At the October meeting of the Rugby Memories group John entertained us with stories from his career in Sportsturf management. This has brought him into contact with many sporting greats as he worked on famous locations such as Stirling Albion, Love Street (St. Mirren), Pittodrie (Aberdeen), Leicester City, and Manchester United. As you can imagine there have been some big personalities along the way. John also worked alongside Jock Stein at Celtic where the park needed serious repair after a WHO concert in the seventies with the famous “biscuit tin” suffering greatly, much to the manager’s delight. Willie Waddell contacted John to ask for treatment of Ibrox park and after borrowing a tractor from his friend Sandy Bryce John drove through to Glasgow in it, a fair old journey before the motorway was built. His career was taking off.
Lots of John’s work was to be on rugby pitches and he joined other volunteers as Bridgehaugh was established following the 99 year lease from the Cowane Trust in Stirling. Stirling County could then move from the Games Park in Bridge of Allan to their current home in Stirling. John also worked on the undersoil heating at Murrayfield and later at Cardiff Arms Park.
