Darvel 2 Johnstone Burgh 3
It’s only 23 months since Darvel defeated Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup, but the club’s journey since then has had its share of trials.
John Gall, a major financier and supplier of the Killie pie, has left the club, although his continued generosity makes his celebrated meat and pastry products a continuing gift to the club coffers.
However, from a budgetary perspective, the years of abundance are history in this part of Ayrshire. Darvel are bottom of the West of Scotland Premier League, albeit with games in hand for every other side in the division.
To illustrate the changing fortunes of football, the Ayrshire team face a battle to remain in the top division of Scottish football’s sixth tier, while Aberdeen players defeated on that famous January evening in 2023 become the man of won the match in a Champions League draw (Liam Scales for Celtic) and another went to La Liga for over £6 million (Bojan Miovski to Girona).
The fate of football is intriguing to chart, but also impossible to predict. However, there are some certainties. Resilience at clubs can be found in the work of volunteer fans. The Darvel story resonates with this humble property amid the glitter of astonishing pieces of silverware that line the bar in a hospitality suite.
Darvel may have ended last season with the news of a major benefactor’s withdrawal, but they also won the Scottish Junior Cup and the West of Scotland Cup. Both sit in front of the massive crowd of pintswillers and pie gobblers as the club prepares to meet Johnstone Burgh in the fifth round of the Scottish Junior Cup.
Lilian Mair and daughter Ainsley with the Scottish Junior Cup and the West of Scotland Cup
Darvel fans will enjoy Saturday’s fifth round clash with Johnstone Burgh in the Junior Cup
Supporters Caroline McIntyre and Derek Steven got engaged to the club two weeks ago
Lilian Mair circles both as she serves the punters. The room contains a couple who recently got engaged there – a candidate for the validity of that cliché, the romance of the cup – several former players and a vibrant group of lads from a Galston boys’ club, who will be mascots and ball. guys.
But Lilian’s story is perhaps the most moving.
“I came here after my husband died,” she says of her role as head caterer and bottle washer at Darvel FC. Her husband, Sandy, is remembered on a bench in a corner of the ground, beneath the Sammy Cox Memorial, a tribute to the Darvel boy who became a great Ranger. Sandy was a tireless supporter of the Vale.
His family has honored that legacy. “I’m very busy here,” Lilian says, somewhat unnecessarily, as drinks are poured and food is served. ‘Yesterday we had a funeral here and today we have a match. Tomorrow Santa Claus will come for the children and there will be another competition on Tuesday.’
Her daughter, Ainsley, is helping at the bar and another daughter, Stacey, is in the pie hut. Her 18-month-old granddaughter, Lily, sits at the bar, dwarfed by the Scottish Junior Cup but flashing a bright smile for everyone.
“This all means so much to me,” Grandma says. “When my husband died, of course I came here and volunteered – we’re all volunteers here – and it takes up a big part of my life now. I am grateful for that. I am now retired and the club fills up a large part of my time. I was here from eight o’clock this morning. But I love it.”
She is a great example of the club’s bond with the community. The children’s party is part of that commitment, but so are the bags of food that are dumped at her feet for the less fortunate families in Darvel.
“This is what we’re all about,” she says, though she fondly recalls some of the heroics on the field. Winning the Scottish Junior Cup caused festive scenes in the city, but that victory over Aberdeen is still fresh in the memory. ‘I couldn’t sleep for a week before that, and you can imagine how much work we put into it. But evenings like that are wonderful,” she says.
Darvel and Johnstone Burgh in action in the fifth round cup match
Fans shout encouragement as the teams compete in the Junior Cup
Johnstone Burgh celebrates a goal on his way to eliminating the cup holders
There is also an element of wonder in the story of Derek Steven and Caroline McIntyre. “This is where we had our first date,” says Derek. ‘I’m a big romantic. It was a year ago and we got engaged here two weeks ago. I wasn’t quite down yet, but she said yes, so that’s the most important thing.’
Caroline was not a football fan when she made her debut on the terraces of the Recreation Park. But she is now.
“We’re here for every home game and we go to as many away games as we can,” she says. ‘I think I surprised everyone with the way I got into football. I’m really enjoying it now.’
The couple reached both cup finals last season and their bond with the club may be further strengthened.
“We’re having the engagement party here,” Derek says. “We’re even thinking about having the wedding reception here.”
They sit in front of a window overlooking a beautiful green lawn. The field is impressive. It is largely the work of Stephen Hultman, the groundsman. “It looks good,” he admits. ‘I work with it a few days a week, because I am now retired. I started this because I followed the team after I retired from football, and when they said they needed helpers, I volunteered. Then I was chosen as groundskeeper.’
As a former youth player at Ayr United, he went on to play at Hurlford. “I don’t tell that to everyone,” he says of the rivalry between the local teams.
‘I’ve been doing the pitch for four years, so it keeps me busy. It was great to see Aberdeen get beat on it,” he said.
Some fans have a perfect view of Saturday’s cup match
The Darvel players are under the spotlight before the match with Johnstone Burgh
Darvel (in black strip) was eventually defeated 3-2 by their visitors
One of his former Hurlford teammates sits at an adjacent table. Sam Murray, now 76, remembers also playing for Darvel. “There was a guy down there on the corner,” he says, pointing to a spot near the corner flag. ‘When I initially came here he insulted me because I was a former Hurlford player. But when I started scoring the goals, he started to think I was doing well.”
Murray played senior football at Queen of the South and Stranraer, but his affection for the Junior game is strong. ‘I go to a match every week. I’m mainly trying to see Hurlford, but they’re away today, so that’s why I came here.”
As the lounge fills, Robert Anderson, club president, makes his rounds. He was only given the position three months ago at the annual general meeting and appreciates its significance at a time of transition.
“This is a time to move forward with purpose,” he says. ‘This is a club for Darvel folk, run by Darvel folk. This is a community club. There is a price to pay for that in terms of hard work.”
A former head of HR at Glasgow City Council, he was born and raised in Darvel. “I retired two years ago and this has been great for me.”
He has laid out a short-term strategy in the wake of Gall’s departure. “We need to get about halfway up the table and maintain our Premier League status,” he says. ‘We have been involved in so many cups that we have matches planned. So that is the objective at the park.’
He also points out that while Darvel has been ‘intensely ambitious’ in the past, the club now ‘must suck our horns and become a more sustainable club. Now it’s about stability.’
In the longer term? ‘We have a fantastic committee here with hardworking volunteers. We have the core of a good team on the park. We have a great story here and we need to sell it. We need to take that into the community and the rest of the world. We need to broaden our appeal. This is a proud place and we should celebrate that,” he added.
However, it was Johnstone Burgh’s supporters who cheered the loudest at full-time. They advance to the sixth round of the Scottish Junior Cup after coming back from two goals down to win 3-2.
That glittering trophy will not be on a Darvel bar next season. However, the volunteers will still be there. That is a football story that fortunately never changes.