Glasgow's Other, Other, Other Team.

Tikka Mezzala · May 17, 2023

Nestled in the heart of Glasgow's Southside, a short walk away from the national stadium, is Newlandsfield Park. The ground is home to one of the country's biggest non-league clubs: Pollok F.C. The club's location in Glasgow's densely populated Southside may seem like an advantage to some, but life in Scotland's largest city is not black and white; it's green and blue. While competing for attention with the Old Firm is not a problem limited to Glasgow's football clubs, but a problem experienced right the way through the country, being situated a mere eleven minute drive from Ibrox Stadium, and an eighteen minute drive from Celtic Park presents significant challenges. Despite that, however, Pollok F.C. continues to draw in an average home crowd of 700 people; an impressive record by Scottish non-league standards. But for how much longer the club will remain non-league is an open question after the restructuring of the Scottish football pyramid opened the door to the Professional structure for junior clubs like Pollok. It is with this issue in mind that I headed for Newlandsfield Park on a fine afternoon in late June.

A short train from Glasgow's Central Station will take you to Pollokshaws East, and a short stroll from Pollokshaws East will bring you to Pollok F.C. It is the off-season, and the players have yet to return from the summer recess, so as I approach the ground I am greeted by the serenity of lawnmower engines and the clanking of scaffolding. I take a moment to appreciate the ground and to imagine what it must be like to watch West of Scotland Premier League matches here regularly. There is a single stand adorned with the name of the club that would provide some shelter during the typical Glasgow weather. Behind the goal to the left, four high rises block out the horizon. Figuratively speaking, it is a million miles away from the grandeur of Ibrox and Celtic Park, but it retains a certain charm.

Shortly after I arrive, I'm greeted by the club chairperson, Kieran Rae. Etched upon his face is the marking of pride. He shows me around with the enthusiasm of a host on MTV's Cribs. The highlight of the tour is the club lounge, where pieces of Scottish football history are gathered, alongside a plaque listing all of the various chairpersons throughout Pollok's history. As I examine the names on the plaque, I can tell how proud Kieran is to take his own place on the list. We then move on to examine the pieces of silverware that the club has collected throughout its one-hundred-and-eleven year history. Among them, the Scottish Junior Cup, which the club has won on three occasions, takes centre stage. Outside of tournaments organised by the SFA and the SPFL, the Scottish Junior Cup is the most illustrious football competition in the country. In its heyday, the 1951 final of the competition between Petershill and Irvine Meadow XI managed to attract a crowd of 77,650 people. That's around 17,000 more people than you can fit inside the country's largest football stadium, Celtic Park. But junior football no longer enjoys the same attention that it once did. Clubs are having to work hard to draw in members of the community, who, unlike in 1951, can watch any number of football matches on the television or in the pub. With the prompt of the Junior Cup trophy in my hands, I ask Kieran about his views on the future of non-league football in Scotland:

I think there's been a mixed response to the restructuring of the pyramid. For some clubs it's presented them with an opportunity to outgrow the junior game and perhaps arrive one day in the SPFL. But promotion is not a straightforward thing. There are clubs down here, like ourselves, who have been operating without floodlights, for example. If we get promoted, that's something we have to think about, because at a certain level of the game these things become a requirement. That's going to cost money.

Kieran's response highlights the challenges facing clubs like Pollock, where something as simple as floodlights causes financial anxiety. But despite the difficulties that lie ahead, the club are keen to test themselves at a higher level one day:

Now that the door is open to the professional structure, I think every ambitious club at this level is starting to think about whether they can take that next step. For us, that is something that we're already planning for. I think we've got a squad here that can compete near the top of the West of Scotland Premier League. We've just hired a new manager ahead of next season, and the feeling is that within three-to-five years we could find ourselves in the Lowland League, one step beneath the SPFL.

I'm fortunate that the club's new manager, Émile Hrádecký, is in the building and willing to speak with me. At twenty-nine years old, he's one of the youngest managers in the West of Scotland Football League. Émile spent the last twelve years playing junior football before an injury forced him to give up the playing side of things. He started out with Premier League side Kirkintilloch Rob Roy, before moving on to St Roch's in the First Division. It was during his time in Glasgow's North-East with the Candy Rock that Hrádecký attained his National C license, and began his coaching career. Now the head coach of Glasgow's biggest non-league club, he's hoping to transcend the limits of his playing days and experience life in a higher division:

I'm extremely fortunate to have landed on my feet after the injury I picked up. I never really imagined that I'd have the chance to come here in a coaching capacity. I've played against Pollok many times as a player, and coming to Newlandsfield you always knew the size of the club due to the attendances they'd draw in.

I consider myself to be an ambitious person and I'd like to take coaching as far as my ability allows. We're only two promotions away from the SPFL structure, and while there are many well resourced clubs between us and reaching that level, we have to try and lay the groundwork for a tilt at trying to get ourselves up there.

Hrádecký's appointment came on the back of another interesting arrival at the club: director of football Martin McKee. The Northern-Irishman had previously worked as part of the Cliftonville youth setup back in Belfast, before he held a job at Pollok's fellow southsiders Queen's Park. During his time with The Spiders, McKee scouted the junior leagues in an attempt to find hidden gems in the lower echelons of the Scottish pyramid. It was this role that made him the perfect man for Pollok's first ever director of football position. The significance of McKee's appointment is found in the fact that non-league clubs typically do not employ directors of football. Most of the scouting and transfers are handled by the managers and the chairpersons. Pollok's decision to hire someone, albeit part-time, to dedicate themselves to player-recruitment shows the ambition and the innovation present in the boardroom; something that Kieran Rae is keen to stress:

We're always looking for ways to get an edge on the competition. Bringing Martin's expertise on board is something that is going to really help us. While we will always keep the manager in the loop and allow him to have a say on transfers, this division of labour allows the manager to focus on coaching the team, while Martin does a lot of the legwork behind the scenes in helping us assemble a squad.

While it remains to be seen how well the new manager and director of football will work together, what we can be sure of are the expectations of the Pollok faithful. The club's fans are very demanding and will expect the team to push the likes of Auchinleck Talbot and Darvel all the way in the Premier League. There are also yearly hopes of the club causing an upset or two in the Scottish Cup. With Newlandsfield looking resplendent in the late June sunshine, the feeling here is that the future is bright for Pollok F.C. But will they ever join the likes of Queen's Park, Partick Thistle, Clyde, and, of course, Celtic and Rangers in the SPFL?

Edited May 17, 2023 by Tikka Mezzala

Tikka Mezzala · May 17, 2023

.