Home of Albion Rovers FC.

The “Wee Rovers” heyday is long gone, being just after the First World War when they reached the Scottish Cup final and had a run in the First Division. They also achieved promotion in 1934 and mostly remained in Division 1 till the Second War. Thereafter they have been mostly in the lower divisions. For a fuller account see link.

Below is a view of the Stand and entrance gates of Cliftonhill from Main Street, Coatbridge (the A 89.)

The stand and its immediate surroundings is the only area where spectators congregate.

The Stadium is unaffectionately called the “Stadio San Giro” by its detractors.

It’s fair to say the ground has seen better days but any disparagement is out of place. It’s very homely and has a friendly atmosphere.

This is the west end. Standing may once have been allowed here but not for a long time, I think.

The east end is similar, only a mound of earth.

The North Terracing (below) is now, I believe, closed to spectators for safety reasons but it was from here that I saw Kenny Jenkins deflect with the neatest of touches with his head a Charlie Gallagher free kick to score in a 1-0 win in 1972, vital to the championship win that year.

The actor Edward Woodward‘s death was in the news today but from a personal perspective the fact that the Dumbarton FC club website has just announced the death of Kenny Jenkins affected me more.

Kenny, known to my generation as “Gilbert” for some strange reason which I can’t recall, was a member of the fabled promotion winning team of 1972. One of his key contributions to that success was the goal he scored at Cliftonhill in the 1-0 win over Albion Rovers where, with his back to goal, he gave a driven free kick the merest of deflections with his head to take it past the keeper.

He was an exponent of the “mazy dribble” when playing in midfield but later in his Sons career he dropped into central defence.

He had a really peculiar pecadillo, though, (or superstition, perhaps) in that he always used to trot into the opponents half of the field during the warm up and have a wee meander as if the other side weren’t there. This was something that was just not done. Players stayed strictly in their own half until kick off, then as now.

I think it was a subtle form of gamesmanship.

Edward Woodward 1/6/30-16/11/09. Kenny Jenkins -16/11/09. So it goes.