Dutch football legend Johan Neeskens has died. He was part of that magnificent Dutch side of the 1970s which reached the World Cup final twice in a row but unfortunately did not manage to win the trophy.

Neeskens also had a secondary assist on the superb goal – aided by a sublime pass from Johan Cruyff – he scored against Brazil in the 1974 World Cup .

Johannes Jacobus Neeskens:  15/9/1951 – 6/10/202. So it goes.

Former Liverpool and Scotland footballer Ron Yeats has died.

His arrival at the club, along with Ian St John, was credited by the legendary Bill Shankly as being the turning point to propel Liverpool to the top of the English game in the 1960s. Prior to their signings Liverpool had been jogging along as a middling Second Division club. So impressed was Shankly by Yeats that he immediately made him captain. Promotion followed straightaway, then two Championships sandwiched Liverpool’s first ever FA Cup win. Such was his stature that he was nicknamed “The Colossus”.

Given all that it now seems surprising that Yeats was only ever capped by Scotland twice.

Ronald (Ron) Yeats: 15/11/1937 – 6/9/2024. So it goes.

It is in the nature of things that I have made many fewer journeys to Highland League football grounds than to those in the Lowlands. The Lowland Football League does of course contain several teams which used to be in the SPFL or its predecessor,* whereas the Highland League has only the one (Brechin City.)

I have however visited I think nearly all of the towns/cities which have hosted past or present Lowland League teams and even seen games at some of them though not of clubs in the Lowland League at the time.

The first of these cities/towns would have been Glasgow (Broomhill FC, as BSC Glasgow before they became nomadic, playing in Alloa, Cumbernauld, and now Dumbarton) then Edinburgh (Edinburgh City, The Spartans, Civil Service Strollers, Edinburgh University.)  I have been to games at Edinburgh City’s ground, Meadowbank Stadium, but only when it housed Meadowbank Thistle (since morphed into Livingston FC) and at Spartans ground, Ainslie Park, where Edinburgh City played home games when I watched them play the Sons of the Rock.

It may surprise some readers that I have been familiar with Innerleithen** (Vale of Leithen) for many years. My grandparents (one of them the original Jack Deighton) lived there for a time. I may have been to Galashiels (Gala Fairydean Rovers) in those days. I have certainly driven through it, plus Selkirk (Selkirk) and Hawick (Hawick Royal Albert United.)

In their relevant clubs’ SFL or SPFL  days I have been to Cowdenbeath (Cowdenbeath*,) Coatbridge (Albion Rovers*,) Berwick upon Tweed (Berwick Rangers*) and Falkirk (East Stirlingshire*,) the last of which also landed up playing in Stenhousemuir for a while. Bonnyrigg (Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic) is another town I have only visited to see the Sons play. I have also passed through or stopped in Stirling (University of Stirling) many times.

In my teaching days I sometimes passed through Kelty (Kelty Hearts) on my way to work.

Then we have Cumbernauld** (Cumbernauld Colts – and Broomhill, as above)

I see Motherwell is listed on the Lowland League Wiki page (see link above) as the domicile of Caledonian Braves (formerly Edusport Academy) but their history is complicated, being based in Hamilton and even Annan for a while.

On trips south I have taken in Castle Douglas (Threave Rovers,) Dalbeattie (Dalbeattie Star) and east and south of Edinburgh, Prestonpans (Preston Athletic,) Rosewell (Whitehill Welfare,) and Tranent (Tranent, or is it Tranent Juniors?) where my mother was born.

Bo’ness (Bo’ness United) and Linlithgow (Linlithgow Rose) have featured on this blog more than once. I have had a look at Gretna (Gretna 2008) and East Kilbride (East Kilbride) but I don’t recall ever being to Broxburn (the newly promoted to the Lowland League Broxburn Athletic.)

** The game I saw in Innerleithen was a pre-1966 World Cup warm up game. Vale of Leithen played against France. It was of course a mis-match.  Cumbernauld was to see Dumbarton play Clyde.

And now Stan Bowles, the best football player I have seen live,as opposed to on television, has died. He most famously starred for Queen’s Park Rangers, but it was a Carlisle United player that I saw him dominate the midfield in a pre-season friendly against the Sons of the Rock at Boghead in 1972. He just glided over the pitch and past our midfielders as if they weren’t there. It was sublime.

This video kind of speaks for itself in illustrating some of his skills – but it tends to concentrate on him scoring goals. (I note that the person who titled it had a bit of difficulty spelling extraordinaire.)

I see from his biographical information he shared a birthday with me, though he was some years older.

Stanley Bowles: 24/12/1948 – 24/2/2024. So it goes .

One of the finest Scottish footballers of the post-Second World War era, Ian McMillan, has died, at the age of 92.

He started his senior career at Airdrieonians (the original Airdrieonians) for whom he played for ten years before being transferred to Rangers (the original Rangers.)

In his time at Ibrox he was nicknamed “The Wee Prime Minister” for his performances (and also in recognition of the actual Prime Minister at the time) and was part of that semi-legendary forward line Scott, McMillan, Millar, Brand and Wilson (Later Henderson, McMillan, Millar, Brand and Wilson.) He won six caps for Scotland, four Scottish League titles, three Scottish Cup finals,  and two Scottish League Cups and played in the 1961 European Cup Winners’ Cup final a year after playing in the European Cup semi-final.

It’s lost in the mists of time but I believe I may have seen him play for Rangers in a League Cup game against Hibs in the early 1960s. (I was very young at the time.)

McMillan returned to Airdrie for  one season before retiring but later became manager of the club.

He has a connection to the Sons of the Rock in that his grandson Iain Russell played for Dumbarton FC in two spells.

John Livingstone “Ian” McMillan: 18/3/1931 – /2/2024. So it goes.

Borough Briggs is the home of Elgin City FC.

This is the reason we made the trip up north in April. I had never visited Borough Briggs. And the mighty Sons of the Rock had a game there.

(Of current SPFL grounds the only ones I still have to visit are St Mirren Park, Paisley (I was at St Mirren’s old ground in Love Street,) Victoria Park, Dingwall (Ross County) and Central Park (Kelty Hearts,) though there are some others I haven’t photographed since it was a long time ago.

During World War 2 a pillbox was built on the west terracing (called, I believe, the Bank.) See here. Those nefarious Germans could have attacked from anywhere after all. Sadly it was demolished as part of the conditions for Elgin joining the SFL, as it then was, in 2000.

Borough Briggs from road:-

External facade:-

Opposite view from first above:-

East Goal:-

North enclosure from entrance gate:-

Main stand from east terrace:-

Inside North Enclosure, with west terrace beyond:-

Borough Briggs east Tterrace from North Enclosure:-

Main stand from west terrace:-

Gigi Riva, Italy’s all-time top goalscorer, has died.

In all he scored 35 goals for the national team from 42 appearances.

But it was his club career that marked him out. After starting with a local side he moved to Sardinian club Cagliari, then in Serie B, where his goals helped them to promotion in 1964. More astonishingly he took Cagliari to the Scudetto in 1970, the club’s first (and only) Serie A title. Indeed, it was the first time a club from south of Rome had won the title.

His celebration of this goal in the 1970 World Cup semi-final perhaps inspired Marco Tardelli’s in the final in Spain 12 years later.

Luigi (Gigi) Riva: 7 /11/1944 – 22/1/2024. So it goes.

Hot on the heels of the news of the death of Mario Zagallo, the first man to win the World Cup as both a player and manager, comes the death of the second, Franz Beckenbauer.

Zagallo’s playing career was a bit before my time but he won the World Cup twice as a player, in 1958 and 1962, and was at the helm when Brazil won their third World Cup in 1970. He was assistant manager for their 1994 win. This makes him the most successful footballer in World Cup history.

Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo: 9/8/1931 – 5/1/2024. So it goes.

Beckenbauer leapt into the British consciousness during the 1966 World Cup in England, where he stood out as a new type of footballer, striding about the midfield like someone playing a different game altogether. Not long after he more or less invented the role of the attacking centre back from the seeper/libero position. His control of games led to his German compatriots giving him the nickname Der Kaiser. Domestically he was the driving force behind making Bayern Munich the abiding success they are today.

In later years his reputation was tainted by allegations of corruption surrounding the securing by Germany of the hosting of the 2006 World Cup but it his achievements on the pitch which will be his legacy.

Franz Anton Beckenbauer: 11/9/1945 – 7/1/2024. So it goes.

In Saturday’s Guardian there was a good article on various sporting teams’ nicknames.

Apparently The Pilchards, aka Perranporth, a team from Cornwall, once had a manager who said “I’m gutted.”

As well as The Pilchards and multivarious others it mentions Scotland’s own Doonhamers, Bully Wee, Blue Brazil, Loons, Red Lichties and Hi Hi.

Stamford FC in England are nicknamed The Daniels after that country’s fattest man Daniel Lambert. Albacete in Spain are seemingly known as The Clockwork Cheese.

I was surprised that Harrogate Town’s tag of the Sulphurites wasn’t included as it is on the surface a bit strange. (Not htough when you consider the town’s arigins as a spa due to its sulphur springs.

Not to mention The Flying Donkeys (ChievoVerona) whom fans of their city rivals Hellas Verona were fonds of saying that only when those animals did achieve that feat would Chievo ever appear in Serie A. Chievo had the last laugh though when in 2001 they played in the Italian top flight for the first time and their fans adopted the nickname i Mussi Volanti. Sadly Chievo, though still registered, no longer play in the Italian pyramid system due to problems with financial viability over tax liabilities and a dispute about Covid dispensations.

I was sad to hear of the death of Terry Venables, former footballer and England manager, with many strings to his bow.

Not least was that he became manager of Barcelona, whom he led to their first La Liga title in 11 years and to a first European Cup Final in 25 years. Soon nicknamed El Tel he had endeared himself to the fans just after his appointment by addressing them  in Catalan.

His interests outside football were less inspiring, with question marks over his business affairs.

More to his credit though was that along with Gordon Williams he was the co-creator of Hazell, a fictional TV detective. The pair also wrote a football based book together They Used to Play on Grass as well as several other novels featuring Hazell.

It is for his footballing legacy that he will be remember longest though.

Terence Frederick Venables: 6/1/1943 – 25/11/2023. So it goes.