SpiderBee
Surrey Wyvern
Do We Need Help From Afar?
Does the club have any religious connections, ie a club vicar or priest.
Many clubs worldwide do.
Could it help us?
A Supporter on the Field and Off
Rev Hugh Wallace
Chaplain to Queen's Park Football Club
“Leave them wanting more!” “Go out on a high!” It’s common advice for anyone about to end their stint, whether it’s a stand-up comic, a football team or a minister about to head off to Aberdeen. For 20 years I have been the minister in the shadow of Hampden Park, 7 seasons the Club Chaplain, and a lifetime a Queen's Supporter. I’ll remind the Pittodrie folk of the night last August at Firhill when we began to dream the dream of promotion, when an inspired team and coaching staff pulled out a performance from the top drawer.
The trick of course is to sustain the belief, but through the visits to grounds around the country and returns to Hampden’s lush pastures, the hope remained high and the conviction stayed strong – the team were good enough for higher things.
The crowd of supporters with their constant hymns of praise in these past weeks at Arbroath, Firhill and Methil, the players deeply conscious not only of a burden of expectation but a wave of encouragement, all joined together to blow away the opposition. It was spectacular… incredible…like a religious revival meeting. If Billy Stark had made an altar call, we would all have been out of our seats, on the pitch ourselves.
Sitting in the stands beside the faithful followers brings that sense of family and being secure – the amazing cacophony of sound triggered by a single voice beginning the next song from the hymnsheet – the united opinion that the officials have got it wrong again – the ironic cheers as a decision goes our way – and the unwavering conclusion that the players play “for the sake of the game”. There is something quite exceptional in being a Spiders’ fan.
So what lies ahead? Some will believe the First Division beckons; others that we’ll probably just go straight back down to the Third; the old debate of Amateur status could rise again; whilst others declare that the team achieved what they achieved despite or even because they have a different set of values and priorities.
No matter what does lie ahead, there needs to be an acknowledgement of what doesn’t change. The 2006/2007 Squad won promotion to the Second Division under the solid coaching led by Billy Stark. That will remain in the history books of the Club – so let’s give that the celebration it deserves.
For me, there are many memories to cherish – the Centenary Dinner and meeting my all-time football hero Denis Law; being a contributor to Jeff Connor’s book “Fanatical about Football” because I was the Queens Park’s Chaplain; the welcome and the warmth of office-staff, coaching staff and the strange looks from players not too sure what or who I am; the willingness and interest with which Billy Stark and Alasdair MacKay showed a bunch of young BB Boys around the stadium; the chat and banter with fellow-fans; and rising with them at the end of the game to give credit to those who ran their socks off for 90 minutes.
And the astonishing privilege of being able to contribute a webpage for the Club. Some of my fellow Chaplains train with the players, meet up with the players, have married, baptised and taken funerals for their families – but none have been given the trust to produce a Chaplaincy Page from a Supporter on the Field and Off. I am deeply grateful for that, and for the many emails that I have received from around the world as a result.
It’s not been quite a spiritual experience, but it’s certainly been one where I feel blessed. I’m certainly going out on a high. Whether I am leaving you wanting more is for you to judge.
Many clubs worldwide do.
Could it help us?
A Supporter on the Field and Off
Rev Hugh Wallace
Chaplain to Queen's Park Football Club
“Leave them wanting more!” “Go out on a high!” It’s common advice for anyone about to end their stint, whether it’s a stand-up comic, a football team or a minister about to head off to Aberdeen. For 20 years I have been the minister in the shadow of Hampden Park, 7 seasons the Club Chaplain, and a lifetime a Queen's Supporter. I’ll remind the Pittodrie folk of the night last August at Firhill when we began to dream the dream of promotion, when an inspired team and coaching staff pulled out a performance from the top drawer.
The trick of course is to sustain the belief, but through the visits to grounds around the country and returns to Hampden’s lush pastures, the hope remained high and the conviction stayed strong – the team were good enough for higher things.
The crowd of supporters with their constant hymns of praise in these past weeks at Arbroath, Firhill and Methil, the players deeply conscious not only of a burden of expectation but a wave of encouragement, all joined together to blow away the opposition. It was spectacular… incredible…like a religious revival meeting. If Billy Stark had made an altar call, we would all have been out of our seats, on the pitch ourselves.
Sitting in the stands beside the faithful followers brings that sense of family and being secure – the amazing cacophony of sound triggered by a single voice beginning the next song from the hymnsheet – the united opinion that the officials have got it wrong again – the ironic cheers as a decision goes our way – and the unwavering conclusion that the players play “for the sake of the game”. There is something quite exceptional in being a Spiders’ fan.
So what lies ahead? Some will believe the First Division beckons; others that we’ll probably just go straight back down to the Third; the old debate of Amateur status could rise again; whilst others declare that the team achieved what they achieved despite or even because they have a different set of values and priorities.
No matter what does lie ahead, there needs to be an acknowledgement of what doesn’t change. The 2006/2007 Squad won promotion to the Second Division under the solid coaching led by Billy Stark. That will remain in the history books of the Club – so let’s give that the celebration it deserves.
For me, there are many memories to cherish – the Centenary Dinner and meeting my all-time football hero Denis Law; being a contributor to Jeff Connor’s book “Fanatical about Football” because I was the Queens Park’s Chaplain; the welcome and the warmth of office-staff, coaching staff and the strange looks from players not too sure what or who I am; the willingness and interest with which Billy Stark and Alasdair MacKay showed a bunch of young BB Boys around the stadium; the chat and banter with fellow-fans; and rising with them at the end of the game to give credit to those who ran their socks off for 90 minutes.
And the astonishing privilege of being able to contribute a webpage for the Club. Some of my fellow Chaplains train with the players, meet up with the players, have married, baptised and taken funerals for their families – but none have been given the trust to produce a Chaplaincy Page from a Supporter on the Field and Off. I am deeply grateful for that, and for the many emails that I have received from around the world as a result.
It’s not been quite a spiritual experience, but it’s certainly been one where I feel blessed. I’m certainly going out on a high. Whether I am leaving you wanting more is for you to judge.
