TT No.126: Mike Latham - Saturday 10 January 2009: Scottish Junior Cup Round 3;            St Roch's JFC 2-4 Montrose Roselea JFC; Att: 70 (h/c); Admn: 2; Prog: None; FGIF Match Rating: 4*

Matchday images (8) >view>   The weather forecasters highlighted Scotland as the likeliest part of the country to stage football on Saturday which must have come as something of a relief to the combatants in this Scottish Junior Cup-tie.   St Roch’s and Montrose Roselea had tried on six previous Saturdays to stage their third round tie which carried with it the prize of a trip to Aberdeenshire to play Dyce in the next stage of the popular competition.   The frosts had given way to milder weather but with it the risk of flooded pitches from the strong prevailing westerly winds that started to batter the country during the day.  Thankfully though several junior games had fallen victim to the weather this tie was finally completed at the seventh time of asking, though probably only as a result of the 1-45pm kick-off time.  By the second half the weather really closed in and the puddles were forming on the pitch as a result of the heavy rain.  Another hour and the pitch may well have proved unplayable.   St Roch’s JFC is a proud junior club in the east end of Glasgow and has nurtured many footballing talents. Their original ground was called Millburn Park, their present Provanmill Park ground (home since 1935) is now a modest, crumbling venue on the Royston Road, the club kept alive by a dedicated band of supporters, but the welcome was warm and the sense of history and tradition readily apparent.   A local priest, Father Lawton, formed the club in the aftermath of the carnage of the first world war as somewhere for his Boys’ Guild football team members to continue their playing careers.  In those days this part of Glasgow known as the Garngad was densely populated and the tightly packed streets served as homes for many impromptu games of football.   These days many of the tenements have been knocked down and much of the industry has gone, leaving a rather bleak wilderness. The Candy Rocks, as they are nicknamed are a battling survivor, the ground located behind red bricked perimeter walls bedecked with barbed wire, overlooked by several blocks of high rise flats on one side and a large gasholder on the other.  Pretty it is not but it is easy to envisage the days when hundreds of the local people flocked to watch the team in action. Within just two years of their formation St Roch’s lifted the biggest prize in the Scottish juniors, the Scottish Junior Cup beating Kilwinning Rangers in the final at Firhill.   St Roch’s most famous product was Jimmy McGrory, a member of Father Lawton’s Boys Guild team who signed professional forms for Celtic FC in just days after playing in what proved to be St Roch’s finest hour.  He went on to become the greatest goalscorer in the history of Scottish football, amassing 550 goals in a fifteen year career at Parkhead from 1922 to 1937. Twice he was the top league goalscorer in Europe.    A portrait of McGrory is given pride of place in the hospitality lounge of the modest pavilion, that houses a tea bar (known in these parts as a ‘howff’ I was informed), a committee room and the dressing rooms. On the walls are the names of other St Roch’s products that went on to play league football with two others, besides McGrory attaining international honours.  The club has also produced ten junior internationalists.   By kick-off time around 70 spectators had gathered and one of the joys of the groundhopping lark is that I knew personally six of them- not bad for over 200 miles away from home. Among the distinguished company was one of Scotland’s foremost football historians who proved a font of knowledge throughout a thrilling afternoon’s cup-tie. In my ignorance I hadn’t realised that many if not all junior grounds had tradition ash pitches; he told me St Roch’s were one of the last to dispense with theirs in the early 1970s.   With the wind rising in strength and the rain getting heavier all but a hardy few watched the game under the flimsy cover in front of the pavilion behind the nearside goal.  The strength of the wind was such that the cover threatened to be blown off but mercifully survived the battering.   As for the rest of the ground it was a few rows of terracing along both sides with grassy banks behind and a grassed bank behind the far goal. At this end was a disused turnstile block while the club house was previously located here until being destroyed by fire.   Scottish Junior Cup-ties, in my experience, rarely disappoint and this tie was no exception.  It was a terrific game with both sides attempting to play fast, skilful football despite the conditions.  Such was the pace of the game, or perhaps the excellence of the company the afternoon passed by remarkably quickly.   Montrose, playing in a borrowed kit from the town’s senior club, twice fought back to level 2-2 at the break.  With the wind at their backs they took advantage to seal their trip to Dyce next Saturday with two further second half goals.   St Roch’s meanwhile will return to the modest level of division two of the West Region juniors central district, their dreams of emulating the deeds of McGrory and the 1922 cup-winning team put aside for another year.

contributed on 11/01/09