The Night I Won A Pint Off Broon From Troon

PERHAPS my warmest rugby memory is of the night, back in March, 1969, when we gave West of Scotland, then a major power in the land, one almighty fright in the semi-final of the Glasgow & District Knock-Out Cup.

Broon from Troon and ABC on the charge - two legends, and great guys into the bargain

WE were Cumnock RFC, and no, I didn't actually play – I ran the line in a memorable game, my first encounater with the wonderful Allan Hosie. Also, I won a pint, which he paid for with his usual cheery bonhomie, off Broon from Troon, who had rashly informed me, that West would beat us by 50 points. Maybe, had Sandy Carmichael played, they would have, but, without him, our captain, the late David Ancell, took their scrum apart to keep us in touch in possession terms, while our goal-kicking lock, Jacko Quinn, took advantage of the few penalties West gave away, to keep the score board ticking over. Once West realised, nowhere inside their own half was outwith Quinn's range – they became error-free at the breakdown.

Inside the last ten minutes, we were hanging onto a 9-6 lead, then that loveable bar steward Ian Murchie decided, no way was he – a proud Ardrossan Academical - going to lose to Cumnock, to drag West over the line and into a final, which they lost to Ayr.

My reason for dragging-up that particular game is this. Cumnock were relegated out of West Division 1 at the end of the season, and I was laying-out their Division 2 fixtures last night; doing a piece on Cumnock's new season fixtures for the local paper, the Cumnock Chronicle, when I noticed something disturbing.

As things stand, if we have a mild winter and no games called-off, Cumnock's season, at first team level, will be over on 1 February, just 23 weeks into the nominal 36 weeks available for play, between the first match, on 31 August, and the end of April. Actually, the 2019-20 season could last 39 weeks, since the official fixture lists allows teams until 23 May, 2020, to play-off unplayed fixtures.

The reality is, ordinary clubs such as Cumnock, are only actually guaranteed games on 19 of the nominal 39 playing weeks in a season – less than 50% of the available time. I accept, the SRU does not want clubs to be playing on the Saturdays when they have a home international at Murrayfield – that amounts to a further three Saturdays in the coming season.

That fills-up 22 of the available Saturdays. What are they supposed to do on the other 17? We might have a hard winter, which will mean call-offs; there may be other weeks when teams cannot be raised and games cancelled, but, whatever way you look at it, there are still going to be several weeks in which ordinary players, playing for fun, for clubs who only want to play, will be idle. What if anything, is Murrayfield going to do about making it possible for clubs and their players to play more-often?

And that's where the old Glasgow & District Knock-Out Cup (the G&DKO) comes in. If I can take another wee stravaig through my memory banks. Back in the 1970s, I did my bit for the Scottish Missionary Service, trying (and failing) to bring learning and common sense to West Yorkshire. While I was there, I fell in among a lovely bunch of hooligans at Morley RFC – a great bunch of guys. In the course of my time with Morley, I discovered the Yorkshire Cup.

The Yorkshire Cup was played to a format similar to the G&DKO. The first couple of rounds were played on balmy September evenings, then the competition shut-down and was finished off in April midweek nights. The thing about the competition was, given it had been going for about 100 years before I discovered it, a tradition had grown-up whereby, once your own club was knocked out, you followed the club which defeated you, until they lost, then you followed the team which beat them and so on, until, come the final, Headingley was well-filled. I sat on the Morley bench against Halifax, in front of a 10,000-plus crowd for one final.

Now, I am not saying Scottish tribalism would initially encourage beaten clubs to follow their conquerors. But, I am sure, a revived G&DKO would be a winner. For a start, there are only 32 clubs in the West Regional Leagues, first round, last 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, final: five round of games and it would be over. It could be fitted into April, no bother, and, it would keep the clubs playing.

If it could work in the West, why not similar competitions in the North, the Midlands and the East. The South doesn't come into this, they've got their Sevens to keep them amused.

It is an oft-made criticism, which is not without its basis in fact, that Murrayfield's obsession with the bottom line has seen the bulk of the clubs, the guys who only want to play rugby, side-lined, their concerns all but ignored. By encouraging local competitions – the likes of the G&DKO, the old County Cups – perhaps even inter-County games, to be played in the spring, the SRU could do more to revitalise the game than the work of any amount of corporate liveried apparatchiks ever could.

My message to the Council Members, particularly the guys representing the Regional clubs is, start pushing for more local competitions for your member clubs, and you will be doing Scottish Rugby a huge favour.

And my message to the clubs is: if the suits you are sending to Murrayfield will not stand up for you – stand-up for yourselves and organise things, then present them with a fait accompli. A united approach will soon see TCD, MH33, J Cheever Loophole and the Murrayfield Mafia pulled back into line.

Final message - Sheila B, help facilitate this and I will love you even more.