Highland Odyssey Part 1.

15/05/2010 by leo.

In 1987 and 88, I started my season with trips to the Highland League. The Highlanders started earlier than the English Leagues, and with midweek matches added, I managed to pick up seven grounds on the tours. But since then, I have only been that far north on one occasion, flying up to Inverness to see the last ever game at Inverness Thistle before they merged with Caledonian and joined the Scottish League. Having also done Thistle, plus Elgin and Ross who have also moved into the Scottish League, I have visited only four of the current members of the League.

The reasons for ignoring the league are multiple – I started working in London, which made Scotland a less appetising prospect, but most of all because this was the time I discovered Europe. Keith was my 1000^th ever ground, and the third of four on the 1988 trip. Ground no. 997 was the Parc des Princes in Paris and ever since I have travelled for my holidays. Incidentally, while I don’t think I have ever seen a Frenchman playing in the Highland League, a Scotsman (Eric Black) scored in that first European match.

And so, 22 years after the last time I had driven this far, and sixteen after my last visit, I am back in Scotland for a long weekend. The drive up was a lot easier than last time. Once I had negotiated the local roads to reach the motorway, it was dual carriageway all the way to Inverurie, except for crossing the River Dee onto the Aberdeen ring road. While this short section did not cause me a delay, the ring road itself was the only real hold up on my trip. Inverurie turns out to be end of the dual carriageway, with a traffic jam starting on the main road at the point where I turned off for the town.

Despite it being all dual carriageway (and do not try to count the number of speed cameras between Dundee and Aberdeen), the road network in Scotland is not what is should be – I cannot think of a single other city in Western Europe of Aberdeen’s size, that is not connected to the motorway network, or even has a decent by-pass. If the Scottish parliament is supposed to be counteracting the failure of the UK government to invest in the furthest off regions, then one must wonder if it is doing it’s job?

The Highland League is almost a misnomer – the area it covers includes the Scottish Highlands, especially the Grampians, but most of the teams are in lowland locations between the Grampians and the East and North coasts. Inverurie is just a dozen miles from Aberdeen and appears to be an uninspiring town. The buildings are of the grey granite familiar to those who have visited Aberdeen – there are only a few B&B’s and I was the only guest at the one I stopped at. Notably, there is no mention of anything in Inverurie or close by, in the guides to attractions provided at the guest house.

The local football club, Inverurie Locomotive Works were founded in 1903 and have spent most of their time as a Junior club. One must remember that in Scotland, Junior Football is neither a reference to age group or standard, but has an entire structure rivalling the Senior set ups, including the best semi-professional teams in Ayrshire and the Glasgow area. In the North, though – the Highland League has always provided the best football. In 2001, Locos took the chance to switch to Senior football and the Highland League. This has provided a degree of success, as they have three times been runners-up in their new surrounds, and added the League Cup and Qualifying Cup twice apiece. (The qualifying cup is played primarily to qualify for the Scottish Cup, but the last few teams also continue their own knock out to a final). Somewhere in the mists of time, they have lost the motive from their name and are now officially listed as Inverurie Loco Works.

Hathaw Park. Note both teams play in change colours, while the officials have a garish yellow strip!

The visitors, Formartine United are one of three clubs to have joined the Highland League this season. Like Locos, all of the trio have transferred from Junior football. Formartine have had the best opening season, lying in 7^th place, two above the Locos. Not only are they the closest rivals to Inverurie, but they have a reputation for having more money to spend then their rivals. The management team is ex Locos, and over half the team has also played for Inverurie, many as recently as last season. This has led to a little bad feeling and some accusations of poaching players. But of course, these things are the lifeblood of football, and no doubt helped to draw a crowd of 792 to Hathaw Park.

The Locos home ground is less than a mile from the centre of town and much of the area between the railway station and the ground was once taken up by the said Locomotive Works. Only a couple of sheds remain, with much of the site now given over to a large Tesco’s store. I would guess that the Loco Works was the major industrial site leading to the growth of the town, while now it acts mainly as a dormitory town for Aberdeen. The ground is neat and tidy and has clearly been much improved in recent years. It has relatively small areas of cover on both sides, one given over to seats, and one to standing. The standing enclosure is certainly a new addition. Dressing rooms and a clubhouse are behind the goal at the top end, where the crowd enters and leaves. The ground slopes down a little with a small industrial concern behind the lower goal, and the railway hidden behind this. Much of the fencing is also clearly new. Next to the ground is another pitch, also railed off, with a small amount of cover provided at the entrance to the dressing rooms. The sign announces this as Colony Park, and this club, which is mainly for youth teams, acts as a feeder to the locos.

Colony Park – next door to Hathaw Park, Inverurie

It was £7 to watch the game, and £1 for the programme, which I assume was a reduced size as the printed cover showed a £2 charge. The game quickly became a formality – Formartine opened the scoring after just eight minutes, when their top scored, Barry Somers was given the ball in space on the edge of the area. Two minutes later, the Locos were reduced to ten men as centre half Michael Morrison was given a red card. I assume he went into the challenge studs up, although I could not tell from my angle. The referee applied the sanction without hesitation. The closest the home side came to scoring was on 20 minutes, when they hit the bar, and Formartine scrambled to keep the ball out, but two minutes on, Somers was left unmarked to head in the second goal. Although Locos always tried to make a game of it, Formartine added two more in the second half – a superb strike by Alister Graham (one of the ex Loco contingent), and the completion of Somers’ hat-trick.

Despite the large and assumedly partisan crowd (many were wearing colours representing both of the teams), I thought the atmosphere was quiet and restrained, with no grouping together of fans or chanting.

Those interested in visiting the Highland grounds may want to note speculation in the programme suggesting that the club may move from Harlaw Park to a new ground to be built at the Garioch Sports Centre. The area around the ground is likely to be used for more housing as the town expands.

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