East Stirlingshire 3-1 Whitehill Welfare
Scottish Lowland Football League
Ochilview Park
Saturday 7th April 2018
When I was first perusing fixtures, this one stood out as a good opportunity for me to see Whitehill Welfare without having to travel too far. When it was announced in the past week that it would also be East Stirlingshire’s last game at Ochilview it held even more of a pull. It’s a second Lowland League game in as many days.
The Venue
Ochilview is another old ground in central Scotland, being home to Stenhousemuir since opening in 1890. Like the other grounds of its era, it has undergone many facelifts and is unrecognisable from when it was first built.
The main feature of the ground is the 626 seater main stand, opened in 1996. It is known as the Norway Stand, due to a sponsorship with the Stenhousemuir Norwegian Supporters’ Club. The story of that particular group is one for another day. The stand houses the changing rooms and toilet facilities, as well as a hospitality area. The large roof is a fantastic shelter from the elements. The only other side of the ground used for spectators is the terracing behind the goals at the Tryst Road end, which has a large enclosure almost the entire area. With the standing areas on both sides of the stand also added in, the capacity is 3,746.
The pitch is a FIFA approved two star 3G, and there are also smaller sided community pitches behind the goals at the east end of the park. I wish I’d managed to see the ground when the famous “Doll’s House” stand was still there, but it’s still a fantastic place to watch football, and I’m glad to have been here on a somewhat historic day.
The Teams
East Stirlingshire were founded in 1881, and were first elected into the Scottish football League in 1900. Most of their existence has been spent in the SFL and it’s successors, but there’s an undercurrent of turbulence that rears it’s head at several times throught The Shire’s history. Following World War II, Shire were one of the clubs that were denied re-entry to Division Two, and became founder members of the C Division, alongside several reserve teams. The club were promoted back into Division Two two years later, but after being relegated and finding the C Division abolished,were forced to play in regional leagues for six years until the SFL expanded in 1955. In 1964, the club merged with junior side Clydebank to become ES Clydebank, and were moved to the Dunbartonshire town. A legal challenge from Shire shareholders saw them move back to Falkirk after one season, with both clubs retaining a place in the league.
Recent years saw Shire frequently finish bottom of the Scottish Football League including five consecutive seasons from 2002-03 to 2006-07. Two third place finishes in 2008-09 and 2009-10 gave Shire fans hope, but they never finished higher than eighth again, and had the indignation of becoming the first club to be relegated to the Lowland League at the end of 2015-16, losing the relegation playoff 2-1 on aggregate to Lowland League champions Edinburgh City. They finished second in their first season in the Lowland League behind East Kilbride, and sit third this season, with just two games remaining. Sir Alex Ferguson began his managerial career at the club, who at the time played at Firs Park in Falkirk. They left Firs Park at the end of the 2007-08 season, citing that the refurbishment costs would have been prohibitive. This is a controversial topic for Shire fans and I’ll leave it for another time, because it’s a rabbit hole of a story to get into. Since 2008, the club have shared Ochilview with neighbours Stenhousemuir, but today is Shire’s last fixture here, as they will move home to Falkirk from next season as tenants at the Falkirk Stadium.
I mentioned when watching their Under 20 team last week that I have a longstanding history with Whitehill Welfare. When living in Bonnyrigg a few years back, I started going to games along the road in Rosewell, and ended up joining their committee for a few years. I was there at the exciting time when they were accepted as founder members of the Lowland League, and enjoyed several trophy wins in my time at the club. Since moving back west, I’ve seen them precious few times, but have held the club close to my heart and keep a keen interest in their results and off the field goings on. Welfare were founded in 1953 as an Under 21 side. After 26 trophy laden years, the applied in 1979 to join the East of Scotland Football League, and were accepted as a senior club. Welfare went on to become the most successful club in the East of Scotland League’s history, winning the league in their first four seasons, going on to amass sixteen titles. Their last was the 2012-13 season, their last season in the league before being elected as founder members of the Lowland League.
Welfare have had tremendous cup success over the years, winning an incredible 46 cups as members of the East of Scotland and Lowland Leagues, as well as numerous trophies when competing in juvenile football. Welfare are probably best known for their 1996 Scottish Cup 3rd Round match at “home” to Celtic. The game was played at Hibs’ Easter Road in front of over 13,000 spectators. After finishing fourth in the inaugural Lowland League season, Welfare have found themselves frequenting the mid table in the league. Gary Small is the club’s current manager, and after having to assemble a new squad from scratch last summer, the club have been stuck in the bottom half of the table. Due to the ridiculous winter though, Whitehill have games in hand over most of the teams around them, and will be confident of doing enough to guarantee survival, even if a second relegation place opens up. I’ll be writing about Whitehill on a semi-regular basis on here and look forward to sharing more of this fantastic club’s history.
The Game
The game started tentatively, with neither side really getting a foothold on the game in the early stages. Whitehill had the first real venture forward with about seven minutes played as Robbie Carter attacked down the left hand side, but the chance fizzled out. Shire were next on the front foot after thirteen minutes when a free kick wide on the left was floated onto the head of Steven Brisbane, whose attempt slipped inches wide of the post. A couple of minutes later, Scott Lucas sent a ball through searching for Josh Morris, but Shire keeper Jamie Barclay was quick off his line to intercept. Morris forced Barclay into a good save after twenty minutes, and Steph Murray came close from the resulting corner.
The game was swinging back and forth, and after a good spell from Welfare, Shire took a bit of control back. The home side were awarded a free kick right on the edge of the box with 29 minutes played when Ryan McKenzie was adjudged to have brought down Brisbane. Andy Rodgers’ free kick was struck just wide of the post. Three minutes later, Shire attacked again through Drew Ramsay, but he was forced wide by the Welfare defence, and by the time he worked the ball to Rodgers the chance had gone. With half time approaching though, Shire were handed a golden opportunity to take the lead when Ryan McKenzie brought down Rodgers in the box. The Shire captain picked himself up and dispatched the penalty with aplomb to give the home side the lead going into the break.
Shire started the second half buoyed by taking the lead just before the break. Rodgers was causing problems for Welfare every time he ventured forward, and three minutes into the second half, he slipped a shot just wide of Ross Jardine’s post after latching onto Simon White’s pass. Rodgers did get his second goal of the game after fifty minutes though when he sent a wonderful chipped shot over Jardine just under the bar. It was a real piece of quality from the veteran striker, drawing applause from even the visiting supporters. Welfare introduced Fabio Neto shortly after the goal, and the big striker gave them a directness that had been lacking up to that point. With 54 minutes gone, he made a searching run past several Shire defenders, but couldn’t find the final ball.
Welfare were in the midst of a good spell, and Lucas forced Barclay into a decent save. From the resulting corner, Murray picked up the ball and drove into the box, where he went down under a heavy challenge from Andy Grant. Referee Gavin Ross pointed to the spot and Josh Morris sent his penalty into the bottom corner to equalise. Five minutes later Murray had a chance to score himself when Jack Wright was fouled just under 30 yards from goal, but the Under 20 captain fired the free kick well over the bar.
Any hopes of a Whitehill comeback were undone after 69 minutes when Graeme McGregor won the ball and fired a stunning strike past Jardine from the corner of the penalty area. The goal was the first of McGregor’s career and was met with jubilation from the home support. The goal killed the game off, and neither side was really able to create much in the closing stages. Steph Murray received a late red card after picking up a second yellow for dissent, and the dismissal sealed Welfare’s fate.
There wasn’t a great deal between the sides, especially in the first half, but two real moments of quality from Shire in the second half really were the difference. A great way for Shire to end ten years at Ochilview, and enough on show that Welfare should be confident of securing their Lowland League status in their remaining games.
The Pies
There must be something about this part of the country and fantastic snack bars. After the varied fare on offer at Alloa last night, I was treated to Stenhousemuir’s fantastic pie and other delights selection today. And I have to admit that I was a fat bastard and had two different pies today. Firstly their steak pie, pictured below, which was simply superb. You can probably see the flakiness of the pastry from the photo. I then decided to sample their chicken curry pie, and that was my best decision of the day. A delicious chicken curry, wrapped in the same flaky pastry. A very reasonably priced snack bar, and well worth a visit if you’re at Ochilview.
Admission: £8
Programme: I didn’t see any, but not sure if I just missed them.
Pie: £1.60 (Scotch) £2 (steak, macaroni, chicken curry)
Bovril: £1.50
Attendance: 176
Pies on the Terraces 