at the beginning of this season and Darren Dods will be looking for him to score his

fair share of goals during the coming campaign.

Ross Caldwell (Striker) Ross is a 22 year old striker who began his senior career with Hibernian and the highlight of his time there was scoring the winning goal in the Edinburgh derby against Hearts. During his time at Easter Road, Ross had a short spell on loan with Alloa Athletic. After his release from Hibs he had short periods with St Mirren, Morton, Ayr United and Cowdenbeath before joining City at

the beginning of this season. Ross scored the winning goal against Stenhousemuir on his league debut for the club in this season's opening fixture.

Club Facts

Year of Formation: 1906

League Admittance: 1923

Team Colours: Red with white & blue trimmings

Nickname: The City

Record Attendance: 8,122 V Aberdeen, 3 February 1973

Record Victory: 12-1 V Thornhill, 28 January 1926

Record Defeat: 0-10 V Airdrieonians, Albion Rovers & Cowdenbeath - ALL 1937/38

Record for league appearances: David Watt - 459

Record for goals in one season: Ronald McIntosh - 26 - 1959/60

Record for all time goals: Ian Campbell – 131

Club Honours

Scottish League Division 2 Champions: 1982/83, 1989/90, 2004/05

Scottish League Division 2 Runners-Up: 1992/93, 2002/03

Scottish League Division 3 Champions: 2001/02

Scottish League Division 3 Runners-Up: 1995/96

Scottish League Division C Champions: 1953/54

Scottish League Challenge Cup Runners-Up: 2002/03

Qualifying Cup Winners: 1950/51

Forfarshire Cup Winners: 1909/10, 1952/53, 1958/59, 1996/97

The Keith Tournament Winners: 1982/83