 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
THE CAPTAIN'S PAGE |
This article appeared in The Sunday Times (1 August 1999) and was written by Dick Louden.
Throughout his career, Brian Irvine honest toil on a football pitch has been mirrored by the kind of commitment off it. "He just leads by inspiration," said Neale Cooper, his new manager at Ross County. "He is a big, honest guy."
Cooper has invested in that integrity. The pair were once at Aberdeen together and Cooper knew that if Irvine promised to sign on then he would honour his word, no matter what other offers came along.
Now the ambitious Dingwall club, just elevated to the Second Division, has a new captain to lead its quest for even greater things.
Yet, last season Irvine was superb at the heart of the Dundee defence, a major performer in their rise to fifth place in the premier Division. And all this at a time when events off the field could have demoralised the players. Though manager Jocky Scott only felt able to offer Irvine a new one-year contract, there was absolutely no need for him to drop two divisions. Aberdeen, Dunfermline and Hibs were all on his trail. So, why did he do it?
"Alex McLeish, who is a good friend, talked to me about joining Hibs but could not make an offer there and then," Irvine admitted with typical candour. "Nor could Aberdeen, especially as they were between managers at the time.
"Dick Campbell at Dunfermline came up with a two-year contract at Dunfermline which was financially very attractive and offered to help with my training and travelling problems. But I have lived up here in the north for many years, my wife is from Aberdeen and I have children aged nine and five. Even commuting to Dundee, I was away from my family a lot. Anyway, Neale Cooper was already in with the offer of a three-year deal and I had more or less said yes to him."
Such is Irvine's enthusiasm for his new cause that he has now sold his house in Aberdeen and may well settle in Inverness.
Dundee's loss will surely be Ross County's gain. In a career of 16 years - 12 with Aberdeen - Irvine has acquired nine Scottish caps plus Scottish Cup and League Cup winners' medals, a fistful of runners-up medals and a First Division title with Dundee.
"Some folk may see my move to Ross County as an odd decision in footballing terms," he continued, "But I am really not out to make a name for myself. I've been impressed by the way the chairman runs the club here. You're not made to feel like a machine, coldly discarded if you're not needed anymore. It's good to be well away from the rat race.
"The training facilities here are as good as anything I've come across. People may think that this is a backwater, but the chairman and Neale know exactly what is needed. We have a squad of twenty full time players, any of whom could comfortably fit into the team, and the signing of George Shaw from Dunfermline this week adds another dimension. It's a very progressive set-up."
Cooper is convinced his new captain still has at least three good years in him.
"He's a fit lad. He looks after himself well," Cooper said. "We had a pretty good defensive record last season, but Brian was an obvious target for me, alongside Ian Maxwell, who came from Queen's Park. Brian is hugely respected within this club. He's already a fantastic success. On and off the park, his influence rubs off at all levels."
Yet it might easily have been different. Four years ago, Irvine at the peak of his form, contracted MS. With typical resilience, he was back in action within four months, his first match, by coincidence, the official opening of Ross County's reconstructed stadium.
"I was helped by homeopathy and got deeply into minerals and vitamins," he recalled. "But there was another factor behind my complete recovery - my faith."
Irvine is a born-again Christian. "If you are like me, people want to pigeon-hole you," he said. "But I know what I know. When I was thinking things over before coming here this summer, I felt that maybe I could offer something at Ross County, help bring the young players along. Faith influences my decisions. Anybody who has followed my career knows that."
Even with his faith, Irvine's head is not in the clouds.
"I know Ross County have talent to go far," Irvine said. "But the first priority this season is to hold our own against stronger opposition. The real action starts now."
As told to Alasdair Fraser in The Ross-shire Journal on Friday 21 April, 2000.
Captain Courageous Brian Irvine is set to defy all expectations by making a quick return to Ross County's colours - possibly as early as next weekend against Stranraer at home (29/4/00).
The former Scotland, Aberdeen and Dundee defender had been widely reported as being out for the rest of the season after suffering a nasty head injury agains Queen of the South.
But in an exclusive interview with The Ross-shire Journal, Irvine insisted that reports of his demise had been greatly exaggerated.
County have three games remaining in which to secure the solitary point they rquire to pull off one of the finest achievements of any small club in Scottish football's recent history - promotion from the Third to the First Division within two seasons.
Irvine, the club's second top scorer and the man who netted the vital opener against Queens, also called on the club's supporters to get behind the club in the final push for the First Division.
He said: "I've been training today, heading the ball, and the knock itself is healing quite nicely. It was a deep cut, but I'm not feeling any great pain from it so I'm hopeful.
"If everything remains okay, i will make myself available for Saturday's game against Hamilton at Firhill (22/4/00), but if not I hope to be ready for the next match.
"Thankfully, Kenny Gilbert, who I clashed heads with, didn't suffer such a deep cut, more of a wee nick, so he was able to carry on in the game."
The County skipper's refusal to bow out of the campaign despite his serious head blow is indicative enough of his commitment and determination to repay the faith the club have placed in him.
Irvine echoed the views of hi smanager, Neale Cooper, in refusing to assume promotion was a foregone conclusion, and he stressed: "The first thing the players want to do is clinch promotion. If we finish third, I don't care if people say we got to Division One by default.
"The fact is we are not an Aberdeen, staying in their division despite being tenth and bottom. Everyone knew the rules at the start of the season and what encouraged the board and everyone else at the the club to go flat out to get into Division One.
"If that opportunity had not presented itself, we might have been more realistic and looked for a transitional phase in Division Two.
"If we make sure of promotion, we want to finish as high as we can and that probably means second place, given Clyde's strong form at the moment. But everyone can be assured we will do everything in our power to keep winning."
Irvine, a thoughtful figure who has clearly developed a strong feeling for County, gave voice to some of the players' frustrations at the lack of support they have received from a section of the County fans.
He said: "Opinions are good and it is to be welcomed when people make their views known, just as long as they don't think their viewpoint is the final word and better than everyone else's.
"In a sense, the players, when on the receiving end of the criticism this season, felt like they didn't have a voice and they have had to do their talking on the pitch.
"The critical letter we have received at the club have been ammunition enough for us.
"I've never experienced negative support as a professional footballer and people ahve to realise what their backing can mean to individuals and to the team as a whole.
"From my own experience in football, it has always been important to get good backing. I hope and believe it is a minority of County fans who have been so against the team at times this season.
Perhaps there are still some supporters who look back to the Bobby Wilson ers and have been given more food for negative reaction when the team has had its bad spells.
"But for every bad game there has been a vital result in which the team achieved a superb result.
"I also feel certain a lot of County fans have got a lot of pleasure from the team, not only this season, but also winning the Third Division.
"I don't want to talk of the First Division yet, but I hope there is a lot more enjoyment to come."
Irvine gave an insight to the current mood in the County squad when he said: "There is determination as opposed to anticipation. We are assuming nothing yet. We don't see the job as done.
"The big difference in the team recently has been the way we have gelled as a unit - not only in terms of results but of performance. We have improved as we have got to know each other and there is a lot more stability through the side now.
"I think it summed it all up when I met a couple of fans recently who go to Inverness games one week and the County games the next. They said that they could always name the Inverness team, but the County team was never a certainty.
Return to the Profiles' PageReturn to Lorsports' Home Page