My first Publication Overtime November 2019 Merged PDF | Page 19

Words Jamie McGlashan
W
hen Russell MacMorran was appointed as
manager of Fort William Football Club at
the beginning of the 2018/19 season, they
were without a league win in over two seasons.
But the 43-year-old has claimed taking charge of the
Highland League perennial strugglers has since aided
his recovery from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD), which was suffered as a result of dealing with
traffic incidents on Scotland’s dangerous west coast
roads.
“It has aided my recovery from PTSD and allows me
to function socially and occupationally again,” says
MacMorran.
Managing ‘The Fort’ has harmonised a club which,
at the time of MacMorran taking charge, sat at the foot
of the Highland League, and whose existence beyond
the end of the season looked increasingly unlikely.
“The club and squad survived to the end of the
season, which was the ultimate goal,” says the man
who took up the job after previously being club
secretary.
“I was extremely low and in a very dark place. I
didn’t want to go out or talk to anyone. I was sitting in
the house staring at four walls. I had lost my identity
in a number of ways,” reveals the police officer, who
was diagnosed with PTSD in September of 2018.
“My wife, Laura, suggested that I should get involved
in something and she suggested getting back into
football.”
MacMorran’s route into football management was
no ordinary one. Circumstances at the club resulted
in an exodus of board members which put the club’s
existence at risk.
“The Club was at the point of removing their
affiliation from the Highland League, dropping down
to amateur status, which would have been devastating
for the club and the future of local football.”
As per the suggestion of his wife, MacMorran
attended an open meeting at Claggan Park in which
the club was looking for a treasurer and a secretary.
“I attended this meeting mostly just out of interest
with no intention of taking on an important role.
“However, on listening to the meeting and to seeing
the positivity towards the club that was displayed by
all of those involved with the club I could see that
the challenge would be great, but also, and more
importantly, that it was a challenge that could be
overcome,” he says.
After the meeting on 9 September, MacMorran
was voted in as Fort William FC’s secretary on 13
September, 2018. “I went about installing some long-
lost standards and discipline that a club such as Fort
William football club should demand from its players
and officials.”
A “leap” is how MacMorran describes the transition
he made from being club secretary to taking control of
Fort William’s first team. “Unfortunately, it came as
the result of the manager at that time, Kris Anderson,
being relieved of his duties, which was unfortunately
a result of lengthy, and well documented, very poor
display both on and off the pitch.
“The decision was then taken by the board that I
would be the interim replacement for Kris. In order
to stabilise the players and result. Obviously, this
was another challenge, but again this was a challenge
that could be overcome. I set about bringing the
confidence back to the players and their enjoyment to
play football.”
Despite finishing last in the 16-team, relegation-less
Highland League on two points and an eye-watering
goal difference of minus 224, MacMorran was offered
a permanent role. “The club and squad survived to
the end of the season, which was the ultimate goal,
and my job was done. Or so I thought. The position
for Manager was advertised prior to the start of pre-
season, and I was offered the permanent Manager’s
position and here we are.”
“The only thing that I wasn’t quite expecting was
that they don’t make players like they did in my
time. There are more hair styles than available team
formations. It’s like fathering 25 to 30 children.”
Fort William, located in Argyll and Lochaber at the
very foot of Ben Nevis, is extremely secluded. A two
hour drive down winding treacherous roads separates
the town of 10,000 inhabitants to the nearest city,
Inverness. This poises extensive issues for the semi-
pro outfit, “The logistics of where we are located
causes a number of problems,” MacMorran explains.
“Out-with Clachnucuddin FC and Strathspey Thistle
FC, we have a two-hour journey before we even begin
travelling. A trip to play Wick Academy FC is an eight-
hour round trip for the player, so you can imagine
that’s a very early start and a very late return.”
But extensive travel times are not the only way in
which the location blights the club. Shinty, a popular
Highlands sport played with a stick and a ball, provides
another threat. Players often prefer playing shinty to
turning out for a struggling football club.
“Player recruitment is another problem the club
faces. Shinty, in truth, is or was the more attractive
sport in the area. Being honest, what young person
would wish to play football and get beat week in and
out without fail and no prospect of that changing?”
With a BBC documentary released in July about
the club named, ‘The Fort: the story of Britain’s worst
football team’, you can imagine the type of media that
surrounded the club. MacMorran used this title as a
motive for Fort William FC.
“The club embraced the title and I used it as
motivation to the players. Although I paid no more
attention to it than the jovial motivation at training or
within the changing room.”
Fascinatingly, The Fort’s fanbase has experienced
rapid growth since its story was broadcasted to the
masses. “The ‘worst team in Britain’ almost became a
brand name for the club. It was embraced by our fans,
which is now a global fan base. The title ‘the worst
team in Britain’ was and is a big part of the club’s
history and journey,” explains MacMorran.
In the evening after their 5-2 victory over Nairn
County – their first win in competitive competition in
707 days – the club’s Twitter following increased from
4,000 to 20,000. And a large part of that is down to
the leadership of MacMorran.
MacMorran is sponsored and supported by Ptsd999. Ptsd999 is a non-profit organisation that offers support to all
members of the emergency services who have been affected by PTSD.
www.ptsd999.org.uk
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