| Pubs of the Second Division
Rave On Line Fanzine | |
Pubs of the Second Division by Stewart McIntyre | | Many thanks to Stewarty McIntyre for his article on pubs around the various second division clubs in Scotland. Stewarty was one of the many contributors to the old Rave On! fanzine and has been a great help in getting this fanzine up and running. It comes as little surprise that he has decided to do his first article for the on line version on an alcohol related subject. |
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Football at our level wouldnae be the same without the ‘social’ side of things. Let’s face it, it wouldnae be anywhere near as enjoyable. So, as a small homage, let’s take you through a wee tour of the best watering holes the division has to offer. Or not. | | Alloa Athletic | | Erm ok, good start. In all my years of watching the Albion, I can safely say I have never enjoyed any pre match beverages in the town of Alloa. That’s not to say there isn’t any good pubs….well, ok, that’s exactly what it’s saying. For both forthcoming trips to the Recs this season, The Albion Bar in Stirling will be the pub of choice, which tells it's own story really. | Arbroath | | Aaahhh, beach parties, smokies, treble vodkas and orange….. could only be Arbroath really. Always a popular away destination with Albion fans, and our somewhat more mature readers will understand that most of this was down to one place. The Tutties Neuk. A fitba’ pub in every sense of the word at one time. In other words, it was close to the ground and it served drink. What the barstaff made of 50 odd alkis walking in wearing beach wear in sub zero temperatures, one can only imagine, but those days will live long in the memory. However, it’s 2004 now, and sadly, Tutties has lost it’s charm, now being half pub, half restaurant. Heresy doesnae even come close. The watering hole of choice in Lichtie-land is now the local Wotherspoons pub (whose actual name escapes me). £1.50 a pint, and 99p a bottle, plus two meals for just over a fiver has more than soothed the pain of it being ‘Tutties no more’. A new legend may be in the making. | Ayr United | Strange one this one. Despite a plethora of excellent pubs in the town itself, there’s never really been a half decent outlet pre match. This probably has something to do with the lack of good pubs in the Somerset Park area. In years gone by, the Prince of Wales was the place to go, but recent reports would suggest King Billy would now be their patron of choice, so it’s fair to say it will be avoided in our forthcoming trip. Thanks to the wonder of t’internet, a few of our online Ayr pals have promised to show us some decent pubs next time we visit. More to report next time hopefully. | Berwick Rangers | | Two words (sort of). LCL Pils. Those words and ‘Berwick’ go hand in hand like peaches and cream, or Cannon and Ball. And where better to get this fine beverage, but the world famous Black and Gold club, one of THE drinking venues in lower league football. The stories and legends are endless of course, from the man with the stick, to the eccentric character who for years was convinced we beat CELTIC 20-0 in the cup THAT day. Horrendously, there was no LCL Pils on our last visit, but hopefully that will be sorted for the next trip. Been done up now, the ole B+G club, and they’re now serving hot food rather than their (in)famous giant baps of yore. Great venue. Long may it last. | Brechin City | | One of the good things about online productions is that they are completely up to date. Had this article appeared in paper form, this section would be lauding the City Club in the pleasant rural town of Brechin. Here was a hostely the likes of which The Albion has been crying out for. An affiliated social club, complete with good beer, 2 pool tables, dart board, and a function room in the back. What more did they need? Oh aye, customers. The place was shamefully closed down recently due to lack of use, which really, is a disgrace. Some fans don’t know they’re born really. There’s a few good other pubs in Brechin, notably, the ‘sports’ bar, Allstars, which is very comfortable, but the City Club will be missed. Actually, it’s the second decent venue in the town to bite the dust. Older readers will remember with affection, ‘Jollys’ in the town. Aunty Ivy anyone?. Legend. | Dumbarton | | You know you’re onto a loser when a town is called a ‘dry town’. And that’s exactly what Dumbarton is. Dry. At their old ground, Boghead, there wasnae a pub for miles, so any away trip there in the past was a somewhat sober affair. Maybe Boghead would have looked nice whilst pished, I guess I’ll never know. Their somewhat soul-less new ground offers the discerning punter two choices. The Stags Head pub along the road is a depressing affair. A nice enough place, but its strict ‘no colours’ coda renders the trip there pointless. Why can’t pubs just have the balls to put a ‘no old firm colours’ sign in their window, as that’s effectively what it is, as once again the bigot brothers ruin it for everyone else. But I digress. The venue of choice these days for Albion fans is, bizarrely, the bowling club. I say bizzarely, because often, we will turn up when the bowling season is in full swing. There’s something not quite right about a tribe of drunken fitba’ fans in such an establishment. However, they don’t seem to mind, and the beer’s good, so hey? | Forfar Athletic | | Or the town where Jordan’s sobriety ended. Forfar is another away trip where one place dominates the proceedings, and this time, it’s the Stag Hotel. And a mighty fine establishment it is too. Many happy memories there, from changing the letters round on the price board, so that it read out ‘Delilah by Tom Jones’, to always asking the barmaid for something on the bottom shelf of the cabinet as she had some ‘front’, the mammar…er sorry, memories are endless. Not much else to say about the place. It’s a solid, unspectacular watering hole that more than serves it’s purpose. And what more do you need? | Greenock Morton | | The quaint fishing port of Greenock offers a wide range of high class drinking establishments. No, not really, but one pub does dominate on matchdays. Although it no longer has the famous ‘velcro’ carpet, The Norseman bar is one of the real traditional football pubs. Which makes it all the more surprising that away supporters for years, were not allowed to wear their colours there. A legacy of the team constantly being at a higher level (until recently) than the Albion perhaps. The 2 best things about the Norseman is the chip shop being directly underneath it, and the ground being a few steps further on. Perfect. Our last trip to Inverclyde took us to the Morton supporters club, and that was like walking into a 70’s timewarp. Only in Greenock could they modernize the corridors outside the main bar area to look brand spanking new, and leave the main bit untouched for what seems like 30 years. The price of the beer is sadly not stuck in the 70’s however. I think it will be the Norseman in future. | Stranraer | | You know that advert on the telly, the one where the product ‘does exactly what it says on the tin’? That kinda sums up the latest in a long line of Stranraer watering holes. It’s called ‘The Pub’. They must have been up for hours thinking up that name. And in reality, it’s pretty dismal, yet it’s probably the best of the bunch. The insufferable journey down the west coast would be somewhat more bearable if there was s decent pub at the end of it. Sadly, despite years of trying, the best pub over the years on that trip is actually in Girvan, some 40 odd miles way. There’s still a wanted picture of me in and around the Anchor Inn (as was), for the heinous crime of not paying for my steak pie dinner. I hear the reward goes up every day. Na, it’s fair to say, Stranraer is not exactly the best away trip in the world. | So there you have it, the drinking map of Division 2. The social side of life in the lower leagues is one of its most attractive features, and I’ve no doubt in years to come, there will be a thousand more stories. You don’t have to get pished being an Albion fan, but it sure as hell helps. |
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