COULD BE The title of your grandad’s
fantasy football team.
ACTUALLY Named after the village of
West Allotment near Newcastle, the club
plays in Northern League Division One. They almost went bust
over ground woes in 2017, but survived and now finally have
their first permanent home pitch for more than half a century.
Unfortunately, there’s no derby with East Allotment Rangers...
WHO ARE YA? | WEST ALLOTMEnT CELTIC
CALVIn RAMSAY
ABERDEEN
THE LOWDOWN It’s not just England
that produces top quality right-backs:
Ramsay is only 18 but already among
Aberdeen’s standout performers. The
teen burst into the Dons’ team earlier
this year and stunned onlookers with
his maturity, laser-guided set-pieces
and readiness to take on opponents.
This being Scotland, he loves getting
stuck in as well. Manchester United,
Everton and Norwich are all readying
scouting files, according to reports.
HIGHLIGHT Fair-weather wonderkid?
No, sir: Calvin gets better the further
north he plays. The Dons have looked
ropey this term, though two corner
assists at Icelandic side Breidablik in
Europa Conference League qualifying
paved the way for a 3-2 triumph.
THEY SAID... “I’m not surprised he’s
getting attention because he’s been
terrific – the names [of the clubs] are
a surprise, only as I knew nothing of
it,” quipped Dons boss Stephen Glass.
Note to suitors: CC him on emails...
WHAT’S NEXT? He may be younger
than Beyonce’s Crazy In Love, but the
Premier League doesn’t seem too far
away. Scotland could have a stellar
full-back on each flank by Euro 2024.
BOY’S
A BIT
SPECIAL
1
REIGN IN SPAIN
Motherwell are proud winners
of the, er, Copa del Rey? Seriously:
the Scottish runners-up of 1926-27
headed to Madrid for a post-season
edition of the competition, beating,
er, Swansea to set up a final with
Real. They stunned Los Blancos 3-1
to lift a special trophy donated by
King Alfonso XIII, then bagged the
Barcelona Cup en route home after
defeating, er, Swansea once again.2
WELL GOOD
Striker Willie MacFadyen fired
the most goals in a single top-flight
Scottish season – 52 in 34 matches
in 1931-32 as his side sealed their
first and only league title. It wasn’t
quite Dixie Dean (60 in 1927-28),
but MacFadyen was still putting up
Messi-esque stats and left Fir Park
having smashed 251 league goals.3
FIR REAL?
Well drew 6-6 with Hibernian
in 2010 – the highest-scoring game
in Scottish Premier League history.
The hosts trailed 4-1 and 6-2, and
saw a penalty saved at 6-5 down,
but salvaged a point in injury time
thanks to Lukas Jutkiewicz. Mental.4
MUGGED OFF
In February, the club’s Twitter
account proudly announced that
defender Bevis Mugabi had beaten
Cristiano Ronaldo’s monstrous leap
for Juventus against Sampdoria in- Mugabi allegedly hit a height
of 262cm in notching against Ross
County, besting CR7 by 6cm. “Angry
Ronaldo fans DM’d me saying, ‘You
didn’t beat him, you were jumping
horizontally’,” lamented Mugabi.
5
DON’T CRY FOR ME
Argentina 0-3 Motherwell. It
sounds like a score on FIFA as your
kid sibling plays a random friendly,
but no: the Steelmen spanked their
South American adversaries during
a successful 1928 tour (MacFadyen
netted twice). For six weeks’ hard
graft they pocketed £5,000 to play
13 matches, including the final one
against Brazil. That didn’t go quite
so smoothly: they were stuffed 5-0.CLAIMS TO FAME
MOTHERWELL
FourFourTwo December 2021 87