Plastic is Fantastic for Angus derby

Martyn Fotheringham is enjoying playing on the new artificial surface at Forfar Athletic’s Station Park however, when visitors Brechin City turn up tomorrow, the 29-year-old midfielder will allow himself a wry smile about a very memorable game when he was wearing red and white colours.

Fotheringham was a St. Johnstone player in January, 2003 when he was loaned out to the Glebe Park men and his debut for Brechin was a memorable one as he explained: “I had a real eye opening day as it was my first experience of the Second Division and my first experience of Glebe Park.  We were playing Cowdenbeath and we lost 7-5 with a certain Derek Riordan scoring a hat-trick for them.

"The pitch was an absolute mud path which was hard going but certainly a memorable game. The Glebe Park pitch was notorious then for being really heavy and it certainly was that day but to be fair, it has improved over the years.”

It was to turn into a memorable stay in the Second Division for Fotheringham as he explained: “Dick Campbell took me there and it was a real learning experience to move from Billy Stark’s approach to Dick’s.  Billy was meticulous whereas Dick was much more old school and he is more about motivation than detail.

“It worked as Brechin were promoted that season and in the squad were Charlie King, who has become a great mate of mine, and Chris Templeman and we are all together again at Forfar.”

Fotheringham joked: “Chris was absolutely lethal back then and is still pretty handy now for a bloke who gets others to do his running and is a big softie at heart.  He has the best feet of any striker I have known and scored in our last game when we beat Stenhousemuir 4-0.

“It was a great experience at Brechin and I learnt a lot about the game.”

The knowledge Fotheringham gained when out on loan at Brechin built on what he had learned at Perth in amongst a lot of well known figures in the Scottish game including the current Brechin boss Jim Weir.

Fotheringham made his senior debut for the Saints in May, 2001 in an end of season game that was lost 3-0 to Aberdeen with Weir, former Livingston Manager, Gary Bollan, and Alloa Athletic’s Third Division title winning Manager, Paul Hartley, all in the St. Johnstone line-up.

“That feels a very long time ago,” said Fotheringham before adding, “All I can really remember is Arild Stavrum scoring just before I came on as a substitute.  Although we lost, it was a great day for me as I had been with the club since I was nine-years-old so to make the breakthrough and play in the first team was great.”

McDiarmid Park was a great place to get a grounding in the game at that time with Fotheringham saying: “Jim was our captain and you could tell then that he would go and become a Manager as he was a terrific leader.  You could also tell Paul would go far in the game as he was simply football daft.

“Grant Murray was also there and he has become the Manager at Raith Rovers and Mixu Paatelainen, who is now in charge of Finland, was another team-mate so there were lots of leaders in the dressing room.”

Despite the leaders in blue and white colours, it was the Manager, Billy Stark, who had the biggest influence on Fotheringham who said: “A lot of what Billy talked about at that time has rubbed off on me.  He was a tremendous coach and compared to what coaching I had received before, he was ahead of his time. 

"It was a shame that he never really got a chance from the fans at St. Johnstone as he gave a lot to the club and had a fantastic approach to the game.”

Fotheringham was to feature a further nine times for St. Johnstone before Stark arranged for the loan to Brechin and he returned to play in another seven matches in what was Stark’s last season in charge.

Under Stark’s replacement, John Connolly, Fotheringham was involved in five games in season 2004/05 before he ended his association at Perth and moved to Montrose for a season of regular football in the Third Division.

Paatelainen recruited his former colleague after his spell as a Gable Endie for life in the Second Division for Cowdenbeath with Fotheringham saying: “They had just been promoted and I enjoyed working with Mixu who was a really enthusiastic character.  Unfortunately, he was only there for a few months before going to a club in Finland.”

After a season in Fife, Fotheringham returned for a rock bottom season in Angus where Forfar finished at the foot of the SFL.  The Loons set about recovering their position and they turned to Campbell much to the delight of Fotheringham.

The midfielder said: “The gaffer is a legend and his team talks are even more legendary as they are more like the after dinner speeches he makes.  He has a love of the game and a love of life.

“He lifts your spirits and you want to do well for him.  Mind you, I have seen him lose it a few times and that is not a pretty sight.”

Campbell’s approach may be different to Stark however, it works with Fotheringham saying: “We missed out on promotion in the first season he was here as we had more games postponed than anyone else and struggled with three games a week.  We got there the second time through the Play-Offs and we carried on where we left off in the Second Division and made the Play-Offs again but lost to Ayr.”

A further charge was expected last season but it never materialised as Fotheringham said: “We were all disappointed with how last season went.  We were expecting to be fighting for promotion again but we made a poor start and never really got going.

“This season we have a smaller squad and the Manager is telling us he has gone for quality now not quantity.  We are sitting second top so it is certainly going okay.”

The Station Park players can also look forward to a more settled season than they have had over the past few seasons as they have suffered more postponements than any other club due to having their grass surface frozen.

Fotheringham explained: “The new pitch is the best artificial surface I have seen.  I used to think Ochilview was good but this one is great.  It has a really lush feeling to it and the technology used must be more advanced nowadays as you do not have any aches and pains afterwards which is something you used to have when playing on plastic.

“A couple of seasons ago, we went 60 odd days without a game, longer than our summer break, and that really interrupts your season as well as hurting the club financially.  It is not fully being used yet but I do know that the local community will get right behind it with the Forfar Farmington Ladies side going to be using it as well as a couple of Junior sides.”

Fotheringham’s own season is going well with a last minute winner against Ayr United followed up with a fine strike from distance in a 4-0 win over Stranraer.

The recruitment of Keith Gibson from neighbours Arbroath over the summer has helped Fotheringham make his fine start as he explained: “I have grabbed a couple of goals which is great as you are always looking to score early in the season.  Having Keith in the team gives the defence a bit of defensive cover from the midfield and that allows me to push forward.  Mind you, I am not sure what I was still doing on the pitch at Somerset Park as I do not usually get to stay on that long.

“The season has started well for us but no-one will be getting carried away.  We are doing alright and playing a lot of good football and another couple of summer signings have maybe caught people out just now.”  

Manager Campbell looks to have picked up a couple of fast paced gems from East of Scotland League football with Danny Denholm coming on board from Stirling University and Omar Kader joining from Spartans and they have proven to be great additions according to Fotheringham.

He said: “I had never heard of these guys before but they have done really well and they just get at defences constantly.  Danny has something about him that shines through and Omar’s pace can really make a difference and they have helped us play an attractive brand of football.”

The Loons’ week started with a 4-1 win over Montrose in a bounce game and their meeting with Brechin will mark their first Angus League derby of the season although it will be their second local meeting after going down 3-2 to Arbroath in The Ramsdens Cup.

Fotheringham is looking forward to the neighbourly meetings saying: “Games between us, Brechin and Arbroath are local clashes and there is usually good natured banter between the fans.  I have played in a few now and the only one that veers away from that is the Montrose and Arbroath game that has more intense rivalry than the rest.

“I know some of the Brechin boys from my days at St. Johnstone, as both Craig Nelson and Andy Jackson were there, and I also played with Scott Dalziel at Cowdenbeath.  There has been a complete clear out of everyone else in their team since then.”

Fotheringham added ruefully: “Mind you, Dick is probably one of the reasons for that as he takes his boys with him wherever he goes to manage.  He is very loyal that way.”