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It was old school. But with a modern twist.
The history of Glasgow Harp stretches back to 1988 when a bunch of former pupils from Bannerman High in Bishopbriggs formed a football club as their current team, West Park, only had under-age sides.
There are two survivors in football terms from that band of brothers and both were at Glasgow Green for this Scottish Amateur Cup third round tie.
The match was played in the modern setting of wire surrounds and plastic underfoot. The teams were well-coached and fit. This was Scottish amateur football in the first quarter of the 21st century.
But there was more than enough to hark back to a fitba’ past that includes Charlie Nicholas, Roy Aitken, Kris Doolan and the unnamed centre-forward who once brandished an axe in a post-match contretemps.
All these tales — and more — were narrated by those to whom football is an unremitting passion. The personification of this casual truth dived to his left smartly to divert a header around the post and an hour later was telling me he had lost his spleen ‘after being cut in half’ when coming out for a cross ball in Junior football.
A rainbow threatens to make an appearance over Glasgow Green as Glasgow Harp face Stenhousemuir's Under-21s
Harp's 52-year-old goalkeeper Stephen Johnstone looks sprightly in trying to clear a high ball
Glasgow Harp secretary Michael O'Neill is one of the original founders of the amateur outfit
Twenty years on. Stephen Johnstone is still making saves, encouraging his team mates. He is 52.
Amateur football is facing huge difficulties in Scotland. Stein’s Thistle and Doune Castle have been conspicuous victims of the plight of this level of the game. There was, however, vibrancy, hope and a powerful camaraderie on show at the Green on Saturday.
It is not as if there is any naivety about the Harp and the challenges it faces. Two of those present — Brian Savage, president, and Michael O’Neill, secretary — were there for the first match in 1988.
They know the score. ‘Survival is a massive challenge. Most amateur teams are six weeks away from oblivion,’ says Savage, whose presidential role includes lugging the gear from his car to the changing room and then hanging up the strips.
The Harp’s home ground at Allan Glen’s in Bishopbriggs is waterlogged and the artificial turf at the Green is a welcome refuge.
He reflects on his involvement with the club. ‘We all went to Turnbull High School and then most of us played for West Park but they did not have a senior side so the Harp was formed.’
Stenhousemuir's youth side launch another attack on the plastic pitch at Glasgow Green
But that does not explain why Savage, a financial adviser, is still involved.
‘You get hooked,’ he says. ‘There is that passion about winning, there is also that element of control and influence. You are part of it. It is also a release on a Saturday. There are times when you question it but generally it is a release.’
He points out: ‘The Scottish Amateur League once had eight divisions. It’s gone. Amateur football is being squeezed between the under-age teams and the semi-pro teams. Young players are not as committed as they once were. So there are challenges.’
O’Neill points to the unpredictability of amateur football. ‘It can all go up in the air quickly,’ he says. ‘A couple of seasons ago our manager left and took the first team with him. Fortunately, we had a second team and we could go on but how we survived in the league that year I still don’t quite know.’
He remembers the beginnings. ‘We saw an advert for a Sunday league looking for teams in Springburn. We went along to the meeting to find out more but ended up joining. They asked our name and it was made up immediately. We decided on Glasgow because we did not want the Springburn boys to know we were actually from Bishopbriggs. Harp came because my mate’s grandad had been involved with Maryhill Harp.’
He has two stories of his time. He recalls he was always known for his role as a supersub and took the penalty that won Harp its first cup. ‘The goalie got his hands to it and it went in off the post,’ he says. His brother, who had special needs, came home to tell their father he had been picked for the primary school team.
Goalkeeper Johnstone watches intently as the visitors threaten with a free-kick opportunity
‘What position?’ said his father. He replied: ‘The same as Michael: substitute.’
O’Neill also remembers amateur football in the raw. ‘A guy got sent off against us and promised our centre-half he would get him after the match. We left the field to be confronted by him wielding an axe. Thankfully, his team-mates dragged him into their dressing room.’
The injury to Stephen Johnstone is obvious. A large scar runs almost the length of his stomach as he talks about his life in football before heading for a shower.
‘I always get a bit of a slagging about my age,’ he says. ‘At St Pat’s last week, a guy was telling me that he had heard I was 54. I said: “You cheeky b*****. I am only 52”.’
This is his third spell at Harp. He played Junior when he was not an amateur and that is when he sustained his injury. ‘I suppose it was life-threatening,’ he says casually. But football has been life-enhancing.
‘I have been trying to retire from here for the past seven years at least,’ he says. ‘But they always ask me back.’ He is reluctant to name a highlight from his decades as a player but points out that Doolan, then of Auchinleck Talbot, was the best finisher he ever faced and that whatever happens his career will continue in the over-40s league.
Junior football legend Bobby Crilly takes in Harp's home match with his grandson Kian
Another veteran of the Junior game prowls the sidelines, playing football with two of his grandsons. Bobby Crilly is Junior royalty having coached Vale of Clyde, Cumnock and Larkhall Thistle, among others. ‘I think I had over 1,100 games as a manager,’ he says as he contemplates his 69th birthday today.
He was also a very good footballer, playing under-age for Celtic before joining Wolves. ‘I got homesick and returned,’ he said.
He went into coaching, playing his part in the formation of such as Charlie Nicholas, Tom Boyd and Danny Crainie.
‘I can also say that Roy Aitken once slept in my bed,’ he says. ‘Roy was 16 or 17 and had to fly out to a European tie very early and he lived in deepest, darkest Ayrshire. So it was decided it would be better for him to stay overnight at my house in Castlemilk. I slept on the couch.’
His son, David, who also had a successful Junior career, is now manager at Harp. ‘From four and five, I grew up in dressing rooms or at matches with my dad. Coaching has always been something I have been interested in,’ he says.
Stenhousemuir's coaches, brothers Craig and Mark Cruickshanks, try to gee up their team
With assistant Tam Morgan, he has already built a promising side after just 13 months in the job. ‘It is a young group and we had seven players in the team last week who were 21 or under. Stevie takes the average up a wee bit,’ he confesses.
He believes the greatest lesson he has learned from his dad is how players have to be managed individually. It seems to be working. The players are committed on the field and off.
‘We had at 19 training on Monday and 26 at the second session during the week,’ he says.
There is undoubted ambition at the club. It goes beyond survival. ‘My greatest hope would be to win the Scottish Cup one day,’ says Savage.
That dream endures after Saturday. The Harp plays on.
