Forfar Athletic defender Jamie Bishop returns to his former club, Arbroath, this weekend on Second Division duty less than two years after he dropped down a division to leave Gayfield only to pass the Red Lichties on the way back up before season 2009/10 had ended.
Bishop said: “Jim Weir came in as Manager to replace John McGlashan and basically my time at Arbroath came to an end. Paul Watson, Barry Sellars and I were moved on to Forfar fairly quickly after Jim came in and he had his own ideas about taking the club forward.
“Being told I could leave was difficult to take at the time as it was the first time it had happened to me. I knew I was leaving Dunfermline as a kid as I had never got into the first team but Jim was honest enough to tell me that he did not see me featuring much.”
The move to Station Park was an easy one to make with Bishop saying: “When I had the chance to go to Forfar, it was an obvious decision to make even though I was dropping to the Third Division. Dick Campbell was the Manager there and, of course, I knew him from my East End Park days and I am quite friendly with his sons.”
That move ended a five and a half year spell at Gayfield for Bishop and he talked through his time saying: “I had been a full-time YTS player at East End Park but moved to Arbroath in July 2004. Stevie Kirk took me there but he stayed for three or four games before leaving and I was then managed by Harry Cairney, John and Jim.
“I remember my debut although it was not that great a day as we got a bit of a doing from Peterhead in a Challenge Cup tie at Gayfield that they won 4-2. Duncan Mclean and John Cusick scored for us and whilst it was a good day for me, it was an even better day for Peterhead especially as they were in the division below us at the time.”
The Blue Toon defeat was just a prelude to a disappointing season for the Red Lichties as Bishop explained: “We got off to a bad start and Stevie Kirk left fairly quickly and Harry came in. He tightened us up but we did not win enough games and we ended up finishing ninth and being relegated.”
C
airney, who is now of course in charge of Annan Athletic, left Gayfield after a year and Bishop’s former team-mate John McGlashan came in to take over in October 2005 with the stopper saying: “I had played in the same team with John as we were fighting relegation and he was a captain that led by example. He played with a lot of heart and seemed to score every week. He was the same as a Manager and progressed every season as our Manager.
“He brought in Robbie Raeside, who ironically was in the Peterhead team that had beaten us on my debut, and he was great for me. He taught me a lot about the game and alongside Ian Dobbins who was with us for two spells, we had quite a strong defence.”
Under McGlashan’s guidance, Arbroath reached the Play-Offs for three seasons in a row with success, and promotion, finally being tasted in May 2008 when Stranraer were defeated over the two legged Play-Off Final.
“We had been getting better every season and my time at Arbroath got me used to playing in the Play-Offs. They have been going for six years and I have been involved in five of them and nowadays, I just work my holidays on the basis I will be playing until the end of May.”
The success at Stair Park remains engrained in Bishop’s memory as he said: “It was a fantastic day even though we were beaten down there and it was backs to the wall for the last few minutes. It would have been great to have had the second leg at our place but the one hundred or so Arbroath fans that went south that day had a great time. Mind you, we all had a great time when we got back to Tuttie’s Neuk that night!”
The following season was the only year that Bishop was excused end of season duty as Arbroath finished seventh in the Second Division with the big defender saying: “It was a tough division with Raith Rovers and Ayr United in it but we stayed there after a slow start.”
The following season, McGlashan decided to take a break from Arbroath with Bishop saying: “We were making a sluggish start again and John had spent four years there which is quite a long time at the one club. That is when Jim came in and he decided to bring in different players and I moved to Forfar in the January.”
In the second half of the season, the Station Park side started climbing the Third Division table as Arbroath started slipping down the Second Division table and Bishop was soon eyeing a contest against his former club in the Play-Offs.
“They had hovered around the bottom of the Second Division table before finishing second bottom and we finished second top. I had been watching from afar and I knew that this combination was going to set up an interesting Final for me if we both won our Semi-Final ties.”
Weir’s Arbroath saw off Queen’s Park and Bishop scored a crucial goal as the Loons defeated East Stirlingshire 3-2 on aggregate to set up the encounter that gave Watson, Sellars and Bishop the chance to prove any points they felt they needed to prove.
Bishop said: “The first game at Gayfield was a really tight goalless draw but we opened the scoring early in the second game and won 2-0. I played in both games and it was a sad day for the boys at Arbroath that I knew as it meant they were getting relegated. It was pleasing for me to have played in so many games for Forfar after thinking I would not feature much again that season.”
Last season, Forfar were rarely out of the top four in the Second Division with Bishop saying: “A bit like Arbroath are doing this season, we carried on where we left off in the Third Division. We were only six points off the top in November and then we went 60 days without playing a game because of the weather. We got playing again in February but we ended up playing 18 games in an eight week spell and that caught up with us as it would catch up with any part-time team. We have a lot of experience in our team but we were small in number squad wise.
“We played Ayr United in the Semi-Finals of the Play-Offs and we were quite confident as we had beaten them three times that season but we simply did not turn up for both games.”
Bishop missed the start of this season due to a suspension and having featured in only two of Forfar’s opening nine games, he was given the opportunity to join Peterhead on loan.
Bishop said: “It was understandable that I was not playing as I was not available at the start of the season. I got a phone call from Peterhead boss John Sheran asking me to go to Peterhead and get some games.
“I spoke to Dick about it and he told me it would be good for me to go there and get some football and come back. I met the Peterhead team bus on the Saturday lunchtime at the Forth Road Bridge for a game at Berwick Rangers. We were defeated 2-1 and then John Sheran lost his job before our next game against Queen’s Park and Martin Bavidge took over.”
Bavidge impressed Bishop who said: “Martin did really well and for a guy of 31, he took everything in his strid
e. We drew with Queen’s Park and then lost to Montrose and I was back to Forfar by the time Jim McInally was getting established.”
Bishop’s spell at Balmoor denied him the opportunity of playing against Arbroath in their first meeting of the season although events in the game opened the door for a return to Forfar colours.
“I missed out against my old side but Michael Bolochoweckyj was sent off,” said Bishop before adding, “I got back in so I am looking forward to going back to Gayfield for this game. There are not that many players left from my time there as not only did Jim Weir change the team around, Paul Sheerin has done much the same but off the park ,there have not been a lot of changes.”
Goalkeeper Darren Hill, midfielder Keith Gibson along with goal-grabbing pair Steven Doris and Gavin Swankie are the only former maroon colleagues with Bishop saying: “Karen that runs the club shop and the backroom staff like Mike Cargill are still there and the Board are there and it will be good to see them.”
Bishop is reminded of his Arbroath days as he is a keen follower of the national side and whenever he supports Craig Levein’s side, he is reminded of his time as a Red Lichtie. He said: “Sye Webster and Gordon Arnott are big Arbroath fans and big Scotland fans and if I see them, they are always quick to bring something up about my time there.
"The Arbroath fans were always good to me and they get decent crowds there. I am looking forward to going to Gayfield again but hopefully, I will be wishing them well for Christmas after a Forfar win.”
.png){kind=logo}
