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STRANRAER...
I was delighted when we drew Stranraer in the Scottish Cup, mainly as this was a chance to go somewhere I had never been before, and it wasn't one of the grounds that we have visited over and over in recent years.
Secondly, they were clearly the weakest opposition in the competition, giving us the best opportunity to get to the semi-finals and hopefully a wee trip to Hampden.
The tie seemed to capture the imagination of most Well fans given that the conversation at the ground and on the internet was all about Stranraer, not the trip to Ibrox, or the six pointer against Aberdeen. When tickets went on sale to Season ticket holders, they sold out within a week. Those who didn't have season tickets were on a scramble to find out those who weren't using theirs!
The club once again ran subsidised buses, the team even went to spend an overnight at Turnberry Hotel, it must have been an important game for the club, particularly with a lucrative Semi Final at stake.
With nine tickets between us it was two cars for us, with me driving down the A77 to Stranraer. Never having been there before, how long to leave for the journey, knowing that the road was crap after Ayr ( never mind all the temporary traffic lights!). We left at 11 with high spirits not sure when we would get there.
It was a great thrill driving down the road and passing cars full of Well fans all the way down, some even prepared to have scarves flying out the windows. Then just after Turnberry we got held up behind the team bus, but overtook them on one of the slopes where passing was possible, but even then it was a bit of a Well convoy from Girvan to Stranraer.
We finally reached Stranraer but we were still unsure where to go, there was one football traffic sign, but it seemed to direct us to Stranraer Academy. We eventually arrived at Stair Park at just after 1:15! It was a bit of a culture shock for all of us as we parked in the park outside the ground. First shock was that after travelling for nigh on 2.5 hours without a toilet stop we needed to go. We soon located the toilets in the park, only to find they were closed from the end of October to the end of March!! Well we just had to hold on until the gates opened.
The ground itself is surely the quaintest I have ever been in, with the short number of steps behind the goal up to the grassy bank, the garden shed for a pie stall and mankey toilets like the old days! Where were the home fans? The small number of Stranraer fans begs the question why we weren't given more tickets.
Thankfully after all the hype leading up to the game we killed them off and it was time to tick of Stair Park as a ground visited and look forward to a semi final at the "National Stadium".
Graham Barnstaple
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