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Matchday images contributed by Emma Jones (5) >view>
Many Scottish club names leave the uninitiated wondering exactly where the teams play. I've been fond of this idiosyncrasy, ever since, as a five-year-old, I began listening to the classified football results on the radio and watched my dad fill in his pools coupon. Queen of the South, St Johnstone, Morton, St Mirren and Raith Rovers seemed impossibly mysterious and exotic. More years on than I care to ponder, I still have a childish fascination with this name game, and on occasion can feel ridiculously satisfied about knowing that East Stirlingshire originated in Falkirk, and not Stirling. A week's holiday in Dumfries and Galloway provided the opportunity to become more closely acquainted with one such example, Threave Rovers, a famous old non-league club based in the small town of Castle Douglas, 18 miles south-west of Dumfries.
'Threave' (derived from 'Trief', an Old Welsh word meaning 'homestead') relates to a dramatic 14th century castle a mile or so from Rovers' lovingly-tended Meadow Park ground. If you think to visit Castle Douglas purely for the football, don’t. Make time to see this stunning Historic Scotland property. A short walk through fields and woods leads to the majestic River Dee, and a brief crossing by motor boat affords access to the flat, grassy island on which Archibald the Grim's castle is spectacularly situated.
Inevitably, unremarkable Castle Douglas is rather less magical. The nation's so-called 'Food Town' (on the strength of little more than a couple of delis, butcher, baker and chocolate maker, it would appear) has one long main street laid out in the 18th Century by local lad made good William Douglas, who amassed a fortune trading in the West Indies. The town was originally called Carlingwark, after the loch whose waters lap within five minutes' stroll of Rovers' pleasant ground.
Meadow Park, despite a singularly unpromising setting, is a lovely enclosure. Blackpark Road, named after the marsh which helped to protect Threave Castle, leads off King Street, the main drag, down to the ground before petering out into a country lane. Rovers' neighbours are an odd and unappealing mixture. They include a sewage works, an ambulance station, an army cadets base, a builders' merchant and the yard of a haulage contractor. The club's entrance and turnstile block, painted in Rovers' black and white colours, and topped off with a logo-laden sign, provide a cheery welcome. Spectators emerge in the east corner of the ground. To the left, a hotch-potch collection of buildings, smart in white with black trimmings, houses the dressing rooms and social club. The latter's walls are covered with the pennants of previous visitors and framed examples of Rovers' programmes from home and away ties in the Scottish Cup, to which they gain automatic entry. Sadly, Threave do not issue for league games. An official explained that small crowds do not make a programme cost effective, though having seen the relatively decent size of the attendance for this midweek fixture on a progressively colder, foggier night, I'd suggest it has more to do with lack of personnel. Revealingly, Rovers do not have a website either.
The players gain the pitch via steps and a shallow walled 'tunnel' across a broad expanse of concrete. The walls are painted white with black tops, and a sign from the 'This is Anfield' stable beckons the teams onto Meadow Park. The buildings stop abruptly behind the goal and the remainder of the south-east end comprises hardstanding and a taped-off area of overgrown grass. A large number of white plastic tip-up seats have been stored in the south corner, suggesting Threave have plans to develop their homely set-up.
The sole stand is on the south-west side. About 20 yards long, it is a simple cover of corrugated metal sheeting propped by four columns over five broad steps of terracing. There is a row of benches at the back - the only seating in the ground. The stand, set back from the immaculate pitch in a triangular area of mown grass, is neatly turned out in black, and carries the club's name on its fascia. Large dugouts, again painted in the club's colours, are positioned directly in front. To the rear, the land rises impressively to tree-topped heights. Looking towards town, an ornate clock tower and a church steeple are visible. All but the near side of the ground is enclosed in a rust-coloured fence of corrugated metal sheeting. Among the adverts close to the stand is one for the freight haulage business, Hayton Coulthard, of Twynholm; one of the company’s partners is the father of former racing driver David, born in Twynholm, a pit stop village on the A75, 38 years ago.
There isn't any hardstanding beyond the halfway line on either side in the direction of the north-west end, behind which Scottish Water are constructing what appears to be an extension to the sewage works. The backdrop here is one of dumped aggregate and heavy plant. But watching from dew-softened grass provides a pleasingly springy sensation, I discovered. Beyond the halfway line on the north-east side there are a couple of broad steps of uncovered terracing, where most of the home fans gather. Blackpark Road is behind a perimeter fence of concrete panels. Refreshments are available from a hatch built into the adjacent turnstile block. The floodlights, on eight low posts, were switched on in 1999. A post and rail fence, painted white, surrounds the pitch, which slopes downhill slightly towards the stand. There is scarcely anything to irritate the eye in this tidy stadium.
Rovers, formed in 1953, are back in the South of Scotland League after their 1998-2004 sojourn in the East of Scotland League. The East offered a better standard of football, but the additional travelling costs were prohibitive. Threave, who ran out to Dire Straits' theme from cult Scottish film 'Local Hero', are the likely league champions this season, and their young side produced some exhibition stuff in disposing of lowly Mid Annandale. The visitors from Lockerbie gave Threave far too much space all over the pitch, and were lucky to avoid a bigger drubbing. Several splendid saves from Sean Gillespie spared their blushes.
The Mids goal, under siege in the manner of Threave Castle in bygone times, led a charmed life for 31 minutes. Then, Jamie Struthers crossed on the run from the right side of the box, and with keeper Gillespie committed to covering his near post, Danny Dunglinson had a simple volley into an empty net. The visitors had defended in depth from the kick-off, but their strategy was picked apart in stoppage time when Threave scored again. Scott Gault swung a corner in to the near post, and Liam Patterson got ahead of his marker to flick the ball high into the net.
If anything, the second half was even more one-sided. Threave’s third came on the hour. Patient passing ended with star man Andrew Donley supplying Struthers, who crashed a low drive across Gillespie and into the bottom corner. With the encroaching fog becoming thicker, Threave lost their way, and Mids scored in the 81st minute with virtually their only serious effort on goal. Grant Wilson crossed deep from the right, and Ally Sloan looped a header beyond the reach of keeper Vinnie Parker. Gault was there to clear, but a linesman's flag indicated the ball had gone over the line. Stung, Rovers finished with a flourish. Paul Cook (84) thumped an unstoppable header past Gillespie from a Scott Wilby cross, and an unmarked Dunglinson (86) walked the ball in at the back post after another flowing move.
Prior to this, my experience of the non-league game in Scotland had been restricted to a Highland League fixture at Inverness club Caledonian. Threave boasted a smashing team playing stylish, effective football to go with an equally impressive set-up, though it would have been more instructive to see Rovers face opposition capable of extending them. A return to the East of Scotland League would seem the way forward - and possibly the only strategy likely to ensure Threave hold on to their best players. Archibald the Grim certainly wouldn't have approved of raids by rivals. Perhaps Rovers ought to think about enclosing Meadow Park with fortifications? |