Hamilton Academical are still making lifelong supporter Sandy Walker smile on his 90th birthday.
Walker has supported Accies since before the second war and the Lanarkshire club, led by manager Brian Rice, repaid his loyalty by unveiling a banner on his birthday yesterday.
His daughter is renowned broadcaster Alison Walker and she explained how Hamilton Accies still evoke emotion in her father who suffers from vascular dementia.
She said:“His love for Hamilton goes back a long way. He has severe vascular dementia but there are key things - when we are allowed to go see him - that you concentrate on because you know they’ll get a reaction.
“The three subjects are Hamilton Accies, my mum and the word beer. Unfortunately for my mum, it is in that order - Hamilton always came first.
“Although we lived in England, Dad would always try to get to the games, get the programmes or watch the scores. That’s obviously filtered through into his children and grandchildren.
“It runs quite deeply and if you show him the results or talk about the club, you see his eyes light up. You can tell it’s a subject that he likes and you can tell that he understands because dementia is a very confusing state to be in.
“Unless you’ve dealt with dementia, it’s hard to understand how difficult it is. So to see him light up when talking about Hamilton gives the family a really nice feeling."
The famous red and white hoops are still easily recognisable by Sandy who currently resides in a care home.
Hamilton memorabilia adorns the walls of his room and his carers are conscious of his adoration for his local team.
He was noticeably happy when he was shown the birthday message on a laptop and Walker explained that her dad is comforted by visible references to Accies.
She said: “The home said that he looked at the picture and he smiled. They obviously don’t have the same passion for the club as the family do so it would have been much better if the family could have been part of it.
“He’s got an Accies jersey, scarf, mug and a New Douglas Park plaque up on his wall so they know how much he loves Hamilton.
“When he wakes up in the morning, he is surrounded by these things that he remembers and that gives him some comfort.
“When he sees the red and white hoops or the logo, he can still tap into those memories because everything else has been lost.
“The club provided the wonderful banner which he saw on a laptop and hopefully, we can get that banner and take it into the home.”
Although visiting the care home is not permitted under current Covid restrictions, two of Sandy’s favourite players have offered to go and visit.
Brian Carrigan and Brian McPhee played for Hamilton in the early 2000’s and they have offered their support to allow Sandy to reminisce.
Walker revealed their kind offer, adding:“A couple of the players that he really liked from the old days - McPhee and Carrigan - actually said they would come round to the home and waive through the windows.
“Unfortunately, nobody is allowed to do anything like that at the moment but maybe, if he’s still with us in six months those boys could come round and visit.
“He wouldn’t recognise them normally but he would if they had the jersey on because that is the key thing.
Hamilton Academical don’t have the biggest support in Scotland but there is a great sense of community around the club.
The Lanarkshire side implements various initiatives to help the local community and the fan base rallied together with kind words for the lifelong supporter Accies after an emotive article was released last week.
Walker believes there is a sense of community around Hamilton that is missing from bigger clubs, adding: “Too many people don’t support their local club and my dad has always supported Accies since he was five years old.
“Hamilton are one of the best community clubs in the UK because of what they do to support the local area.
"Results on the pitch might not always be great but Hamilton Accies have a reputation for being a good community club.
“They are good at supporting different people from diverse backgrounds. Football is so powerful and can get impact communities like nothing else can in Scotland.
“There are 42 clubs in the country which are right at the heart of communities.Sometimes I feel we don’t use that community aspect enough but Hamilton Accies absolutely do throughout all the programmes they run.
“They are an accessible club and we really feel part of something at Accies which is really nice.”
Sandy’s love for Hamilton Accies predated the Second World War and he used to refer to Davie Wilson who scored 245 goals for the club.
He was a huge admirer of Jim McLean in red and white and followed Accies when they had to play at Firhill and Cliftonhill when Hamilton were without a home ground in the late 1990’s.
Although Sandy was unable to recognise the Hamilton players on his last visit to New Douglas Park, he was still engrossed in the magical atmosphere of a live football match.
Walker said: “We got him to a game 18 months ago, Colin McGowan set it up for us and we got a care worker to come with us.
“My dad is unable to walk very well but we got a wheelchair and he sat right at the front. He didn’t really have a clue who the players were but he did manage to recognise the red and white hoops.
“He felt the atmosphere of the game. People who aren’t football fans don’t really understand the feeling that you get when you go to a game.
“I’m not sure if it’s the banter, the noise or the cheering. It’s really a package of things that drags you in makes you feel part of a community within the ground.
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