ONE village. Two Scottish cups. There is a warm reflection on a bracing Saturday as the sun descends on Blair Park.
The park is in the heart of Hurlford, a village of some 4,000 with an extraordinary, almost certainly unique, sporting history. In the summer of 2014, the Thistle Bar had two trophies above its gantry: the Scottish Junior Cup and the Scottish Amateur Cup. Both had been won by local teams, the former by Hurlford United, the latter by Hurlford Thistle. Survivors of both victories were at Blair Park on Saturday as United faced more setback than triumph.
Thistle are no more, and share the fate of so many amateur clubs. United fight on in the West of Scotland League Premier Division, knowing that success may come more from weathering the storm than winning trophies in the short term against so many better-funded opponents.
Hurlford United take on Troon in the serene surroundings of Blair Park
Hurlford United supporters enjoy a refreshment during half time at Maggie’s bar
Ross Robertson gives Hurlford United a late consolation goal
Wullie Hamilton stands behind the goals. He looks inconspicuous, he doesn’t shout to announce his presence. But his actions speak louder than any words. He and his wife, Morean, own Hamilton Tarmac. They also jointly own the Thistle Bar where trophies once adorned the gantry. Their sponsorship was vital to Thistle and now keeps United going. There are stories around the clubhouse about how hard it is to go to a local sporting event and not find evidence of Hamilton’s generosity.
He waves this off calmly. His only foray into the world of sporting glamour is to tell the story of how he saw Thistle win the 2014 Scottish Amateur Cup final.
“I’m a big F1 fan,” he says. “So I was in Monaco. I set up cameras at Rugby Park and they streamed the action to me there.”
A week later he was at Rugby Park to watch United beat Glenafton 3-0 to win the Scottish Junior Cup. ‘Yeah, it was back to the bar and the two trophies were on display,’ he says. ‘That will never be topped on any night, at least from what I remember.’
At 60, he explains his motivation for his generosity: ‘I was born and raised in Hurlford. This is where I come from. If you are in a fortunate position, you give back to the village.’
His significance to the village extends beyond just the sports fields or the gyms he sponsors, including weightlifting.
“We employ quite a few people, 90 plus. But at least 20 to 30 come from the village. I like that you can take a guy from the village and he’s still with you 20 years later.”
His next adventure is to transform the village library into a community center. “I always have something to do,” he says.
On the sidelines, Darren Henderson has a lot to do. The Hurlford manager is simply a local hero. He joined the club from Glenafton in the 2013-14 season and ended the season by beating his former employers in the Scottish Cup final.
“The first year was crazy,” he admits. “But since then it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster.” Hurlford went on to reach another Scottish final, beaten by Auchinleck Talbot in 2018, and have appeared in six domestic semi-finals under Henderson’s reign.
But the pyramid system has been accompanied by an influx of money into what was once known as the Juniors. ‘It’s been a bit tough the last few years,’ admits Henderson. ‘This job used to be about putting a team together to win leagues and cups. Now it’s about trying to survive at the top level. I’ve lost a few players. I don’t blame the lads. What some of the Junior lads are getting now, I didn’t get when I was playing.’
Hurlford manager Darren Henderson in his office before kick-off
Danielle (left) and Roberta enjoy a moment of calm before the storm at Blair Park’s cake stall
Maggie Minford behind the supporters bar at Blair Park, Hurlford
Henderson, who won titles as a player with both Ayr United and Stranraer, added: ‘If a lad can go away and earn two or three hundred dollars a week, you’ve just got to wish him luck.’
He points out that there are players in the WoFL Premier Division who could play in the SPFL Championship. He is not shying away from the challenge and admits he still loves his job.
‘When I first came here I thought it would take 10 or 12 years to find a team that could win the Scots. We won it straight away. I hope it can change that quickly again.’
His father was at that cup final. “He said it was the best day of his life,” says Henderson, who points out that Jay, his son who is now at Ayr United, was also at Rugby Park. “Those are the days that stay with you,” he says. But he is not content to dwell on the past.
“I loved a fight as a player,” he says. “This year will be the biggest fight since I’ve been here, but there’s still fire in my belly.”
THE passion burns in others too. Maggie and Billy Minford are two volunteers who are crucial to the running of the club. Maggie sticks her head out of the trailer that doubles as a bar and allows herself a few minutes to chat.
“Nine years ago I was asked to help out at the Pie Hut and here I am,” she says. At 66, she arrives at the field on game day at 8:30 a.m. and leaves around 6 p.m. “I run the bar, do a bit of cleaning, I’ve done a bit of painting and sometimes I do the comics,” she says. “I do everything except pick the team.”
Her husband, Billy, is the groundsman. “There used to be about six of them, but I’m the last one standing,” he says. He took the job in the season he won the Scottish Cup and, at 69, he’s at the park at least five days a week.
The pitch is a tribute to him and his work. “It’s very rewarding,” he says. He used to be an engineer and says everything he learned about pitching came from advice from others or from searching the internet.
His motivation is simple. ‘I’m a Hurlford man, my dad was on the committee, my brother played for Hurlford, I used to come here as a boy to watch games before I started playing myself.
Clark Nicol also first stepped onto the pitch as a boy. He is now club secretary and treasurer. ‘I was about six or seven when I first came here,’ he says. ‘These were simpler times, when young lads could leave their house on a Saturday and come to the football on their own, where they would meet their mates.’
Nicol moved from the village at the age of 17 to study and then work in Germany. Now 62, he is retired from a career in IT and spends much of his time with Hurlford United.
The committee is small, consisting of four men. ‘You can ask and ask and ask, but you can’t force people to help you. If you convince someone, they will only last a year, because they didn’t really want to do it in the first place.’
One of his fellow committee members is John Bracki, who has a history with Thistle. ‘Willie Hamilton asked me to help out with Thistle in 2007 and we won the Scottish Cup twice,’ he says. ‘I remember 2014 well. One week the town was blue and yellow for Thistle and then it was red and white for United. You just never forget that.’
It’s new for John Garroch too. He was Henderson’s assistant when United won the Scottish Cup but has now stepped down. ‘You need new blood and they’re doing a fantastic job,’ he says of the coaching set-up. ‘But I remember the great days very well.’
He now does a bit of scouting for the club, but on matchdays he is content to help serve tea and coffee. He is a symbol of the lifeblood of football in the village. Heroes sometimes don’t score dramatic winners, but come with sponsorship, a lawnmower, a paintbrush or a kettle and a plate of sandwiches.