On Saturday in the Lanarkshire village of Forth three monoliths were unveiled in memory of local boy Willie Waddell, player, manager, internationalist, administrator and director.
The monoliths are the result of many years fundraising – in fact the committee bought the steel slab from which the monoliths are made in Covid times at the cost of £10,000 – if bought today the steel would cost £60,000. A wee bargain.
Each monolith appears ragged and broken at the top – but that’s not so. In fact each one represents a prominent hill around the village – to the east in the Pentlands is Tinto Hill, the second in the Southern Uplands is Coulter Hill, and the third is the Sleeping Giant.
The village stands in the far east of Lanarkshire – it remains somewhat remote due to the peculiarities of the road system despite once being on the main road from Edinburgh to Kilmarnock. To the south the land is better but tot he north rough sheep grazing land predominates interspersed with pine plantations and the older fields are delineated with ancient deciduous trees and the B road twists up hill and down dale.
Willie’s span stretched from a debut at 17 against Arsenal to the famous Moscow Dynamo game in 1945, to glory in the Struth years, to winning the league as a manager with Kilmarnock and more glory including Barcelona in 1972 with Rangers.
Waddell steered the club through turbulent times – the aftermath of the Ibrox Disaster and the rebuilding of the ground in the late 1970s and early 80s. which transformed the old stadium into what we have today.
Locals, former players, family and admirers from near and far gathered at the Willie Waddell Sports Centre for the unveiling – the centre is right beside the Forth Wanderers ground where he earned his footballing trade as a lad. Also present was Màiri McAllan the local MSP, recently appointed as minister for Housing and widely tipped as a future First Minister. Also present were three former players who were at Ibrox during Waddell’s time as manager or administrator.
Each monolith deals with a particular aspect of Willie’s life and career.
Afterwards a homey reception was held in the local Masonic club where a Waddell appears on the officers board – apparently Willie was not a member locally but of Lodge St John in Glasgow, joining in 1954.
