GLF 66:Eddie considers a Hall of Fame
A Steelman's Slant
It seems after years and years of me banging on about the severe lack of recognition in and around Fir Park of our Motherwell legends, moves are afoot within the Club to rectify this ridiculous situation.If internet whispers and rumours are to be believed then the Greats of our Club are finally to berecognised for there efforts in a Motherwell FC"Hall of Fame."
Yeah, I know it's bit late, but hey ho.The talk on the message boards is that an initial fifteen men will be invited to be inducted at some point in the near future.The organisers though are in a no win situation when it comes to finalising a list of 15 worthy men.
What should the criteria be?Most appearances?Most goals? Appearance/goals ratio?Motherwell Mavericks loved by the Fir Park faithful?or just anyone with the surname McFadden!!!One things for sure, there will be arguments for and against almost every man on the final list.
Motherwell fans are the obvious source of voting, although I'm not too sure that's such a clever idea.We tend to looks things on Fir Park in a very, very short term view.Tom Boyd was a Motherwell legend for example,making over 250 appearances for the Club, and of course lifting the Scottish Cup before joining Celtic via Chelsea.Just over a year later Boyd was public enemy No. 1 to the East Stand as he was sent off wearing a hooped jersey much to the celebration of every 'Well in the Stadium.Can we really trust these people (and I include myself !!) to be sensible and objective in a debate as to whether Tom Boyd should be part of a Motherwell Hall of Fame ?My personal thoughts on the initial inductees into the Hall of Fame, are that they should've spent the vast majority ofthe time they spent in Scotland, going to work down Firpark Street.Sadly for me, guys like Tom Boyd,Willie Pettigrew,Davie Cooper and even Tommy McLean spent far to long at other Scottish Clubs to be given an accolade that should only be given to very, very special Motherwell people.
On the other side of the coin there are guys like Ian St. John, Gary McAllister and possibly (hopefully) James McFadden who started at Fir Park, played a relatively small amount of games before playing out the rest of their careers in England.Should anyone get into the Hall of Fame with only making 100 or so appearances ?Well, I'd say yes if they impacted on the Club and Town sufficiently.
I'd also ensure that no player from the last decade or so should be considered, as fans tend to look upon present players as being legends one week and not fit to wear the jersey the next.
A prime example would Stevie Kirk.For a long, long time Stevie struggled to get the Fir Park crowd on his side, as did "Softy" Philliben.Now, years down the line, both these guys would have good shouts to be included in any list of fifteen.A time bar would also allow the Club have a continuing line of "legends" waiting for their turn to be honoured.Furthermore a decade between players running along Fir Park and becoming a Motherwell Great would prevent a repeat of the fiasco that surrounded the naming of our (then) new North Stand after the Rangers legend Davie Cooper, after his truly tragic death.
Before I name my personal list, I would make plea to those in power at Fir Park.Can we please name our remaining Stands after some of our Clubs heroes, so that kids and visitors to Fir Park can ask about these guys, who they were, and what they did for Motherwell Football Club, One more thing.Can we not rename our ground,The John "Sailor" Hunter Stadium, after the greatest, without any debate, Motherwell man of them all !!!!!!!
My First Inductees into the Motherwell FC Hall of Fame
1. John "Sailor" Hunter
2. Bobby Ferrier
3. Willie McFadyen
4. Ben Ellis
5. George Stevenson
6. Joe Wark
7. Willie Kilmarnock
8. Johnny Johnston
9. Charlie Aitken
10. Archie Shaw
11. Andy Paton
12. Pat Quinn
13. Andy Weir
14. Stevie Kirk
15. John Philliben
And before anyone thinks they are a smart arse,ol' Grandad here has only saw three of the above playing in the flesh !!!!
EDDIE STEELMAN
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