Service Station Memories

Hamilton Academical  2  Inverness Caledonian Thistle  1

Scottish Football League – Championship

Admission / Programme - £20 / £1

I can remember it like it was yesterday, the UEFA Cup draw pitted Derry City against Gretna, and the First Leg of the tie was to be played at Gretna’s temporary home of Motherwell’s Fir Park.

I wasn’t going to miss it, even though I wasn’t able to get a ticket for the away end. Funnily enough tickets for the Gretna section were pretty easy to come by, so with that sorted, I had to think about the logistics. You see, my experiences of Scotland were limited to a couple of Belper Town away games at Gretna (when it was in Gretna), and a long weekend away with my brother in law on the West coast, which in terms of adventure, culminated in a train trip to Glasgow.

I decided to drive, and stay overnight at a hotel which was located at Hamilton Services on the M74. I remember setting off at 6am, parking at the services, walking through the park, past the mausoleum, then the golf course, before finally arriving at Hamilton Railway Station from where I caught a train to Glasgow Central.

I had a brilliant day, loads of Derry fans were in Glasgow, we had some beers, and then I made my way over to Motherwell and met up with more fans at the Jack Daniels bar which was close to Fir Park. I think the Jack Daniels bar has now been refurbished and renamed The Steelworks, but I digress, the game itself was one of the top two most memorable football matches I’ve attended in my life. Alongside seeing Belper Town win 5-1 at Falmouth Town in the FA Vase 5^th Round in 1995, seeing Derry City beat Gretna by the same score line in 2006 was an amazing moment, a stunning occasion, capped by four simply wonderful goals in front of a massive away following was an unforgettable experience.

I was back in the bar after the game, before getting a taxi back down to Hamilton Services for a night’s sleep, ready for a long drive home the following day.

So that was my experience of Hamilton, until recently that is. Since then I’ve attended a couple of work related meetings in the town, but getting to watch a football match has always eluded me.

An opportunity finally arose which coincided with February’s monthly work trip North of the border, which this time, including travelling, spread over three days. On the Tuesday of the game I spent the bulk of the day in our Shawlands office, which in itself is only a short ride from the centre of Glasgow. Once the work was done it was back to the hotel for a quick change, and a wee bit of scran over in the trusty Sir John Moore variant of JD Wetherspoon.

Getting to Hamilton is a breeze from Glasgow, catching a train from the lower level at Glasgow Central you head out via the stops that serve Celtic Park, through Cambuslang and Blantyre, before alighting at Hamilton West.

If a football ground is as near to a railway station as Hamilton West is to New Douglas Park, I’d like to know where it is (we are talking the professional game here). You basically exit the platform, walk a couple of hundred yards down a path that runs parallel to the railway line and the ground is right in front of you. I was a touch early so my original plan was to go the ground to buy a ticket and then head to the pub called the Academical which was back up by the station.

It didn’t strictly work out like that, once I got to the ground and went into the shop, I was asked if I wanted a pint, which in turn saw me being shown up the stairs to some sort of members bar which sat at the back of the main stand.

Happy as a pig in the proverbial, I went about Googling the home club, but also, trying to establish, if I was in New Douglas Park, where precisely the old Douglas Park was in terms of location. Turns out I walked straight past it, it’s actually next door and has been replaced by a supermarket car park. Again, other than Tottenham Hotspur, has any other professional club ever moved to a new home so close to the previous residence?

The New Douglas Park is a strange set up. The main stand sits along the West side of the ground, while a smaller but identical version sits behind the North goal (presumably the away end when the size of the support warrants). But then on the East side is a small seated areas with a tarpaulin style roof, very much of a temporary feel, while behind the South goal at the old Douglas Park end, it’s just a high fence with no spectator access.

Only the main stand was open for the game that pitted an Accies side who sat bottom of the league, against a visiting side (who I saw lose a play off at St Johnstone last season) currently in a mid-table berth.

have had some success over the years, if you term being in the top flight a success. They made a couple of appearances in the Premier League in the late eighties, being relegated both times, but then returned in 2008 for a three year spell. This of course came to an end, but they were back in 2014, where they remained until 2021. A highest placed finish of seventh coming in the first season upon returning.

With a seat taken at the back of the stand, I sat back and enjoyed what turned out to be a very engaging game, in front of 752 spectators, and that included a decent number from Caley, of which I would say about 50 or so made the trip.

Daniel O’Reilly netted from close range to give the hosts the lead just shy of the twenty minute mark, but as we closed in on half time and I was unsuccessfully plotting my return to the members bar, Scott Allardice slotted home an equaliser from the edge of the box.

The second half saw Accies go for it, and they got their just reward in the 73^rd minute when Connor Smith scored from the penalty spot. Billy Mckay was sent off late in the game for the visitors, but it was a vital win for the home side who are battling to avoid relegation to the third tier.

It was a jog at the final whistle to make the 9.45pm train back to Glasgow, which incidentally had a good number of younger Caley fans on it, so I can only assume they may have been students in Glasgow? Anyway, we made the train, and just after 10pm it was into the lift at Motel One.

It might not quite have been Fir Park 2006 with all of it’s glory, but Hamilton Accies had been a great night. A proper Scottish football club with a rich history, and if you think back to the opponents Derry City faced on that UEFA Cup night, the same could not be said about the club that disappeared almost as quickly as it arrived…….