The sun shines on Dalry. The patch of North Ayrshire is splashed with a range of hues, including orange and red, and there is the colour of transfers past and a cup tie to come.
An Orange walk winds around Merksworth Park, blue fares are lit, and Dalry Thistle take on Tranent, from divisions above in the pyramid, in a South Cup tie. It is a frenetic, raucous day.
There is background noise too that owes nothing to flutes and drums. Ben Doak, a son of this parish and once a player at Dalry Thistle, is in the throes of a £25million move from Liverpool to Bournemouth. ‘That would keep this club going for a couple of seasons at least,’ chuckles a committee member who knows that the sums involved in EPL transfers are, well, in a different league.
Dalry Thistle aim, in contrast, to be sustainable. The players are paid about £25 a week with payments made at Christmas and at the end of the season. Their value is obvious. They take a Lowland League team to the very brink in a tumultuous match.
Evan Fairns is secretary, treasurer and social convener at the club. He was also a coach of the kids’ team there and at Dalry primary school. He attacks his mundane duties on matchday with genial vigour but pauses to recall his brushes with future greatness.
‘I coached Ben Doak from the under-sevens to the under-10s and then he went to academy football,’ he says. ‘We had a very good primary school team that won the Scottish Cup. Ben was in it and so was Lewis Reid, now at Stranraer, and a couple of other boys who went on to play academy football.’
Dalry Thistle put the pressure on as they attempt a spirited second-half comeback
Scotland star Doak came through the ranks at Dalry before moving on to Celtic and Liverpool
The 19-year-old is on the brink of a mega-money move to Premier League side Bournemouth
So how was the £25m man as a boy?
‘He was obviously a bit raw,’ says Fairns. ‘But he had great strength and determination even at that age. He could certainly score goals. He was a couple of years younger than some of the boys and he had no fear.’
Chris Wilson, manager at Thistle, has another memory of Doak, who moved from Celtic to Liverpool in 2022.
‘He comes to games when he is not playing and always gives me a bit of abuse,’ he says with a smile.
Wilson, who is now in his fifth season at Thistle, had to be active in the transfer market when he arrived. ‘I had one player, a goalkeeper, when I came,’ he says. He brought a group of players from Beith Under-20s, whom Wilson coached, and has adhered to a policy of playing youngsters ever since.
‘We have one player over 25 in today’s team,’ he says. ‘At first, I was dragging players out of pubs to play but now we have talent.’ This is evident as the match progresses, Dalry playing with growing assurance after going three goals behind at half-time.
Doak, bottom right, pictured during a youth tournament playing for boys’ club Dalry Rovers
Dalry coach Chris Wilson was sent off after being unimpressed with the referee in the first half
Wilson is not on the sideline for the second-half resurgence. The flash of a red card from a pernickety ref sends him to the stand.
It is a red-letter day for Bruce Walker. Dalry Thistle was the final destination on a remarkable odyssey. ‘I have now completed the 270 grounds in the pyramid,’ says the 61-year-old retired financial adviser.
‘It has actually been 290 grounds that I have visited in this project because over the years some teams and grounds have come and gone,’ he says. ‘This is the last one. I have missed it in the past because of some postponements.’
So what prompted this extraordinary series of journeys? ‘I like small football grounds and I like the quality of football you get here,’ he says. ‘It is genuine, it’s passionate, you are not worried about VAR spoiling your enjoyment. It takes you all over the country and you meet some great people.’
His first visit to a football ground was in 1969 when he went to Elgin City. His grandfather was president at the club and unwittingly lit a fuse.
‘I first did all 42 SPFL grounds and then went to the Lowland League. I then thought: “Why don’t I do the Highland League”.’ The East of Scotland and the West of Scotland leagues inevitably followed.
The first half was a bit of a shambles for the hosts as the Lowland League visitors impressed
Evan Fairns used to coach Doak as he was emerging as a young player in the town
He travels by bus and train from his home in Dunfermline every week. Asked what he considers the best ground, he replies: ‘That is impossible to answer but I will give you a few favourites: Linlithgow Rose, Elgin City, Pollok, Lesmahagow, which sits down in a wee bowl…’
He adds: ‘My best day out was to Dyce. They are so friendly, so welcoming. I would recommend Kello Rovers too. It sits in a lovely former mining village. But it is hard to say one club or ground is better than the other. I have just enjoyed it all.’
He has told many of the stories of life in the lower league in his book, *Pitches and Pies*. Another chronicle is about to be published. ‘I love to support football at this level because it is full of good people who work hard to keep the clubs alive,’ he says.
He will now turn his attention to other countries. He fancies a trip to Northern Ireland and may venture into England. ‘I will be a match-hopper rather than a ground-hopper,’ he says. ‘I fancy going to Scandinavia more too. I have been to Tromso and Bergen in Norway so I may do more of that.’
He adds: ‘But right now I am heading for a pie.’
Bruce Walker’s visit to Merksworth brought up his 290th ground on his Scottish football travels
Tranent are an established side in Scotland’s fifth tier but were made to fight for their victory
The worthies gather in front of the stall with stories to tell of Dalry and the flourishing of the Thistle.
Jim Gorman, 83, remembers attending his first match as a child more than 70 years ago by using an unusual entrance. ‘We always just crawled through a hole in the hedge,’ he says. He was once the first aid man at the club and now helps out in a variety of roles.
‘This club has been my life,’ he says simply. ‘I was born in Merksworth Avenue, just down the road. I now live 300 yards from the ground. I just help out as much as I can.’
He says Jim Leighton was the best player he has seen at the club. ‘We sold him for £200 to Aberdeen,’ he adds of the great goalkeeper’s transfer in 1997.
Robert Barr, 78, interjects: ‘Norrie Martin, who went on to play in goal for Rangers, and Pat Liney who did the same at Dundee, both played here. We always produce good goalkeepers. They get plenty of practice.’
He adds: ‘Norrie was in goal when I came here at 11. I have stayed ever since though I don’t do away matches as much nowadays as I am not as fit as I once was.’
Dalry have a rich history of goalkeeping talent, with Jim Leighton one of many to have starred for Thistle
Merksworth Park played host to an Orange Walk before the game
Barr was a councillor in Dalry and depute leader of North Ayrshire Council. The town is his specialist subject and he conducts walking tours and gives talks on local historical matters.
Has he a favourite tale of the town? ‘I have so many,’ he says. ‘But how about this? In 1889, a farmer called Craig walked his prized Clydesdale stallion from here to a show in Bellahouston in Glasgow. He sold it for £1,000. That was so much money that he bought a farm in Essex with it.’
Now there’s a transfer story, told in the Ayrshire sunshine and putting modern football deals in the shade.
