HOWARD POSES BEFORE THE 1985 JUNIOR CUP FINAL v PETERSHILL
When it comes to much feted goalkeeper Howard Sammeroff, there is no such thing as hyperbole.
Hard to say otherwise because how can one be accused of overstating a career which has a veritable array of extraordinary strands to it, not least of all playing between the sticks for Scotland and Great Britain teams as well as winning every silverware prize at Junior level on top of coming under the management of a trio of iconic Scottish footballing figures during a three year stint with his one and only Senior club.
Before all that, Howie was born and raised in the upper crust area of Glasgow’s Southside (Giffnock)and firstly attended Williamwood Secondary before graduating to Eastwood High School where he played for a school team run by P.E.teacher Bruce Livingstone , by a quirk of coincidence, the then Pollok goalkeeper.
He reminisced ,” We had a number of decent players such as Kenny McMenemay who stepped up to St Mirren and I can recall Graham Kyle signing for Morton before later being reinstated into the Juniors at Bailleston however our star turn was undoubtedly Robert Torrance whom most people will remember from making his breakthrough as a teenage striker under Alex Ferguson at Love Street.
“Looking back now, that team of ours could and should have been really successful in terms of winning trophies yet the sum total of our achievements other than winning the local Renfrewshire Cup, was making it all the way to the semi-finals of the Scottish Schools Cup where we lost out to a St Mirins Academy side that we somewhat ironically comfortably beat when coming up against them in another Cup-tie just a week later.”
The young Howie initially twinned his school team appearances with keeping goal for amateurs Glasgow Wingate prior to joining East Kilbride based Claremont Boys Club, where he thrived under the tutelage of Bill Campbell in a side containing team mates , soon to become fierce Junior adversaries, John McLymont (East Kilbride Thistle and Glenafton), Graham Ferguson (Cumnock) and Peter Allan (Shotts Bon Accord).
Howie also briefly featured as a youthful trialist with Queens Park, Airdrie and St Rochs (without success) however these inauspicious beginnings did not prevent word of his emergence as an outstanding goalkeeping prospect coming to the attention of legendary Campsie Black Watch manager Gerry Marley who duly invited him to play in a specially arranged trial match for the best young talents going the rounds.
The shotstopper takes up the story,” It doesn’t get any better for a goalkeeper playing as a trialist to save a penalty kick and for good measure score a goal from a long kick-out so Gerry was never going to let me go home that day without signing on the dotted line .
“What did concern me though was him asking how many goals I could guarantee for the following season just as I was in the act of putting pen to paper ?
”He was joking of course ( I think) however I don’t have any regrets with how things then panned out .”
Howie was to blossom further with the crack Lennoxtown outfit and did not look out of place playing alongside the likes of Kenny Ashwood ,snapped up by East Stirling, John Fitzpatrick( St Johnstone )and more notably his later in life Pollok team mate Gordon Wilson ,back then a midfield talent on the verge of stepping into the Senior ranks with Kilmarnock.
Their team won numerous trophy prizes, including the much coveted Scottish Cup and Howie’s displays earned him further unsuccessful trial outings with Kilmarnock, Falkirk and Petershill however towards the end of his second full season the arduous chore of a three times per week trek from the Glasgow Southside to East Dumbartonshire led to him pleading with Marley to help find a club closer to his home..
The soon to be 65 year old laughed as he recounted,” I had thought Gerry would use his many contacts in the game to get me a move to one of the top Junior clubs on my doorstep such as East Kilbride Thistle , Pollok or Benburb ,but instead he brokered a move to Rob Roy ,just a handful of miles closer to Glasgow than Lennoxtown???.”
“ Not surprisingly , I was close to turning down this opportunity but my mind was changed by the Rabs Match Secretary Davie Smith, one of the most genuine club officials I ever came across, who promised I would get a chance to prove my worth even though it was generally felt I was only going there as understudy to the long established Stevie Anderson who had been the Roy goalkeeper in the previous season when they lost 3-1 to Kilbirnie Ladeside in the 1977 Scottish Junior Cup Final .
“But as luck would have it, I got the chance to make my mark sooner than expected after Stevie picked up an unfortunate injury and I ended up holding down the No 1 jersey for the rest of the season .
Howie went on , “ In those days ,the Rob Roy Committee picked the team and on more than one occasion I arrived at Adamslie to be greeted by the sight of 11 or 12 officials standing in or around the centre circle and raising their hand (or not) when a player’s name was read out. “
1977 Junior Cup worthies Willie Bachelor, Archie Lochrie, Joe Wark (cousin of Scotland and Ipswich Town midfielder John) and Eddie Docherty were inhabiting the Kirkintilloch dressing room along with veteran stopper Paul McMillan and John Gray when Howard first came onto the Rabs scene and he also recollects the arrivals of striker Gavin Murray and the Fanning brothers , Jim and Billy going into his second season however a third campaign was to be cut short after he impressed while playing as a Motherwell Reserves trialist in a game against Morton that ended in a 0-0 stalemate .
He remembers, “Cammy Murray was the Well coach in charge of the Reserve team and he said the manager Ally McLeod would be in touch but never in a million years did I expect him to turn up at my parents` house the following night and spend all of two hours waxing lyrically about the various merits of coming on board at Fir Park.
“Going there as a part-timer I was always going to be second choice not least because Hugh Sproat, the regular Well keeper at that time was a favourite of Ally’s from having previously played under him at Ayr United however he then opened the door for me by calling in sick ahead of a game against Queen of the South and I was given the nod to play in a side containing Ian McLeod, Brian McLaughlin, John Gaughan, Graham Forbes, Bruce Clelland and Joe Wark that ran out 2-0 winners .
HOWIE IN HIS MOTHERWELL DAYS
“ Sproat was to be back wearing the gloves for the next game despite my clean sheet but any hopes of me building on that first ever top team performance were dashed within a matter of weeks when Ally was sacked and replaced by Davie Hay whose preference for a full time goalkeeper. aka Sproat, was all too obvious and I managed only 4 games in total albeit three of them were shut-outs en-route to Motherwell being crowned First Division title winners and earning promotion into the Premier League.”
Hay took up the post of Celtic manager during the close season and Motherwell moved quickly to fill their void by appointing Rangers great Jock Wallace to their manager’s chair, assisted by ex-Celt Frank Connor but having two former goalkeepers at the Fir Park helm did not exactly work in Sammeroff’s favour… anything but.
One of their early signing captures was Nikky Walker who had played under Wallace at Leicester City and he very quickly was established as the first-pick yellow jersey wearer with the experienced Sproat on stand-by and Howard consigned to seeing out the end of his contact by making do with limited outings for Motherwell’s under 18 side along with turning out for Hamilton Accies Reserves on loan .
Being granted a free transfer at the end of the 1982/83 season brought a demand for his services , most notably from Ayrshire big guns Glenafton where memories were still fresh of him putting in a stellar performance playing for Rob Roy in a Cup clash between the clubs .
He insisted, “ Talks had been arranged with Pollok coach Tam Young prior to the Glens coming on the scene with a lucrative contract offer that blew every other interested club out of the water but Tam’s response when I revealed the terms was to say `If it’s money you’re after then just go there because you can only become a big earner at this club if you’re successful`
“ His words struck a chord with me and I was already dreading the prospect of the long journey down to New Cumnock so it was a no-brainer to sign for Pollok and it’s a decision I never ever had cause to regret.”
HOWIE AND HIS POLLOK TEAM MATES CELEBRATE THEIR 1983 SECTIONAL LEAGUE CUP SUCCESS OVER LARKHALL THISTLE
Petershill pipping Pollok to the league title (by the margin of one goal) in Howie’s first Newlandsfield season led to the appointment of former Lok player Dick Brock as Young ‘s replacement and a wonderful run of trophy triumphs ensued, an anything but unlucky 13 all told , inclusive of the game’s ultimate prize in 1985 when the Scottish Junior Cup was won.
The 3-1 Hampden Park replay victory over city rivals Petershill was a personal triumph for Howard whose levels of consistency had established him as Brock’s goalkeeper of choice and he has fond memories of featuring in a side captained by his once Campsie Black Watch team mate Wilson in which he was the last line of defence behind a backline comprising of stalwarts Stuart Auld, Ally Marshall, Ian Weir and Jeff Curran.
He revealed ,” To also pick up the Premier Division title and Evening Times Cup makes 1985 the best of seven glorious years at Pollok during which I picked up every winners medal going (some more than twice) though I did have to settle for a place on the bench behind Ian McPhie when the West of Scotland Cup was won in 1987.
“I would have liked to stay longer but among the changes made by Tommy Reynolds when he took over as manager from Dickie in 1990 was to hand the gloves to Brian Cassidy which presented me with the dilemma of having to find another club in order to keep playing.
“Former team mates had warned it would all be downhill after Pollok and I certainly found that to be the case after an uneventful season at Johnstone Burgh was followed by a three year stint at Yoker Athletic when George Campbell was in charge of team affairs.
“Just reaching the Junior Cup 4th Round was looked upon as a highlight however it was spelled out to me how far I’d fallen when I took part in an end of season game where Yoker needed to avoid losing by four goals in order to escape relegation.
“ We lost 2-0 and not long afterwards ,I made the decision to call time on the Juniors and get reinstated into the amateur ranks at Glasgow Maccabi whose home games back then were played on the red ash pitch at Giffnock North.
Howie had an extensive history with the Glasgow Jewish Community side, having previously represented them in 1976 as an 18 year old attacking outfield player ,(he scored a goal) when they became the only non-English side to be crowned British National Cup winners , a feat he was to go on and remarkably replicate in his preferred goalkeeper position in both 1996 and 1999.
English side to be crowned British National Cup winners , a feat he was to go on and remarkably replicate in his preferred goalkeeper position in both 1996 and 1999.
HOWIE AS A GREAT BRITAIN PLAYER IN FRONT OF 40.000 IN TEL AVIV
He added , “ I would hazard a guess that not many footballers are able to say they were trophy winners all of 20 years apart and I am immensely proud of my achievements with Maccabi.
“ Being picked for a Great Britain side that played in the Maccabiah Games over in Israel was a feather in my cap as was turning out for Scotland in the bi-annual European Games, particularly when honoured with the captain’s arm band in 1999 albeit we were beaten 3-0 in the Peter Morrison Cup Final by Great Britain.
“To be silver medal winners at the age of 41 seemed as good a time as any to bring the curtain down on my playing days and my football involvement ever since has been restricted to very occasionally taking in a Pollok match or as is more the case ,watching games on T.V as a couch potato.
“In saying that, my nephew Joel Taylor is a defender with Kilbirnie Ladeside whom he joined from Stirling University last season so I may be tempted into watching how he develops?”
FIXTURES FOR SATURDAY 8th JULY 2023 (various kick off times). Friendly Matches: Johnstone Burgh v Largs Thistle, Finnart v Vale of Clyde, Dalry Thistle v Neilston, Beith v Blantyre Vics, Irvine Meadow v East Kilbride F.C.,Gartcairn v Thornton Hibs, Pollok v Bo’ness Utd, Vale of Leven v Glenrothes, Auchinleck Talbot v Whitletts Vics, Hurlford Utd v Linlithgow Rose, Camelon v Cumbernauld Utd, Yoker Athletic v Port Glasgow, Maryhill v Glenvale, Ashfield v Irvine Vics, Carnoustie Panmure v Kilbirnie Ladeside, Lanark Utd v Thorniewood Utd,West Park Utd v Glenafton, Benburb v Renfrew, Stirling University v Kilwinning Rangers, East Kilbride Thistle v St Anthonys, Giffnock v Glasgow Perthshire, Penicuik v Arthurlie, St Cadocs v Sauchie Juniors.
Regards
Jim O’Donnell
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