While the team relaxed on Saturday morning and enjoyed a
10.30 brunch, some fans, like a car-load from Keiss had been up before the
crack of dawn. Leaving Keiss at 5a.m. the foursome of Tank, Check, Minner and Davie
M, along with several other fans caught the 07.55 East Coast train at
Inverness. Elaine and Mandy also caught this Kings Cross bound express. When it
called at Edinburgh at around 11.20, students and other young fans from
Aberdeen, Glasgow and the capital, including Hendry brothers Ben and Sam and
friends Craig, Kris and Paul boarded to give the train the air of a Wick
Academy Supporters' Special. Dan Mackay was on board too with brother
Alexander. So too was Dave MacKinnon. Big John Cuthbertson from Glasgow, a
Carlisle and Yoker fan became a Wick fan too after watching the game at Girvan
three years ago and he was on the next train half an hour later. Meantime a
handful of fans were travelling in the opposite direction from London to arrive
at Berwick station at about 12.30, among them Graham from Gillingham attending
his fourth Academy game, the previous three at HP and Craig who had left his
wife of exactly one year at home in Upminster from where she sent a best wishes
email which was read out over the tannoy.
Over the years many ‘ground-hoppers' as they are known have
‘bagged ‘ Harmsworth Park, the most northerly venue in senior British football
and have enjoyed the experience so much that they have adopted Wick as their
second team. So, early on Saturday morning the self-styled ‘Solihull Scorries'
– aka Darren Licence and friends Paul and H – met up in the Birmingham area at
7 a.m. for a 640 mile round trip by car, coincidentally exactly the same
distance as Wick to Berwick and back, which fireman Ian drove in the day. Other
fans journeyed from York (Colin Campbell who meeting up with HP regulars mother
Anne and Richard) and Chesterfield ( William McCartney with Wicker David Munro).
Another Munro, down from Aberdeen, sponsor and programme collector Stevie had a
nasty shock when he heard that the 3rd Round would clash with his
wedding! What was he thinking for the 88 minutes that Academy did so well! Another sponsor Jim
Kelly from Fife, with Michael and Julie from Prestonpans, was joint Man of the
Match sponsor with James Innes of Achairn Energy. Another Academy sponsor, Ewan
Mackenzie went down on Friday and collected a family group on the way.
All these fans met up in the Berwick Rangers Social Club, ‘The
Black and Gold', adjacent to the club's stadium at Tweedmouth, south of the
river and thus well south of the border. Before kick-off they were joined in
the stadium by many others who had made comparatively shorter journeys from
Edinburgh, Glasgow and the central belt. Having been a teacher at Wick High
School for 30 years I was bound to meet a few ex pupils and sure enough Scott
Mackenzie now in Glasgow was in the stand with daughter Edith (9) and son
Magnus (7). I spotted Isobel Buchan, now Thompson, at the Spartans game with
husband Mike and they were at Berwick too.
Doubt may have been expressed over years about Irish,
Scottish and other nations' players being picked because of the birth place of
a grandparent. Well on Saturday at least three Scorrie fans were at the game
because they had a grandfather from Wick. These folk wore the Academy colours
with pride and showed as much enthusiasm for the cause as the sixty or so
Harmsworth Park regulars who sat or stood beside them.
Scott Geekie was with his mother Helen (nee Miller) whose
father, brought up in Nicolson Street played for Academy in the 30s before
moving to Glasgow to work. Down from Edinburgh for the game was Jim Rendall
whose mother was a Sinclair. Peter Macdonald's family were from the
Bilbster/Watten area.
The supporter who had the shortest distance to travel,
approximately 200 metres, found himself in a slight quandary. Peter Oman has
lived near Shielfield Park for many years and is a regular at Berwick home
games. He is Wick born and bred and a cousin of Academy treasurer and former
striker David Rosie.
Spare a thought however for one late arrival whose car
suffered a fault just half an hour from Berwick. Courier and Groat reporter
Will Clark had been in good time but lost over an hour while a repair to his
vehicle's exhaust was effected and arrived at Shielfield Park ten minutes
before half time.
The fans gave their team tremendous encouragement throughout
the game and were only stunned into silence seconds from the end of normal time
when referee, James Campbell pointed to the penalty spot for a foul which none
of the other 500 pairs of eyes in the ground had spotted. It was as BBC radio
and TV reporter Dave Donaldson commented on air, ‘a soft, soft penalty'. Dave
is of course a son of Wickers Noel and Marge Donaldson and like his brother
James has followed father and grandfather ‘Hot News' into a career in
journalism.
Academy players and officials were full of praise for their
loyal followers. Club chairman Colin Stewart said on Monday "We were all gutted
at the end. I was so proud of the players and their efforts. They can all hold
their heads high. They played some great football especially for long spells in
the second half and deserved at least a draw. Before the penalty kick I think a
lot of Berwick folk were looking out their maps ready for the replay. As for
the fans, they were magnificent and I'm lost for words to express fully what it
means to the club to have these supporters travelling hundreds of miles, not
just from Caithness but from all over the country, to cheer us on in the
Scottish Cup. That's our Scottish Cup adventure over again for another year but
at least we now have the North Cup Final to look forward to in Inverness at the
end of the month."
