WARDY AS HE IS TODAY
It is an oft used cliché but not without truth that you sometimes need to take one step back to move two steps forward in football. J ust ask former goalkeeper Alan Wardlaw, rarely seen in and around his old Junior haunts nowadays despite a career spanning all of 34 years but across just three clubs, namely Cambuslang Rangers, East Kilbride Thistle and Larkhall Thistle(briefly). Wardy was born in Maryhill, not far from Lochburn Park where Wilson ,his Dad, kept goal for the local Junior side containing star striker Paddy Turner (Didn’t every Maryhill team in the 1970’s era have the flame-haired Paddy playing for them?) The family relocated to Cambuslang where the young Alan’s footballing education carried on apace through watching games involving the all-conquering juggernaut that was the Dave McLaggan led three times Scottish Junior Cup winning Wee Gers team, boasting such legendary worthies as Billy Patterson, Rusty Craig, Willie McCallum, the late Jackie Mordue and John Cummings among others. The youngster attended Cathkin High and alternated between playing left midfield or between the sticks for a fairly average school team whose star turn he recalls was Kenny McLean , later to father the son of the same name who has played for Aberdeen, Norwich City and Scotland for whom he recently scored the last gasp winning goal in a memorable 2-1 victory over Norway. Wardy revealed, “ I’ve always believed we would have made a better showing of ourselves if big centre-half Dougie Mills from my same age group, who was on Celtic’s books at the time and went on to play for Partick Thistle, Queen of the South, Rutherglen Glencairn and Shotts Bon Accord, had not been barred by Celtic from turning out for the school team ? “Our teachers were not footballing men and lacked the enthusiasm for contesting Celtic’s decision unlike our neighbouring school Trinity High where the Rangers goalkeeper Ronnie Lowrie later a Junior Cup winner with Bailleston and Pollok overseen a team comprising of future star turns Pat Barkey (Hamilton Accies, Larkhall Thistle and Cumnock) as well as Andy Walker (Motherwell, Celtic and Bolton Wanderers)”.
Wardy teamed up with skillful left winger Barkey appearing for Boys club Springhall Thistle, run by Pat’s father Jim, and playing out of a pitch situated down beside Loch Primary in Springhall where recognition of his burgeoning goalkeeper abilities landed him a trial down at Manchester City when no less than the charismatic Malcolm Allison was in charge of team affairs. He recalled ,” I went there with dreams of one day challenging their two goalkeepers Joe Corrigan and Keith McRae for the gloves but I came down to earth very quickly because all us S form prospects were confined to a training complex , well away from Maine Road and I never got so much as a glimpse of the manager or the first team players …even from a distance.” A far from disillusioned, Wardy came back up the road to feature for another under-age team, Eastfield United whose home ground was in Dukes Road, Cambuslang and in 1981 , aged just 17 ,he was to become the recipient of a lucky break. He takes up the story, “ I was in a friend Mark Dunne’s house when the then Cambuslang Rangers manager Bobby Russell , a former goalkeeper himself with Morton, came on the phone to ask Mark if he had the number of another local keeper Clive Murdoch (ex-Sheffield United) because the regular Cambuslang No 1 was injured. “Mark said something along the lines that he had one sitting beside him and I then spoke to Bobby ,who as it turned out knew my Dad , so I was then invited to a Somervell Park training session that very night and afterwards was told I would be in Saturday’s team for the local derby clash against Rutherglen Glencairn.
THE YOUNG WARDLAW FACES RUTHERGLEN GLENCAIRN “ “In our line-up were the Gray brothers Harry and Stevie, Tich Ward, Brian McIlwee, Stevie Bulloch and Sammy Riggins so not surprisingly we came out on top by a 3-1 scoreline and I had one of those games where everything that could go well for me did …and then some. “At least three shots to the right of my goal caught me diving left but able to save with my outstretched legs and there were a couple of free kick attempts deflected into my arms when I was similarly going the wrong way. “I agreed to sign afterwards but found myself in and out of our starting line-up for the rest of that season which proved to be a battle to avoid relegation right up until the last game of the season…against Maryhill as luck would have it..” He added, “Nothing less than a win would keep us safe and the disappointment I felt at the other keeper playing (I forget his name) was made worse by us going out and losing 3-1 so I called it a day and resigned myself to playing in a Cambuslang Sunday Morning League almost entirely comprising of pub teams like the New Inn, Charlie Douglas and Clock Inn.” Wardy, a self-confessed dyed in the wool bluenose , spent the next season following Rangers after Graeme Souness was installed as manager, but a career defining moment arrived in 1990 when he agreed to play a pre-season game for Ashfield and was approached afterwards by former East Kilbride Thistle and Bailleston players , Davie Thomson and Tam Miller, asking him to sign for their highly regarded Muirend Amateurs side back then playing in the Caledonian League. The nowadays 58 year old recounted, ”Stuart “Juicy”Josh, Davie McGinn and a close friend of mine, Raymond Donnelly were in the process of being recruited by Muirend at the same time so it seemed a good move for me and so it turned out because I was to be a regular in a side that won a couple of league titles over the next couple of seasons until the lure of being offered the manager’s job at his former club E.K. Thistle led to Big Davie’s departure. “Juicy, Raymond and myself went with him and I stayed for 6 or 7 seasons all told before John Brogan and Martin Clark took over and from day one made it very clear their plans going forward for the team did not include having me as their goalkeeper.” An out of the picture Wardy was eventually released at his own request and reverted to playing outdoor 5-a-sides football which proved fortuitous one midweek when Cambuslang Rangers assistant manager Gordon Young happened to be playing on an adjoining pitch. Alan revealed, “ Youngy said he and his gaffer Andy Cunningham were on the lookout for an experienced back-up keeper to Kenny Barnstaple and asked me to come down to Somervell Park for a chat that led to me joining a dressing room containing the likes of the curent Pollok manager Stewart Maxwell, a former Lok manager John Richardson as well as Jim Kavanagh, Stuart Gauley, Mark Daisley, Billy Holmes, and Greg McDonald, most of whom were to be my team mates for the next 5 years. “ I then won the contest to wear the gloves at the start of my first full season (2000/01 I think) and we won the Sectional League Cup by memorably beating Andy’s former club Shotts Bon Accord in the Final but arguably my best ever season was the following one when I picked up all of the Player of the Year trophy prizes and I’m immensely proud to have my name up on the board in the clubhouse to this day. ”Wardy’s time with Cambuslang ended in 2006 when aged 41 he took up a dual player/goalkeeping coach role under the Gary Faulds/Stevie Moore combo at Larkhall Thistle but he found himself pitched in at the deep end just a few weeks down the line when the management duo walked away following a disagreement with club officials.
WARDY( 4th from left back row )WITH HIS CAMBUSLANG TEAM MATES UNDER ANDY CUNNINGHAM
He vividly remembers,” I was to take over as manager but had never previously taken charge of a team so I asked one of our more experienced players ,the former Dunfermline full back Eddie Cunnington, to be my assistant and I also enlisted former Cambuslang Rangers team mates Gauley, Kavanagh and Graham Doak to help on the playing side of things. “Performances improved but explaining I needed time to build a team from scratch was not to the liking of people at the club and within a short time I was relieved of my duties which is a more articulate way of saying I was sacked!” Alan was to have no football involvement over the ensuing months but nearing the end of season he answered a call to take up the reins at Cambuslang Rangers ,(with just four fixtures remained to be fulfilled ) in the wake of his former boss Cunningham and then assistant Archie Mailey resigning their posts. He reminisced,” Four victories were needed to stay up but we won only two and were relegated however my abiding memory is of looking around the dressing room on the day our fate was sealed and thinking a clear-out was necessary if I was going to be staying on as manager. “ Thankfully our officials asked me to do just that (the club was on its knees so they could hardly do otherwise) and I started away by calling in a few favours and bringing back the tried and trusted Gauley, Doakey and Kavanagh along with Stewart Taylor and Pat Hughes. “The guys did magnificently to win promotion from the Second Division and we would have remained a First Division club the following season but for a hugely controversial last game of the season involving Vale of Clyde and St Anthonys. “Both were needing a point to finish above us in the table and it was rumoured the managers colluded beforehand and agreed between them to play out a 0-0 draw because not a single player on either side made so much as even a token attempt to score a goal in what was so evidently an absolute farce that the Match Referee was said to have owned up to being highly embarrassed afterwards.” Wardy’s third time around Somervell Park stint lasted all of six seasons and might have been considerably longer but for an acrimonious fall-out with the club’s hierarchy contributing to his 2013 resignation. He insisted, “ The first inklings that not everyone at the club was on the same page arrived when a memorial tournament was arranged for Gary Lynch ,father of one of our players by the same name, and someone who had worked tirelessly to bring much needed sponsorship to the club. “I had not long since taken up a scouting position for the Rangers Academy and used my Ibrox contacts to bring a Rangers X1 to Somervell inclusive of up and coming prospects John Fleck , Darren Cole, Jordan McMillan and Gordon Dick, along with Alloa Athletic and Clydebank whose manager Budgie McGhie was most supportive . “Cambuslang chairman Willie Miller and Jim Dickie were unstinting in their backing however ta hard core of officials refused to buy into the tournament idea even though it was a money spinner for the club and we ended up having to form our own Committee to run things. “Even after this snub, myself and coaches Billy Campbell and Jim Kerr continued to work our socks off despite most weeks having to carry out the typical Committee tasks of laying out the strips or packing kit bags for matches, booking Referees and pitches for friendly games, and even collecting up the dirty strips and taking them to an outside laundry. “If truth be told the three of us were our own worst enemies however matters only came to a head following a midweek friendly match when I was asked to appear before the Committee and given a dressing-down for arranging the friendly without their permission??? “Right there and then I tendered my resignation and once word got out I was followed out the door by Billy and Jim as well as several players .” Wardy revealed, “ Looking back now I have regrets about leaving under a cloud because Cambuslang Rangers were my club and I really should have taken a deep breath and soldiered on particularly as the team was on a high after the previous season had seen us win the Second Division title?”
IN HAPPIER TIMES AFTER SAVING THREE PENALTY KICKS IN A SHOOT-OUT
He had resigned himself to being more active on his Rangers scouting front until another of his former clubs , a struggling and managerless East Kilbride Thistle, without a victory in a season and a half, asked if Wardy would look after playing matters for a short term 4 game stint which very quickly became the next 20 months. He laughed in recalling, “Billy and Jim were also up for it and ironically ,our first home game after I agreed to take charge was Cambuslang Rangers of all teams and a 1-0 victory re-ignited my enthusiasm for the game. “I talked my loyal warhorses Doaky , Kavanagh and Jim Farmer into throwing in their lot with me again which kickstarted a total rebuild with guys of the ilk of the fleet-footed A|lan McFadden, Aidan Boyle ,Jon Connelly, Scott Hadden,Thomas Hoy, Mark Bishop and even my own son Jack who up to then was a goalkeeper with Royal Albert. “Thistle winning promotion from the Second Division the following season was a fantastic achievement however the proudest moment for me came in a game against St Rochs when Jack made his debut and saved a penalty kick into the bargain. “It just doesn’t get any better than that and I don’t mind admitting to shedding a few tears on the day. ”The euphoria surrounding Thistle’s relative success did not prevent Wardy stepping down from his team boss role in 2016 after Billy McLaren, head of Rangers scouting network, asked if he would take up a more formal Scout Liason posting that would necessitate him regularly meeting up with scouts from leading English clubs and those from further afield. He said, “The decision was a no-brainer and one I’ve never had cause to regret not least because Billy and Jim agreed to step up to take the reins at EK and I’ve had good cause to love my involvement with Rangers , at Under age and B team levels .
WARDY IN THOUGHTFUL EK CONTEMPLATION
“On my immediate horizon is games at the Rangers Training Centre against Everton and Burnley which with all due respect is a far cry from running out at Somervell, the Show Park or Gasworks Park especially as all three of my former clubs have fallen on much leaner times. Wardy went on , “ It’s not something I like to see however my work with Rangers means I’ve very little interest in the Junior game nowadays and my only sighting of football at that level in years was a 2022 Scottish Cup tie between Raith Rovers and Auchinleck Talbot. “
FIXTURES FOR SATURDAY 22nd JULY 2023 (various kick off times). Friendly Matches: Troon v Ayr Utd X1,Arthurlie v Inverkeithing Swifts, Clydebank v Jeanfield Swifts, Giffnock S.C. v Port Glasgow, Irvine Meadow v Kilwinning Rangers, Neilston v Dunipace,Whitletts Vics v Glenafton, St Andrews Utd v Petershill , Beith v Johnstone Burgh, Lugar Boswell v Craigmark, Shotts Bon Accord v Vale of Clyde, Rutherglen Glencairn v St Anthonys, Auchinleck Talbot v Penicuik Athletic, Dundee Utd X1 v Pollok , Vale of Leven v Yoker Athletic, Caledonian Locomotives v East Kilbride Thistle, Glenrothes v Cumnock, Gartcairn v Dalbeattie Star, Darvel v Threave Rovers , Blantyre Vics v St Cadocs , St Rochs v Greenock, Newmains Utd v Forth Wanderers, Ardeer Thistle v Lugar Boswell, Carluke Rovers v Bonnyton Thistle, Glasgow Utd v Cambuslang Rangers, Largs Thistle v Kilbirnie Ladeside, Musselburgh Athletic v Renfrew,
| Regards Jim O’Donnell |
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