sport news ON THE ROAD: Glory and infamy go hand in hand at Shotts Bon Accord trends now
HISTORY is visible in Shotts. It can be seen in the shape of a venerable clubhouse or the vast pitch - now reduced – that once was reputed to be the biggest in Scotland.
But there is a history that lies beyond Hannah Park and it involves both one of the most influential men in Scottish football and a visit to the Court of Session.
Shotts, once a town of miners and fitba’ and not much else, was the home to Jim Rodger, known as the Jolly for obvious reasons, who united both the pits and the game. He was injured in the mines and became a sports journalist. He spent all his life in Shotts (1922-97) and was the confidant of Bill Shankly, Jock Stein, Matt Busby and Alex Ferguson, among others. He was also the conduit for them. Many a transfer was smoothed by the Jolly’s intervention. His impact on the game was thus subtle but significant.
The town’s team has, too, a place in sporting history off the field. Shotts Bon Accord were once thrown out of the Scottish game. The ban was initially ‘indefinite’ until it was commuted to a year’s suspension.
‘That is the year I came in,’ says Willie Quilter, now assistant secretary of the club, of the events of 1995-96 when a rammy over sick lines for players and a subsequent postponement proved to be the first shots in a war between Shotts and football authorities that ended up in the Court of Session.
‘It was quite the time,’ says Quilter, who mans the pie stall between answering queries about how precisely to insert a corner flag and the whereabouts of training poles. He is one of those Junior obsessives who does everything though will not say so.
Shotts and Darvel battle for possession at Hannah Park during the West of Scotland Cup tie
Darvel won 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Shotts last week
Shotts' Hannah Park, which was once one of the biggest pitches in Scotland
The case between Shotts and the Central Region of Scottish Junior Football Association and, ultimately, the Scottish Football Association started with the postponement of a Bon Accord match against Thorniewood on December 31, 1994. Eight Shotts players submitted ‘sick lines’, the match was called off and a stooshie unfolded. The Central Region then instigated disciplinary action.
The case slowly increased in acrimony. It was presented to the Court of Session and then SFA was drawn into its web. Eventually, Shotts were found guilty by the football authorities of not “acting in the interests of the game”. The club was finally banned for a year, being re-admitted into the league on June 26, 1996. The national import of the case was to emphasise the inherent dangers of taking a sporting association to court and thus breaking the rule – written or unwritten – of challenging a sporting authority in another legal arena.
‘It was some time,’ says Quilter, somewhat unnecessarily. ‘We came back strongly though and quickly came back up the leagues, winning three titles in three years.’
He also points out a parochial feature of the time: ‘My dad belonged to Shotts and I was born in 1964 and started coming to games in 1968. I went to all the games. But I couldn’t get on the committee because I wasn’t from Shotts, didn’t have a Shotts postal address. I couldn’t even get a season ticket.’
He says: ‘I still have all the paperwork from the court case and I used to keep all the records and statistics from all the games.’ His immersion in the club is total.
‘I can’t get out of it,’ he says with a wry smile. He is known as the
