Have you ever woken up in the morning, hopped out of your scratcher and thought to yourself – “I fancy moving to Livingston today” Probably not. This Scottish ‘new-town’ constructed in 1962, feels just the way you might expect; manufactured, lacking history or real identity. A place where people go to live.
Or shop.
However, one thing that did not lack personality were the individuals we met on our journey through West Lothian’s capital, each one of them frothing with that character their own town lacked. We should take this time to thank those individuals; John Ward, Gillian Whannel, Paul Craig (Livi fan and TotT loyalist), Andrew Semple, numerous other Livi Lions and of course, the bird in Lidl who rinsed Aaron (the boy had never heard of cash-back?!).
Those of you who followed us from the very beginning (a whole 3 weeks ago!) will know that the Tour’s first stop was originally meant to be the Tony Macaroni Stadium. This visit was sadly cut short due to the match being postponed, believe it or not. Gutted that our first visit had not come to fruition like we hoped, the Tour had to return as soon as possible, to finish what we had started.
On the first visit we had spoken with majority shareholder John Ward inside the ground, as well as a group of hardcore Livi faithful outside of the ground. It was at this point that referee Alan Muir decided to call the game off, kicking everyone out of the Tony Macaroni like a stern parent throwing you and your mates out of a house party before the fun gets going. On our return visit, we spoke with a number of dedicated fans, as well as Business Development Manager Gillian Whannel, before taking our seats in the rafters to watch Livingston v Falkirk – at last.
We have split this post into two, detailing our first trip and our last visit below.
2nd December – Livingston P – P Falkirk
Our first ever endeavour at Tour of the Terraces, began with us stepping onto the frosty Livingston North platform – from the station it’s essentially a straight line for 20 minutes past anonymous stretches of road and roundabout. We almost forgot we were in Livingston on this early afternoon, with blue skies and a fresh sort of feeling in the air as we trekked towards the Tony Macaroni stadium. However, we were harshly brought back down to earth, passing a small collection of West Lothian’s finest – drinking Frosty Jack’s and smoking JPS in a Harry Brown tunnel.
We arrived outside the stadium and were met in the reception by the big cheese – John Ward – who warmly welcomed the pair of us and took us into the stands for the short interview which we had prepared for him. That conversation is detailed below;
Q1. All the fans we’ve spoken to on social media seem to be really optimistic about the team going forward, do you and the board share the same positivity?
- “Well we’re quietly optimistic going forward, we’ve kept together a strong squad from last season”, which John also mentioned was difficult to do considering the restrictive budget that the club has compared with other teams in the Championship. He also mentioned that Livingston have only 500 season ticket holders – this is considered ‘small’ when compared with some championship teams, including the ones that Livingston are competing with on the pitch.
Q2. The club has made a miraculous recovery since the Massone era and nearly being liquidated in 2009, what is the difference like in the club between those dark times and now?
- John explained that he had ran a local business and was shirt sponsor for Livingston after the club was left without one, when they were relegated to the old 3rd Division. He was asked if he wanted to be a shareholder in the club and got involved. He told us he had “massively grown to appreciate what the club was all about.”
Q3. What’s your proudest moment being a shareholder in the club?
- “Getting promoted from SPFL League 1 by the margin that we did and then carrying on the momentum into this season”. John also explained the main real influence in the club’s impressive form – both last season and again this season – is keeping together not only the group of player’s but also the management team. A team which Hopkin and Martindale had installed “a great togetherness and spirit.”
Q4. It is a glorious sunny day here in Livingston, the opening day of the 2020/2021 season, the studs are cleaned and the kits are folded. Who are Livingston F.C. kicking off against? Where is the club at that point in time?
- “Obviously the dream would be the Premier League but I think we are a strong Championship side” was Mr. Ward’s response. Mikey then interjected and said
Q5. “Do you think it’s more important to consolidate your position in the Championship?”
- He replied saying that he did not want the club to ever hold back at all and would always go for promotion, but in all honesty “going to the top flight was what had tossed them in the first place”. John finished off by saying that they would always do their best by the club but with the clubs financial history, staying in the Championship was paramount.
After our informative chat with John Ward, we took it upon ourselves to find some diehard Livi fans to speak with us. Being the first time for either of us getting an ‘on-the-spot’ interview, nerves were jangling. Or in Aaron’s words “I was shitting myself”, thankfully the Livi Lions did not bite and we had a pleasant chat with them, a group who seemed cautious at first. A feeling we felt surrounded the whole club – more on that later. Regardless, here is the conversation we had with them;
Q1. What is your favourite memory being a Livingston fan so far?
- “It’s got to be winning the CIS Cup in 2004” was the immediate response they all agreed with, beating Hibs 2-0 with goals from Derek Lilley and Jamie McAllister. However, another response the group gave was their first promotion to the top flight in 2001, being a favourite memory. Lastly another memory highlighted was their UEFA Cup tie they had against Strum Graz, where they narrowly lost on agg. (8-6)!!
Q2. What is your worst memory being a Livingston fan so far?
- “Masssooonneeee” was the groan that all 5 fans heralded. “That was a dark time in the club’s history” said one, obvious to see the anxious look on their faces remembering the Italian owner’s era.
Q3. Which Livingston player have you taken most to your heart over the years?
- Players that were mentioned were – David Bingham, who played for the club from 98-03, scoring 50 goals. Stuart Lovell’s name was said, the one who captained the side to their first major trophy. Lastly Keaghan Jacobs name was thrown out there, who holds the record for the most appearances for the Livi Lions, and still plays for them. Surprisingly no Snodgrass or Griffiths…
Q4. It is a glorious sunny day here in Livingston, the opening day of the 2020/2021 season, the studs are cleaned and the kits are folded. Who are Livingston F.C. kicking off against? Where is the club at that point in time?
- The whole group cautiously but hopefully predicted “Premiership football”, but all mentioned that the finances were to be very carefully considered given the clubs past. All would settle for being “a strong Championship side”.
It was clear to see from both of the interviews we conducted, that everyone around the club and involved with it are still very concerned with finances. This will be understandably down to the fraught history of the club, 22 years old – basically a small child in football terms, yet they have faced the difficulties of administration twice – that is a harsh upbringing. Despite the adversity, the club have most definitely had their high points in a short lifetime. UEFA Cup matches, a League Cup title – a lot of older and more established Scottish clubs will not have seen half of what some Livi fans have.
After the interview’s it was brought to our attention that the game was to be postponed. With no other option we headed for the nearest boozer to drown our misery, without any real direction for what to do with the Tour. Feeling tipsy and defeated, we then trundled on back to our shite wee flat in Leith, where we decided that in the spirit of Livingston F.C. we would not be broken, heading back for the rescheduled fixture on December 19th.
19th December – Livingston 0 – 0 Falkirk
Stepping onto that holy platform for a second time at Livingston North, we made the familiar scene-less stroll down the Livingston road towards the Tony Macaroni stadium, where we were met with Gillian Whannel – Business Development Manager for Livingston F.C. and also a fox in the box. She toured us around the stadium, talking to us about Livingston’s two ‘models’ as she described; the business side and the football side. She spoke to us about the business side for a brief time – various outreach program’s with the community, getting young Livingston lads or lassie’s to meet the players and such – trying to bring in the next generation of Livi Lions.
You could see the passion that she had for the club in fairness to her, obviously never wanting to return to the ‘toxic’ time’s when Massone was in charge, telling us that they had lost sponsors, whose trust the club was only beginning to regain. The best way in the football business to make money, as Aaron knows, is to get fans through the gates – the only way to do that is to perform on the pitch. That’s where the football side of things came into play for Gillian and of course the rest of Livingston Football Club.
After we had spoken with Gillian, we left the ground to get cash out for our tickets – £18 – Adult, £12 – Concession, £5 – Under 12’s. It was during this time Aaron discovered the mystery of cash-back for the first time in his life, which he was thoroughly grilled for by Mikey and the Lidl Cashier. On our way back we encountered one of our original followers, Paul Craig – it would have been criminal to not have a short interview with the big man;
Q1. The club was on a great run of form before the postponements, just how hard is it to carry that momentum into tonight’s fixture?
- Keeping it simple and to the point – “It’s hard to say, it’s always hard to say with Livi!” exclaimed Paul.
Q2. How much of an affect will losing Danny Mullen up top have? Do you think it was wise for the club to ‘cash-in’ on a potentially unhappy player, whilst his stock was high?
- Paul mentioned that losing Mullen was always going to have an impact of course, but then said he had heard “good things” about the new man Steven Boyd up top and that he was known as “prolific”. “Financially Mullen needed to go” continued Paul, referring back to the club’s much documented internal problems.
Q3. At the start of the season, the club would have been happy to consolidate their position in the Championship, with fans on social media telling us they would have happily taken 8th. Do you think that given the way the season’s going, those expectations have changed?
- Paul replied saying “in a way I wouldn’t like to see the club go up to the Prem”, once again in reference to the previous administrations. Feeling that the club would be a strong Championship side, the club “needs stability” as a priority.
Q4. What do you think the score’s gonna be tonight?
- “I would like to see a clean sheet, but I can see a close game… 2-0 to Livi!”
Taking our seats in the Tony Macaroni Main Stand, the two David’s lead their side out of the tunnel.
THE MATCH
Now we’re going to enter how the 90 minutes ended up going.
FIRST HALF
A very stop-start half, refereed by Gavin Duncan – the man who had only 3 days earlier refereed another feisty encounter between the Accies and the Staggies. This half was also feisty, but was frustrating to watch as neither team really got going or had any clear chances. Falkirk looked the more likely to score, if any, having a couple of half-chances. The most entertaining part was a crazed Livi fan who aimed the insult “ya clown” at about 6 different people in 5 minutes. The rest of the Livi faithful may know who we’re on about.
The less said about that half the better to be honest.
SECOND HALF
If there was ever a time for the old cliché “it’s a game of two halves” then it’s time had come. An absolute end to end first 5 minutes, with both teams going up and down the pitch, rousing the roughly 200 Falkirk following and 1,000 Livi. Suddenly both sets of supporters were re-energised, chanting and belting the Tony Macaroni roof. Big up to the Livingston fans, they were appealing for everything and got right behind their team.
10 minutes into the half Steven Boyd had a tricky flash of footwork on the edge of the box, nearly working himself into a position for a dream debut, the shot was deflected and pin-balled around the Falkirk box. Livi really took a hold of the game, with Pitman, De Vita and Mullin looking threatening. The substitution of Dylan Mackin for Nikolay ‘Toddy’ Todorov, impacted the game further. The big number 9 held up play well, bringing in De Vita well, who always looked lively. For a while it looked Livi were destined to score but they could not come up with the goods.
The match slowly began to peter out, as both sides realised this was not going to be their day. Gavin Duncan blew the full time whistle to a 0-0, leaving us 2 games and 2 games without a cheer for our side. The curse begins.
Our Tour of the Terraces MOTM: Rafaelle De-Vita, always hard to chose a MOTM when its a stalemate, however, he was the player who seemed most lively and likely to create any sort of spark for either side going forward. A real fan favourite we felt as he strutted of the pitch with fans chanting his name.
AARON’S COLUMN
Our second attempt at tackling Livingston was a very solid outing in the end. Considering the game finished goalless I had a ball, can’t beat watching a game of the worlds finest sport in the pits of Scotland. Livingston the town itself lacked any real spark, with not much scenery to cast an eye over. When we arrived we were warmly welcomed by everyone surrounding the club, thanks again Gillian for the tour we had. The Tony Macaroni is a great established stadium, with the facilities inside kept in neat condition, trophy cabinet of note also. Bit gutting seeing the CIS cup in there as they defeated my Hibs boys but we dance on. I will quickly touch on the scran that was on offer, steak pie and Bovril done themselves proud but at £4.50 would be very much expected.
In relation to the match itself was far from a spectacle,which is the usual case when neither side scores a suppose. Livingston look a side who will see themselves be comfortable, sitting in around the championship not doing much in my eyes. They have a few exciting players of note with the likes of De-Vita and Pittman but nobody out there of top tier quality from what I saw on this evening. Therefore all in all Livingston are having a solid season so far and performing better than most expected but personally since they have lost their top striker in Danny Mullen, I believe goals will be hard to come by, making it a real test to gain a play off spot. If they were to make the playoffs I really couldn’t see them gaining promotion. However, would love nothing more than to be proven wrong and a roaring livi lions away support cheering their team on at Easter Road, in the opening day of next season.
After speaking with various characters both inside and outside of the club, shout out to ‘Paul Craig’ was an absolute pleasure meeting you, have to admit everyone loves Livingston and shows great passion in supporting their club. They are so heavily worried with finances though it upset me a little. Almost everybody we spoke to, had to highlight the financial aspect, almost overshadowing what was going on, on the pitch. The club is in a great position right now and looking promising for a playoff spot. However, people even saying things like they aren’t sure if they would want premiership football absolutely bewilders me. I totally understand that finances are a huge factor in making a club tick but surely in football you want your team to be doing as well as they can? then let the finances be dealt with afterwards. After saying that the Livi Lions have supported their club through thick and thin and the financial worry can be understood but think what happens on the pitch should be the real focal point.
I personally believe that Livingston F.C are in a great position to be able to propel themselves into the top flight, where a Livingston side belongs in my eyes, in the next 5 years. I wish everyone surrounding the club the best of luck, was a pleasure!
MIKEYS RAMBLE
After my second outing at Livingston, I feel that myself and Aaron can both agree we have a pretty decent understanding of the Football Club – we can agree on some things! The people we all spoke to were very willing to help us and extremely friendly, there is no doubt that they all want their club to be presented in the best way possible, given the ‘toxic’ era that they have all just come out of. The fans that make their way back and forth from the Tony Macaroni are an incredible bunch, who have seen their team go through hardships like few others, even in the whole UK. For the passion they have in their team, you’ve got to say fair play. Also quick mention to David Martindale – the man prowls that touchline like a cheetah.
I felt that given that passion, you would see potentially more drive and ambition – there seemed no real desire or belief they could get into the top flight – I agree that the financial situation is always a massive factor to consider but it seemed there was an edginess around the club, as if the rug would suddenly be pulled under them, falling straight back into the dark of administration. I do not think for one second under the new ownership, the club will fall back into that sort of financial state.
The facilities around the place were very well kept for a side that had spent their time trudging up from the bottom of Scottish football, Aaron and myself both said it would look class if the Tony Macaroni was full, it really has the potential to be bouncing.
I feel that overall, I did enjoy my time in Livingston, but the caution and wariness around the place was clear to see. I wish only the best for the Livi faithful in the future, with the right amount of quality on the pitch and the right direction they could easily be a top 10 Scottish side.
Best of luck lads.
OVERALL
Well then, for the 2nd time, thank you and goodnight Livingston, we’ll always hold a special place for you in our hearts from all the back and forth we’ve had. Was certainly a ride, very informative and so interesting to see what a club who has experienced so much is like to be around. A rating of 61 we feel is fair, given the obvious ‘still hurting’ sort of aura around the club, that does not mean however, that we did not enjoy our time covering Livingston Football Club.
Prove us wrong and get in that Premier League.
Livi Lions, it has been a blast.
Tour of the Terraces 