The Man, The Myth, The Squib. Pt 2

Highs and lows of Central Park.

Previously with Marc Mckenzie: “Ochilview Memories”

Following his 10 year stint at Ochilview with East Stirlingshire, ‘Squib’ found another adopted home at Central Park where he had possibly his most prolific period of his career turning out for Cowdenbeath. Squib endured many successes with the ‘Blue Brazil’ winning promotion and bouncing back up to the first division at the first time of asking, then staying up the year after on the final day. Which he describes as “Just like winning a league title”

He spoke fondly of his time at Cowdenbeath to us, lifting the lid on how that squad achieved what they did after such a knock back.

“Initially when I joined Cowdenbeath, Danny Lennon was the manager at the time and they had just been promoted to the first division , so I’d went in and signed the deal on offer and Danny then left a few weeks later to take the St. Mirren Job and Jimmy Nicholl. This left me in a bit of limbo as i’d knocked a fair few offers back and I was left fighting for a deal with the new management team as they had their own ideas. We went away on pre season to Belfast and a tour of Northern Ireland and I trained hard and played the best I could so that I could prove myself again that I deserved to be there. Turned out that I’d impressed Jimmy Nicholl and i was then offered the contract that i had already signed with Danny Lennon which worked out perfectly.

“Being at Cowdenbeath was probably the best period of my career performance wise and that was mostly down to the team if im being honest and hard work and determination. It was hard we’d just been promoted into the first division at the time and we were one of the only part time teams in the league.

“In my first season there we got relegated, maybe because we couldn’t compete because there’s big money in that league and a lot of it, the standard was crazily high the time too.

“We had a good team though that season, maybe not in terms of quality but it was a good group of boys in terms of closeness and how tight knit we were off the field as well as on it and it showed on the pitch.

“After we’d been relegated Colin Cameron took over and he’d been the assistant the season before and he was someone who i got on with really well anyway so for me having him there as well as the chairman Donald Findlay was also a huge factor in me playing so well I think.

“I was really happy at Cowdenbeath as well which was the main reason i spent a good while there (five seasons) I was playing regularly, i was in good form I was scoring, the boys I travelled through with from Glasgow to Fife were brand new too, we got on really well so all of that added together to make it an extremely enjoyable experience for me.

“Colin Cameron and Donald Findlay were great with me especially and two people I got on with fantastically, two people i can consider good friends, Donald is someone i’m inregular contact with, may it be with personal matters regarding family or if he’s trying to convince me to go back!

“He’s probably one of the best chairman ive ever had and ive always been welcomed back. If i’m right in the home dressing room at Central Park there is a picture of myself, Colin and Donald all with the league trophy when we got promoted thats a cracker, we were all really tight and got on really well.

Marc is adamant the closeness of the squad was crucial to their league success

“Colin Cameron was brilliant with me, that season we won the league, I’d scored 24 goals playing wide right, so not even as your typical striker, I was coming in off the wing. He was desperate for me to stay and I was happy to sign a new deal with them.

“I mean I had been given some big offers from the likes of Dundee United to go full time and quite a few teams from England including Chesterfield who were in League One at the time who were offering me a full-time contract too, but I didn’t even have to think twice about staying at Cowdenbeath.

“I was perfectly happy to stay part-time and it would’ve had to have been a substantial deal to take me to full-time, as I was really enjoying my football, i’m lucky enough to have a really good job on the side of football that okay might not’ve paid as well as the full-time deal but with the contracts on offer that were maybe one or two years I couldn’t risk quitting my job as you never know what would happen and I had my two kids to think about too. Most importantly I was really enjoying my football.

“I probably had one of my greatest days of my career winning the league with Cowdenbeath. That day was just a blur, being able to celebrate and cap off an amazing season.

“Then we stayed up the year after in the First Division on the final day. I’d been told i was going to be kept on the bench that day as we were expecting to be preparing to negotiate the play offs, but Airdire were beating Dunfermline and we were beating Hamilton and they were down to 10 men that day so myself and Michael Moffat who has just won the league with Ayr scored in the second half after I’d came on and we stayed up. If I’m being honest it was like winning the league all over again it was a great feeling.

“A lot of teams had spoken to me whilst I was at Cowdenbeath and that’s football, but i was seriously enjoying myself. When we got relegated and I wanted to bounce back and give it another shot at the First Division.

“We were relegated on the final day but we had been down the bottom of the league scrapping for results most weeks. So personally i was gutted when we went down but the fans were great with me, they supported us right to the end. So i felt like i owed it to them to stay and help get them back up and thankfully we did.

Squib was keen to repay the fans for the previous season with some stellar performances.

“When we got back up again and we had again been scrapping i knew i owed it to the fans to stay and give it another crack, it didn’t work out as much as i’d hoped it would, I missed quite a lot of football that season with a bad injury playing in a game that I actually wasn’t supposed too, but anyone who knows me will tell you, I’d rather be playing in matches than train.

“I was playing in a reserve match against Stirling Albion funnily enough and the defender came in with a really bad tackle and i’d injured my knee. So I came back towards the final bit  of the season, Jimmy Nicholl was back in the fold and he said that I wasn’t going to feature as much as before and again it came down to me just wanting to play, I was fit and felt ready but I didn’t want to go back to not playing a regular 90 minutes so I transferred my contract to East Fife who were desperate for me to go there, so I went and played there for the rest of the season.

“It was sad that my time there had ended the way it did but I couldn’t fault anyone there, it’s a club I have a lot of time for and appreciate everything they’ve done for me, my family and my career.

Marc now has recently signed for Kilwinning Rangers, meaning he is now plying his trade in the juniors for a second year. After a frustating year at Arthurlie where he scored 24 goals in a team that finished bottom of the league, which caught the eye of many teams, junior and senior.

However Chris Strain JR was the man to win his signature and have him play in North Ayrshire this season. Squib believes he still has a few years in the tank left and hopes that he can stay in football after he hangs up his boots, starting with completing his ‘B’ license this coming year through the Professional Footballers Association.

JC enjoying early management life.

By Steffan Coutts

Fauldhouse gaffer Jon Connolly has performed at all levels and has been around the proverbial footballing block, he’s ‘a well kent face’ on social media and is affectionally known as JC to everyone who knows him and his lovable rogue character.

But his hardest challenge to date has been transforming from goalkeeper to player-manager to all out boss after taking over the Hoose reins at the tail end of the 2016-17 season as they were on the verge of relegation to the East Premier League.

JC transformed from shot-stopper to manager in less than six months

Fast forward a year and the 37-year-old former stopper has risen to all challenges and defied the odds to secure promotion back to the East Super League after just a season away.It’s been an impressive maiden season for JC and his underdogs with the securing of promotion, and progress in the three major cup competitions that was cruelly ended by just the one goal in each match, which shows how fine the margin is at this level.

And now the season is over JC has had some time to reflect on the past year and how it has affected him as a person on and off the field.He told GoalmouthScramble:

“I’ve enjoyed my first full season in charge and it’s new to me and the coaching staff and what I’ve noticed is my own full-time job has taken a wee bit of a back seat.

“I used to hear gaffers saying do this and that and it’s a 24/7 job and I thought ‘aye right, no bother’, but it is and you deal with everything and everyone and it’s challenging.

“To be fair I’ve been speaking to other gaffers like Pollok FC’s Tony McInally and Mark Cameron who has been different class and when I took the job came in and helped with training and gave me pointers.

“I have some good contacts who I speak to every week and they’re at the top end of the game and very supportive and I can’t complain as every little helps.

“And looking back everything I’ve been through has taken a while to sink in because I’m quite stubborn but I’ve a new appreciation for managers as everything is 24/7 –  I’m lucky as my family is very supportive and so is my manager from my job.

“I’m looking to do my badges next season as well as it’s a requirement and it may help me further down the line if I want to do something else.

“We’re looking at the bigger picture as Fauldhouse are now in the top league and when you look at the bigger picture then we’re trying to strengthen for the next challenge.

“Now we’re back in the top league it’ll be a lot easier to attract better players to the club plus we’ve got quite a few players travelling some distance to get to View Park.

“We know what we need and how we get about it I mean last pre-season was a nightmare as I started with three players and we just let the rest go then brought the rest in.

“To do that and achieve promotion to the top flight in our first attempt and when you strip everything back is some achievement for the club.

“Planning for this season was done and we we’ve played on the park is that we’re a team full of energy that likes to get the ball down and knock it sharp and it’s worked.

“The club gave me a five year deal and that’s the first year of it completed and I’d say we’re a wee bit ahead of where we wanted to be and to be honest we didn’t think we would win the league but second was obtainable.

“And to finish with automatic promotion considering with what we’ve had to do by stripping everything right back including me coming out of retirement to play in goals is some achievement.”

Junior football:

“You don’t know which way the Junior game is going to go now as it’s a touchy subject but the game could do with an injection of new blood to freshen things up after the shake up.

“We looked at the situation and to be honest the travelling is not ideal to stay in the Super League but you’re going into something that’s unknown.

“So we’ll let the other teams jump and we’ll go into the Super League no problem and I actually see them leaving giving us an opportunity to do something and that’s not just staying up but making a difference.

“With what I’ve got here and what I can bring in I’m looking to progress and if you win that league next season then you’re straight into the Scottish Cup – the teams that have left need to wait years before they can even do that now.

“To be fair to us we had the chat about staying or leaving but staying gives us a chance to do something within the Junior game and try to make Fauldhouse a bigger club and a bigger name in the game.”

The man, The Myth, The ‘Squib’

Ochilview memories…

Marc ‘Squib’ McKenzie is ‘just a wee guy from the east end who’s living any kids’ dream.’ He’s a man who can boast a football career spanning over 10 years with plenty left in the tank despite being branded as ‘too small’ as a child.

Growing up kicking a ball around in the streets with his pals until it got dark or when his Mum had enough and called him as it was getting late – he didn’t need a ball, anything he could kick into a pair of goalposts he would.

The midfielder lived and breathed football. Starting off at Raith Rovers with a short spell at Livingston led to a successful period in Coatbridge with Albion Rovers allowed him to make a name for himself in the SPFL.

Following his first spell at Albion he then found his new adopted home at East Stirlingshire where he would spend five years at Ochilview under Jim McInally and Gordon Wild .

He said: “East Stirlingshire was a great club, honestly it was, not many thought it at the time as they’d been at the bottom of the leagues for a few years, but when I joined them Spencer Fern was the chairman at the time with Gordon Wild as the manager, he’d put a bit of money in and they’d kicked on and worked our way up the league which is when I’d came in.

“There’s a lot of good people at East Stirling, many of whom I still keep in contact with that includes many guys who are on the board.

“Robert Jack Is one of them, now he’s one of football’s good guys, there isn’t a thing I don’t think he hasn’t done at East Stirling, he’s a real gem of a guy who’s still involved in the club today.

“Although I’d played under three managers there I really enjoyed my football, but going into it I knew I really just had to prove myself to keep them happy because they’ll want to free up some wages and bring their own guys in, especially after Stenny, all I knew was that I would have to do all I could do to keep them happy after Gordon had left, cause although I thought I was good enough I also knew that I might not be their cup of tea either.”

But with change comes ideas and views that can make a major impact on a players career and despite not agreeing it may well be the best for both parties.

Squib explained: “When Jim McInally had come in I’d started 35 out of 36 games as a sub and I only missed the 36th for the birth of my daughter who was born on the final Saturday of the season.

“As any player will admit it is annoying just to be coming off the bench, you want to play but Jim was up front with me and didn’t sugar coat it he said I’d be coming off the bench every week which I was thankful for as he didn’t have to tell me.

“I knew that no matter how many I scored or set up I’d be on the side until there was 20 minutes to go the following week, which from his point of view worked perfectly.

“I was actually offered improved terms at the end of the following season which had surprised me from the way I was looking at it, but he’d obviously seen me as a valuable player for the way his team had worked.

“I really did enjoy my time at East Stirlingshire though. I was playing good football and have made a few good friends from my time there, may that be through playing or through interacting with fans.

“Unfortunately again I’d moved on purely on the basis that I wanted to start games. I couldn’t fault the people at East Stirlingshire at all.”

“Looking back on it, I’ve achieved what near enough every boy has done, over 300 senior appearances, scored goals wherever I’ve been and i was lucky enough to spend the majority of it at East Stirlingshire. I still see myself as a wee boy from the east end who was able to live his dream to a certain extent hence why im so grateful for everyone who’s helped me over the years.”

‘Squib’ now continues his junior adventure with Ayrshire side Kilwinning Rangers where he will hope to kick on after impressing with Arthurlie last season after scoring over 20 goals in his season at Dunterlie. Which attracted the attention of many junior and senior clubs. However Chris Strain Jr was the man to win the winger’s signature.

Squib is adamant he still has a good few years left in him yet.

New Beginings For Tin Pail

By Tom Scott

NEW Vale of Clyde manager Mark MacKay has revealed clinching a pre-season sponsorship deal

will help boost his efforts at reviving the image of the famous old Glasgow East End-based junior 

club.

With a history spanning over 140 years, the Tin Pail have been out of the limelight in recent seasons and

are now aiming to climb out of the West District Second Division under MacKay, who steps up from leading Red Star A.F.C. (Glasgow) to a treble in Saturday Morning Amateur Football.

The former Baillieston Juniors, Rob Roy, Lesmahagow, Blantyre Vics and Rutherglen Glencairn striker has praised his committee in securing much-needed sponsorship.

He said:  “MD Electrical Contractors Ltd are meeting the cost of players’ training kit, tracksuits and polo shirts,

which is absolutely fantastic.

“President John Morrison did all the groundwork and alongside the likes of Secretary Jim Wilson has been totally supportive in my efforts to raise the

profile of the club.

“We had a midweek meeting

recently involving management and committee, and a number of new people attended. It is just what Vale of Clyde need – new faces and fresh ideas.

“Hopefully, the arrival of MD Electrical Contractors, who will receive ground and media advertising as part of the deal, will spark interest from other companies to become part of our ambitious plans.”

Mark MacKay had 24 players available for the opening pre-season training session earlier this week and will run the rule over trialists when they meet

BSC Glasgow at Petershill Park on Saturday, Jun 21. Kick-off 2pm.

Return of the Craic

By Stefan Coutts

On Saturday 10 March 2018, solid stopper Paul O’Brien stepped onto the Dalziel Park artificial turf, looked around, breathed in the crisp air, set himself up, then made his debut for Thorniewood United under old hand James “Cotter” McKenna, and then played out the full game in a 4-1 win over Lanark United.

It may have been a friendly, but with their away match with Neilston postponed due to the weather, this was a Godsend to get the 32-year-old affable Irishman some game time under his belt and integrate with the squad.

Scottish non-league football is tough. It’s mud and glory with determined committees making sure they keep the wolves away from the door while trying to provide value for money and get folks through the gates, yet on the other hand, it’s a game that needs a massive overhaul if it’s to drag itself into the 21st century and not be left behind with the dinosaurs.

Yet despite signing on with Ashfield at the start of the season and hitting the floor running, he’d recently been out of the picture with broken ribs, but now he’s found himself with a familiar figure and on a short-term loan at Viewpark where his expertise is needed.

Although it was touch-and-go whether the move would go through but the softly spoken man from Cork, who used to glance across the changing rooms at Shane Long and Kevin Doyle, was pleased with the decision when it finally did.

He said: “I didn’t know what was happening as the deal didn’t go through with Thorniewood until midday (Sat 10 March 2018) and it’s class to be back with Cotter again – I’m so happy to have played the full 90 minutes and hopefully being back to my old self again.

“We played well so here’s hoping I get some game time there and try salvage a bit of the season and although it was just a friendly it’s a good 4-1 win over Lanark.”

O’Brien’s semi-pro, university and amateur football journeys, have taken him from his home in Cork to the west coast of America, the capital city Edinburgh and the largest city in Scotland, Glasgow, where he resides in the east end and now calls home.

He’s been in in our fair country for nearly a decade and has set down some roots, he’s got a steady job and is planning on marrying a Scottish girl in the summer after a massive ‘Stag Do’ in Malaga, of course.

But it’s Govan-based cult side Saint Anthony’s where he’s made his name after a stint in the amateurs before being spotted and pulling on the famous green-and-white hoops that so many legends have done so before him.

He explained: “I started playing under John Hughes, the Maryhill manager now, with Postal United and we had a fantastic team that won the league three times in a row with promotions and winning the top flight, it was good times with a fantastic bunch of lads.

“But like everything else, John moved on and the team was starting to get fragmented and that’s when Cotter came in and starting being a pest on Twitter – but that’s Mr McKenna for you!

“He’s a good guy but him and Davie Greig are two of a kind that would do anything for you, but Cotter brought me down to the Ants and used to collect me for training and games, and even when I was sick he would turn up at my door to bring me to the Ants.

“I had a few years at the Ants and was fortunate enough to get Players’ Player of The Year (2015-16) but then Cotter left with Tony Kane and Ronnie McDonald coming in as the management team last year.

“Last season we had all the tools and we beat all the favourites and we were flying but I still can’t put my finger on where it’s all went wrong and I still speak to Tony Kane about it as the plans we had just never materialised.”

The Ants have a rich Irish heritage running through the club’s veins, but O’Brien is keen to adapt as his own man and carefully downplays the links as they try to beat the side he joined this pre-season, in the race for promotion out of the McBookie West of Scotland League Central District Second Division.

He said: “I love the Ants, it’s a fantastic club with brilliant people but I’m a bit of a weirdo as I may be Irish but it’s my identity and I like to pave my own way, as I now live in Scotland and my partner is Scottish and my life is always going to be here.

“I still root for Ireland when we win at the rugby and qualify for tournaments but I try to develop and get more of Scotland into me and be a well-balanced person.

“John Doyle has came in and is doing excellent with them at the top end of the table and lot of the boys I came through with all left and I thought I would step on and went through to Ashfield and I’ve played games and even won Man of the Match, a goal on my debut and even set up one.

“But I was injured there for nearly three months with broken ribs which saw the boys go on a 10 game league and cup unbeaten run and I don’t have any arguments per se – I leave the Ants and they go top then I get injured and we go on a run, you can’t make this stuff up.”

One thing that troubles the big defender is the next step for the non-league game in Scotland with money seeming to be paradoxically the answer and the cause of the problem, however, he praised the Ants for the way they run a tight ship in uncertain times.

He said: “You’ve got look at the model Saint Anthony’s has as I used to pay into Friends of The Ants which is basically £10 per month to play like subs, no fancy boots, nothing handed to you, you worked for it and when you walked onto the park on a Saturday you play for the jersey.

“Times are tight just now and it’s difficult for any club as it’s a tough gig and you can see by the way things are going with trailists at training demanding money and you think, really? it’s a strange way but I’m delighted with the Ants as they don’t pay you money and they still compete.

“It’s tough for every Junior club and the battles that Saint Anthony’s are facing is the same with every team and I’m afraid for this level of football with the way things are going, but hopefully something comes along and gives it a kick that it needs.”

Although being with Thorniewood United in the short-term the Irishman has his eyes set on helping develop the next generation of stars as he looks beyond his playing shelf life and for a pair of comfy Copa Mundial’s in the dugout.

He said: “I’m feeling fit and looking to get another three or four years out of Junior football and then think about going for coaching badges as I’ve got an eye on the future, as you’re only one injury away from a career-breaker.

“I’d like to have my ‘C’ Licence next year then push on with the ‘B’ but I need to research it and see but I want to stay in football once I retire and try to give back to the game from what I’ve taken out of it over the years.

“It’s been a great journey so far and it’s been great and hopefully there’s a few more years left in the tank.”

A massive massive thank you to Saint Anthonys for letting us use the pictures!