Templeman out to find net at Glebe Park once more

Brechin City will have to keep an old favourite of theirs quiet this Saturday if they are to stop newly promoted Forfar Athletic making it three IRN-BRU Second Division Championship wins out of three under the guidance of former Glebe Park Manager Dick Campbell.

Station Park striker Chris Templeman has found the net three times already this season and Jim Weir’s squad will surely need no telling that Templeman needs stopping. If his early season form is not warning enough, a quick glance through the history books shows that the 30-year-old rattled in more than 60 goals in red and white colours during a three and a half year spell at the club.

The six foot five inch striker started his career at Dunfermline Athletic aged 17 and he was put out on loan to Dumbarton and Stirling Albion before finally signing on at Forthbank permanently in February 2001. The move may have been a permanent transfer however, the stay was short as he headed to Brechin that summer to join up with a Manager he knew well from his four year spell at East End Park.

Templeman explained, “I went to Brechin to be reunited with Dick Campbell. I had worked with him at East End Park and I knew him well.”

Campbell moulded a fine team at Glebe Park and took the club on a wonderful journey with Templeman saying, “We won the Third Division in season 2001/02 by 12 points from Dumbarton and that was great as it was the first thing I had ever won as a professional.

“We then bounced straight into the First Division as runners-up to Raith Rovers however, we went straight back down again to the Second Division.

“We were on the road to coming back up the way to the First Division as Champions in season 2004/05 when I went on to full-time football at Morton. Dick also left Brechin shortly afterwards as he became the Manager of Partick Thistle.”

During his time at Cappielow, that saw its pinnacle when Templeman scored twice to knock SPL Kilmarnock out of the Scottish Cup in 2007, the player returned north to Glebe Park for a loan spell that saw him feature in nine games without scoring.  This form was a pale comparison to his first spell at the club that saw him net 63 goals.

The striker said, “I went back for a period on loan but that was not as good as my first spell. I would sum those three and a half years up as a time when I met lot of great people and I played really well.

“Brechin was a really nice club run by a very hard working Committee. Most of the backroom staff and some of the players are still there now so I will enjoy seeing them again this weekend.”

Templeman did add, “Despite liking the people at Brechin, it did not stop me scoring against them when I was with Morton all the same.”

East Fife was the next stop in Templeman’s career and he moved to New Bayview in January 2008. He played in enough games for Dave Baikie’s side between then and the end of the season to pick up another medal with the Fifers running away with the Third Division Championship. The title was won by the middle of March with six games still to play in a season where Baikie’s side won 28 of the 36 games they played.

Templeman said, “I won another Championship medal with East Fife and all in all, I spent 18 months there and even played a few games at centre half during the second season.”

The striker’s mentor, Dick Campbell, had moved to Forfar’s Station Park from Firhill via Ross County in the summer of 2008 and he came calling again for Templeman’s services 12 months later and the striker signed for him again.

He said, “Dick came back in for me last summer and I was happy to go and work with him again. There was no issue to me in dropping down a division as I was confident we would be promoted.”

The Station Park men finished in second place behind Livingston and did move up a division via the Play-Off route as they relegated Arbroath, ironically managed by Brechin’s new manager Jim Weir, 2-0 on aggregate.

Templeman is a fan of the end of season games saying, “That was my first experience of the Play-Offs and they are big games to play in.

“The pressure started a few weeks before as half the Second Division had something to play for right until the end of the season. That is a lot better than when the first two used to just go up automatically meaning that there is plenty to play for.”

Forfar have started the season in blistering form winning their opening two IRN-BRU SFL Second Division games and progressing in The Co-operative Insurance Cup at the expense of First Division Stirling Albion and coming back from two goals down with less than 20 minutes to go to win at the National Stadium against Queen’s Park in The ALBA Challenge Cup.

It was not the start Templeman was expecting as he explained, “This season is going really well so far in the competitive games which is great when you consider that we lost every one of the seven friendlies we played in pre-season.

“When competitive action started off at Stirling, we played really well and carried that on to the League starting against Dumbarton with a 4-1 win.”

“We were a bit lucky at Hampden last week against Queen’s Park as they were a very sharp and fit team who used the big pitch well. My header just managed to squeeze past their goalkeeper to get us back into things and we finished strongly.

“We then we went to Peterhead and won 2-1 and that was another good result as they are a strong side especially at home. In saying that, there are a lot of good teams in this division.”

The Glebe Park men are one of those good sides with Templeman admitting, “Brechin are a quality side and a lot of that quality is from players that played when I was there. Guys like Charlie King and Kevin Byers are still dangerous opponents and that is before you look at Rory McAllister who seems to score every week.

“It looks like their goalkeeper Craig Nelson will be missing because of his broken hand and he is another player that has been great for Brechin over the years.”

Templeman will enjoy his first game at his former home for 18 months and he will be hoping for better luck this time out as his last game in February 2009 saw the home side pip East Fife 2-1 with Neil Janczyk hitting an injury time winner.

The big striker knows however, that his welcome may not be the warmest as he is now in the colours of local neighbours Brechin.

Templeman said, “I am not sure what kind of reaction I will get. I enjoy playing against my old teams but the most important thing is to be playing every week and if I am selected to start, that will be great.”

Templeman remains impressed with the man that took him to Brechin in the very first place saying, “Dick Campbell still manages to motivate everybody for every game. He knows what he is doing and will have us well prepared for this game.”