Over 60 years of experience will be put in behind the scenes at Montrose’s Links Park to ensure that the first ever visit of Rangers for points in the first ever League game between the pair in Angus is a great day for the Third Division club.
Gable Endies' Club Secretary, Malcolm Watters, has been using his considerable experience in football administration to ensure that the club and both sets of fans enjoy Saturday’s meeting while the club’s Programme Editor, Andrew Stephen, is delighted to be producing an enhanced Matchday Programme to mark the occasion.
Watters said: “I have been at Montrose Football Club for over 30 years now. I started off as a volunteer Commercial Manager and the club was very different then as we had a very simple old Main Stand as opposed to the cracking facility that we have now.
“I did a few odd jobs then as well between serving pies and lining the pitch. Everyone mucked in during that time to get things done.”
After his spell as Commercial Manager, Watters was asked to take on a different role as he explained: “Forbes Inglis moved up to being the Club Chairman and I was asked to become the Secretary. After three years of doing that, I was co-opted onto the Board and I have given 25 years’ service there now as well.
“I have seen a lot of highs and lows although probably more lows than highs. Winning the Second Division Championship in season 1984/85 under Ian Stewart was a real highlight but it turned into a bittersweet experience when we were celebrating our success.”
Watters explained: “We had clinched the title with a draw against Stenhousemuir on the second last week of the season at home and we organised a photo-shoot for the following Saturday when we played Raith Rovers at Stark’s Park.
“When we were enjoying that, word of the fire at Bradford City’s ground started coming through and that changed the mood.”
Another promotion was secured six years later and this was a time of growth for Montrose as Watters explained: “Bryan Keith took over and that period saw promotions in both seasons 1990/91 and 1994/95 and our new Stand was also built during that time. It has to be one of the best in the Third Division and probably only comes behind Hampden and Ibrox in terms of the facilities it offers.
“The building of it was really impressive as we ended one season with the old stand standing and started the new season with the new one in its place. Everything was built in a 13 week period which was some going.”
The Stand holds over 1,300 people and the visit of Rangers this weekend will invoke memories of when the Glasgow side headed north to play in the game that marked the official opening of the new facility with Watters adding: “It was a side made up of fringe players and youngsters but it was still a great occasion although I cannot remember the score. I am pretty sure Rangers won it.”
Unlike that showpiece match, Saturday’s game will take place on an artificial surface with Watters saying: “When Kenny Black was the principal shareholder, he moved the club forward by getting an artificial pitch installed some seven years ago now.
“I know a lot of people don’t like them but I am a big fan of ours. It is very far removed from the artificial pitch that I first saw at Stirling Albion’s Annfield back in the 1980s which had a very thin sand filled surface. That was a good surface to play hockey on but not one where you could tackle players, whereas Links Park with the extra layer of cushion, is a good football pitch.”
The pitch has facilitated change at Watters’ club as he explained: “We are now more of a community club than when I started. A local Junior side train here and there are footballing activities on it nearly every day now with coaching courses being held through the Easter and Summer holidays in conjunction with the SFA. We used to basically be open one day a fortnight and now we are open every day.”
Saturday’s game will be the first ever live TV match from the Angus ground with Watters admitting: “Thankfully, our Vice-Chairman, John Crawford, has taken on liaising with ESPN and he has been busy as have a lot of people here. We have a corporate facility at the club on one floor of the Main Stand but the demand has been so great that we are using a local hotel for guests as well. Everyone will get a seat in the ground but to cater for the demand, we had to create an overspill area.
“I am not sure what I will be doing on Saturday but thankfully, I have turned my hand to most of the jobs at the club during my 30 years so I will be ready whenever I am called on. I also served with the SFA as well although mind you, that was in the last century!”
It is certainly not just corporate guests that Montrose have looked after as work carried out by the club recently, costing in excess of £20,000, will allow an extra 1,700 fans to watch Saturday’s game.
Watters explained: “We have improved our turnstiles and put in extra crush barriers and that has allowed us to bring our capacity up to nearly 5,000. Everything has been done properly and the safety certificates are in place to allow us to do that.”
One fairly unique feature of games that Montrose host will be missing this weekend as the facility to watch whichever team fans support behind either goal will not be in place due to the segregation that is required.
“Our attendances have gone down over recent years, which is not surprising really as we have not had much success recently so there is not usually a mad stampede to change ends at half-time," said Watters before adding, "We usually only have segregation in place when Arbroath visit, as that can be a very passionate derby, and attracts a decent crowd.”
Watters is a fan of local relations saying: “I combine working with the club by running '1 Up Travel Agents' in Brechin. It means I see a lot of the people at Brechin on a regular basis and it would be good to get promoted again and be seeing them more on the football pitch as well.”
Montrose have done their planning and the weather is the only uncertainty that they cannot control and Watters said: “I am pleased to say that the weather forecast has improved from earlier in the week. It looked like the game would be off for definite earlier on this week but things have moved on better than predicted.
“The pitch will be fine and we are liaising with the police about the condition of the surrounding areas and of course, we are very much hoping to beat the freeze. There are perhaps a few tickets left for the Montrose end but I am sure they will be gone by Saturday.”
Watters was asked to name an all-time favourite player he would like in the current Montrose team to face Rangers this weekend and he said: “I suppose that would have to be Les Barr who was a legend here. He was perhaps not the most technically gifted player but he was a great character. Doug Rougvie was also here when Bryan Keith was in charge and he took us to a promotion alongside Ian Stewart.”
As for this season’s vintage, Watters said: “The Manager, Stuart Garden, has the side playing well and they have a bit of confidence about them. They have a good way of playing just now and a fairly settled side. In Jamie Winter, we have a terrific midfielder and you can chart our upturn in results this season since he has come back after an injury.”
Asked to sum up the preparations for this game, he said: “The preparations have gone well and they have been a great practice for the title decider between the sides next March!”
As well as assisting Watters with his duties that the Club Secretary describes as "all the running about he cannot do these days," another Montrose stalwart will be ensuring both sets of fans are well informed before kick-off time.
Montrose’s award winning Matchday Programme Editor, Andrew Stephen, has overseen a print run that will be more than 12 times their normal 200 figure for this weekend’s historic encounter.
Stephen, who has produced the Matchday Programme for the Gable Endies since he was a 12-year-old, 30 years ago, said: “We normally produce 200 programmes for a Third Division game but we have organised 2,500 for the Rangers game. It is the first ever visit of Rangers to our ground on League duty and we have produced an enlarged programme to record it.
“This one will be all colour and stretch to 40 pages and very different from the handwritten ones I produced when I first started helping out.”
The ‘Gable Ender’ has won six Programme Monthly Programme of the Year Awards and one Northern Programme of the Year Award and Stephen said: “We are fairly confident that the programmes will sell out from orders we have taken already and also to fans on the day. We have roped in our youth team to act as Programme Sellers to help out both in and outside of the ground.”
Stephen said: “I started contributing to the programme in 1982 before I was a teenager and I am 42 now. I started editing it in season 1983/84 and the ‘Gable Ender’ is just one of the names that has been used during that time.
“It is a labour of love for me and we produce a programme for all of our home games. This one will include all the usual articles that a Matchday Programme contains including a chat with the Manager, Stuart Garden, around the club news, details of our visitors and a look back at our recent games as well as previous meetings with Rangers.”
It is not a solo production with Stephen saying: “One of our fans, Steve Doyle, who is based in Carlisle, contributes about five articles per programme. If that wasn’t enough, he travels all over Scotland to support the team as well.”
Stephen could also be classed as a loyal fan saying: “I did not miss a game from 1989 to 1997 but I have the odd weekend off now due to work and family and miss an away game.
“I still enjoy doing the Matchday Programme and, of course, it is great to be involved in a record breaking one.”
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