Arbroath smokies and donkey derbies

The Scottish Championship, the second tier in Scottish football, kicked off on Friday night.

The first match, broadcast live on BBC Scotland, featured Arbroath and Dundee United.

As readers know, I’ve supported United since 1969 when my family moved to Scotland.

Living in Cambridgeshire I don’t get to many matches these days but I try to attend three or four home games a year, plus the occasional away fixture.

The away games I’ve enjoyed most were in places like Inverness and Stranraer because it felt more of an adventure to get there.

For a Scottish Cup match in 2014 I got the sleeper from Euston and arrived in Inverness at 8.00am the following morning.

Seen from the comfort of my bed, the Highland line from Perth to Inverness was breathtaking. It was March and there was still snow on the hills.

The match wasn’t bad either. We won 5-0.

Anyway, last season was a bit of a disaster and resulted in ignominy and relegation, hence the new league season starting at Arbroath.

To those unfamiliar with the area, Arbroath is a coastal town 17 miles east of Dundee.

Gayfield, home of Arbroath FC, is virtually on the beach which makes it especially vulnerable to the wind that blows in from the North Sea.

I’ve been to Gayfield a couple of times and had I not just got back from holiday last week I would have liked to have gone again.

The ground was packed - 5,000 people including 3,000 United supporters - so there must have been a great atmosphere (and that was before United won 4-0).

Shortly after the game I spotted, on social media, the photo above which was taken high above the ground with the use of a drone.

You can see the United fans packed into the away end on the right, with the beach and the sea at the top of the picture.

It’s a fabulous photo and it reminded me why I love Scottish football. The actual games may not be the best quality but the locations of some of the grounds are worth the price of admission alone.

Also in the Championship this season are Airdrie, Ayr, Dunfermline, Greenock Morton, Inverness, Queens Park and Partick Thistle (both Glasgow), and Raith Rovers (Kirkcaldy).

I’ve been to all but Airdrie, Ayr and Queens Park so I’ll try to put that right this season.

Of those clubs, Dunfermline has the best stadium but Cappielow Park, home of Morton, has arguably the best location, overlooking the Firth of Clyde and the hills beyond.

Apart from visiting Gayfield, I have several other memories of Arbroath, all from my childhood.

The first time we visited the town I must have been ten or eleven but I remember it because my father insisted on buying a pair of Arbroath smokies.

I’ve always loved kippers (smoked herring) but a smokie (hot-smoked haddock) is a stronger and more acquired taste. In those days you could buy them direct from the smoke house and take them home. Perhaps you still can.

A year or two later I was invited to take part in a donkey derby in the town. No idea why. All I remember is hanging on grimly in heat after heat without winning a single race.

I also remember visiting the fun fair that sits right next to the football ground.

But the day that really sticks in my mind is when my friend Bill and I were recruited to deliver leaflets to an entire Arbroath estate.

If I remember they were to promote the furniture company his father worked for but, having quickly abandoned the one leaflet per house instruction, we were soon pushing half a dozen through every letter box in the hope that the job might be completed before it got dark and we could go home.

Well, it was December and that North Sea wind was bloody freezing!

Photo courtesy David’s Drone Pictures