Graham B reports on Johnny G's big night.
This was my first tine attending one of these functions (first time i ever had £25 to spare). As a Motherwell/football fan this was a great evening of entertainment while at the same time paying tribute to al loyal Well stalwart.
After dinner we were treated to a series of speeches of varying standards.
The first was the opening remarks from Bill Samuel. ex MFC chairmrn who also acted as the M.C. for the whole evening. This speech was a mixture of old jokes and genuine tributes to Johnny G. This gave a few laughs and set us up for the evening's highlight ......
Johnny's speech, at first it looked as though Johnny's nerves were going to get the better of him but after a couple of minutes this was conquered. We were then treated to a series of tales about all Johnny's ex-managers (plenty of them). He then turned on the current first team squad, they were asked in the afternoon who would be at the dinner no hands were put up, they were then told free dinner and bevvy...all hands go up.
The next speaker was Ron Mercer Operations Director of British Steel. This speech was used to plug the sponsors and also how difficult it is to support the Well from Newport in Wales. Only of mild interest.
Craig Brown was next up, he told stories mainly about Scotland preparations. This included how teams were selected for practise matches Good Lookers V The Ugly Team (with
Jim Leighton always picked first for the Ugly Team). This was a better speech as Craig knew Johnny from his 'Well days.
Paul Cooney from Radio Clyde took us through a series of mistakes made on the air by Gerry "Voice of a Football" McNee, Chic Young, Richard Park etc. He also had one of the lines of the evening when he stated that Nick Cusack had been there for 3.5 hours and had not had to leave early.
The evening was rounded off by an auction of balls and strips and a cabaret from Eddie Devine (comedian).
This was a great evening for a football fan with current squad and many ex-players in attendance (Farningham, Rafferty, Fraser, Deans, Hood etc). The price is a bit hefty but the proceeds go to a good cause. Save up for the next one (Ally Maxwell probably). Finally another highlight was the replacement of Auld Lang Syne by singing Johnny Johnny Gahagan on the wing....superb.
G. BARNSTAPLE
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