Hamilton Academical 3 Airdrieonians 2
The road leads back to New Douglas Park. Last week’s On The Road meanderings were on Clyde and the club’s search for a new home as it operates out of its lodgings.
This week the same ground is very much the focus of the leadership team at Hamilton Academical.
‘Stadium ownership is a key factor,’ Jock Brown, the new Accies chairman, says of talks with the previous owners to buy the stadium. ‘We hope that will be concluded very shortly and that would transform us. Stadium acquisition is vital and looks to be well on the way.’
‘Stadium ownership is a key factor,’ Jock Brown, the new Accies chairman, says of talks with the previous owners to buy the stadium. ‘We hope that will be concluded very shortly and that would transform us. Stadium acquisition is vital and looks to be well on the way.’
Brown is a recent recruit to the Hamilton cause in a business sense but his association with the club stretches far down his 78 years. A Cambridge blue, journalist, commentator, lawyer and general manager at Celtic, Brown had earned a restful retirement. But the lure of the Accies proved irresistible.
‘The only place I would have come back was here,’ he says. ‘This is where it all started for me. I was behind the goals every game. McLean, Currie, King, Divers and Hastings. That would be the forward line when I started coming in about 1957 with my brothers and pals.’
Jock Brown is all smiles back at his first love and says huge progress is being made at the club
Local businessman Serif Zengin is determined to take Accies back to the big time
A last-minute goal from Oli Shaw (top right) saw Hamilton triumph in the Lanarkshire derby
The transition from lifetime fan to chairman started with a social media exchange with Gerry Strain, director of football. Strain was looking for ideas to help the Accies. Brown provided them and a meeting with owner Seref Zengin was arranged.
‘We had a lot of conversations,’ says Brown. There was an invitation for him to come on board. ‘I thought long and hard. I did my homework on both guys and decided they wanted to go in the right direction.’
Brown is enthused about the future. ‘Obviously, I care about the club,’ he says. ‘I believe if we get things right behind the scenes — and there are a lot of things going on — we can have an exciting future.’
He emphasises that there is nothing material in the job for him. ‘There is nothing whatsoever in this for me other than passing on Accies in good shape.’
Zengin’s association with Accies stretches to 14 years. ‘I started as a sponsor,’ says the businessman who owns transport and plant hire concerns.
However, he once coached at grassroots level and maintains an interest there. He helped rescue Thorniewood United, the Viewpark club, from the brink. ‘They were struggling and I stepped in. Now they have 296 kids playing football,’ he says.
On the day of a feisty and highly entertaining Lanarkshire derby, he reveals he once was courted to take over at Airdrieonians. ‘I opted out at the last moment,’ he says.
‘Then the Hamilton opportunity came about and the chance to raise the club back up.’
Zengin, Brown and director of football Gerry Strain are seeing progress at New Douglas Park
So, why does he devote so much money and time in Hamilton Academical? ‘If I could help just one talent come through to the top, then that would give me the greatest satisfaction.’
He is not short of ambition, though. ‘Our aim is to get this club into the Premiership. Then push to get into a place for Europe.’
Home on a Saturday for Harry Webster, 87, and his son Colin, 59, is a spot in the supporters’ lounge before making the trek to the stand.
‘We first came here in the 1974/75 season when you subjected me to Hamilton Accies,’ Colin informs his father.
Webster senior had been to Douglas Park before but this was the father and son initiation. ‘It has become a habit, I suppose,’ says the father. ‘Others may go to Parkhead and Ibrox but this is the local team and I like the association with it.’
Colin, a former policeman, has optimism over the new ownership. He points out the squad is better than recent years too. ‘Fingers crossed we are going in the right direction. We need more supporters in, though,’ he says.
Accies was the launchpad for the successful careers of James McCarthy and James McArthur
He sees the Premiership as a realistic target. ‘We had a couple of seasons in the top division under Alex Neil when we held our own. There is no reason why we couldn’t be like, say, Motherwell.’
Harry’s best memories are of runs in the Scottish Cup, particularly that win 1-0 against Rangers at Ibrox in 1987 in the third round.
‘I wasn’t there,’ he says somewhat ruefully. ‘But it still counts as a memory.’
Colin was there at his greatest memory. ‘It was when we went to Easter Road in the play-offs in 2014. We travelled in hope because we were 2-0 down from the first leg. But we scored two in normal time and then won on penalties.’
‘That was a brilliant day,’ agrees Stephen Daly. At 62, he has been watching Accies for 57 years. His highlight, though, is Ibrox 1987. ‘I was there,’ he says. ‘And I have the t-shirt — though it doesn’t fit me anymore. The Pink Times had a big photie of scorer Adrian Sprott and we had it put on t-shirts.’
He believes Accies are capable of moving up a division and competing at the top level again. ‘Whatever happens I’ll always remember that day at Ibrox. We came back to the club and had a right good night.’
Adrian Sprott’s name is synonymous with Hamilton history after his goal against Rangers
Greig Murray has vowed to ‘condemn’ his four-year-old son Finn to a life supporting Accies
The family theme is continued by Greig Murray, 35. ‘I have been coming here most of my life and been a season ticket holder since 2001,’ he says.
He is joined by his father, brothers, nephews and his son, Finn, four. ‘I am condemning him to the Accies already,’ he says with a smile. ‘I am getting it into his head before he can change his mind.’
Murray believes matters are looking brighter at the club. ‘It is more positive than it has been,’ he says. ‘There are a few issues to be ironed out but it is still more positive. Hopefully the stadium ownership can be settled soon. That is holding us back and once we know we own the stadium, then we can push forward.’
HOME is where the goals are for Oli Shaw. At 26, the striker may have found the perfect spot to galvanise his career after spells at Hibernian, Stenhousemuir, Ross County, Kilmarnock, Barnsley and Motherwell. His two goals on Saturday took his season’s tally to 14.
‘I just wanted to come in and play games. I had a manager who trusted me and I knew I would score goals. Whether I have had good games or bad games, he has kept me on the park to get that goal. Sometimes I have, sometimes I haven’t, but today getting two goals in a derby is a massive confidence boost for myself.’
He was unaware of his goal tally. ‘I didn’t set targets at the start of the season. I just want to play football and enjoy myself. As a striker, when you are enjoying yourself you tend to score goals.’
Oli Shaw scores his first against Airdrie and manager John Rankin says the best is yet to come
His manager, John Rankin, believes there is more to come. ‘I think he can score more. I think he can do more. I am not complaining by any manner of means. We worked so hard to get him to the football club and the second part of the season you will see more from him.’
The manager adds: ‘He will have a good end to his career. He is only in the middle of it now.’
Asked to pinpoint the striker’s strengths, he obviously points to Shaw’s capacity for scoring but adds: ‘The 18-yard box is mayhem. He is always in space.’
He was in the dying embers of the match on Saturday. And that proved crucial for providing a home victory.
