CHRIS NEVER CRACKED UNDER THE STRAIN

It is fair to say one of the fundamentals of Chris Strain’s approach to football (that’s the elder and not his son of the same name currently managing Beith) was equally one of his more damaging traits.

By his own admission,” the game meant too much for him” and often caused Chris to be stubborn and headstrong if not sheer pig-headed when it came to making key decisions throughout his career.

The Irvine born and bred ace first broke ranks as a youth featuring on the left wing for a crack St Michaels (Kilwinning) school team which had fully 8 players tied up by Senior clubs, among them Paul Clarke and Hugh Atkinson (Kilmarnock), Andy Graham (Dundee United), Jim McHugh and George McKinnon (Ayr United) as well as Chris himself whom Celtic had signed on an S form.

The nowadays 65 year old recalled,” Around that time I was also turning out for a very successful Irvine Co-operative Boys Club side alongside the likes of Jim Fleeting, Paul Halley and Ian Jardine so Celtic getting in touch to inform me about coming up to train in Glasgow was not what I wanted to hear.

“The prospect didn’t appeal not least because I was quite a shy boy in those days yet looking back now I somehow had the audacity to tell Celtic that I would much rather prefer training locally down in Irvine but nonetheless you could have knocked me down with a feather when they not only agreed to my bold request but said their scouts would be taking in our games to monitor my progress.”

Chris added,” I continued to receive around £8 per week expenses from Celtic which then presented me with something of a dilemma when I was picked for Ayr United (actually an all-Ayrshire select) to play in a European Youth Tournament being held in Glasgow.

“Ayr made it through to face Celtic in the semi-finals at Lesser Hampden and I needed no less than Jock Stein’s permission to take part in a game that if memory serves me right they won 3-1 helped by a wonder goal from a

young George McLuskey.”

As a 15 year old, Chris was reckoned to be playing better than when he had first signed for Celtic and recognition came from being asked to skipper Ayrshire in the Scottish Schools Cup Final against Edinburgh however the day of the Final proved to be a truly bittersweet occasion after he received word of his release by the Parkhead club prior to kick off.

He mused, “Was it a big mistake not to give 100% to my chances of making it with Celtic?, probably, but back then I didn’t make many good calls in terms of choosing the right path for my footballing career.”

His performance in that Schools Final, played at Rugby Park, prompted scouts from Sheffield United and host club Kilmarnock to wait for him at the dressing room door and Chris, about to leave school in the summer and keen to land a full-time contract opted to go upstairs for what he thought might be signing talks with Killie boss Walter McRae ,but instead he found himself agreeing to play out the season with Kilmarnock Boys Club.

He winced at the memory,“ Only a handful of games after joining the Killie Boys, we travelled up to Glasgow to face a strong Eastercraigs side but our team manager played his own son in my place and I took the huff at being dropped and walked out which resulted in me never hearing so much as a peep from Kilmarnock again.”

In 1972, he followed up an uneventful four day trial with Blackpool by joining Dalry Boys Club and was an instant stand-out in a League and Cup winning side , no mean feat when among his team mates were Stephen Roos, Dougie Hyslop, Les Train, John `Sal ` McKenna and Paddy McHugh.

Senior scouts were reputedly circling him again however yet another fit of pique brought a parting of the ways with his Dalry club whose dropping Chris and good friend Sal as punishment for choosing to take in an Old Firm game rather than turn up for a Dalry fixture against a bottom of the league side did not sit well with him.

Revealed Chris, “Sal made his peace with our officials but being obstinate to a fault led me to quit the club and I was left the loser on all fronts because our Dalry team went on to win the Scottish Cup that season and I had no options left for playing football other than to step up into the Junior ranks when still only 16 years of age . “

Irvine Vics landed his signature in 1973 and Chris formed part of a North Ayrshire League title winning side, alongside worthies such as George Struthers, Jim McVey,Andy Clarkson Gus McCallum ,while also playing a Motherwell trial match against Clydebank, won 4-1 by the Bankies, during Craig Brown’s time at the Fir Park helm.

He remembers, “ Clydebank had fabulous players in Gerry McCabe and Mikey Larnach so we took a bit of a lacing but I felt my own performance was decent but obviously not, as nothing more was ever heard from Motherwell.

“I returned to the Vics and remained there until a transfer move to Kilbirnie Ladeside in 1978 when I found myself as a wide-eyed 18 year old sharing a dressing room with the vast majority of their Scottish Junior Cup winning side from the year before.

“Hughie McDonald our trainer had the place running like clockwork but when he wasn’t around it was a different kettle of Atlantic Cod under the manager Sconnie (Bobby Davidson) who was very set in his own ways as I found out to my cost.

“ Stupidly getting myself sent off in a West of Scotland Cup game against Vale of Clyde did not please him one little bit and I never kicked a ball for Kilbirnie or got so much as a word out of him again so I wrote out a resignation letter ( as an amateur) and handed it over at training one night even though Hughie pleaded with me to hold off.”

Chris did not let this offhand experience affect him and went on to hit the ground running, after he was offloaded to Whitletts Vics , scoring eight goals in the Dougie Mitchell steered side’s last ten league games to help secure promotion however just when his career looked to be getting back on track, an unfortunate disagreement over re-signing terms at the start of the following season saw him turn his back on Whitletts .

A second spell at Irvine Vics followed that was prematurely cut short by Chris picking up a serious pelvic injury that necessitated surgery and a year out of the game however he remained on the radar of several clubs and found himself in demand after getting back to full fitness.

Irvine Meadow where Milton Thomson and Donald Robertson were co-managers won the race for his signature in 1982 and Chris went on to enjoy mixed times over the next eight years , a couple of Ayrshire Cup triumphs followed by the West of Scotland Cup and Ayrshire League title however new Medda gaffer Alan Johnstone replacing his former team mate with ex-Rangers stopper Colin McAdam led to Chris leaving to join Ardeer Thistle as a player/assistant manager under the legendary John Evans.

CHRIS SHOUTING THE DUGOUT ODDS

He reminisced, “John was a great motivator and Ardeer duly won promotion in 1992 but he had to take time away from the game due to illness so I temporarily took up the reins until he came back.

“John called it a day not long afterwards and I proceeded to put my own stamp on the team with a number of changes, bringing in good friend John “Fister “ McColl as my No 2 as well as top players Mark Pickering, Dougie McGuire and Gerry Rodgers.

“That first season we got to the Junior Cup quarter finals only to come up against the holders Auchinleck Talbot whom we could and should have beaten but for John Traynor scoring an injury time equalizer to earn a 1-1 draw at Beechwood in the first game and our guys played every bit as well in the replay but lost out in extra time.”

“The start of the following year saw an Ardeer official make a total hash of resigning the players that led to five of them being snapped up as free transfers by Irvine Meadow so I quit in disgust and moved to Troon where we won promotion into the new Superleague setaway and is credited with their 2005 West of Scotland Cup triumph over Arthurlie even though he had been replaced in the Cup Final dugout by Mark Shanks.

This somewhat unsavory end to his Portland Park tenure was down to it becoming known that Chris had accepted an approach for his managerial services from Irvine Meadow that proved fortuitous in the extreme for both parties as his 8 year reign in the Meadow Park hotseat coincided with the Ayrshire big guns lifting no fewer than 16 silverware prizes and featuring in a memorable 2009/10 Scottish Cup run , overcoming Arbroath in the third round before losing out 3-0 at Easter Road to Hibs.

A proud but unassuming Chris admitted , “No manager can achieve the kind of success I had without having the right players on board and I was fortunate to have guys of the calibre of Ryan Davidson, Stephen Swift Richie Barr, Derek Wingate, Barry McLaughlin , Brian McGinty and Mark Crilly during my time in charge.

“There are many others ,too many if truth be told, worthy of mention ,not least of all the fantastic backing of John Derwin, Kerr Dickson and Ian McQueen while Emilio Jaconelli always comes to mind for famously coming on as a half time substitute up at Neilston when we were losing 4-0 and promptly netting five goals to win the game.

“That said if push comes to shove then the most abiding memory of my time at Irvine Meadow came at Easter Road when the Hibs manager John “Yogi” Hughes was interviewed afterwards and said `he couldn’t understand why a team of Irvine Meadow’s quality were not playing at Senior level`.”

The Medda officials “wanting to take the club in a different direction” led to Chris’s departure in 2013 and he briefly took charge of Ardrossan Winton Rovers and clinched promotion before deciding he could take the team no further prior to an even shorter lived spell at Darvel where he quit after his ambitious future plans were at odds with those of club officials.

Nowadays, he is often seen at Beith games to cast his eye on the teambuilding work of son Chris however he openly admits to finding his grandson Ben to be a far greater attraction playing at Ardeer Thistle.

FIXTURES FOR SATURDAY 17^th DECEMBER (Kick Offs 1.30 PM): P.D.M Buildbase Premier Division. Cumnock v Troon,Rob Roy v Cambuslang Rangers, Glenafton v Clydebank, Auchinleck Talbot v Irvine Meadow,Beith v Darvel,Largs Thistle v Petershill, Kilwinning Rangers v Arthurlie (Friday 7.45PM),Pollok v Hurlford Utd. PDM Buildbase First Division. Benburb v Kilbirnie Ladeside, Rossvale v Neilston, Gartcairn v Cumbernauld Utd, Bonnyton Thistle v St Cadocs,St Rochs vThorniewood Utd , Johnstone Burgh v Drumchapel Utd, Blantyre Vics v Rutherglen Glencairn. PDM Buildbase Second Division. Muirkirk v Forth Wanderers, Craigmark v St Anthonys, Greenock v Wishaw, Kilsyth Rangers v Glasgow University, Maybole v Ardeer Thistle, Yoker Athletic v Glasgow Utd,Glasgow Perthshire v Ashfield, Renfrew v Maryhill. PDM Buildbase Third Division. Royal Albert v Larkhall Thistle, Bellshill Athletic v Vale of Leven, Irvine Vics v East Kilbride Thistle, Girvan v Port Glasgow, Newmains Utd v Vale of Clyde, Saltcoats Vics v Carluke Rovers, Lanark Utd v Finnart, Kello Rovers v Ardrossan Winton Rovers, Lugar Boswell v Dalry Thistle. PDM Buildbase Fourth Division. Rossvale Academy v Eglinton, Campbeltown Pupils v Easterhouse F.A., Glenvale v BSC Glasgow,Thorn Athletic v West Park Utd, Harmony Row v St Peters, Kilsyth Athletic v Threave Rovers.

Regards

Jim O’Donnell