Q. Well firstly, you have made the team for the XI Bo’ness United player poll that we are running on Facebook, you were up against some names in there, you happy?

Absolutely delighted, didn’t expect anyone to remember me after 25 years. Loved my ten years at the club. I enjoyed every minute of it, got loads of good memories and met some great people. I still check for the BU score every Saturday!

Q. You played approx. 268 times with Bo’ness, good number of games, any games that has stuck with you all these years, good or bad?

I didn’t really know how many games I had played for Boness but one of the best games was a 1-0 win v Pollok in the Scottish cup. The place was always buzzing leading up to a Scottish cup game on a Saturday and Pollok where a really good side. So, everybody was delighted with the win. One game I remember for all the wrong reasons was a Scottish Cup tie against Cumbernauld, we were 1-0 up at home going into injury time and it was our throw in but the ref gave a foul throw against us and they managed to equalise from the throw-in well into injury time. Why I picked this game is that I do not remember anything of the last 20 minutes of the game. I made a tackle just outside our box but when getting up I was clattered by big Andy McLean’s knee. At 6ft 4 it’s not a good idea. It turned out I had fractured my cheekbone and had an operation a few days later to put in back into place. It was also annoying to miss the replay as for some reason STV showed the highlights. We lost ☹ and I was out for a couple of months.

Jen one for you ? I don’t mind including it!
Another game/incident I remember is getting punched by then Bo’ness Manager John Lapsley at half time versus Edinburgh away. I gave a corner away just before half time and John rightly gave me it tight. So, I told him to f*** off. As soon as I walked into the changing room it kicked off, it was chaos there was more than a few punches thrown and not just by me or John! (Lex ?). We made up at training and laugh about it now!

That makes up from Lex not sharing any juice stories!

Q. During those 268 times you won some silverware during them, if memory serves me right Fife & Lothians and the Brown Cup a couple of times, quite successful during your time at Bo’ness??

I arrived at Bo’ness not that long after a Scottish Cup win and they still had loads of really good players at the club like Gavin Kirkwood, Andy Dunlevie, Lex Shields, Tam Breen, Tam Caldwell and Brian Fairley to name but a few. So, to be honest I was probably hoping for more. In the Scottish Cup due to the win in 84 we were always classed as a big scalp and we just couldn’t live with the pressure especially in the 80’s. We fared better in the 90’s but the losses to Linlithgow hurt.

Q. 1995 was your testimonial year with Bo’ness United you shared with George Allison, did you ever think you would have spent 10 years at the Club, I think having a testimonial at a Club is quite an achievement, and is quite rare?

I never thought about going anywhere else in Junior football after I joined as I would have seen it as a step down. From the minute I got there it felt like a good fit, I was shocked that a junior club had more support than some senior league sides I had played against at Berwick. Bo’ness even had supporters bus running to away games. My Dad loved coming to watch every week and was a season ticket holder for about £30 if my mind serves me right! As my time at Bo’ness progressed my young son came along to games as it had a real family feel at the club.

Q. What other clubs were you involved in before Bo’ness United and how did you end up at the Club?

At 18 I signed for Berwick Rangers and in my first season I was named Young Player of the Season which got me into the first team and I managed 30 odd first team games, one highlight was playing against Queens Park at Hampden. I then spent a year at Haddington and then joined Jeanfield Swifts for 2 seasons. I ended up at Bo’ness as I worked with Lindsay Hamilton the then Boness centre half. He sold me on the place, so I played in a preseason friendly game against Lesmahagow and signed shortly after. My work sponsored Bo’ness the following season and I still have a photo of myself and Lindsay in our Bo’ness/Capital Copiers strips!

Q. Who was the hardest player that you ever came up against?

Lex Shields,the first time I played against him was for Haddington at home v Bo’ness. He barged me off the ball with his low centre of gravity and strength and I knew why players couldn’t stop him the 84 final. When I signed for Bo’ness I didn’t know I stayed 2 streets from Lex, we ended up travelling to training together for the next few years.

Q. Do you have a career highlight?

My testimonial against Hibs being a die hard Hibee was a highlight for me, nowadays I hardly miss a Hibs game both home and away! It was amazing to have all family and friends there to see it. I still have the signed strip and ball I was presented with by Hibs and Alex Miller (not the most popular Hibs manager but I love him for giving me my testimonial) Also thanks to Davie Lapsley for organising it all on the BU’s side. Another highlight was nervously coming on at half time at a capacity Newton Park against Rangers in Lex Shields Testimonial. There was some impressive players on both sides that day. Rangers had taken the lead through a Gary McSwegan goal and I equalised with a diving header at the Fisons end into a packed terrace.

Q. Do you have any regrets from your time as a player?

As I player I never won a league, we were a good Bo’ness side but just couldn’t overcome an excellent Whitburn side in the late 80s and a good Newtongrange in the early 90s. We were second in 1989-90 and in 1991/92. Lifting a league trophy as club captain would have been a dream come true.

Q. You may have seen the Club go through some changes in the last few years progressing through to the Lowland League and the work that the NPA have completed around the park, what’s your thoughts, you have visited recently haven’t you?

Whenever I can I like to get along to the big games. I was at the recent league winning games and also at the last game on grass and the first game on the new artificial playing surface. The new facilities look fantastic and I would have loved them in my day. When I started at Bo’ness we used to jump the wall over into the school for training as we couldn’t use the pitch to train, the floodlights weren’t great but it was all we had. My wife also works with Robert Jardine and he kept me up to date with what was going on.

Q. Lastly, the Club are running a poll on our Facebook page to make the top Bo’ness United Starting XI, who would make your squad…?

Gavin Kirkwood
Andy Dunleavie, Andy McLean, Brian Malloy, Tam Breen
Jimmy Fisher, George Allison, Lex Shields
Jimmy Burns, John Sludden, Stuart Wilson
Subs- Kevin Hoggan, Eric Ewing, Kevin Kneeshaw, Lindsay Hamilton.

Thanks Gary!