After serving a combined tenure of over 100 years involvement with Montrose FC, the SPFL presented John Paton and Malcolm Watters with special medals to mark their outstanding service to Scottish football.
John, 90, first visited Links Park 64 years ago and rose all the way to become Chairman. He is now Honorary President at Montrose and still attends all home matches and as many away games as possible.
Malcolm’s involvement started with a voluntary Commercial Manager’s role in 1981, and included an incredible 25-year stint as Secretary. Having been an active director on the board until 2024, Malcolm now acts as Honorary Vice-President.
SPFL Group Chief Executive Neil Doncaster presented the pair with medals before Saturday’s William Hill League 1 clash with Queen of the South.
He said: “One of the genuine privileges of my role is to come along to historic clubs and iconic stadia, and to reflect on the immense contributions to Scottish football made by people whose contributions to their football clubs are, for the most part, not fully understood or fully recognised, which is why it is such a pleasure for me to be here today to mark the huge contributions of, two of Montrose Football Club's stalwarts.”
Speaking after the presentation, Malcolm said: I’m gobsmacked – I wasn’t expecting anything like that.
“It means a lot. It [the club] is like a second family to me.”
John added: “I was quite humbled by it. It was a complete surprise.
“The current board are very good to me and at the end of the day, [the club] has been one of the loves of my life.”
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