Airdrie United defender Ricki Lamie proved himself to be the fittest player in the SFL by winning the inaugural ‘Ramsdens Soccer Star’ tournament and he is now hoping to be going on a summer holiday as a result.
Players from the 30 SFL clubs have been testing themselves in a 1970’s Superstars’ style event over the past 3 weeks and the Final was held on Wednesday at the Scotstoun Leisure Centre in Glasgow.
Lamie came on top of a field of winners from Regional heats.
The winners (regional heats) were:-
- Airdrie United - Ricki Lamie
- Albion Rovers - David Crawford
- Arbroath - David Banjo
- Brechin City - Beau Longridge
- Clyde - Daniel Fitzpatrick
- Elgin City - Paul Millar
- Hamilton Academical - Greg Docherty
- Raith Rovers - Grant Anderson
However just before the event injury ruled out the participation of Millar and Banjo and it was left to the remaining 6 finalists to determine if they had what it takes to follow in the footsteps of ‘Superstar’ greats of the past like Brian Jack.
The players were tested in a series of events that included sprint, rowing and static cycling challenge as well as gym and football tests and he picks up a prize of £1,000 as well as his club earning £2,000 for youth development.
The Scoreboard showed that 18 year old Lamie won the first three events to give him a solid platform for victory. After that respectable performances in the skipping and sprint events saw him finish 7 points clear of Brechin City player Beau Longridge.
The results were –
|
CLUB
|
NAME
|
1KM BIKE
|
SKILLS
|
ROWING
|
SKIPPING
|
SPRINT
|
TOTAL
|
|
Airdrie United
|
Ricki Lamie
|
1.03.83(6)
|
37.22(6)
|
483 (6)
|
225(3)
|
4
|
25
|
|
Brechin City
|
Beau Longridge
|
1.05.50(4)
|
42.22(4)
|
449 (1)
|
314(6)
|
3
|
18
|
|
Albion Rovers
|
David Crawford
|
1.06.16(2)
|
43.2(1)
|
480 (5)
|
238(4)
|
5
|
17
|
|
Clyde
|
Daniel Fitzpatrick
|
1.05.09(5)
|
40.78(5)
|
480 (5)
|
185(1)
|
1
|
17
|
|
Hamilton Academical
|
Greg Docherty
|
1.05.86(3)
|
42.92(2)
|
469 (3)
|
255(5)
|
2
|
15
|
|
Raith Rovers
|
Grant Anderson
|
1.08.28(1)
|
42.81(3)
|
458 (2)
|
207(2)
|
6
|
14
|
Lamie said: “It is brilliant for me to win it and it is a nice added bonus that the club gets some money for youth development as well. We have access to a local gym in Coatbridge called the DW Gym through the club and I use it a lot to keep on top of things. It is really useful especially with us being a part-time side.”
“Going to the gym has benefitted me in this competition.”
Despite winning 3 of the 5 heats Lamie was not overly happy with his performance saying: “In the qualifying heat the skipping event was my strongest one but it was my weakest one in the Final. That just shows you how things can change.”
The young Diamonds’ season has had a few changes this year as well as he explained: “I started off going out to the junior ranks for a couple of months to toughen me up a bit. I then went to Clyde and had a brilliant time there as I got match fit. I enjoyed that spell there and it helped get me back into the first team at Airdrie.”
Lamie added: “It is great to be the ‘Ramsdens Soccer Star’ and hopefully I can use the money for a summer holiday now.”
