Kilsyth Rangers 1 Kirkintilloch Rob Roy 0
Things change. ‘There used to be two bings behind that enclosure,’ says Russell McKay. ‘The lads stood on them and watched the game. They were called the Big Bing and the Little Bing.’
He smiles as he remembers old times at Duncansfield Park and the lack of originality in naming the vantage points.
That was then. Now, on a sunny Saturday, the players take a break during the game for a swig of water. Hydration breaks in Kilsyth. We live in wondrous times.
The tale of the bings and the taking of water are linked in the narrative by a tunnel. It descends from the dressing rooms to the pristine surface of Duncansfield. The tunnel has been renovated by supporters and is a veritable hall of fame or, if you will, a lobby of remembrance. Great times and images of extraordinary players are daubed on its walls.
Industrial Scotland in the 20th century does not have its Bayeux tapestry but the Kilsyth tunnel more than suffices. One sign proclaims: The Team Found in the Mines Rises.
The famous hall of fame at Kilsyth Rangers’ Duncansfield Park
The mines and the bings have gone but Kilsyth Rangers remain. It takes work but there are willing hands. A pre-match natter in a lounge provides tales from those well past retiral age who recall being thrown into the baths at Hampden as a ball boy for a winning team, of returning in triumph to Kilsyth and of watching players who graced the colours and went on to professional fame.
Another story unfolds outside to the sound of a mower. William Dunbar is club secretary and groundsman. He is tending to the grass beyond the pitch before a friendly match against local rivals, Kirkintilloch Rob Roy.
‘I have been coming here since I was a wee boy,’ says Dunbar, 50. He was brought to the games by his father. His brother, Stewart, is a major club sponsor.
The groundsman silences the mower and adds: ‘This club runs in the blood of the Dunbars. It has always been a fixture of my life.’ His daughter helps run the lottery and his wife serves in the bar.
Dunbar works 12-hour shifts in his day job, four days on and six days off. ‘It gives me time to do what is necessary here,’ he says. The pitch is a silent but convincing witness to his labours.
He is too young to recall the club’s Scottish Junior Cup victories of 1955 or 1967. Others in Duncansfield can do that with a vivid flourish. But Dunbar can recall league titles won and live in hope of promotion to the West of Scotland Premier division this year.
‘We have had a tough couple of seasons,’ he says. ‘But we have a good management team and the side went on an unbeaten run from Christmas that raised our spirits.’
The victory over Premier Division opponents on Saturday, albeit in a friendly, was a bright harbinger on a sunny day.
Traditional Scottish refreshments are on offer at Duncansfield Park
The walls of the lounge are covered in photographs and newspaper cuttings. The images of 1955 are stark and striking. They recall the occasion of the Scottish Junior Cup final and the subsequent triumph. Kilsyth Rangers drew 0-0 with Duntocher Hibs in front of 65,000 spectators at Hampden but a replay saw Kilsyth triumph 4-1 with Alex Querrie scoring all the victors’ goals.
Wattie Hamilton and Russell McKay were there. They are now 84 and 85 respectively but memories of such magnitude cannot be dislodged.
‘The crowds then…they were massive,’ says McKay looking through the wired window of the lounge on to the park. ‘There were even lads on the bings overlooking the stand. I suppose there was little to do in those days. There were not even bookie shops then. Everything was about the football.’
A retired joiner, he was once a ball boy at the club and his greatest moment was that final replay.
‘I got flung in the bath,’ he says of the side’s return to the dressing room. ‘Elation, nothing but elation.’ His voice carries an unmistakable remembrance of times past.
Kilsyth Rangers do battle with Kirkintilloch Rob Roy in Saturday’s friendly
Another image is held by Hamilton. ‘What I remember is the bus home. We came in through Queenzieburn first and then onto Kilsyth. The streets of the town were lined with spectators. I will never forget that night,’ he says.
Success was to follow in 1967. Kilsyth Rangers defeated Rutherglen Glencairn 3-1 in the final of the Scottish Junior Cup, again after a replay.
‘I remember the semi-final,’ says Robert McArthur, 74. ‘I was hamper boy. The game was at Firhill and by the time I had left the dressing room we were 2-0 down to Carluke Rovers.’ Kilsyth, however, were ahead by half-time and cruised to victory.
‘We dominated the final, though. We had some side then. Only one of our forwards did not go senior,’ he says. Indeed, the vintage of 1967 was a potent brew. Nine of the squad went on to play professional football. Injury deprived Drew Jarvie of a spot in the final team but he had a fine senior career with Airdrie and Aberdeen. Pat McMahon, who went on to Celtic and Aston Villa, was a player who could both score and create chances.
‘He was a civil servant and we flew him up from London for games and some training sessions before the final,’ says McArthur. ‘That was the strength of Junior football in those days.’
He looks out onto the terrace. ‘There would be thousands out there.’
His brother, Davie, offers the guided tour. He is a 73-year-old retired HR manager and he knows every nook and cranny of a distinctive Duncansfield. Indeed, he has helped put on roofs, update dressing rooms and decorate the tunnel.
‘There is a lot of work to be done here but we all chip in. I have been on the committee a few times but I stepped back because of illness but I come to every game.’
His past is steeped in tales of the miners’ rows in Queenzieburn and he holds Kilsyth Rangers dear to his heart.
‘The tunnel was upgraded during Covid. We put up panels and decorated them. They tell a great story.’ They tell more than few.
Kilsyth Rangers club secretary and groundsman William Dunbar
In the window of the dressing room building sits a cup. McArthur pauses before striding into the tunnel. ‘That’s the John Ferguson Memorial Trophy,’ he says. ‘It is contested by us and Kilsyth Athletic and we won it the other week. John was a great supporter of the club and our dedicated historian. He passed a few years ago but he is remembered fondly here.’
Indeed, William Dunbar hands me a history of the club written by Ferguson. It is a work of devotion. Every season from 1945 to 1995 is recorded. It glitters with brilliant detail. It recalls the great players. A Lisbon Lion, Willie Wallace, played for the Rangers. A fellow Celt, Frank McGarvey, played for one season before being signed by St Mirren. Jack Steedman, who later ran Clydebank, also turned out at Duncansfield.
I carry the book as McArthur takes me down the tunnel and onto the park. I have history in my hands. But also before my eyes. ‘Look at it, it’s wonderful,’ says McArthur. ‘The things I have seen here.’
