Albion Rovers face Lanarkshire rivals Airdrie United this weekend having already gathered more points in the opening two games of the second quarter than they did in the opening nine game leg of the Second Division Championship.
Their recent wins over Arbroath and then Forfar Athletic suggest that the Third Division Play-Off winners are finding their feet in the higher division and also that boss Paul Martin has managed to get the mind-set of his players right.
Striker John Gemmell, who had not managed to find the net and was dropped by Martin when he arrived a few minutes late for a midweek game recently, responded to his Manager’s actions by scoring his first goal of the season to see off Paul Sheerin’s side 1-0 and the hit-man knows that his response was just what the Coatbridge gaffer had planned.
The goal-grabber was delighted to get off the mark saying: “It was my first of the season and that always feels good when you are a few games in and have not netted. I was suspended for the first few League games and I have been playing catch up since.”
Gemmell and Rovers seem a good fit with the 27-year-old saying: “My first spell at the club worked out really well for me and I ended up getting a good move to Cowdenbeath. John ‘Cowboy’ McCormack was the Manager and Paul was his assistant and it was Paul that got me to come back last summer.
“My move to Montrose from Cowdenbeath had not worked out and Paul spoke to me about the possibility of me disappearing from the game. I have known Paul since I was at school and I like to think of him as a friend as well as the Manager. I was really pleased that I came here and we were successful for him last season.”
Despite or maybe because of their long term relationship, Martin, the Rovers Manager, knows what buttons to push with his frontman and Gemmell knows he is doing it, as they have been having a love and hate relationship for over 10 years now.
Gemmell said: “We play golf together and he often gives me a lift to training but in saying all that, we have also been known to get really angry with each other. We are both strong characters and have a good few ding-dongs but looking back, I have grown up a lot in recent years and we do not have the fallouts we used to have. Mind you, last week at Dumbarton was like the good old days when he left me out.
“I was about two minutes late and he told me I wasn’t playing. I was not happy about that and I told him I was not happy. He brings me back against Arbroath and I am fired up to go out and score. I am sure he knew I would respond that way.”
Gemmell added: “I am sure he was laughing about it as he laughs a lot with the boys but he has a serious side as I know better than anyone.”
The duo first met at Queen’s Park when Martin had been given interim control of the team and Gemmell was on the bench for a first team game on a Saturday afternoon just hours after playing for his school side.
The following week, Gemmell made his first real impact on the game as he explained: “We played East Stirlingshire at their old Firs Park ground and I scored the winning goal. For a boy of 17 from Clarkston to score the winning goal on his debut for the team on his doorstep was a bit special.”
Gemmell’s introduction at Queen’s Park did not go unnoticed and he was given a two year deal at SPL Partick Thistle and despite finding himself down the pecking order for a starting role, he played at both Ibrox and Parkhead during his time there.
The striker said: “I had some great experiences but just like 90% of young signings, I probably let the move go to my head. If I had stayed longer at Queen’s Park as opposed to moving straight away, I could have maybe had a longer run in the SPL but I never really made an impact at Thistle.
“They went through three or four Managers and then Dick Campbell came in and I said I was no longer required. I was a regular in the reserve side but up against experienced players like James Grady and Gerry Britton for a starting place in the first team.”
A thoughtful Gemmell added: “I would do things differently if I had my time again. I would train more or go to the gym more as opposed to just being one of the boys.”
During his time with Partick Thistle, Gemmell went out on loan to Hamilton Academical in the spring of 2004 and despite never starting a game for the team managed by Allan Maitland, he did score a famous goal.
Gemmell explained: “When Gerry Britton was in charge, he sent me out there and whilst it never gets credited to me, I did score the goal that helped push Hamilton towards promotion out of the Second Division against Dumbarton.”
A possible reason that the striker never gets credited for his last minute strike in a 2-1 success at the same time as rivals Morton were being defeated, comes from the player himself who said: “The ball came off my backside and went in. It was not a great goal but it was an important one. I never started a game for Hamilton, yet helped get them promoted and was then dropped for the promotion party.”
Gemmell did not take his exclusion well saying: “I was back home before the final game of the season against Forfar kicked off. I told Allan and his assistant, James Ward, what I thought of their decision and never spoke to them afterwards. I speak to them now but I was really disappointed with how that turned out.”
Gemmell joined Dumbarton in January 2005 where he was re-united with Martin and he stayed a Son for two and a half years however, there was a parting of the ways when Gerry McCabe, who had replaced Martin, delayed on a new contract as Gemmell had a foot injury.
“I was getting a deal and then I wasn’t getting a deal and I ended up pretty fed up with it all,” said Gemmell before adding, “So I joined Bellshill Juniors who were getting coached by former Dumbarton coach Brian Wright.”
“I went there and it was a great bunch of guys but I quickly wanted back to the senior game and I got a loan deal with Albion Rovers who had 'Cowboy' and Paul in charge. I really enjoyed that season and scored 13 times.”
The move worked with Gemmell saying: “I scored four in a 5-4 win over East Stirlingshire that was played in the worst weather I have ever played in with a mixture of rain, sleet and snow. I also got a hat-trick up at Arbroath and did enough for Danny Lennon to come in for me for Cowdenbeath.
“Cowboy wanted me to stay on at Albion and had told me how I was going to be the main striker for years to come and he was not happy when I told him I would be moving on but it was a good move for me. It was the first time I had to really travel to play football but I enjoyed a great season at Central Park.”
It was almost a Championship winning season with Gemmell explaining: “We had been doing really well in the League but started to come unstuck in a goalless draw against Forfar when we hit the woodwork about ten times and we kind of blew up after that.
“We ended up drawing a lot of our games and Dumbarton came up from behind us and won the title. We finished second and went into the Play-Offs against East Stirling. I scored the first goal of the Semi-Final and Jay Stein scored the second.”
The Blue Brazil won through that round although disappointment was just around the corner with Gemmell saying, “We eventually won 3-2 on aggregate against East Stirling but lost to Stenhousemuir in the Play-Off Final where Jay was unfortunate to miss a penalty in the shoot-out. My team-mate at the Rovers, Robert Love, keeps on winding me up about that day but he had been substituted for Stenhousemuir before the penalty shoot-out so he cannot really claim any credit for it.”
“I started the next pre-season with Cowdenbeath but I picked up an injury before I went on holiday. I came back to our pre-season camp at St Andrews and Danny and I had a chat and decided that things were not going to work out next season.”
Gemmell decided to travel even further for a game saying: “I opted to move on to Montrose and all I can say about that is that some moves work for you and some moves don’t and Montrose never worked for me. It was a fair journey and at first, there was a few of us in a car from the club and then that stopped. I was training up there once a week and working on my own other nights but then it was going to get doubled to two nights at Links Park.
“The Manager, Steven Tweed, had played around the world at a very good level and is a good big guy but overall, it was a disappointing time and I only scored a handful of goals. It was agreed that I could be released and I would like to think that we parted on good terms although I am sure he had the last chuckle when I got a flat tyre at Perth after leaving Montrose for the last time.”
Gemmell and Martin got together to discuss his career and the striker said: “I had had a poor season, Montrose had a poor season and I was changing club for the fifth season running. Paul got in touch initially as a friend to talk about the dangers of slipping away from football on the back of a run like that.
“Although I have had a lot of clubs, it has never been about money to me and I have just wanted to enjoy my football. Paul sold me on what he was trying to do at Albion Rovers and I went in and started training with the guys and there was a great spirit there.”
Gemmell describes the spirit as: “There is a bit of the Wimbledon 'Crazy Gang' approach at the Rovers and you either like that or you don’t. I enjoyed it so I decided to stay. Last season’s promotion push was brilliant and that closeness between the players got us over the finishing line.”
Gemmell netted in another Play-Off Semi-Final as he grabbed the two goals that knocked Queen’s Park out at the Semi-Final stage with the former Spider saying: “I played in the first game and got my usual warm welcome at Hampden. I seem to get booed wherever I go and that is maybe the price of playing for so many teams or scoring against someone.
“That got us through to face Annan and wee 'Lovey' did his bit in this Play-Off Final by scoring a hat-trick in the first game. We were winning 1-0 in the second leg at half-time and that made it 4-1 on aggregate and Steven Canning and I were talking about the party afterwards and we were soon wishing we hadn’t been.”
Annan hit back and Gemmell were beginning to think promotion and parties were off as he said: “We lost a quick goal and that was my fault as it was the man I was meant to be marking that scored it. I have never been good at the defensive side of the game. They scored again and that might have been me again and that half was probably the worst one of my life.”
Thankfully for the Coatbridge side, they held out for a famous party in Coatbridge with striker and Manager not switching off totally as Gemmell said: “We got there and had a great night but needless to say, Paul and I ended up arguing about football in the taxi home.”
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