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:-
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.
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.
One of the best football players of my lifetime, Bobby Charlton, a silky inside forward (and later midfielder) with an explosive shot, has died.
He was a member of that inspirational Manchester United team known as the Busby Babes of whom too many died in the Munich disaster. For ever after he naturally dreaded flying but as a professional footballer at the top level had to do so many times.
He then captained that formidable side United team which also featured club legends George Best and Denis Law when they won the European Cup at Wembley in 1968.
As a World Cup winner he will be forever an English football immortal. His record of international goals for England (49) stood for decades. Some poeple attribute England’s defeat in the 1970 World Cup quarter-final in against West Germany in Leon to the fact that manager Alf Ramsey, thinking the game won, withdrew Charlton to save him for the semi. That decision allowed Franz Beckenbauer to dominate the midfield and inspire the Germans’ comeback.
Sadly his last days were blighted by dementia maybe induced by heading the heavy footballs of his youth and playing days.
Robert Charlton: 11/10/1937 -21/10/2023. So it goes.
One of that great Manchester City team of the late sixties and early seventies Francis Lee, has died. Along with Colin Bell, Mike Summerbee, Neil Young, Tony Book et al, City legends all, he was part of a formidable force in English football of the time.
He won various trophies with them including the second of City’s top Division titles (the previous one was in 1937 and they would not win another till 2011.)
After moving to Derby County he won another league title. Overall he made 500 league appearances, scoring 228 goals, and played for England 27 times (10 goals.)
Francis Henry (Frannie) Lee: 29/4/1944 – 2/10/2023. So it goes.
The club’s biggest achievement was in being overall Champions of Scotland twice – shared with Rangers in 1891 and won outright the following season. See to the right of photo below:-
The rest of that information board relates to minor trophies, Charity Cups and the Stirlingshire Cup. I took two photos of it since the angle wasn’t great for getting the whole board in:-
I knew that Bennett’s signature song I Left My Heart in San Francisco hadn’t been a big hit in the UK but was still surprised to see it had only reached no 25 and also that he had so few hits here.
Vince Hill of course had a no 2 with Edelweiss, riding on the back of the success of the film of The Sound of Music with a song whose title my young self had no idea how to spell until I finally saw it written down.
Trevor Francis was simply one of the most talented footballers of his generation.
Anthony Dominick Benedetto (Tony Bennett;) 3/8/1926 – 21/7/2023. So it goes.
Vincent (Vince) Hill; 16/4/1934 – 22/7/2023. So it goes.
Trevor John Francis; 19/4/1954 – 24/7/2023. So it goes.
