Clydebank 0 Johnstone Burgh 0

It is the month of the Clydebank Blitz. It is still remembered. ‘My gran would go into a sense of deep reflection every year because she lost siblings,’ says Stuart Kelly of the forthcoming anniversary of the events of March 13 and 14, 1941.

Maybe it seems odd to invoke the spirit of Bunty Kelly on matchday. But her life and memories carry a resonance only underlined by the sound of planes descending into Glasgow Airport.

She then pointed down to the Clyde and said: “That’s where John Brown’s was and all the men worked there. It’s gone.” She then pointed at Kilbowie and said: ‘Even the football club has gone.” That stuck with me.’

The story of the death and resurrection of Clydebank football club requires a separate chapter, but the phoenix rose from the ashes in the 2003-04 season. It now flies high at the head of the West of Scotland Premier League.

The United Clydebank Supporters trust was the driving force and Kelly, a lawyer, feels honoured to have played a part.

Fans watch the teams take to the pitch for Clydebank v Johnstone Burgh at Holm Park

Supporters enjoy the action from various vantage points in Clydebank’s neat ground

There’s even another game of football going on not far from the main action at Holm Park

‘My dad was born and bred in Clydebank and went to his first game against Chelsea in 1967. My brother and I were brought up to support the club, which is grounds for referral to social work,’ he says with a smile.

‘I have been on the board for 10 years. I stupidly went for a pint with the then chairman and that led to a contract being sorted for refurbished Holm Park and to the development of this place. It was a privilege to do it.’

His dad, Del, became the physio at Clydebank and now lives in retirement in Majorca. His mantra of ‘keep believing’ is still heard at Holm Park.

‘I suppose the highlights for me were the first match here and the cup run in 2021 when we beat Elgin and Clyde,’ says Kelly. ‘The victory in Elgin was particularly emotional because there was a feeling that the club was back.’

Del joined his sons at Easter Road recently when the Bankies took 2,500 supporters to Easter Road. Hibs emerged victorious but the travelling fans underscored the importance of the club to the town.

‘For me, it is a deeper connection than just turning up on a Saturday,’ adds Kelly. ‘It feels like we are doing something for the town and its sense of self.’

He says: ‘I obviously have the family connection but that runs through the club. There are people today who will be coming with sons and daughters, grandparents will be bringing their grandchildren. I am heading over to my usual spot to watch the game with my brother.

Club chair Grace McGibbon and  mum Eileen McGuire  keep the Bankies ticking along nicely

Magnus McGibbon, husband of club chair Grace, mans the club shop at Clydebank

Clydebank manager Gordon Moffat would love to keep the club progressing up the leagues

‘Every time I come here, my gran comes into my thoughts. There is family history here.’

This history has a bustling presence. Grace McGibbon, club chair and treasurer, is a one-stop listening post for all matchday inquiries, her mother, Eileen McGuire, sells tickets for the half-time draw, and Grace’s husband, Magnus, mans the club shop.

‘I have been involved with the club since we reinvented ourselves 20 years ago,’ says Grace. ‘I was born and bred in Clydebank and started going to games at Kilbowie in the mid-eighties. The year when the club died was devastating. A lot of us met in the pub and discussed how do we start again?’

She is focused on what matters. ‘I know it is all about what happens on the park but It is about being part of the community. Clydebank has had a football club for a long time and we have to preserve that but we have to get this club back to where we should be.’

Nobody at Holm Park shies away from the ambition to be part of the SPFL. ‘It has been our declared aim since we started again,’ says Grace as 970 spectators watch the match. ‘It is a big ask but we have given ourselves a chance. There is no big money man behind the scenes. This is all about us. Everything here is done by the fans for the fans.’

Eilleen McGuire, 74, takes a moment from selling tickets to agree: ‘This is down to us. This is our community. It sounds a bit sentimental but we all love each other, we are pals. I do the draw, wash the dishes at half time and feed the players at the end. That’s my biggest job.’

She then says: ‘Years ago I used to paint the faces of the weans before a match.’ A young woman helping with selling the programmes bursts out laughing, then says: ‘I remember you doing that to me.’

So what has been the reward for Eileen over the years? ‘Getting the club back,’ she says simply.

Plenty of tasty goodies are on offer for Clydebank supporters on match Saturdays

Incoming jets are a regular sight at Clydebank games on the Glasgow Airport flight path

Supporters are engrossed in the frantic action during Saturday’s top of the table clash

Her son-in-law is behind the counter of the club shop. ‘I started following Clydebank when I was 10 or 11,’ says Magnus, who is now 58. ‘It is like having a second full-time job for my wife and I’m just here to support her. She fields constant phone calls and emails.’

He remembers the demise of the Bankies. ‘When the club died it was devastating so it is phenomenal to be part of all this,’ he says. He, too, seeks progression up the leagues.

That task is largely in the hands of Gordon Moffat. He has been manager for five years and played for three seasons for the club.

‘It’s a club I am very fond of because I have spent a lot of football life here,’ he says. He now works his life around the demands of the Bankies. 

A director of an engineering firm, he is in charge of a large project in London and he is also married with two daughters, aged six and three. 

‘It’s a balance and it is difficult to work out,’ he says. He regularly flies to London after training on a Tuesday, returning for sessions on a Thursday.

A UEFA A licence holder, he believes his side should play a possession game. ‘There are a lot of sides who play good football in tiers five and six of Scottish football,’ he says.

Composure is a casualty in the frenetic top of the table clash with Johnstone Burgh. A tense, fractious game ends in a goalless draw, but the Bankies sit seven points clear of Burgh at the top with a game in hand.

Young fans get close to the players as they emerge from the dressing rooms for kick-off

Clydebank retain hopes of playing in the SPFL one day if they can keep progressing

The Clydebank and Johnstone Burgh players troop off after a hard-fought goalless draw

The road to a possible place in the Lowland League would include winning the title and a play-off process with the winners of the East of Scotland and South of Scotland leagues.

This ambition is now, at least, in sight. It was not always so. Bill Abraham, initial chair of the trust that took over the club in 2003, emerges from a board meeting to insist that the hard work that has taken the Bankies from the depths has to continue.

‘We were talking about what is needed to take us to another level,’ he says. At 58, he has been a fan of the club since he was six. ‘When the club disappeared, we felt there was unfinished business,’ he says. 

‘We just could not let it go. I just enjoy the fact that we have brought something back.’

Asked for his greatest memory, he reflects: ‘I have seen everything here.’

There will be more for him to witness. A new tide seems to be running for the Bankies.