An Illustrious Past
The Colts of 2003 and beyond now have some history to aspire to. Since the Club has been founded, some locals have come forward to various members of the committee and offered some information regarding the previous East Calder Colts. A brief recount of the information we know so far is below, along with some photos of past squads.
1970 - 1989
The club was initially founded around 1970 by George "Dod" Miller, and were founder members of the West Lothian SJFA Youth Association. The first leagues to be set-up under this association were under 13 & under 14. The club managed some successes under Coach Jim Eadie and Secretary David Brunton. (later to become secretary of the Association for a number of years)
Around 1974 the club may have folded, but Willie "Wull" Sanderson stepped in to take over. At the same time, the local amateurs (East Calder FP) did go under, and the funds were passed onto the Colts by FP's club president and local school "jannie" Harry Taylor. The Club then became known as East Calder FP Colts. Around this time the club found itself on the front pages of the Daily Record when a certain Elaine Murphy was signed. Girls and boys were not allowed to play in mixed football at this time. The registration of Elaine was initially accepted then rejected after SFA secretary Willie Allan found out. Elaine later went on to play for Scotland.
The next few years saw little happening of any note until season 1978-79. Stuart Sanderson had taken over coaching the team in 1977, along with Stuart Shanks. The two Stuarts coached the 78-79 side to the under 12 Scottish Cup Final, where they beat Salvesen Boys Club 3-2 in a replay. The initial tie finished 2-2 after East Calder fighting back from 2-0 down with 15 minutes left to play. Scorers in the victory were Craig McWilliams, Jim Hill, and Roddy Grant.
Under-12's Scottish Cup Winning Team:
Bruce Simpson, George Peters, Colin MacLean, David Turnbull, Gerrard Ganner, Stephen Pitman, Craig McWilliams, Roddy Grant, Jim Hill, Gordon Burns, Raymond Robertson. Subs: Tony Lee, Calum Kerr, & Andy Black.
This was the start of the clubs "Golden period". Over the next three seasons, they won 6 trophies. The team over this period included Roddy Grant (St Johnstone, Partick Th, Dunfermline & Brechin), Stephen Pitman (Dundee, Partick Th, Kansas City & Capped by the USA), Bruce Clouston (Stenhousemuir), Rab Arthur (Current captain of Harthill). Captain of the team was Gerrard Ganner who also captained Blackburn juniors for several years. This side was broken up at under-16 level.
In 1982 Jim Butchard joined the club and formed a team at under 11. This team stayed together for seven years gradually improving year on year. A number of trophies were won over this period, culminating in another Scottish Cup Final appearance, this time at u-16 level. Unfortunately the Colts went down 5-1 to a very strong Gairdoch Utd team which included 3 Scottish schoolboy caps. There were some memorable performances on the way to the final though, beating Edina Hibs 4-0 and a semi-final victory over Hutchison Vale.
Some team members included;
Alan Paxton, Damien Martin, John Canning, Grant McMaster (Dundee, Livingston, & Stranraer), Craig Falconer, Steven Noble, Scott Campbell, Tommy Murphy, Stuart Duncan, Ricky Maybury, Shaun Smith (Alloa), Alan Davidson (Dundee), Kevin McGhee (Dundee, Partick, & Livingston), & Gary Graham. The most talented player in the team at this time was Tommy Murphy, younger brother of Elaine. He had trials with Celtic, but wasn't picked up.
The following season was their last together, they won the Central Boys League title.
Here are some pictures of the various teams and trophies mentioned. Do you recognise yourself? Have any more information for us? Drop us a line and let us know.
The 1982 Under 11's side
The 1982 under 15's.
Some trophies, any information on which team this is?
Which team is this, wearing a fetching strip from the late 70's maybe?
Gary Mackay (Hearts and Scotland) presents Kevin Donaghy & Shaun Smith with the Player of the year for U11's and Top Goal scorer for U13's respectively in 1985.
1985: U11's Player of the Year Kevin Donaghy, with Jim McGinty and Ian Nimmo (pictured left), and U15's Player of the Year Tommy Murphy (pictured right)