Freak results are not uncommon at Arbroath FC. The Red Lichties play their matches at Gayfield Park, which was built next to the sea and is exposed to the shifting, strong and bitterly cold North Sea winds.
This creates problems for visiting teams as the ball can get caught in the strong wind, confusing attacking players and goalies coming for crosses.
Arbroath
Nickname: The Red Lichties
Ground: Gayfield Park
Stadium Capacity: 5,940
Song: Tom Hark by The Piranhas
For a cold town it’s ironic that it was the home of Scottish singer and entertainer Andy Stewart, who lived and died in Arbroath. In 1961, Andy had a hit around the world with his song ‘Donald Where’s Your Troosers?’ about a Scotsman wearing a kilt. If he’d been singing it in Arbroath he’d have sung ‘Donald Where’s Your Longjohns?’
https://youtu.be/xIgaSwsqAf0
Like Grimbsy in the English leagues, Arbroath fans like to sing ‘We Only Sing When We’re Fishing’:
“We only sing when we’re fishing!
we only sing when we’re fiiiiiiiishing!
we only sing when we’re fishing!
sing when we’re fishing!”
Here’s Kasabian singing it… for some reason:
https://youtu.be/l06kNm2fy-g
And, whenever a goal is scored at Gayfield, the stadium tannoy plays ‘Tom Hark’ by The Piranhas.
The song was originally recorded in 1953 by a group called Elias And His Zig Zag Jive Flutes and is based on “Kwela”, traditional South African folk music (also see Burnley for another origin tale).
https://youtu.be/9CqBZs1FekM
The Piranhas’ saxophonist Phil Collis discovered the song in his mum’s record collection and persuaded the band to do a version. Bob wrote the lyrics as the group travelled in the back of a van from their hometown of Brighton to a recording studio in London.
“The original was an instrumental so we brought it up to date with some lyrics,” says Bob. “I could say the words were deep and meaningful, but they don’t really mean much. I scribbled them on an envelope in about an hour.”
The song itself is 2 minutes 45 seconds long. If the club had played it during their most famous victory in 1855 it would have been played for 85 minutes. A victory which took place the same day as another famous match.
On Saturday 12 September 1885, Dundee Harp played Aberdeen Rovers in the first round of the Scottish Cup. The result made football history as Harp beat its Aberdeen rivals 35 – 0. But, what was thought to be the biggest ever victory, only lasted a few short hours…
Dundee Harp had an Irish player, Tom O’Kane, who lived in Arbroath. After the game he sent a telegram home to wind up his friends and boast of his achievement. But, unknown to Tom, that very afternoon, Arbroath FC had gone one better. The rampant home team handed out a 36-0 thrashing to Bon Accord.
To make matters worse, Dundee Harp had actually scored more than 35 goals. The referee had noted at least 37 but as he was unsure of the exact total he discussed it with O’Kane and they agreed that the ref would tell the football league that the score was 35 – 0. Not knowing the tally was so important O’Kane was happy to take the lower figure, until he heard back from Arbroath.
At first he thought their response was a joke, that Arbroath couldn’t possibly have scored one more goal at the exact same time as Dundee Harp created a new record, It was only when Tom arrived back in Arbroath that he realised the truth – Arbroath had set a new record for the highest winning margin in football, a record that still stands to this day.
Even if Harp’s original 37 – 0 score line had been allowed to stand, there is evidence to suggest that Arbroath may still have beaten it. Many years later, the referee of the Bon Accord game, Dave Stormont, admitted in a newspaper article that he’d disallowed seven legitimate Arbroath goals. He said:
“While they may have looked doubtful from an offside point of view, so quickly did [Arbroath] carry the ball from midfield, and so close and rapid was their passing, that it was very doubtful whether they could be offside. That would have made the score 43-0.”
If it’s any consolation to Tom, the Dundee Harp game still officially holds the record for the game with the second highest winning margin. Mind you, some people have too much time on their hands:
He’s a part-time comedian and in 2014, he supported Eddie Izzard in ‘Please Don’t Go’, Izzard’s show about Scottish independence and worked with BBC Radio Scotland as a weekly guest on Referendum Tonight.
