JO JO(right) WITH MENTOR JIMMY McQUADE
If ever asked for the manifestation of a “heart of a lion”, one could do a lot worse than proffer up a pic of Jo Jo Gardiner.
To do so would evoke fond memories of the nowadays 58 year old who was an exemplary player back in a Juniors era when `not always within the rules challenges `were regarded as nothing more than par for the course.
Softening up forwards of his diminutive and highly skillful ilk (especially early doors) was a much preached tactical ploy yet opponents are few on the ground who can hand on heart say they actually succeeded in putting the frighteners on Jo Jo during various stints with Arthurlie, Petershill, Cumnock,Rutherglen Glencairn and Shettleston.
They would never have known because Jo Jo was too streetwise to ever let anyone be aware he was hurting, a lesson picked up from his upbringing as a born and bred Govan boy whose early Drumoyne Primary School years saw him turn out for a school team, run by janitor Shuggie Watson, whose other star turns were Jack Lennie and midfielder Billy Russell, whom he has it on good authority went on to enjoy a decent footballing career playing for Rockingham City F.C. in Australia .
Furthering his education through Secondary School was the remit of Govan High where Jo Jo has fond memories of playing alongside Colin Halliday(brother of ex-Rangers and Hearts midfielder Andy) in local derby matches against St Gerards whose ranks contained the likes of Ronnie Coyle (a future Celtic signing ) and later to be renowned Junior worthies Jimmy Creaney and Paul Maher.
Away from school, local amateur outfit Harmony Row had emerged as the popular choice for many of Govan’s young footballing prospects however Jo Jo went against the grain by heading further afield to play for a Jamie Ritchie coached Eastercraigs side where among his Under 13 teammates were goalkeeper Stevie Ross (a future Stranraer signing ), Andy Millen (Pollok, Hamilton Accies and St Mirren) , Fraser Wishart (Pollok, Motherwell and St Mirren) and the talented Ian Porteous (Aberdeen and Kilmarnock).
He recalled ,”My game was always going to improve from having so many good players around me and scoring a barrowload of goals attracted the attention of a Manchester United scout who was rumoured to have spoken to Jamie about taking me down South but the interest came to nothing for whatever reason and instead I joined Glasgow United where I was to stay from Under 14’s through to Under 18’s.
He added, “Yet again I landed lucky in being surrounded by some special players such as Sandy Stewart (Pollok and Airdrie) Alan Boyd (Rangers) Fraser Campbell (St Mirren ,Rangers and much later on Cumnock where he and I played together) and not forgetting the best of them all, Ian Durrant whom I partnered up front for all of two years before Rangers scout Archie Lawrie persuaded the powers-that-be at Ibrox to call him up.
”Not long after turning 18 , I moved on to Milngavie Wanderers under 21’s when Paul Kelly was in charge however I only stayed for a matter of months before getting restless feet again and opting to sign for the much closer to home Hillwood Boys Club..”
Jo Jo soon established himself in the Danny Lafferty and John Alexander managed Hillwood team of that time and he recalls numerous silverware prizes being won while playing alongside Malky McCusker , Robert Torrance John` Jaffa`McFadyen and Paul` Jinky` O’Brien among others.
And the 1986/87 season proved a particularly pivotal one for him not least because he successfully made the step up from Hillwood to Junior outfit Arthurlie at the behest of the Fergus Ferguson and Jimmy McQuade management team.
There was much to admire about a Dunterlie dressing room inhabited by the likes of John Redburn, Iain Ashcroft, Stevie Russell, Willie Henderson, goalkeeper Ian Marshall, Pat McShane,Willie Gibson, “outstanding striker” Billy Milne as well as a fellow recruit from Under 21’s football Stevie `Storno` Nugent yet few will deny the arrival of Jo Jo enhanced it even further
He reminisced ,” I hit the ground running and was scoring freely as you needed to do in order to hold down a jersey in what was a quite exceptional Arthurlie team,
JO JO(bottom right kneeling) WITH HIS `QUITE EXCEPTIONAL` ARTHURLIE TEAM
“We won five trophies all told (I think) the first of which was the Sectional League Cup thanks McCusker and Willie Scott goals bringing us a 2-1 Final win over our great rivals Pollok at Fir Park and my decent early season form also gained Junior Scotland recognition after John `Yogi` Hughes selected me to play in a 2-1 win over the Republic of Ireland as well as a substitute appearance against Wales up at Glenrothes .
“I was 21 years of age and had only just joined Arthurlie on an amateur form so I had to pinch myself to believe I was turning out for Scotland in the company of some of the biggest names in the Junior game such as the Auchinleck Talbot full back pair Willie Young and George Gemmell , Davie Jamieson (Pollok), Peter Monan (Cumnock) and Gary Faulds (Irvine Meadow).”
JO JO (standing far right) WITH ARTHURLIE AND THEIR 5 TROPHY HAUL
Jo Jo’s eye-catching impact on the Junior scene had also attracted strong Senior attention however after having talks with Queens Park boss Eddie Hunter which came to nothing, a barely playable Boghead Park pitch contributed to him giving a below par performance in a trial outing for Dumbarton Reserves against Morton.
He recalled,”Alex Totten was the Dumbarton manager and he felt the playing surface hadn’t allowed me to show what I was all about so I was delighted to be asked out again the following Monday night in a game with Partick Thistle at Firhill …but I then had my leg broken by a bad tackle on the Saturday playing for Arthurlie against Vale of Leven!”
An eight month long spell on the sidelines followed for the buzzbomb front man and more than a few Barrhead diehards are of the mind to this day that his injury absence was a contributory factor in Arthurlie subsequently losing out 1-0 to Kilbirnie Ladeside in a Rugby Park staged Scottish Junior Cup semi-final that same season.
Jo Jo revealed, “ I had played in the Sectional Cup win over Pollok so it was soul destroying to be nothing more than a spectator as the guys went on to win trophy after trophy.
“Everyone at Arthurlie went out of their way to make me feel a part of things and nobody more than Quadey (Jimmy McQuade) who had broken his own leg playing for Cambuslang Rangers in the 1973 Scottish Final against Irvine Meadow .
“ He knew better than most what I was going through and would do everything possible to keep me involved with the other guys over and above putting me through the mill out on the training ground throughout my entire recuperation period .
“Quadey is the reason I got back playing and I’ll forever be grateful.”
The Premier Division title and Evening Times Cup were among the trophy prizes picked up by Jo Jo on his return to full fitness while another of his Arthurlie highlights he recalls was taking part in an unprecedented all-ticket Scottish Junior Cup tie against eventual trophy winners Auchinleck in front of a Dunterlie full-house in 1988.
There followed a close season fall-out over resigning terms between Jo Jo and Barrhead boss Ferguson that culminated in the fans favourite reluctantly turning his back on Arthurlie and choosing instead to sign on the dotted line for Petershill .the Scottish Cup runners-up that season.
He takes up the story, “ Moving to the very strong Petershill side of that time definitely softened the hurt felt from leaving Arthurlie and I can remember looking forward to playing in the same team as Billy McLafferty, Pat Cairney, Billy Dalziel, Jim McGinley, Kenny Moyes, Freddie Graham and Gary Dickie to name but a few.
“But everything was turned on its head when the team manager Jim George then left to take over at Dumbarton and proceeded to take the core of his Peasy side with him.
“That was a game-changer in more ways than one as was the decision to appoint Davie McCulloch as Jimmy’s replacement not least because he would only play me as an out-and-out winger and not in the through the middle striking position I preferred.
“Yet though things were not to my liking I just put the head down and saw out a season in which Petershill won nothing more than the Maryhill Charity Cup but not surprisingly I couldn’t wait to get away when the opportunity of a transfer to Cumnock came about in 1990.”
JO JO (second from left squatting) WITH HIS PETERSHILL TEAM
Dennis Gray and Brian Lannon were the management pair who convinced Jo Jo to throw his lot in with Peter Monan, Bobby McCulloch, Jimmy McIntyre, Andy Smyth, Derek Love , Ian Dick , Joe Smart and the other remnants of the Ayrshire outfit’s Junior Cup triumph over Ormiston Primrose from the previous season.
His willingness to chase lost causes, take on opponents and bounce straight back up from being on the end of the crunching tackles that ensued soon endeared Jo Jo to Nock supporters as did scoring 24 goals to help the winning of a trio of local Ayrshire silverware prizes in the first of a three season stay at Townhead Park .
Gray and Lannon tendering their resignations led to vastly experienced team mate Monan taking up the helm in tandem with one time Rangers winger Eric Morris and they went on to make several personnel changes in the aftermath of a Junior Cup exit to Newtongrange Star , bringing on board Drew Walsh and striker Billy Borthwick as well as agreeing to a Rutherglen Glencairn transfer bid for Jo Jo.
Davie McDermott was the manager whose inspired pairing of the impish front man alongside Jim “ Wooby” Jamieson proved crucial to a Somervell Park team jigsaw already containing the pieces of Willie Harvey, George Redmond , Davie “Basher” Cowan, Robert Anderson, Bobby Donnachie , Malky McCusker and Stevie “Hookey” Walker .
Jo Jo and Wooby netted a remarkable 27 goals apiece as the Ru’Glonians took the Sectional League Cup honours with a Final victory over Shotts Bon Accord, finished 4th top of the Premier League and reached the Scottish Junior Cup last eight only to lose out 2-1 against Whitburn for whom current Ayr United manager Lee Bullen netted both their goals.
Due recognition came as Jo Jo, Wooby and another Glens team mate Willie Gillogely were picked to play for the Central League Select v Tayside yet he still found himself unable to resist the temptation to rejoin former club Arthurlie .
Playing matters had continued to be the remit of the Ferguson/McQuade duo however Jo Jo now found himself part of yet another emerging Barrhead force in the shapes of Frank Lynch, Stevie Convery, Willie Devine, Budgie McGhie, Digger Fulton and similarly `cut from the same cloth` hitmen James Grady and Tony McDonald.
He thrived in this new company, so much so that Jo Jo was recalled to the Scotland Juniors set up by team boss Dickie Brock(six years on from first being capped) to play in a trial match against a strong Airdrie X1 through at Prestonfield Park in Linlithgow.
He recounted , “ I was named as one of the substitutes but got on after big Lee Wilkie picked up an injury and felt I did well in setting up a couple of our goals in a 4-0 victory.
“Tam Brown (Glenafton) was another of the front men picked by big Dicky that night and who’d have ever thought that two dyed in the wool Govan boys like him and I would be playing up front for Junior Scotland ?
A two seasons stint at Dunterlie was ended by Jo Jo forming part of a convoluted transfer swap which saw him sign for Shettleston where Jack McCartney was manager with Dennis Curran as his No 2.
“ Myself , Stevie Bulloch and Budgie McGhie were used as makeweights in a deal taking Gavin Duncan and Peter Johnstone in the other direction to Arthurlie.” he remembers.
“ Jack stood down a few months afterwards but I stayed with Dennis and was part of a fairly decent side he put together in his first season in charge ,consisting of guys of the quality of Peter Lamont, Jamsie McNeil, Billy Dalziel, Martin Nelson and Stevie Jack , that reached the Sectional League Cup Final only to lose 4-2 against Pollok.
“But the downside to the spotlight coming to bear on his best players was the break-up of that team in his second season and Dennis was reduced to pulling in players from all and any quarters just to fill the jerseys, inclusive of fielding our Club Physio Walter Cannon in a few games.
“Highlights were few and far between as you might expect but from my perspective nothing beats winning 2-0 away from home against a very good Glenafton side in a West of Scotland Cup tie.”
In truth, scoring one of the Shettleston goals in their Loch Park triumph will go down as his most memorable moment of that 1997/98 season …Jo Jo’s last ever as it turned out.
He had been experiencing pins and needles sensations for several months and had undergone an array of medical tests but was nonetheless unprepared for the career ending diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis at 32 years of age.
Ever since , he has channeled his enthusiasm for the Juniors into supporting a team he never played for …local Govan outfit Benburb… and it was at Tinto Park just a matter of weeks ago that this bubbly character admitted in best unassuming fashion,
“My illness was a kick in the teeth at the time and I won’t pretend otherwise but over the years I’ve met and seen people more worse off than me so I think of myself as one of the lucky ones”
Says it all wee man…
FIXTURES FOR SATURDAY19th AUGUST (Kick Offs 2 PM unless stated): P.D.M HUWS GRAY Premier Division. Largs Thistle v Arthurlie, Hurlford Utd v Benburb , Glenafton v Pollok, Darvel v Rob Roy, Cumnock v Troon, Auchinleck Talbot v Clydebank. P.D.M HUWS GRAYFirst Division. Drumchapel Utd v Cambuslang Rangers, Johnstone Burgh v Blantyre Vics, Kilwinning Rangers v Shotts Bon Accord, Rutherglen Glencairn v Petershill, Thorniewood Utd v Whitletts Vics. PDM HUWS GRAY Second Division. Forth Wanderers v Ardrossan Winton Rovers . Maryhill v Kilsyth Rangers, Vale of Clyde v Wishaw, St Anthonys vCaledonian Locomotives. PDM HUWS GRAYThird Division. Bellshill Athletic v Lemahagow, Kilsyth Athletic v Irvine Vics, Kello Rovers v Threave Rovers. PDM HUWS GRAYFourth Division. Giffnock S.C. v Royal Albert, Rossvale v Easterhouse, St Peters v Thorn Athletic, Lugar Boswell v Knightswood, ,East Kilbride Thistle v Carluke Rovers .South Challenge Cup.1st Round. Cumbernauld Utd v Glasgow University,Ardeer Thistle v Beith, Bonnyton Thistle v Newmains Utd, Campbelltown Pupils v Vale of Leven, Craigmark v Dalbeattie Star, Eglinton v Irvine Meadow, Girvan v Larkhall Thistle.
Regards
Jim O’Donnell
About Author
I remember Jo Jo well at Petershill, and of course at Athurlie, a great player, Pat Cairney told me Jo Jo had a habit of nipping him on the backside, when playing against him, true or false Jo Jo, a great read. Cheers.