It takes a genius to design an iconic grandstand. It takes something more to create a club.
The fascinated and the professionally obsessed make pilgrimages to Gala to wonder at the brutalist architecture of an edifice that is a product of the unflinching talent of Peter Womersley, described widely as a rock star of architecture.
Others, more than 1,000 of them, traipse down to the stadium every week to play football, to help sustain the club, to testify to its part in being a central part of the community. Brutalism, then, meets a quiet beauty.
The formation of Gala Fairydean Rovers came some 50 years after the stand was built and commissioned. Gala Fairydean and Gala Rovers came together in 2013. Unity has produced strength.
The Cass family, father and son, provide a solid story of how the club came about and how it aims to go forward.
Tom, the father, was a driving force behind the Rovers and looked across the patch of grass that separated them from Fairydean and knew it would be sensible to join forces.
The grandstand provides an eye-catching backdrop to Gala Fairydean Rovers' matches
Tom Cass was a driving force behind the formation of the club
The stairs offer an unusual view as Fairydean Rovers plunge to a 5-1 defeat to Hearts B
‘It has been a good thing,’ he says more than 10 years on. ‘It was a big move and lots of stuff needed sorting out but we got there.’
His son, Ryan, 44, has been chairman for five years. ‘Aye but I have aged 25 years,’ he smiles. As a lad, he played behind the goals at the Rovers while h dad devoted his spare time to the club. ‘There is a photograph of me as a six or seven-year-old when we won a cup,’ he says.
‘So many of the Rovers people came across and helped out now with this club. It is a close-knit group. We all have to be very hands-on. We want this club to be unified and strong. We are in a great position as regards to that.’
A 5-1 home defeat to Hearts B leaves the club at the bottom of the Lowland League but both Cass family members are more than hopeful. ‘It’s not been a great start to the season,’ says Ryan. ‘But we believe we can kick on. We have a philosophy of how we want to play and how we want to provide a pathway for young players in the area to come through.’
Club sponsors Simon and Angela Gillie, whose son Atholl was mascot on Saturday
Fans enjoy the game despite their club's defeat
Getting the field ready for kick-off on Saturday
He leaves to attend to his duties. There is work to be done. It can be summarised in a meeting with Debi Ritchie and Kerris Scott. ‘I have been involved since the teams came together,’ says Ritchie. ‘I want the club to be successful, not just in results on the field but in bringing young players through and bringing people together.’
Her duties? ‘Well, today for the first half I was on the gate, then I helped Kerris in the cafe. I am also a sort of unofficial treasurer, I coach here, help do the kit and generally look after the first-team players.’
This is all related just after full-time. In the distance, Tom Cass is helping dismantle the goal posts.
THERE is commitment at Gala but there are legends too. The refurbished hospitality area carries a tribute to a local great. Chatting with volunteers and sponsors provides memories of such as John Collins, Peter Cormack and Arthur Brown, the rugby full-back who performed just over the wall at Gala RFC.
Norrie Collins, brother of John, played for Gala Fairydean for 10 years, winning leagues and the Scottish Qualifying Cup. ‘We came from up there,’ he says pointing towards the flats at Langlees.
‘John went on to to big things,’ he says, referring to his sibling who played for Hibs, Celtic, Monaco, Everton and Scotland. ‘I played here most of my career. The best years were from 1986-89. Peter Cormack was the manager when we won the Scottish. He was my favourite manager, top man.’
Ex-Gala Fairydean star Norrie Collins, whose famous brother John played for Celtic and Hibs
On The Road scribe Hugh MacDonald, left, enjoys a chat with chairman Ryan Cass
Chairman Cass enjoys a quick breather before getting back to his many duties
Cormack, of course, played for Hibs before forging a wonderful career at Liverpool. The triumphs of John Collins can be viewed in the hospitality suite where his medals, memorabilia and caps are on display. The shirt the midfielder wore when he scored against Brazil in the opening game of the 1998 World Cup looks down on the throng. ‘I was there,’ says Norrie Collins of that day in Paris.
‘John is an ambassador here and comes to many games. He even does the odd coaching session here.’
For Norrie Collins, this patch of ground at Netherdale ‘means everything’. He adds: ‘My dad took his three boys down here and I played for the club and now am on the committee. We have made a lot of progress here but the priority in the short-term is to stay in the league. This is a game of finance and we have the lowest budget in the league but we are hopeful.’
This optimism is echoed by Norrie Brown, who once played for the club and briefly managed it. ‘My job now is to pour drinks and keep people happy,’ he says of his role in the hospitality suite. At 78, he can look back on a long and fulfilling association with teams in the town. ‘I played for Gala Hotspur as a veteran. Norrie Collins and John played in midfield with me. John was only 14 but he stood out.’
A legend of another ball sport is also referenced in a chat with the club’s major sponsors, Simon and Angela Gillie. Their son, Atholl, is the club mascot and, while he plays outside, the couple reflect on why they put cash into the club.
‘It’s about putting something back,’ says Simon, whose company, SPG, has its headquarters in the town. ‘We are both from Gala and we are both interested in promoting kids’ sport, so have been involved in the under-age teams for about 20 years. It was natural to sponsor the club. This is a family day for us.’
This theme is extended when Angela talks of childhood Saturdays being spent next door at the rugby club. ‘I was brought up on rugby. My dad is Arthur Brown, the Gala full-back.’
Brown played five times for Scotland and was part of the Gala ‘Magnificent Seven’ who won 16 sevens tournaments between 1970 to 1972.
At 75, he now spends Saturdays watching his mascot grandson revel in playing on the artificial pitch before and after the main event.
THE stand looms over proceedings. Graeme McIver, chair of Gala Fairydean Rovers’ community trust board, explains the history of the concrete concoction that has an A listing from Historic Scotland.
‘A busload of architectural students from Kaiserslautern University once turned up here to look at it. I was also training the para squad here and saw a Japanese guy with a camera. He was an architect and had travelled all the way from his homeland to view it. He told me: “You don’t know what you have here”.’
McIver does. He explains that the stand was built from funds accrued by the club lottery in the sixties. Half a century on, lumps of concrete were failing and it had to be closed. The bill for repairs was £1.45million. This was sourced through the local council drawing on funding from various bodies. It means an architectural triumph continues to sit proudly in the town.
The Gala Fairydean Rovers story is also about people. More than 300 players are involved at the club. ‘The footfall here every week is more than 1,000 people,’ says McIver. ‘We have girls and women’s teams, walking football, we engage in fund-raising for charities, in food banks, whatever.’
There is also the para-football squad. Matthew Roebuck, 29, has been a member of that team since he was a teenager. ‘We have a range of challenges, differing disabilities,’ he says. ‘But we have learned to work together, to help each other.’
McIver says: ‘This is a football club with a heart in the heart of its community. Of course, I may just like this statement because I am a Hearts fan!’
It is demonstrably true, however.