Looking at history as a means to help inform our future thinking is a point of view that surely leaves officials of Neilston with much to ponder as the old year enters its last week and a bit.
If it isn’t a source of worry for the Brig O’Lea outfit to have reached the halfway stage in their First Division campaign (just Bonnyton Thistle have played as many games) sitting a lowly ninth place in the standings…then it bloody well should be?
Already, it’s looking as if the `reluctant acceptance` of erstwhile co-managers Chris Cameron and Derek Carson’s resignations in the wake of Saturday’s 2-0 defeat by second bottom of the table Rossvale has been the easy part compared to the task of finding somebody prepared to step forward and attempt to rescue a season where relegation has to be a distinct possibility.
Neilston have gone down the road of buying themselves time by inviting applications for their vacant post and it’s hardly surprising to hear club legend Andy Whiteford , aided and abetted by goalkeeping coach Scott Cochrane, has been asked to “take the gig” on a caretaker basis until the many deliberations are at an end..
Hardly unexpected when Andy is widely acknowledged as someone who prides himself in being a born and bred Neilston boy to the extent that despite nowadays residing in one of the housing estates to have sprung up in an area of neighboring Barrhead…he never tires of trying to convince close friends and acquaintances (unsuccessfully it has to be said) that his address should be more accurately listed as Lower Neilston ???
But this parochial pull apart, it goes without saying, the 45 year old’s record as a successful player, coach and manager makes him eminently suited to answer this latest call to arms from the club he has unstintingly served in various guises throughout the past couple of decades, inclusive of his current post as Football Development Manager.
As a teenager, Andy attended Eastwood High School and twinned playing as a striker in the school football team alongside soon to be Senior captures Ricky Gillies (St Mirren) and Kenny Murray (Dundee) with turning out at Youth level for Neilston Boys Club, Barrhead Boys Club and latterly Wolves Boys Club where he spent just the one season before his netfinding abilities caught the eye of a St Johnstone scout and brought about a move to a North side of Glasgow amateur club .
He explained, “Back then St Johnstone’s way of things was to have all their Y.T.S. signings grouped under the same umbrella at Possil Y.M. so I ended up turning out there except when the Saints reserves side needed someone to play up front .
“I was anything but what you might term a regular in our Reserves side but then one of our right sided defenders Kenny Munro picked up an injury and I was nominated to cover for him and duly played three games in a row for the very first time .
“Around that same time our St Johnstone manager Paul Sturrock was hit with a selection headache when right back John McQuillen was ruled out for a number of weeks and Luggy’s answer was to throw me in at the deep end to make my first team debut at 18 years of age in a league match against Falkirk.
He continued, “We won 2-0 but I must have showed up well enough in the gaffer’s eyes because I went on to keep my place in the team for the next few weeks until John came back.
“It was 1995 and I always look back on that year as the turning point for me career wise as I had more or less resigned myself to being shown the door (as a striker) at the end of the season when my Y.T.S. contract was due to run out yet here I was now (as a defender) being asked by chairman Geoff Brown to sign on as a professional for the foreseeable future .”
A YOUNG ANDY PUT TO THE TEST AGAINST THE BEST
Andy was to enjoy a five years stay in total at McDermid Park even though first team appearances were largely limited however they became close to non-existent altogether after 1998 when Sturrock’s return to his former club Dundee United saw him replaced by Sandy Clark whose preference for a more experienced backline was made patently obvious by the immediate arrivals of Darren Dodds (Hibs) and Alan Kernaghan(Manchester City).
Dropping down the pecking order was not to then 23 year old Andy’s liking but Clark was determined to retain the defensive ace’s versatility for his playing squad and turned down several requests for him to go out on loan until eventually relenting in the face of Stirling Albion boss John Philliben’s repeated overtures.
Getting a lot more game time as a Stirling Albion first-teamer under Philliben and then Ray Stewart suited Andy better however it would be fair to say his playing career took a turn for the worse when defeat on his return from a long term injury absence for what was Albion’s last game of the 200/01 season brought a relegation fate as well as the club’s financially driven decision to go part-time and release their full-timers, including Andy.
His next port of call was at a similarly stricken Clydebank, in their death throes and playing out of Cappielow in what was their last season as a Scottish League side , however Andy’s own final hurrah to the Senior ranks proved to be significantly more successful after he moved on to play for a 2003/04 promotion winning Hamilton Accies side alongside other notable worthies, Mark McLaughlin, Jim Sherry, Stevie Convery and Brian Carrigan.
What cannot ever be overlooked is the truly momentous season in-between these playing stints with the Bankies and Accies when Andy, having been persuaded by Alex Gourlay to sign on the dotted line for his home team Neilston, had formed an integral part of the Farmers Boys side that came agonizingly close to winning the first ever Superleagues Premier Division title only to finish runners-up (on goals differential) to Pollok.
His wincing at the memory became all the more understandable by hearing him recall,
“It’s little wonder we came ever so close to being crowned Champions when you think top notch guys such as Chris Aitken , Gary Wilson, Alan Waddell, Robert Anderson, Gavin Duncan,Ryan McDonald and Gordon Cochrane were in our Brig dressing room at that time.
“ The run-in saw us draw 0-0 down at Kilbirnie Ladeside in a midweek game on the 7th May to leave us on 37 points,3 behind Pollok but with a game in hand and on the Saturday, they beat Cumnock 3-1 in their final game at the same time as we ran out 5-2 winners over Irvine Meadow
“Those results left us needing a very unlikely 14-0 victory against Cumnock in our own last outing and we could only manage a 2-1 victory with a couple of Cokey (Gordon Cochrane) goals however I’ll never accept the title was lost that day.
“The draw with Kilbirnie is what cost us and to this day you won’t find any of my former team mates thinking differently.”
ANDY WITH ANOTHER TROPHY SUCCESS
Andy returned to Neilston following his short lived spell with Hamilton Accies and played initially under Alan Urqhuart before former Partick Thistle and Pollok midfielder Sammy Johnston took up the reins and put together a team that were double trophy winners in 2006 … finishing atop the Superleague First Division standings and also lifting the Sectional League Cup with a penalty shoot-out win over East Kilbride Thistle.
He continued at the heart of Neilston’s defence as managers Eric Philips, Colin Lyndsay and Bobby Crilly came and went, however he fondly recalls his first involvement in coaching at the behest of the latter named which learned him valuable lessons for when former teammate Robert Fox was appointed to the Brig O Lea hotseat in 2011 and immediately installed the newly retired Andy as his assistant.
Their teaming up for close on 18 months did not derive any silverware reward however the experience was to serve Andy well after Neilston’s Committee then asked him to take up the helm.
The importance of having the right backroom team in place saw him bring in former players Davie “Spring” Wilson and Dennis Connachan (son of the ex-Celtic goalkeeper) and the trio’s combined teambuilding abilities resulted in Central First Division title success being achieved with a powerful squad that included Martin McInness, Derek Kennedy, Andy Essler, Martin Hughes, Brian Smith and Robert Graham among others.
Andy laughed in adding ,” I could take up your whole website giving mention to players who did us a turn however at the same time it would be amiss of me not to give due credit to the work carried out by coaches James Lennox and Robert Fraser .
“They did an outstanding job and it was partly because the club’s infrastructure was in such good hands that I decided to call it a day in 2015 and step aside.
Andy is a massive supporter of the Scottish Football Pyramid and sees it as Neilston’s way to grow as a club.
He insisted, “Everyone at Neilston , myself included , is immensely proud of our history and how far we’ve come as a club over the past 77 years but aspiring to play at the next level is something we should never stop trying to do so it’s fantastic to finally have the structure in place
” I don’t imagine Neilston will ever be competing against St Johnstone in my lifetime but you can never say never.”
Regards
Jim O’Donnell
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