If you are a follower of Scottish football from a distance, and just keep tabs on the league tables or Cup matches, the recent appearance of Clydebank in the Scottish Cup might have brought back some misty eyed memories. For the first time since 2001/02 The Bankies as they are known, were back in Scotland’s principal cup competition. This time around they were participating as a non-league entrant, given the club currently reside in the newly morphed across from the Junior world, the West of Scotland Premier League, sitting at the 6th level of the newly formed Scottish “pyramid”.
Clydebank is a town very close to Glasgow, so close the boundary between the two is almost smudged, but it is located in West Dunbartonshire, and therefore administratively a completely separate animal from Scotland’s biggest city. With a modest population of 26,320 at the last census, Clydebank is now essentially a commuter town, but back in the day, the dockyards and Singer’s Sewing Machine factory, one of the biggest employers at the time, made it a target for bombing by the Luffwaffe, whose two day bombing campaign in around the town became known as the Clydebank Blitz and killed 528 civilians, as well as destroying infrastructure.
In the world of football, Clydebank had a football team in 1888, and were almost in the vanguard of the setting up of the Scottish League, competing for the short period between 1891 to 1893, but by way of a portent for what was to come, that club had folded just seven years after inception in 1895. A second Clydebank was around for even less time, starting in 1899 but gone by 1902, although this team only ended up in the town largely because a team called Dunochter decided to move to the town and change the club name. A third attempt had to wait 12 years, and starting out 1914 was never going to be easy as the war broke out, but they joined the Scottish League and participated until 1931, when they folded.
You’d think by now the lessons were written in history that this was a town just unable to sustain a football team, an ever growing issue I would imagine as the Glasgow giants’ shadow and reach of their fan power would be easily rife through this nearby region even in those days. However, Jack and Charlie Steedman had other ideas, believing the town was ripe for a football club, and in a desperate bid to get the project off the ground, having bought Falkirk based club East Stirlingshire in the late 1950’s they moved The Shire 30 miles to Kilbowie Park, calling the club ES Clydebank. It lasted just one season, with the Falkirk club’s fans taking legal action to get their club back.
The Steadman’s were determined and they decided to forge ahead with a new Clydebank FC in 1965, and by the following season they had been accepted into the Scottish League once more, 35 years after a team of the same name last graced the league set-up. It was a roaring success, and 12 years later the club had reached the top flight, being the first club to come through the then three tier system and play in the Premier League. Kilbowie also became the first all seater stadium in Britain, albeit with pretty basic bench seating, but it was still technically all seated. Whether the Steadman’s got bored with their toy, or wanted to cash out with impending rule changes following Bosman, the businessmen who had brought such great moments of glory did more than burn bridges, they stole the family jewels and sold Kilbowie, leaving the club homeless. A club without a home is a slippery slope, and yet despite a horrible downward spiral that was underway, the club never returned to the bottom league.
They played along the road at Dumbarton’s Boghead for a few years where the atmosphere and demonstrations became more poisonous and on one occasion I was there for a game that resulted in proceedings being held up due to a fan handcuffing himself to the goalposts as a protest. They then moved across the River Clyde to Greenock to share Cappielow with Morton, but by this time the club was in terminal decline, with on one occasion little more than 30 people were in attendance. In the midst of the decline, local International pop star Marty Pellow and his band Wet Wet Wet tried to help out and even became the club shirt sponsor, a garment still prized in the world of football kit collecting.
By the summer of 2002, when Airdrieonians were liquidated, largely due to being saddled with debts to build a 10,000 all seater stadium fit for Premier League criteria at the time, (a complete phoenix requirement looking back), an attempt was made by Airdrie directors to start a new club in the town but it failed. They did what the Steedman’s had done to East Stirlingshire, and bought the ailing Clydebank FC, moving them to Airdrie under the new name Airdrie United. It’s not a unique situation in Scotland, another example were my old charges Meadowbank, who were hijacked, changed name etc, with the fine name of Meadowbank Thistle never to raise its head again, sadly.
I have tremendous sympathy for Clydebank fans, many of whom have stayed loyal to the club through thick and thin. They couldn’t restart a new club that summer as it was too late, however by 2003/04 they were back in business as a Junior club, the fifth coming of football in the town. My own personal memories of the old club were that Kilbowie was the last of the then 36 Scottish League grounds that I had visited, and they also participated in the very last league game of last century in Scotland, when for some odd reason a 4pm kick off at Caledonian Stadium on 27th December saw Inverness win 4-1, with our Barry Wilson scoring the last goal of the 20th century. I didn’t know that day, but this would be my last sighting of Clydebank until recently.
Another ironic first for Clydebank came a decade earlier, when the team with the first all seater venue were the first visitors to Scotland’s first purpose built all seater stadium, McDiarmid Park, Perth, with Bankies legend Ken Eadie claiming the first ever goal at the ground in a 2-1 loss. A few years later, my friend Grant and I would bump into Ken almost every night when holidaying in Vilamoura, Portugal and we all became quite chummy.
Clydebank have become a force in the West of Scotland Junior scene, a tough, competitive league set-up that was essentially standalone until the start of the ill-fated ‘20/21 season that started without fans due to the pandemic and was abandoned by New Year. This present season is the first fully fledged integration of the West leagues into the Scottish pyramid, and for those with a license, it opened up participation in the Scottish Cup.
Holm Park is the second home of the “new” version of Clydebank, having started out sharing at Drumchapel, but that agreement wasn’t renewed in 2008. Holm Park is also the home to another West of Scotland side from a tier below the Bankies, Yoker Athletic, although as you enter the turnstiles you’d be forgiven for thinking that this was exclusively the home of Clydebank given the exterior artwork. A lot of hard graft has gone into making the venue as presentable as it is today, albeit with a relatively trim capacity of just 2,000.
The first Scottish Cup campaign for the Bankies since ‘01/02 got off to a spectacular start thrashing East of Scotland 7th tier side Dalkeith Thistle 7-0, and it was the allure of Elgin City to Holm Park that saw me heading west for this Second Round match. The game was declared all ticket, with all briefs gone at least a week before the game, a match ultimately moved to a Monday night to accommodate live TV coverage for BBC Scotland. It was a match with a number of firsts; the first sell-out at Holm Park; the first time Clydebank had ever faced league opposition (although given Elgin joined in 2000, for a brief spell, both clubs were part of the league set-up), and it was also the first time in the history of football in Clydebank that they were live on TV! Back in the day, live televised football was a very rare thing, especially here, where live coverage from England would be blocked should it interfere with an Albion Rovers game on a Tuesday night. How things have changed.
In the days leading up to the match I began to realise that the relatively straightforward journey from Edinburgh to Clydebank might come with a fraught element as roads were already closed in the vicinity of the ground because of the Climate Change Conference. As it was, I needn’t have fretted as I have never seen the M8 through Glasgow so quiet, and even having to double back via the Erskine Bridge over the Clyde, I was parked up an hour ahead of kick off.
Clydebank, whose colour scheme has always been a variety of designs based around white, red and black are back playing in a very River Plate-esque attire, not a good look for someone so steeped in Argentine football as I am, especially as a Racing man. That said, let’s not pretend, I was here to cheer on the visitors Elgin, a team so steadfastly stuck in Scotland’s bottom tier, now playing their 22nd consecutive season at that level. Ironically the clubs greatest Scottish Cup days came as a non-league side, and they remain the only ever Highland League club to reach the last 8.
The boot was on the other foot for this encounter as Clydebank trotted out hellbent on causing an upset. Alas, for the first half, the Bankies were truly second best, with Elgin’s neat passing and movement making them look a class above the hosts. The visitors deservedly took the lead through a beautifully crafted move, rounded off with a fabulous strike from outside the box into the bottom corner of the net. Perhaps their failing was going in at the break just one goal to the good.
Half-time dressing room chat can sometimes alter a game, and that was certainly the case here. Whether the first half had been a case of TV fright, or letting the occasion get to them, the re-appearance for the second half saw a completely different Clydebank, and the crowd responded to the much faster closing down and passing moves they were finally stringing together. An equaliser seemed likely and while only speculative shots had troubled the Elgin keeper, a mistake by a defender led to his high boot clashing with a Bankies high boot on the edge of the box, and very reminiscent of a similar incident just days before in the Inter Milan v Juve, the ref pointed to the spot, albeit without the benefit of VAR to make sure it was the right call. The majority of the crowd were convinced, having seen it, I would still say it was a 50:50 call. The penalty was dispatched and the decibels in the ground grew as Clydebank scented victory. Elgin found some late composure to steady the ship, but no one could find a winner, and Clyde would have to wait a few days longer to know where they were headed in round three, as a replay was required at Borough Briggs in the north.
On this showing Clydebank have a useful squad and the future looks bright. The dream will be to get their place back in the Scottish League, and that might well happen one day, and if you ever happen to see an Airdrieonians v Clydebank fixture on the roster of league or cup games, hide!
Football Adventures with James Rendall 