Craiginches

by Bryan Glennie

  Ally later mentioned his visit to Craiginches in a newspaper article. MacLeod may have seen it as a way to try and add to Aberdeen’s popularity over the longer term but it is fair to say his charm offensive never quite came to fruition on the inside.

  MacLeod, speaking in the national press not long after, said: ‘I have appeared on television seven times since my move to Pittodrie. I’ve spoken at nine meetings, including a talk to the convicted inmates last week at Craiginches, and I’ve spouted thousands of words. The idea is to win back the support and it’s working. The red and white scarves are appearing again on the streets of Aberdeen.

  ‘Of course, it may be some time before any of the inmates of Craiginches are available as supporters, but they’ll get out eventually and you could say my talk there was long-term policy. I enjoyed the experience but I was glad to get out!’

  14

  Helping the Dandy Dons to Net Glory

  There is no doubt the link between Aberdeen Football Club and the city’s prison was considerably strengthened by our work in helping the pensioners with their regular Pittodrie clear-ups. That agreement remained in place for a good couple of years before it eventually became too much for the pensioners in their more advancing years.

  It was a big job and so the chairman, Dick Donald, decided to bring in other people to do the work. We were more than happy to continue but I think he and the club felt uncomfortable with the fact that the prisoners were doing the work for nothing. He was an honourable man and obviously felt it wasn’t right. He didn’t want to look as if the club was taking advantage of the prisoners or the situation.

  I didn’t have a problem with the club’s decision because we had so many other things coming up and it let us and the prisoners concentrate on them.

  Though there was still a need for some of the captive skills from Her Majesty’s Prison Aberdeen because some of our prisoners also made and mended just about every sort of netting. The Pittodrie groundsman had shown me the nets one day on one of my regular visits to see Teddy. They were torn and ripped and were in serious need of repair. They had clearly taken too much abuse from the goalscoring talents of Joe Harper and his fellow Aberdeen stars – not that you would have had too many complaints from the Pittodrie faithful for seeing too many home goals.

  I immediately said that we could repair them for you in the prison. The groundsman just looked at me in bemusement. I then explained we had prisoners who actually made football nets in our work sheds. We were already supplying them to a number of senior clubs, such as Montrose and Brechin City, and a load of other Highland League and local junior clubs in the North-east as well.

  It wasn’t just football nets that we produced in the prison. The prisoners also made fishing nets for the boats and trawlers. We also used to repair them as well, which could be a big job at times, depending on the battering they had taken at sea.

  We were lucky that lots of our local prisoners had worked on the boats and were able to repair the nets and pass on their skills to fellow prisoners.

  They might have been inmates but they were all highly skilled at their jobs. They not only made the nets for the fishermen but they also supplied netting for the military.

  We did different things in the work sheds. We had a lot of major craftsmen, especially in the joiner’s shop. We had a top joiner. Anything you could make with wood he would produce – from benches to seats and tables to even more obscure things that had to be custom-made. Nothing was a problem.

  The prisoners might have come in with some skills or limited knowledge or ability but regardless they were taught different skills in the workshops and made the most of them. The majority of the prisoners took a great pride in their work. They also knew if they did put in a shift then the day would pass a lot quicker. If they decided to muck about and not pull their weight, then they knew it would be a long day.

  We had a sectioned off part of the work shed where the knitting machines were, for making all the staff uniform jumpers. Ten to twelve prisoners were employed there at a time. We also had a shoe repair shop where a party worked repairing shoes, etc. It would employ around six to eight prisoners.

  We had a joiner’s shop where all types of wood products were made – may I add to a very high standard. Here they would again employ six to eight prisoners. We also had a works department that usually employed three prisoners to work with the tradesmen doing maintenance in the prison. The kitchen would employ around ten prisoners to help prepare the food, serve it up and then attend to all the washing up afterwards, along with and keeping the dining room clean and tidy. In A Hall they would have about six pass men for keeping everything clean in the hall showers and toilets. We had a trusted prisoner who worked in the staff area and muster room, keeping everything clean and tidy, and upstairs in the office they would also have a pass man who kept everything clean. He also kept the office staff and the governer supplied with their tea and coffee. There were trusted prisoners working in the gardens seeing to all the vegetables and mowing the grass in the prison and the prison quarters outside. The reception also had a trusted prisoner for keeping the place in order and doing the laundry. Out in the grounds a trusted prisoner would empty all the rubbish bins from the various departments and burn everything in the incinerator.

  Mr Donald at Aberdeen FC got wind of our work – particularly our net making. The Aberdeen chairman told me not to bother getting their old nets repaired because he wanted us to make a new set. The prison went on to make and supply the football nets at Aberdeen from Ally MacLeod’s era up until Sir Alex Ferguson was the manager.

  Mr Donald and his family owned the Capitol Theatre in Aberdeen. It was the main venue where all the top acts performed and he gave me permission to approach any of the acts attending to see if they wanted to come and visit the prison or perform there. However, when acts were only there for a one night stand it was no good. I also became quite friendly with Billy McNeill. Billy had taken over as Aberdeen manager from Ally MacLeod. He had come in from Clyde after a more than glittering playing career with Celtic and Scotland.

  Billy might have lifted the European Cup with Celtic and is one of the most decorated stars in Scottish football history but you would never know that by speaking to him. There are no airs and graces with him and he is such a gem of a man. He is a lovely, lovely guy and would do anything he could for you.

  Billy had a house down in Stonehaven when he moved to the North-east and he wanted me to come up with ideas for his garden to improve how it looked. He didn’t like the layout and so I set about trying to put something together. I was more than happy to help the likes of big Billy out.

  I suggested he move things around and give it a bit more colour and Billy was delighted with my suggestions, but it was quite a big job and I was quite relieved when he said he would get contractors out to get the job done, which he did.

  That bit of work did earn me a bit of currency with Billy, which I was able to quickly call in – although I am sure the Aberdeen boss would have done it regardless. I asked Billy if he would be willing to come up and do a night with the prisoners. I told him Ally MacLeod had come up before him and the night had been a roaring success. I forgot to tell him about the stick that Ally took from the prisoners! I thought that was better left out because I didn’t want to scare him off!

  True to his word, Billy came up to Craiginches for the night. He also brought along a few well-known faces with him for reinforcements in the shape of top Aberdeen stars Bobby Clark and Drew Jarvie. The fact that Billy was manager of the Dons and had played for Celtic meant he was going to get it from the Rangers fans rather than from all sides like Ally!

  It helped that Billy was doing such a great job at Aberdeen. Things were really taking off at the Dons but any success he had at Pittodrie was never going to go unnoticed, especially from his former employers, Celtic. The call every Aberdeen fan dreaded did eventually come, just over a year into his Aberdeen stay. Sean Fallon had struggled to step out of the shado
ws of Jock Stein, after he had left for Scotland, and so they turned to their former captain, McNeill, in 1978.

  I was actually with Teddy Scott at lunch when it all kicked off and it was certainly unknown to me, if not Teddy! The two of us were sitting on a bench outside the old gymnasium with a cup of tea when big Billy and John Clark came through and announced they were leaving Aberdeen. They had just been in a meeting with Dick Donald and the board and had told them they wanted to go to Celtic.

  Billy had done a great job but the call of his first love, Celtic, was just too much for him to turn down. The Pittodrie hierarchy couldn’t convince him to stay and he headed to Celtic Park for the first of his two spells there. It was a shame to see him go because I firmly believe that if Billy had stuck around he would have brought real success to Aberdeen – much the same as his successor, Alex Ferguson, who we will talk about a bit later.

  Billy may have moved on but Teddy ensured that I remained the green-fingered friend to everyone at Pittodrie throughout the years.

  I also got friendly with the Aberdeen striker Davie Dodds in the late 1980s. It was the same old story! He had told Teddy he was looking for somebody to help get his back garden in order. It was an awful mess when he moved into his house in the city’s Broomhill Road. Teddy immediately volunteered my services. I am still not certain to this day whether he was on commission or not! He asked me the question and so I went up and had a look. We had to dig everything out and then he wanted a vegetable patch with some flowers at the side. I knew it was not going to be a big job but Davie had vowed to help me. Davie is a lovely lad but I quickly realised I would be quicker and better doing it myself.

  So that is how I got to know Davie and his wife, Jill, and we have continued to remain friends long since he hung up his boots. They were both up for our Silver Wedding when Davie was still a Rangers player.

  Davie was another person I got up to the prison. He insisted it wasn’t a problem and said he would also rope in his fellow striker and the former Scotland, Celtic and Arsenal star Charlie Nicholas. They came up and did a question and answer session.

  Davie and Charlie were brilliant. They were like a comedy act, with the pair constantly contradicting themselves and taking the mickey out of each other and their teammates. Charlie took pelters because he turned up with this long black leather jacket on. He said it was the same coat as Bono, the lead singer of the rock band U2, was wearing at the time but Davie and the prisoners weren’t having any of it.

  Charlie insisted he had bought it from a boutique in London when he had been down at Arsenal but he got stick because it was so long. Davie and the prisoners kept telling him he must have had to kill about seven cows to get enough leather for the jacket! In fairness to Charlie, he took it on the chin and also gave as good as he got! The prisoners lapped it up, spending time with some of the players they worshipped or supported every week.

  Aberdeen stars Craig Robertson, Jim Bett and Robert Connor were amongst some of the later visitors to Craiginches. They did an hour-long question and answer session with the inmates.

  Bett admitted: ‘It’s certainly nice to visit the men inside and try and let them forget their troubles for a short while. It’s also nice to know you are coming out the same night.’ Flame-haired midfielder Robertson hadn’t long joined the Dons from Dunfermline back in 1988 when he came up.

  He joked: ‘I didn’t expect to be in prison so soon after coming to Aberdeen. I must say it was nice to be asked and this is the only way to do prison!’ I know we were lucky to get so many big names from Aberdeen to visit the prison through the years. They all gave their time for nothing but I know the time they spent with the prisoners was invaluable.

  When we got something organised then we would put up posters in A Hall to tell the prisoners what was happening and when. Every time we did it, especially when it was anybody connected with Aberdeen Football Club, it brought a real excitement to the prison. It was the same when we announced a musical or social event. The inmates looked forward to them because it got them away from the normal routine and broke up what could be a pretty mundane existence behind bars. It gave them something to look forward to. I think it also helped that Aberdeen FC were a major force in Scottish football at that time as well!

  15

  Fergie Tells Us We Will Beat Real Madrid

  There is no question that 11th May 1983 will go down as the greatest day in Aberdeen Football Club’s history. It is also one of the most memorable nights in Scottish football history: when the dandy Dons brought the might of Real Madrid to its knees. Yes, Real Madrid, one of Europe’s greatest-ever sides, had lost to a team from the North-east of Scotland – who had never won a European trophy before.

  The scenes from Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg are still etched in the vivid memory of every Aberdeen supporter of a certain vintage, whether they were in Sweden or glued to their television screens. The image of Mark McGhee swinging in a cross for super sub John Hewitt to go diving in the rain to head past Spanish keeper Agustin and give the Dons their famous extra-time 2 – 1 win will never be forgotten.

  The win had looked on the cards after Eric Black had scored in the seventh minute, although those early hopes were quickly extinguished by a short pass back that led to a penalty and saw Juanito equalise from the spot for the Spanish superstars.

  Yet you could never write off an Aberdeen team managed by Sir Alex Ferguson. He had almost single-handedly, along with some help from Jim McLean at Dundee United, helped to smash the vice-like grip that the Old Firm, Rangers and Celtic, had long since held over Scottish football.

  This was an Aberdeen team who had gradually evolved and boasted top quality players like Willie Miller, Jim Leighton, Alex McLeish, Gordon Strachan, Neil Simpson, Neil Cooper, McGhee and Black, to name just a few. The majority of the boys had come through the ranks or had been cherry-picked from smaller clubs. These players, under Sir Alex’s guidance, had taken the Dons to a new level. They were not only one of the top teams domestically but they had also proved to be a top European outfit that flew the flag for Scotland with real pride.

  To get to the 1983 European Cup Winners’ Cup they saw off Swiss side Sion, Dinamo Tirana, Lech Poznan and Waterschei but there was no doubt that the big win came in the quarter-finals when Sir Alex’s team saw off the mighty Bayern Munich. That result came as a result of a 3 – 2 victory at Pittodrie after a goalless first leg in Germany. That landmark win gave the Dons, the Red Army and Sir Alex the belief they could beat any team – even the mighty Real Madrid!

  The result and win over Real not only put Aberdeen on the European map but it also sent shockwaves round the world, although not necessarily in the Glennie household. Yes, there were wild celebrations and delight, as there were in many homes throughout the north-east of Scotland that night, when Willie Miller triumphantly lifted the European Cup Winners’ Cup to the rain-filled Gothenburg skies, but everyone in the Glennie household was always confident that Sir Alex and his team would be bringing the famous old trophy to the Granite City.

  In fact, Sir Alex Ferguson himself had told us in our own living room that we could beat Real Madrid. We had become very friendly with Sir Alex and his wife, Cathy. They would come round to our house at the weekend. Sir Alex came in one Saturday night and asked if it was okay if he could take a phone call. I said: ‘No problem, you know where the phone is, just go and use it whenever you like.’ I never asked any more, it was none of my business and I knew Sir Alex was a busy man trying to deliver even more success at Aberdeen.

  Cathy and Sir Alex loved to pop round but it was important that everything was low-key. They didn’t want or like to be the centre of attention. They just wanted to spend time amongst friends. That was the way the Fergusons were and still are. Sir Alex might be one of the most iconic names and faces in British sport but he has never let any of his success or achievements go to his head and that says a lot about him. He is a true gentleman with a steely determination to succeed.

  Sure enou
gh the phone went later that evening and Sir Alex went out and answered. He was probably away for about twenty minutes and then came back into the living room. He opened the door, walked back in and immediately said: ‘We can beat them, Archie says we can beat them!’ He had been waiting for the phone call from his long-term assistant, Archie Knox. We weren’t sure what Sir Alex was talking about but then he revealed that Knox had travelled to Spain on a spying mission to watch Real Madrid play domestically ahead of the European Cup Winners’ Cup final.

  Archie certainly called it right. His confidence wasn’t to be misplaced. Real Madrid might have been managed by the legendary Alfredo Di Stéfano and boasted world stars like Uli Stielike, Johnny Metgod and José Camacho but Sir Alex and Knox knew they had a squad of players who feared no one, and reputations meant nothing!

  By the time we had got back to our cups of tea Sir Alex had us believing that Aberdeen would beat Real Madrid. So you can only imagine the belief he installed in his players – the ones who would have to go out and at least match Real Madrid!

  It was a night and a game that every Aberdeen fan will never forget. It will live forever in the history of Scottish football and I am lucky enough to say I have my own personal memento of the night. The chairman, Dick Donald, gave me my own official limited edition Adidas team jacket. It was one of the same jackets that Sir Alex, his staff and team had worn on the bench that night in Gothenburg. Mr Donald presented me with the jacket a week after they came back. I have to say it is something I have treasured ever since.

  It was a great touch from Mr Donald, and Sir Alex was very similar. He is also a real people’s person. He was brought up the hard way and even now he is at the top he never forgets his roots, the people who helped him and friends he made along the way. I can vouch for that because every year, without fail, Sir Alex and Cathy still send a Christmas card. That continued even after he called time on his managerial career with Manchester United. That, for me, shows the mark of the man that Sir Alex is.