If you support a club through thick and thin, home and away, I am sure you occasionally come across anomalies where certain clubs seem somewhat lacking from your viewing roster. That aspect can be even more exacerbated in the relatively small world of Scottish football, where if you land in the same league as other teams you’ll have four jousts minimum in a season, but if you cross with them, going up or down, and your side are a relatively new boy in the league, you can even miss teams completely. Inverness never played Berwick Rangers in a league game before they fell out of the league, and only came across Dumbarton in recent years in the Championship. The other club that we only visited in one season was Montrose way back in 1996/97. I have been at Links Park once since, a dramatic afternoon in 2015, a recollection I’ll return to later.
Montrose is almost halfway up the coast between Dundee and Aberdeen. Heading there from the south along the Arbroath road almost gives you the impression that the town is surrounded by water, but the illusion is merely that the North Sea coastal waters run through a narrow into a sizable tidal lagoon, giving the impression of island life. With a population of just over 12,000 the town is nearly double the size of nearby Brechin, who no longer host league football, leaving the Angus region with just three league sides. Forfar, and Arbroath are both bigger conurbations, the latter in particular. Arbroath’s high flying Red Lichties are the main rivals of the almost equally high flying Gable Endies of Montrose, just one league below. Given the proximity to Aberdeen, Montrose’s large deep water natural harbour has played a role as an active base for parts of the oil and gas industries of the North East, making it an International Trading town. Many fine buildings adorn the main street of the town suggesting a prosperous past, partly courtesy of involvement with trading under the Hanseatic League. The nickname of the town and the football team “The Gable Enders” comes from these wealthy merchants who built their houses gable to gable, and even if you don’t like football, if you are from Montrose, you are a Gable Ender.
One of the more curious monuments in Montrose is a statue of a St Bernard’s dog on the banks of the North side of the harbour. What is even more unusual is the fact that this dog, who lived for a mere 7 years was Norwegian, known as Bamse, meaning “big boy” in his homeland. His owner and his boat had been enlisted into the war effort , and the dog was actually enrolled as an official crew member. Following the fall of Norway, the vessel was amongst a number that escaped to Scotland to help fight tyranny, with the boat being converted to a mine sweeper. Their ongoing duties saw them mainly sail from Dundee or more particularly Montrose, where the dog got quite a reputation for raising the spirits of the crew and the general public. His memory lives on through this statue.
Montrose Football Club were founded in 1879, but didn’t join the Scottish League set up until 1923, and despite a commendable fourth place finish in their first season in the new third tier, two season’s later that level was scrapped. It wasn’t until 1929/30 that they were readmitted, but struggled to get out of the bottom slots. The war saw the league suspended, and only in 1955/56 with the recommencement of the third tier, did Montrose once more come back into the league fold. A status they have held onto ever since, but came very close to being the first ever league side relegated via the newly formed play-offs at the foot of the fourth tier. Brora Rangers (Highland League winners) had narrowly squeaked by Edinburgh City (Lowland League winners), and that set up a home and away crack at bottom club Montrose. I ventured to Brora and to Montrose for both of these encounters, and they didn’t disappoint in terms of drama. There had always been the suggestion that Brora weren’t looking to go up, but they masked that well in two very competitive ties. After a 1-1 draw at Brora, the half-time whistle at Links Park saw the Highlanders leading 1-0. At this point some Brora fans were amusing everyone in the away end for sure by having a collection for the home fans to buy a map of the highland’s as that was the league they were a mere 45 minutes away from falling into. As it was, a red card and a stiff wind behind the saw the Gable Endies finally muster some fight, and the final 3-1 scoreline on the day doesn’t really tell the tale of how close they came to calamity.
Lessons were quickly learned however, and Montrose have never looked back since, now going for yet another play off crack at the second tier, the Championship, under the guidance of manager Stewart Petrie. His tutelage sees them continue to punch above their weight, with every likelihood the Gable Enders and not Falkirk for example will be in the playoffs at the end of this campaign, yet again. It’s fair to say Montrose have never really set the heather on fire in Scottish football, but with local rivals Arbroath proving part time footballers can compete at a higher level, and with the depth of talent and expertise in the squad, Montrose are well set to follow a similar example.
That said, they’ll need to be more clinical in front of goal than they were the day I pitched up to gather photos and chat for this article. The bottom club East Fife were in town, and the point they took away after a 0-0 draw was doubtlessly more precious to them. However, some goalless games can be stodgy and lacking efforts on goal, this wasn’t one these encounters, merely the frame of the goal, the keepers knee, headers off the line and wayward finishing preventing either team scoring, but more especially Montrose, who despite going down to ten men, gave us a rousing end to the game with near things flying every which way.
Both clubs in this encounter were sporting quite striking shirts, adding colour to a goalless draw just by virtue of their attire. The Montrose 21/22 jersey is almost a Scottish twist on a Bristol Rovers shirt, while opponents East Fife, one of only two clubs who have the St Andrews Cross is their badge have taken their Scottishness to a new level, trotting out in a very natty yellow and black tartan kit, one for the collectors I am sure.
Links Park is a cracking little ground, revamped fifteen years ago when an artificial surface was layed, allowing the stadium to become more of a community facility. On occasion links Park has hosted matches of Montrose Roselea, previously a Junior club now involved in the North Regional League that now has a route through the pyramid with a play off spot for access to the Highland League available for the league winners. Roselea do have their own “ground” in town, but have utilised Links Park from time to time. The ground has been home to Montrose FC since 1889, and the addition of a fine cantilever stand in the ‘90’s helped raise the capacity just shy of 5,000, although from the good old days of less restrictive attendances 8,983 is the club record attendance from a rare Scottish Cup Quarter Final versus Dundee in March 1973.
With the ground looking as good as it ever has, and the team in excellent form in the last few seasons, the future of Montrose, and Angus football looks healthy, although in the results based world of football we live in these days, part time clubs just can’t afford to take their foot of the gas, as the spectacular collapse of Brechin City is a lesson to everyone.
Where to find the ground
Links Park is tucked away amongst housing a couple of blocks off the Main Street. The town’s railway station is right beside the lagoon on a street known as Basin View. Negotiating the streets heading across town towards the sea will easily bring you to the ground in around ten to fifteen minutes, as it is a pretty straightforward walk. Once you are through the town centre and you’re looking at quaint gardens and a bowling green, Links Park is just on the other side of this area down a cul de sac. If you are headed here by car, parking in any of the nearby side streets is not an issue, as well as the ground having a small parking facility behind the main stand.
Catering
The in ground pie shop will cater for the classic football chomp, only closing the hatch near the end of the game. We are far enough removed from Forfar here for the famous Bridie to be off the menu! There is no alcohol allowed in Scottish stadia, so the main street pubs will be the nearest place for a pre match or post match libation, and it is here where you’ll find alternatives to the in ground pies or hot dogs.
The club shop is just inside the turnstiles behind the shed end of the ground, a well stocked outlet if you are keen to bag a souvenir from your visit.
Football Adventures with James Rendall 