2024 Week34: Member of the Club

My late father-in-law, Jan Stepek, was brought up on a farm in Poland in the 1920s. He never had the opportunity to play football as a child or even watch a game. All the more ironic, therefore, that four decades later he would be the Chairman and main owner of a professional football club in Scotland.

When he arrived in Scotland, he quickly learned that football was a national passion. But he paid no attention to it. However, in 1969, he found himself drawn into a crisis concerning the local football club - Hamilton Academical - or "Accies" as they are better known. By this time Jan was one of Hamilton's and Scotland's best known businessmen.

One day, his next door neighbour who was a shareholder in the club, knocked on Jan's front door. Over a drink, the neighbour explained that the directors of the football club had agreed to merge with another local club, Clyde FC. This would mean that Hamilton Academical would cease to exist. A minority of the Board disagreed with the decision and the neighbour had been tasked to speak to Jan to see if he could help in a campaign to save the club. Jan agreed to be involved and led a successful change of leadership at the club, after which he was asked to become Chairman.

Article from The Daily Record Jan 15 1986

At the first game he attended (the first football game he had ever been to!), he asked after twenty minutes, "Which one is our team?"

However, he learned quickly and took the club from the bottom of the lowest league in Scotland to a place in the top league during his tenure as Chairman. He was the longest serving chairman of a football club in Scotland during that era and is credited with saving the club. There are many stories about his time there, but I shall save them for another time.

Obituary in The Hamilton Advertiser 1 Nov 2012

Comments

2025 Week 26 : Favourite name #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

As well as researching my own family, one of the other trees I have spent a lot of time on is that of my daughter-in-law, Lucy. Whereas my heritage is Scots and Irish, Lucy's is English and therefore some of the names I came across were quite different to those found in my own tree. One of my first favourites was a Francis Badger who appeared in the 1851 census for England! He wasn't actually a relative, but an apprentice to Lucy's 3 x great grandfather and who also lodged with the family. I did wonder how that surname came about - did the original Badger have a funnily shaped face? or perhaps a white streak through his hair?? Or was he just an annoying person?? I'll never know, but it was fun to find him! Francis Badger's entry at the bottom in the 1851 census for England. Source: Ancestry.co.uk However, my all time favourite name - and character - from Lucy's tree is a man named Golden Bridge ! He is Lucy's 5x great grandfather and he was born in Essex...

2024 Week 19: Preserve #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

A few years ago, I came into the possession of a family bible. It was the family bible of my paternal grandparents, John McAra and Christina Walker. Until her death in 2018, the bible had been in the hands of my Aunt Inez, widow of my Uncle Will McAra. When I started enquiring as to its whereabouts, I found that it was her grandson, John, who now had it. John himself had no real interest in it at all, so he was quite happy to hand it over to me. However, it was, to say the least, in a bit of a state. The front cover was completely detached and there were many loose pages as the spine of the book was also damaged and detached. I had no choice but to take it to a book repairer in Glasgow, where it was repaired as best it could be. The bible itself had been originally published in Glasgow in the late 19th century. In Victorian times it was common for Christian families to have such a large bible in which they could record events such as births, marriages and deaths. The one I have al...

2025 Week 12: Historic Event #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

The Battle of Arbroath, one of Scotland's bloodiest battles, was fought in the summer of 1345 between rival claimants to the post of Baillie of the Regality. The Baillie of the Regality chosen by the monks of Arbroath Abbey at that time was Alexander Lindsay. This post gave Lindsay power and prestige and he was responsible for upholding the law in the lands around the abbey. However, like many men in positions of authority both past and present, he chose to abuse his position of power and his fighting men caused mayhem within the walls of the Abbey. This led to the monks deciding to replace Lindsay with Alexander Ogilvy, who had hereditary claims to the position, but who unfortunately was Lindsay's enemy ... and my 15 x great-uncle! His sister, Isobel had married into Clan Oliphant and, on paper at least, Isobel is my 15 x great grandmother! Of course, the appointment of Ogilvy was not acceptable to Lindsay, who then raised an army of 1000 men and marched to Arbroath Abbey to r...

Roots, shoots and stories

Search This Blog