THE GOLDEN YEARS

What must it have been like to see Falkirk win the Scottish Cup for the first time? How would you feel if Falkirk finished the season as the second-best team in the country- twice?

A new book coming out soon will provide a first-hand account of what it was like to be a Bairns fan in the early years of the 20^th century. Entitled “The Golden Years 1906-1914” it features the incredible football poems written by Laurieston man William Gillan during this period when Daddy Nicol’s side were one of the strongest teams in Scotland. The poems are written in the local Falkirk dialect and give a fascinating insight into the story of the club at that time.

William Gillan was employed at the Nobel works in Polmont and was seriously injured in an explosion, losing an arm and the sight in an eye. He took to writing poetry about his favourite team and he imagined some developments in the game that were years ahead of their time- including a rudimentary version of VAR. Most of the poems were written in the years leading up to the First Word War, but two have emerged that were written later.

The poems are accompanied by a commentary written by club historian Michael White which places the poems in the context of the time and describes some of the games and players featured in the poems. The poems were largely undiscovered until William’s granddaughter traced them and started to unearth more and more of his work.

The book is currently at the printing stage and copies can be reserved by texting 07906 239582. All profits will go to the Falkirk Football Heritage Trust, a registered charity designed to catalogue, preserve, maintain, and develop the rich history of Football in Falkirk . There will be a limited print run and the book is sure to be of interest to Scots Poetry lovers, as well as those interested in the story of the Falkirk Bairns during a remarkable period in their history.