Clydebank: Old and new — Terrace Edition

Words: Reece Mullen

Images: Reece Mullen

A familiar tale to many football romantics: The big cup weekend, a marker stone in the football season.

The big teams enter and are faced with clubs from down the leagues, some from the depths of the pyramid.

The lowest ranked of them have been up and down the country to unfamiliar grounds in all climates and been put through the wringer on the pitch in hope of going as far as possible and bagging a glamour tie.

A familiar scene in England but in Scotland it’s only the last ten to fifteen years it’s truly been realised to its full potential. The expansion of the pyramid has swelled the Scottish Cup to record numbers of competing clubs.

And clubs like Auckinleck Talbot, Bonnyrigg Rose and Darvel have realised this dream, the latter producing one of the greatest cup shocks of all time by knocking out Aberdeen.

©Reece Mullen/ Terrace Edition. Clydebank FC fans in Edinburgh.

Clydebank FC and its incarnations really deserve their own chapter in Scottish football history. The previous club formed in 1965 after a controversial merger with East Stirlingshire failed.

The Bankies played in every league, were the final club of the legend Davie Cooper and one of the very few clubs to be sponsored by a band “Wet Wet” had their name over the kits.

The 90s brought the demise. The owners sold their stadium and eventually the club to a problematic owner in Dr John Hall whose proposal to move the Bankies to Dublin was contentious.

Groundsharing stints at Dumbarton and Greenock were not exactly good for retaining supporters.

The demise of fellow Scottish club Aidreonians also proved catastrophic for Clydebank as a new entity Airdrie United took over The Bankies and moved the club to Airdrie.

But the Clydebank supporters were not to be defeated, eventually forming a supporters’ trust in 2003 and relaunching the club as a fan-owned entity.

They competed in the Juniors and played in Duntocher before ground sharing with neighbours Yoker Athletic where they play today.

The club are now on the rise after moving en masse with the rest of their league to the pyramid and soon enough they successfully applied for their SFA Licence to move up the leagues and compete in the Scottish Cup.

Many of the older fans now believe the journey back to the big time is more real than ever. Their away day in Edinburgh was to them an early glimpse into the future.

A trip to Easter Road against the 2016 champions, Hibernian FC. Big time was back.

The Bankies get a fairly decent home crowd from four hundred to around the thousand mark on a good day.

But Leith was invaded with a 2,484 white, red and black army for this occasion. For some it was a first trip to Easter Road in 25 years, to the young ones it was another world away compared to the trips to Hurlford or Pollok.

The meeting spot, Middletons Bar was full to capacity. The pub across the road, thinking they’d get an easier Saturday were at panic stations in a pub full of punters from Clydebank where there was barely any room for breathing.

The longer time went on the more the pavements spilled over.

Police were ready for two o’clock when they could finally drop their containment and become escorts for the Bankies’ Corteo.

The young team ultras lead from the front followed by their da’s and auld grannies behind. Renditions of ‘Proud to be a Bankie’ and ‘We hate Airdrie’ rang loud as the fans crossed Crawford Bridge, the scene of many a battle in the peak of the Casuals scene.

They slowly filtered in to both tiers of the away stand as their players prepared for the tie. The home support was not so enthusiastic with around a third of them opting for a weekend off. Naturally the away end were themselves obliged to chant “What a shitey home support!”.

The teams came out with large roars from the away end. The Bankies players were accompanied by their children as their mascots. Both teams like equals paid tribute to one the greats. Denis Law taken from us the night before but his legacy an inspiration to those on the pitch.

The stage was finally set and the Bankies return to the big time was officially here...and over within two minutes. A missed header allowed Junior Hoilett to slot the ball across to Hibs captain Martin Boyle and the stuffing was already knocked out the Clydebank team.

Clydebank (at the time of writing) are top of the West of Scotland Premier Division, two promotions away from league football returning to Clydebank. But they were coming up against a Hibs side on a great bit of form and they want that form produced into a cup win.

Even so Hibs really didn’t make use of their dominance and allowed Clydebank some precious possession. Nicky Low was able to get their best chance, albeit it was far over the bar.

A couple subs for Hibs at half-time and it was straight forward as Molotnikov scored straight after the restart before Boyle got his second. Andy Leishman made a few great stops to save face.

Hibernian 3-0 Clydebank.

Darkness descended and Hibs were on the road for their first Scottish Cup in nine years, hoping it won’t be a 114 wait.

Clydebank’s match wasn’t pretty but the fact they even contested this game must be admired after the foundation of the phoenix club. It was only appropriate that when the players applauded the fans, when posing for a team photo, that their chairwoman and founding member of the UCS Trust, Grace McGibbon was there with them.

Clydebank’s rebirth has to be admired and shows how important our clubs are to our towns and communities.

The tie is just one milestone in an incredible rise from the depths. If they keep going the way they have the last twenty or so years then the big time will eventually come.

Today was just a glimpse.