Albion Rovers: What is lost when a football club is relegated?

Implicit in this outreach work is an acknowledgement that local people have kept Albion Rovers in existence for 141 years. “This club means a lot to the people of Coatbridge; it’s part of their identity,” says Boyd. He produces his own homespun epigram. “Albion Rovers must be part of the community; not apart from it.”

READ MORE: Neil Findlay: Every day was like trench warfare in Scottish Labour

Yet, for the first time in 100 years Albion Rovers are now menaced by another form of social isolation. Defeat last month by The Spartans on the final day of the season has cast them to the margins of Scotland’s senior football leagues for the first time in a century. Cut off from the financial umbilical cord of the Scottish League’s financial support they now face an uphill struggle for long-term survival.

Just three years ago, as Covid-19 commenced its insidious westwards creep across Europe, the community was marking a happier centenary in the history of the club. One hundred years after Albion Rovers had started playing at Cliftonhill an exhibition of photography and memorabilia at the Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life had chronicled their stalwart history.

At the heart of the exhibits was a grotto bearing the memories of the biggest day in the club’s history: April 17, 1920. More than 95,000 had attended Hampden Park to see Albion Rovers, who had finished bottom of the league, perform heroically before succumbing 3-2 to the much more fancied Kilmarnock. In the semi-final the wee Rovers had recorded their finest ever victory, a 2-0 triumph over the mighty Glasgow Rangers.

Albion Rovers: Picture: Ian MacLean (Image: free)

This week, Ronnie Boyd was reaching for optimism while still struggling to deal with what he describes as “the blackest day in our history”.

Even at repose, an old football arena encased in wooden terraces, still has the power to enthral. As a youth, you’d have parked all your dreams of earthly ambition to play football in a place like this.

We’re sitting in the lounge beneath a stand lined with seats salvaged from the demise of Third Lanark in the early 1960s. Ronnie is determined that his Rovers won’t meet with the same fate as the old club from Glasgow’s south side.

“We’re all still experiencing feelings of shock, disbelief and despair at losing our senior league status,” he says. “Year one will probably offer us our best chance to get back. We’ll have a decent parachute payment and entry to the Viaplay League Cup, which will guarantee us around £24,000.

“But we know that there are clubs like East Kilbride spending a lot of money to gain entry to the senior leagues, while excellent and well-resourced junior clubs like Linlithgow Rose, Tranent and Bo’ness lie in wait.

“We’ve always been a small club in a town where most people will migrate each week to watch Celtic. So far, we’ve survived on crowds averaging around 300.

“But it’s vital that Albion Rovers survives financially, both for its reputation and for the benefits to the local community. The Supporters' Trust will do all we can to help.”

READ MORE: Glasgow Tigers: Putting heart back into hardscrabble Glasgow district

I venture the optimistic wish that more locals might rally round and start attending matches in this, the club’s hour of direst need. “You’d like to think so,” says Ronnie. “We had a full house of 1400 when we played Spartans on the last day of the season. A lot of them were people I hadn’t seen here for years. But we know also that long-established senior clubs like East Stirling, Cowdenbeath and Brechin City have struggled to make it back up to the top tiers.”

Next door to us is the Jock Stein lounge, named after the greatest Scottish football manager of all time. In the 1950s, Stein had played for Albion Rovers before moving to Wales and then on to Celtic where he’d begin his journey towards footballing immortality. As such, this little club’s fortunes are woven into the fabric of the green and white hoops.

“The fate of the club also has ramifications for our various community outreaches, so it’s vital that we source funding by other means. So far, we’ve had great support from local businesses. And McDonald’s actually approached us when they saw how much work we were doing in the community.

He rhymes them off: the walking football group; the Men’s Shed Association; the memories group (for those living with dementia) and a club for people with learning difficulties.

Albion Rovers: Picture: Ian MacLean (Image: free)

“Coatbridge, like other working-class areas, has encountered many challenges in the post-industrial age and these have been exacerbated recently by the effects of the pandemic. We see it as part of our mission to help tackle the problems of social isolation.”

Behind the away terrace sits a converted cabin which is now the twice-weekly home of the Coatbridge Men’s Shed Association. It seeks to provide a welcome for men experiencing loneliness or social isolation. They welcome me in and speak freely about how this twice-weekly refuge has made a positive difference in their lives. And how Albion Rovers have been a life-saver for them.

“This club has been good to us,” says Jim Gallagher. “They don’t charge us any rent. It gives some people who are maybe struggling a bit to have tea and a chat and make new friends. Some of the men have trade and professional skills which they’ve utilised to help out with some maintenance and repair work at the stadium. We’ve been very lucky to land here. Even if it makes a difference to just one or two people then it’s worthwhile."

There are six of them and their discourse is punctuated by the spartan and unsparing wit found in this type of west of Scotland environment. You soon get up to speed, though. There’s no room for sentimentality or self-obsession. Each apparent jibe and insult is code for “you matter”. In these exchanges perhaps are happy memories of old workplaces evoking rough camaraderie.

Down by the side of the pitch, beneath an old grandstand clothed in the red and yellow livery of Albion Rovers is the walking group. Around 25 sprightly senior citizens are babbling away like pupils on school sports day. They’ll walk five laps of the pitch. They’ll pass terraces with their old wooden sleepers still intact which once held a record crowd of more than 27,000.

They’re under the guidance of Ross Paterson, the community development officer funded by the SPFL Trust. “It’s profoundly uplifting to witness the zest for life that these men and women have,” he says. “And it’s brilliant that a club like Albion Rovers with its own challenges provides the space and opportunity for them to do this.

“This is when you see what a thriving local football club means to the people of its own community. So many Scottish football clubs emerged from communities like this and still belong to them. They provided solace and an escape through some really tough times and through wars and it’s great that they’re continuing to do this by supporting these community groups.

“Sometimes it’s something as simple as keeping in touch with people and just checking in with them. It’s so simple, but so vital.”

Multiple deprivation in the Coatbridge area is considerably higher than the national average with more than 44% of people in its catchment area included in Scotland’s most deprived 20% of neighbourhoods. Health deprivation is also noticeably higher than the national average, while life expectancy is below the national average for both men and women.

Yet, with a modest budget, the Albion Rovers Community Trust runs 11 projects and funding programmes. The hours and services provided by its staff and volunteers far exceeds in monetary value what the numbers on its balance sheet tell you.

If they’re all to continue to survive then this storied old football club must find a way back to the senior leagues. And it’s maybe time for the community that benefits from its big heart to keep it beating by turning up at more games.