Groundhopper Bruce Walker watches on as St Duthus forward Liam Rostock prepares to take a throw-in at Tain’s Grant Park. Picture: Niall Harkiss
A “groundhopper” who aims to visit every ground across the Scottish football pyramid has released a new book chronicling his journey – and a deep dive into the cuisine on offer.
Throughout his travels, Bruce Walker, from Dunfermline, has become particularly acquainted with the north of Scotland – home to some of Scotland’s furthest flung football grounds.
The 61-year-old, retired earlier this year after 38 years working in financial services, kicked off the north leg of his travels with a visit to Golspie Sutherland’s King George V Park.
His “obsessive but highly enjoyable quest” saw him take in the sights at Couper Park in Helmsdale and Migdale Park in Bonar Bridge, before eventually traveling as far as Caithness and Orkney.
He has now visited 227 different clubs in tiers five to 10 of the pyramid.
As well as absorbing the surroundings, Bruce combines his visit with a taste-test – the continuation of a life-long search for the best Scotch Pie (or equivalent) on offer throughout the lower reaches of Scottish football.
The best score he has allocated for a pie in the North Caledonian League was to Fort William, who scored a modest seven out of 10.
“The north tends not to offer what I would see as a traditional Scotch pie,” he explains. “You tend to find more beef and steak offerings.”
But it hasn’t been all plain sailing and pie sampling. Winter weather and postponements have sometimes thrown a spanner in the works.
In February, Bruce suffered the misfortune of traveling all the way to Tain for the Easter Ross derby between St Duthus and Invergordon, only for the referee to call the game off due to a frozen pitch.
But his travels brought him back a month later, in what turned out to be what he calls one of his “best” days out.
“I had the pleasure of visiting Grant Park for a game in March after I had travelled for the last minute postponement of the Invergordon game in February,” he explains.
“My visit to St Duthus turned out to be one of my best days out – they were a very friendly and welcoming club.
“Their chairman kindly gave me permission to use a photograph in my new book, Pitches and Pies 2, which is now out on sale.
“The picture taken, showing me speaking to a St Duthus player, sums up why I love watching football at the lower league level.”
All grounds from the North Caledonian League earn a mention, with the experienced football traveller find that the further north he went, the greater the experience was.
“I received a great welcome from the guys at Orkney, Thurso and Halkirk,” he said. “That just adds to the experience and makes the travel so worthwhile.
“I tend to find that when I head north the welcome is more heartfelt than in the central belt. There is a feeling of achievement when you tick off the North Caley grounds.
“The Clachnacuddin manager even made me a cup of coffee five minutes before kick off. You do not get that type of welcome further up the leagues.
“There is definitely a feeling that you are watching football at its purest and community driven.”
Pitches & Pies 2 is Bruce Walker’s second instalment as he aims to visit every lower league ground across the Scottish football pyramid. Picture: Bruce Walker
Pitches and Pies 2, a follow-up to the author’s first instalment – Pitches and Pies – continues down the hidden paths of Scottish football as the author continues with his efforts to visit every ground across the ten leagues that make up the Scottish pyramid system, focusing on tier five down to tier 10.
The search for the elusive “perfect” Scotch pie figures prominently too, Bruce notes, as well as a “scandalous” dive into the diverse range of other fillings infiltrating match-day pies.
In its pages, readers find out how a linesman could be given a red card, how the author almost managed to cause a match fixing scandal, why he felt compelled to conduct his own pitch inspection in the pitch dark somewhere in the Highlands, and even being let down by the Samaritans.
Pitches and Pies 2 is available to buy from Amazon.
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