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THE Gallery of Modern Art Edinburgh was the magnificent setting for the launch of the St Bernard’s Football Club book, written and published by local football historian George Park. This book containing a detailed history of the former professional football club that played their home games in the Royal Gymnasium stadium in Eyre Place is, in itself, a work of art and it has taken the man called ‘Mr St Bernard’s’ fully 24 years to complete. The 65-year-old former accountant in the Queen’s Street Branch of the Royal Bank never saw the senior side in action, but his life-long interest in the club started when he looked out of his bedroom window in the family home at Royal Crecent on to the remains of the rickety stand in the Royal Gymnasium. Now retired, Mr Park, was told some of the history of the club by his father, Ronald, and other family members and he learned St Bernard’s won the Scottish Cup in the late 1890s and were among the founder members of the Scottish Leagues. George Park is not the kind of man to seek publicity and it was only with great encouragement from former Motherwell and Scottish internationalist, Billy Hunter, that this superb book has been published. It is priced at £5.99 and all proceeds will be donated to the children’s cancer and leukaemia charity CCLASP, based in Leith. Speaking at the launch of a book that is not just a detailed account of St Bernard’s Football Club, but could in fact be of great interest to historians as it contains much of the flavour of life in this part of Edinburgh, Hunter said: “I am pleased George agreed to publish his book as the knowledge he has of St Bernard’s needs to be shared with others. It took a great deal of persuasion to get him to agree to it, but he has made the right decision and I am sure his book will be very well read. He has funded it himself and it is a further measure of the man that all proceeds are going to a children’s charity!” This is a fascinating account of a club that played a great part in the growth of the game of football in Scotland and it contains a foreword from the late Bob Crampsey, possibly the doyen of all football historians in this country. There are 102 pages of narrative relating to the beginnings of the club and readers are taken along every step of the way from 1878 until its demise - when the well ran dry - at the end of the second world war. There are an equal number of pages in this superb production detailing the names of every player who played for a club that played in front of a crowd of 90,000 in a Scottish Cup semi-final. There are other fascinating stories and details of their cup win in 1895 and the Scottish Qualifying Cup in 1915. Also, what sparked off the author’s interest in this famous old club. Park said: “While sorting out some old records in the bank, I happened to come across a copy of an old Branch Inspection Report compiled in 1946 that contained a reference to the St Bernard’s Football Club Grand Stand Company and an overdraft that was causing some concern. That discovery triggered off many years of research on my part that culminated in this book! I felt I just had to find out more about my local club!” And George Park has done a magnificent job in this production that will be a must read for surviving relatives of St Bernard’s players and also among so many others, such as Hibs legend, Lawrie Reilly, who made his first tentative steps in to football at the Royal Gymnasium. Another famous footballer mentioned in this book is the late Very Rev Leonard Small, a former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, who played in goal for St Bernard’s and he also went on to be capped for Scotland. Included in this wonderful account of a football club are details of a former secretary of the club who went on to become Lord Provost in Edinburgh, with even more amazing stories of how St Bernard’s beat both Manchester United and Arsenal away from home in the same season! This is a fascinating book, both for former players, football fans and many, many others in all walks of life to read. There are old pictures and league tables to look at, facts and figures galore and a faithful and complete account of all games played, including goalscorers! Indeed, it covers everything about St Bernard’s Football Club and life, itself, in that area of Edinburgh that housed a stadium with the quite magnificent name of the Royal Gymnasium! Further information on where this book, surely the ultimate account of the history of a Scottish football club, can be bought will be supplied by contacting the author on georgepark@btinternet.com or on the website www.stbernardsfc.co.uk In his foreword, Bob Crampsey said: "There is an intriguing mystery about the third Edinburgh football club, St Bernard's and its closing!" It is all unravelled in George Park''s quite wonderful book. And the St Bernard's names lives on today, in the under-21 South East Region Youth Leagues - with 'Mr St Bernard's' still at the helm! |
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THE Gallery of Modern Art Edinburgh was the magnificent setting for the launch of the St Bernard’s Football Club book, written and published by local football historian George Park. This book...
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