Back Of The Net Exihibition 8 Of 11

[thewhiteman]

Back of the Net Exhibition 8 of 11

http://www.smisa.net/

http://www.museumsgalleriesscotland.org.uk/member/paisley-museum-and-art-galleries

OFF-FIELD ANTICS

Sometimes the antics off the field can be as entertaining as the action on the pitch, with over-exuberant fans, cheeky announcements from the tannoy and questionable mascot behaviour all adding to the fun!

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“When I was a boy my dad took me to see St.Mirren every week from around 1968 onwards. My lasting memory of these games as a young child was the singing, ‘Hey Jude’ being the one I remember the most, plus the half-time entertainment. This consisted of the latest ‘pop tunes’ played over the tannoy. Whilst these were being played this huge bald-headed guy use to leap from the Northbank, resplendent in what can only be described as a black and white hooped romper suit, and proceeded to dance until the teams came out for the second half. Some of the older fans might remember this guy as he was affectionately known as ‘Mad Peter’. The last I remember of ‘Mad Peter’ was the season we won the First Division in 1977 and he used to stand up at the back of the Northbank with a huge sombrero hat on and yodel.” - P.P.

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“My dad was the stadium announcer back in the early 1980s. One time at half time a young woman appeared at his commentary booth bearing two pies and two bovrils. She said she had gone to get them for her and her husband but couldn’t remember where she was sitting. So my dad said over the tannoy ‘I have an attractive young lady here with two pies and two bovrils and she can’t remember where she is sitting. Can her husband put his hand up’ – and about 100 or so arms were raised in the stands!” - Andrew W.

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“One of my favourite memories of watching St Mirren came at Love St in October 1983, a week after seeing Rangers off three-nothing. Many of us perhaps felt that we had little right to expect further bounty from football’s horn of plenty. Demolishing both halves of the Old Firm inside eight days was pretty much the province of Aberdeen and Dundee United back then. In preceding seasons, Celtic had given the impression that they didn’t consider it worth turning up against St Mirren for less than five, and when they went two up with their first two attacks, I must confess I was already consoling myself that at least I would get to see some goals that afternoon.

But then two events changed my gloomy outlook, although they could not be said to be related by anything more than that they took place within a hundred yards of each other. The first happened in the crowd, and involved a character familiar from previous Old Firm matches at Love St: the drunken hardcase wandering provocatively around the home supporters’ section of the terrace. This particular peace envoy found a good sounding-spot about five yards down the terrace from where I stood, and began swearing happily at the Buddies’ hard-core North Bank support.

Then I heard a loud cry of “HAW!” from the back of the terraces, and turned round to see a barely-chewed pie sailing through the air. I was able to follow its flight path almost from launch until it impacted entertainingly on the face of our erstwhile taunter. He had looked up in response to the shout but was too drunk to move out of the way.

Fixed by that particularly adhesive grease that holds pies together, the pie sat there on his face as he wobbled uncomprehendingly for a few seconds, then slid slowly down and eventually fell off. He staggered away in silence into the waiting arms of some kindly gentlemen in blue uniforms, who were offering to escort him to less hostile surroundings.

The second event was that John “Cowboy” McCormack suddenly seemed to decide that two goals was enough of a start, and set about relentlessly demolishing Celtic’s midfield. Saints pulled one back, and I remember thinking that things might not end so disgracefully after all. Within about ten more minutes we were leading three-two, and by the time the third bout of jumping ecstatically around the terraces was over, I looked down to see that for the last few seconds I had been bouncing up and down on that pie.

Celtic struggled in search of an equaliser in the comparatively disappointing second half, and piled on increasing pressure, only for it all to fall apart when Ian Scanlan burnt the ball past Bonner from a full 40 yards.” – Christopher B.

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“Some of the antics that Paisley Panda has got up to over the years were hilarious, totally meant in jest and just banter between rivals. These have included waving a giant cardboard ‘Magic Tree’ air freshener in front of Morton fans and also throwing bars of soap into their fans. I remember once wondering what was in the giant holdall he carried onto the pitch, and after a bit of a warm up, he unzipped it and out popped ‘Junior P’, the baby Panda mascot! There was also the time that he used a Falkirk training top as a piece of toilet roll to clean his bum – this led to numerous complaints and the ‘Panda’ resigning before he was sacked! People used to turn up at the ground early just to see what the Panda was going to do this time. Seems that football has no sense of fun anymore, it’s no wonder it’s in decline....” – Carol C.