George writes:
My interest in football was firmly re-established by the late 1980s. And by this time I had my first ever job, in Edinburgh, and took advantage of cheap train fares and cheap match-day prices to do some groundhopping. For less than £10 I could get the train to Larbert, have a pint, buy a programme, watch the game and get a train back to Edinburgh. (That’s £27.32 in today’s prices). It’s a 10 minute walk from the station in Larbert to Ochilview Park in Stenhousemuir. I don’t know if I saw the Ochil Hills from the stand but I did fall asleep in the second half for a while, not because of the football but because I had been drinking at 9 in the morning in Edinburgh with some friends (some of whom I think were going to the egg-chucking). I might have had a pint in the clubhouse at the ground, a lot of clubhouses at the smaller grounds were open to anyone in those days.
Even more exciting than the prospect of notching up Ochilview Park was that it was literally next to the Mccowan’s toffee factory! Yes, where penny dainties used to be made.
Of course, it’s no’ there anymore. Here are the teams that could very well have played their part in what might have been a thrilling 1-1 draw:
So that you don’t have to, I have looked at the AITT of that week and JINGS what a terrible sight that was. I have no memory of 6 of the songs, thankfully, and looking at numbers 11 to 20 I also genuinely don’t think I’ve ever heard any of those songs. Of the 4 in the top 10 I do know, all 4 are at best Total Bobbins. And the no. 1 single in the USA that day is worse still. Respite can be found in the number 1 album of that week (the other nine are worse than Total Bobbins) which has this utterly fabulous pop song, with that spine-tingling moment at 20 seconds:
A song of such magnificence it brings tears to my eyes. And of course it can not be confused with this nonsense
Thanks for reading, and thanks to Mr CC.
CC writes:
Thanks George. I'm sure that Friday Night Commentator and Stennie fan Spence will find this to be of interest
East Fife did remarkably well to earn a draw considering they had a blind Goalie!
Oh, and happy birthday yesterday!
Was it his birthday? That explains the cocktails in Setabul
ReplyDeleteYou already beat me to the Ray Charles joke so I have nothing else to say
Happy birthday George
ReplyDeleteSorry to be so late on this. Here in Sheffield in the 60s I used to be able to buy slabs of McCowans' Highland toffee for I forget how much but cheap enough to me to afford multiple packs. The current state of my teeth and their fillings is due to excess at that time. The toffee and regular heavy defeats the Stens (as I used to call them) regularly suffered at that time in the sixties drew me to support them and we've been an 'item' ever since - though sadly the toffee no longer.
ReplyDeleteDespite the disappearance of the toffee factory, a day out at Ochilview remains a joy. The Warriors Social Club is still there and offers cheap booze....oh, and the snack bar, set up with two serving hatches to cater for both sets of fans, is among the best in the country.
ReplyDelete