The New Morven Lounge was once a popular watering hole in North Glasgow, but it would eventually close after failing to shake off its gangland connections.
The New Morven Lounge in Balornock was once a popular North Glasgow pub but closed after developing a notorious reputation tied to a local gang.(Image: Daily Record)
It was once among North Glasgow’s most frequented drinking establishments, but would ultimately disappear after proving unable to distance itself from its associations with a notorious local criminal gang.
The flat-roofed New Morven Lounge on Edgefauld Road in Balornock had operated for decades, though it acquired a rough-edged reputation throughout the 1990s and 2000s.
Whilst many regarded it as simply another neighbourhood pub serving pints and screening the occasional live sporting fixture, the Springburn establishment undeniably drew a particular crowd. It was a regular haunt for the infamous McGovern crime family and became a favoured spot for those engaged in unlawful activities across North Glasgow, reports Glasgow Live.
In September 2000, the lounge bar dominated headlines when it became the scene of Tony McGovern’s murder, purportedly at the hands of his former associate and close confidant, Jamie “Iceman” Stevenson.
Turmoil arrived at the New Morven on September 16, 2000, when Tony McGovern was brutally killed within yards of the premises.
The New Morven Lounge made headlines in September 2000 when Tony McGovern was murdered nearby, allegedly by his former associate Jamie “Iceman” Stevenson.(Image: Media Scotland)
McGovern, then 35, was a recognised organised crime figure well-known to the pub’s regulars. The New Morven represented somewhere he considered secure.
On that fateful day, mayhem erupted on the New Morven’s doorstep when Tony McGovern suffered a violent death mere yards from the establishment, as the Daily Record documented at the time. On the ill-fated day, he had briefly stepped out of the bar, planning to return after 10pm.
Despite the cold weather, McGovern was wearing a jacket that concealed the s400 Kevlar stab-proof vest he consistently wore underneath.
For weeks, McGovern hadn’t left his home without this body armour, a safety measure taken since a previous attempt on his life in June when an assailant shot at him while he was showering in his Bishopbriggs bungalow.
Driving his £30,000 Audi A6 to the Morven, McGovern made a final call to his wife Jackie on his mobile. Unbeknownst to her, it would be the last conversation they’d have.
Around the Morven, other men were making calls, and covert plans were being set into motion. In Hornshill Street, adjacent to the busy Barmulloch Road, a white car sat with several men inside.
As McGovern neared the pub, a white Vauxhall Astra sped down Boghead Road towards his Audi. Parking his car in Littlehill Street facing away from Edgefauld Road, he remained unaware of the burly man advancing toward his vehicle.
Had McGovern spotted his approaching assassin, he might have had a chance to escape or fight back. Regrettably, he was still seated in his car when the first bullet shattered the driver’s window, followed by three more into his groin.
A white car quickly reversed out of Littlehill Street onto Edgefauld Road, its engine roaring. Meanwhile, a man dashed through the pub’s car park toward Burnbrae Street, vanishing into the night.
At 10:22pm, the emergency call was placed, and shortly afterwards, an ambulance with its blue lights flashing pulled up at the Morven. McGovern was taken urgently to Glasgow Royal Infirmary, where he was pronounced dead at 11:23pm.
Several days afterwards, Detective Superintendent Jeanette Joyce, who was leading the murder investigation, told journalists, “At this time, we have no motive. There is no obvious reason why Mr. McGovern was murdered.”
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Yet numerous officers held a different view. Even those with scant awareness of the escalating feud in Scotland’s biggest city’s north side had a sense of who the main suspect might be – a former closest ally and criminal associate, Jamie Stevenson, more commonly referred to as The Iceman.
Whilst charges against Stevenson for Tony McGovern’s killing were subsequently withdrawn, his association with the case would remain etched in North Glasgow’s memory.
As for the New Morven, incapable of distancing itself from its criminal underworld connections, the establishment shut its doors permanently in the late 2000s. The premises was converted into a neighbourhood buffet and has never returned to operating as a pub.