Name your town’s best footballer

Who is the greatest footballer from your home town?
Aberdeens greatest player Denis Law  played against Zaire in the 1974 World Cup campaign in West Germany.Aberdeens greatest player Denis Law  played against Zaire in the 1974 World Cup campaign in West Germany.
Aberdeens greatest player Denis Law played against Zaire in the 1974 World Cup campaign in West Germany.

That is the question football fan Robert Harvey from Rutherglen is asking people across Scotland.

Robert asked that same question in his local while enjoying a beer with some friends.

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Everyone had a different opinion, and there was a fierce friendly debate.

He decided to create a website and give people in his town the opportunity to nominate and vote for their favourite player.

It led to an incredible 15,880 votes being cast, 185 players nominated, and hundreds of quotes, notes, and anecdotes about local players submitted.

The town of Rutherglen is roughly three miles from Hampden Park with population of 26,000 people. And over the past 100 years, it has produced hundreds of talented footballers, professionals and amateurs.

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Some have played in European Cup finals and World Cup final tournaments. There is even a player who played with Barcelona and a referee who took control of what was classed as the greatest game ever played - Real Madrid v Eintracht Frankfurt at Hampden in 1960.

Robert believes everyone knows someone who was a good footballer, be it a school friend, a neighbour, a work colleague, a grandfather, a father, a brother or a cousin.

He said: “Football is not only about the highly paid professional players most of us watch on our TV screens every week. It is also about the millions of people who play football at a weekend for enjoyment, and who play for nothing.

“Every weekend from John O’Groats to Land’s End, and every town in between, there are some wonderful amateur footballers playing for locals teams. Some may be better that the professionals, but just never got the breaks.

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“I would love to hear about the famous and the not so famous players from your community.”

So next time you are down the pub or at work, ask your friends and colleagues who is the town’s best footballer.

The only criteria is that he needs to be someone born in the town, or who went to school there, or lived there for more than 10 years.

To view Rutherglen’s top footballers go to Rutherglen’s Greatest or contact Robert on [email protected].