Saturday 28th March, 2020 at 2:00pm
Ian McCall last wrote to you on the day you would have expected to be reading his pre-match programme notes; today is the same, so he writes to you again.
Saturday afternoon at 3pm; as a boy growing up in Dumfries I could plan my whole week around this sacred time, knowing with some certainty what I would be doing. I would be at Palmerston Park (in those days one of the best grass pitches in Scotland) with my dad watching Alan Ball, Peter Dickson, Jim Donald et al playing for my home town team, Queen of the South.
Before I state the obvious about how times have changed, I must refer to my favourite game in this early period of my football life; let’s be honest, we all have a few of these!!! Strangely enough, or perhaps not due to the strange nature of Scottish football, it was against Ayr United, the club that I owe a great deal to. The score … 5-4 to Queens at a windy, sodden Palmerston and a Peter Dickson hat-trick. What a game!!
Although TV has at times changed our Saturday routine, it is doubtful whether we will ever have a moan about this again as the current disruption is of a far, far more serious nature.
The pandemic we are all facing is a truly gruesome, silent foe and before I get to an update on football matters; please take care, of yourselves, of the people you love, and of all your neighbours.
The players all have their fitness schedules to follow. We have split them into five groups to make monitoring their work a little bit easier and to a man (it seems!!), they are following their programmes to maintain a good base level of fitness. They are all currently fit and well. When they can get back to work is a little more difficult to predict but perhaps not of the utmost importance at this time.
The players and I are making phone calls to supporters, to keep in touch, in recognition of the fact that we are all in this together. On this note I must apologise to Mr Lawson Spiers, who I phoned on Thursday; I was expecting to speak to a 12-year-old but he informed me that he was a little bit older, born in the fifties!!
Lastly, our CEO (the King of Spain) has told me of the incredible effort of our fans, who if we are being brutally honest have had a turgid two or three years, in terms of getting in touch to see how they could help the club they love. It is quite humbling to hear.
Please take care.
IMc.
Ps in the next instalment, I may tell you why I love the Jags, what my favourite Jags game is and anything else you want to know!!!!!!
