Tuesday, 26 November 2024

Third Lanark (1872 - 1967) and Cathkin Park (Includes a poem by James M. Gowland)

Cathkin Park is a public park in the south of Glasgow but it once housed a football ground which was home to the now defunct Third Lanark 

From the Stadium Guide:

The last professional match played at Cathkin Park had been a 3-3 draw against Queen of the South on the 25th of April 1967.

In the next decades the ground slowly fell into disrepair, but has never been completely demolished. There are currently still a few terraces left standing, though largely overgrown and in poor state. In recent years a group of volunteers started the task to renovate the ground.


Echoes of the Past by James M. Gowland 

In Cathkin Park where echoes of the past reverberate all around,

Of fervent hordes who once turned up to this old historic ground,

Of stars who once graced its hallowed grass 

Of crosses, shots, and the odd misplaced pass,


In Cathkin Park where echoes of the past quietly put themselves on display

In remembrance of a time now viewed in black, white, and grey,

The roar of the crowd replaced by an eerie hush,

And a dog with his leg cocked up against a bush,


In Cathkin Park where echoes of the past mean sadness replacing joy,

Gone is the last-minute winner and the cries of the exuberant ball boy,

The party would eventually come to an undignified end,

Wounds might heal but there’s a sadness you just can’t mend.


In Cathkin Park Where echoes of the past fill the senses and the mind

But only for those with whom the story is intertwined,

What are essentially just a lonely remaining few, 

The slowly dying cast of those who already knew,


In Cathkin Park where echoes of the past still linger in the air,

But many who wander by are very much unaware,

They do not know what was sadly lost,

They could guess the price but they will never know the cost,


In Third Lanark we now forget a club once known throughout the land

Brought down by a financial mess it could sadly not withstand,

A club gone for good but its past can still found,

In Cathkin Park where echoes of the past reverberate all around.

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