Committee

Having worked for over 30 years for Royal Mail and travelled throughout Ayrshire, I was often asked which football team I supported.

When you say Ayr United people say 'why?'... well many years back my father and his brother took me to a game and since then I've had no reason to support any other team. I'm sure other fans say the same.

I suppose I support the second biggest team in Ayrshire but it is three buses to get to Auchinleck on a Saturday.

Someone once said to me "I have always been a Celtic supporter" I asked where in Glasgow they stayed he said "Saltcoats"

That is Scottish football at its best - only two teams.

I was first taken to an Ayr United match by my cousin in 1963 and have been hooked ever since. If you look closely at the pictures of that iconic game against Rangers in 1969 you will see a boy on somebody’s shoulders on the North Terrace. That’s my 7 year old brother on my 13 year old shoulders. Although I lived in the South East of England for a long time I still had a season ticket. Several times for midweek games I had the day off and travelled up for the match then drove back overnight to go straight to work in London the next morning. Supporting your home town team should be as natural as supporting your country and this initiative gives us all a great chance to play a positive part in making the club successful.

I am a proud father of two sons, Stewart and Craig. I have loyally supported Ayr United since I was 5 years old and now 55 and still going strong. I worked at Ailsa Hospital as a health care assistant for 34 years until I took early retirement 5 years ago. I am also involved in running the Cottage Ayr United Travel Club. I am very proud to be involved in kick starting the Player Fund and raising funds to help strengthen the playing staff within Ayr United and also help the club grow and prosper.

I joined the Board of Ayr United in 2005 after having been a lifelong fan and fulfilling an ambition to assist with the development of the Club for the benefit of all supporters. I have always lived in Ayr and believe supporting your local club is so important in the community. I have my own business within Ayrshire running two successful petrol stations for over 20 years and I hope to bring a range of different skills and experiences to The AU Player Fund committee.

I first went to an Ayr game in the mid seventies. I dragged my dad to see Ayr play Partick Thistle - I think it was a 2-2 draw - and then as often as we could make it. After I qualified as a chartered accountant, I worked in the drinks industry for 15 years and latterly in financial services (less exciting!). Work took me to Bristol for many years and then Madrid so I missed out on all of the nineties at Somerset.

I moved to Edinburgh in 2004 and quickly got back into watching the Honest Men with my husband, Nick, who had to swap his season ticket at White Hart Lane for one at Somerset Park! I took early retirement this year and since then I've been volunteering as Secretary to the Fund, which I hope can go from strength to strength with the support of my fellow fans.

Although my Dad took me to Somerset Park when I was 7 or 8 years old it was the early Ally years that made me an Ayr fan for life.

I am lucky that my wife Linda is also a passionate Ayr fan and although we lived away from Ayr for over 40 years we travelled many miles to come and watch Ayr play. We retired back to Ayr in 2014 and immediately got involved with the Football Academy helping implement some quality assurance measures.

I am delighted to have recently joined the committee of the relaunched AU Player Fund and look forward to helping the Fund achieve even better financial support for the player budget at the club.

I have supported Ayr home and away, when work commitments allowed, for nearly 50 years. My husband and I were the first couple to be married on the centre circle at Somerset in 2002 and have just celebrated our 20th anniversary. I retired after over 30yrs of driving buses and lorries, I was the first female HGV driver at T French & Son Cumnock. 

When I retired I decided to go to university. I graduated with a BA Hons in Textile Design for Fashion and Interiors from Herriot Watt university at 55. I now have my own studio in my garden where I spend most of my spare time. 

I first stood on the North Terracing, my spiritual home, in the late 1960s, having badgered my Dad’s foreman joiner, the late John Thomson, to take me. Save for my “wilderness years” in the early 1990s, I have watched home games from the half way line, ever since, and attend most away matches, work and family commitments permitting.

A cherished early memory is a 3-3 draw, against Celtic, in the League Cup semi-final, featuring the peerless Stewart, Malone, Murphy team. ‘Viva’ Bobby Rough scored 2 in that match, and, 17 years later, I was in awe of my bronzed hero, playing against him for Motherwell District Council vs Strathclyde Sewerage!

Following the ‘Super’ Ayr has been a lifetime rollercoaster ride I wouldn’t swap for anything, despite the anxiety it causes me!  My wife is a convert from Rangers, and my son volunteers with Black & White TV. I have co-sponsored players for many years and am pleased to have recently joined the AU Player Fund Committee, which I hope will continue to provide vital contributions to the Club’s player budget for many seasons to come.