TT No.31: Mike Latham - Sat 26 October 2013: Scottish Junior Cup Second Round: Whitburn 0-2 Forth Wanderers; Attendance: 200 (h/c); Admission: £4; Raffle ticket: £1; No programme; FGIF Match Rating: 4*

 

 

Matchday images (18) https://picasaweb.google.com/footballgroundsinfocus/WhitburnFC

 

If you were to compile a list of “must-see” Scottish Junior grounds then Whitburn’s Central Park ground would come high upon the list; it is a wonderfully atmospheric venue and a Junior Cup-tie against their rivals from a few miles away afforded the opportunity to see the ground at its best.

 

Whitburn and Forth are separated by just a few miles but they are a world part in junior football terms.  Whitburn play in the East juniors, Forth in the West, so over the years their paths have rarely crossed.

 

Heavy rain and strong winds had been forecast for early afternoon and with Central Park notorious for water-logging, I kept an anxious eye on the skies as I headed north.  The weather was calm and remarkably warm for late October as I headed through the almost deserted and remote village of Forth in South Lanarkshire, around one thousand feet above sea level.  If Junior Cup fever was in the air it wasn’t readily apparent. The football ground, like the village was deserted, the pitch looking in perfect order.

 

Onto Whitburn via a spectacular hill road which affords stunning views for miles around. Whitburn is a small town in West Lothian and is halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh. There are so many junior football teams in this area and I have now visited most of them, Bathgate and Armadale being two within easy reach.

 

Whitburn was once dominated by the coal industry.  But Polkemmet Colliery was closed as a result of damage by underground flooding during the miners' strike in the mid 1980s and never re-opened. The site of the colliery is now a country park. The town was also once site of famous jeans manufacturers Levi Strauss, the plant employing 500 local people at its height, but this closed in 1999.  Major hope for the future is regenerating a large area of land near the M8 motorway in a £500m project known as ‘Heartlands.’ This will include a business park, 2,000 new homes and sports and leisure facilities.

 

Central Park is close to the main cross in the centre of Whitburn but actually hard to find.  The entrance is found up a narrow alley off the main street alongside the social club.  The social club must have provided a rich income stream for Whitburn in the past, enabling the club, which first entered the juniors in 1934 to attract good quality players and enjoy periods of success, the highlight being the Junior Cup Final victory in 2000.

 

The ground is dominated by a large shelter that runs the entire length of the touchline along the far side of the ground.  The terraces and grass banks are well maintained, far better than the playing surface which looks badly in need of a good drainage system and a good mow. The pie hut is simply magnificent, two ladies purveying sausage rolls and pies of the highest quality plus Bovril served from a trusty silver teapot that was the best I’ve ever tasted.  The sausage roll melted in the mouth, no wonder they had sold out of pies and sausage rolls before half-time.

 

The game was fiercely contested and hugely entertaining.  A crowd of around 200 manned the terraces by kick-off time, their allegiance roughly 50-50 between the sides. Whitburn started well, hit the bar and had a goal disallowed for offside.  Forth had an excellent goalkeeper who looked as if he had played at a far higher level in the past and a clever, scheming player-manager in midfield who had been playing in the SPL not too long ago.

 

Gradually Forth established a foothold in the game, had a good penalty shout turned down and then took the lead 13 minutes into the second half, a curling free-kick turned in at the far post.  Whitburn pushed hard in search of an equaliser but despite several near-misses Forth held out.  In injury time the Forth winger rounded the home ‘keeper, was fouled yet got his shot away which rebounded off the post.  The referee, somewhat harshly, sent-off the home ‘keeper and one of the Forth substitutes scored from the resultant spot-kick.  The visitors celebrated a famous victory- they looked a decent side going forward with some inventive and skilful players.  It was another great day out in the Junior Cup.

 

No sooner had the final whistle sounded than the skies darkened, the wind increased and heavy rain fell.  The journey home on a flooded and wind-swept motorway was hazardous and unnerving at times.  But fortunately the elements had relented long enough to savour another fine cup-tie plus the best sausage roll and Bovril in the land.

 

contributed on 26/10/13