Visit to Scotland helped me launch my publishing career

MY favourite destination in Scotland is on the River Clyde – in a town called Gourock – only a stone’s throw from its near neighbour Greenock, the home of Greenock Morton football club. 

I made my temporary home in the Spinnaker Hotel as I researched for my book “The King of Cappielow” which was released in 2008. The book offers an insightful look into the unique and much loved Scottish footballer Andy Ritchie who was at Celtic before, falling out with Jock Stein. 

 Jock, the first British winner of the European Cup, moved him on to Morton with these words of advice: “If you take the cotton wool out of your ears and place it in your mouth, you will be a better player”. 

For three years in a row Andy Ritchie was the Scottish Premier League’s top scorer and netted 133 goals in 246 games for which he was awarded the title “Scottish Football Writers’ Player of the Year in 1979”. 

The book – which was littered with “tall tales” – sold really well in Greenock thanks to a foreword by the legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. It launched my 20-odd book career in writing before I transitioned to “The Life of Brian Honour” , with foreword by Peter Beardsley, of Newcastle United, Liverpool, Everton and several other clubs including, in 1998, Hartlepool United.  

With the royalties from both books, (Brian’s sold really well in Hartlepool), I launched my own publishing company Cormorant Publishing which encouraged more town authors into print. 

 Scotland is acknowledged as being the “home of golf” and, during my appearance in the TV show “A Place by the Sea”, I visited St Andrews and stood on the listed Swilcan Bridge on the old course. In the golfing world, it has provided some unforgettable moments – most notably when legends of the game say farewell to their fans with a wave from the bridge.

They have included Tiger Woods, Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Rory McIlroy, the recent winner of a second green jacket at the US Masters.

Seaton Carew’s Hugh Hamilton was introduced to golf while on holiday in Scotland by his late father, Hughie, who came to Hartlepool, married a local lass Yvonne and settled, before the Pools player moved to Limerick in the Republic of Ireland, where Hugh junior was born. 

Many other players from North of the border would join Pools over the years including Scottish international Rob McKinnon and one iconic manager – the late Neale Cooper.

Neale was a key player in the 1980’s Aberdeen side which won two league titles, four Scottish cups, the European Cup Winners Cup and the European Super Cup. But Mr Cooper is perhaps best remembered by Hartlepool United fans as the man who led Pools to the 2005 League One play-off finals.

One Scot born in Montrose but who was raised in Hartlepool is John Prescott McGovern who, to date, is the only ex-Hartlepool player to lift the European Cup twice, when managed by Brian Clough and Peter Taylor at Nottingham Forest.

It would be remiss if I left Scotland without making a reference to  the contributions the nation has made to society in general including James Watt,  with a steam engine, Alexander Graham Bell, with the first telephone, and another Alexander – Fleming who is credited with the discovery of penicillin. 

Next week, I will cross the sea to the Emerald Isle, Ireland – twice in one week – and later fly to Dublin and Cork – not for a stag do but to visit friends I met in the Devon Arms, in Tenerife.