This month we start a series of interviews with the men behind
the club ties and we’re delighted to have Alex “Finnie” Fowler
as our first guest. Although he had a break from committee
duties for a brief period when he was working in Libya, he is
one of only two on the current committee who were also
committee members when the Rose won the Junior Cup for the
first time in 1965 – that’s an impressive length of service even
in the context of a club like the Rose where officials have
several hundred years of combined service among them!
Like many others, you played for the Rose before joining the
committee to help run the club. Do you remember much about
your first game?
I was a goalkeeper and my first game was a 1-1 draw against
Bonnybridge when I was beaten by a penalty with five minutes
to go. I went on to play for the club for a further two seasons
before I was released and I joined the committee at that point
in 1961.
You’ve obviously done a lot of different jobs as part of the
committee but are there any which stick out in your mind?
Absolutely – Wilson Hoggan and I erected the floodlights and
I think the testimony to the job we did is that they’re still
there!
What are the biggest changes you’ve seen during your time
with the club?
Obviously the players are very well looked after nowadays –
even though they might sometimes disagree! That’s the
same at most clubs right enough with the advances in how
we treat injuries. In terms of what’s changed at Prestonfield,
there’s no question that the building of the new stand is the most significant difference we’ve made to the look
of the place.
What are your memories of the 1964/65 season?
I was very proud to be part of the committee that helped build the club up to the point where we were able to get
our hands on the Junior Cup for the first time. But 1964/65 was memorable on a personal level as I was
encouraged to come out of retirement after Eamon McGlynn was hurt during the game at Hampden. I ended up
not only as a committee member in the most successful season in the club’s history to that point but I also
picked up four winners medals including playing two finals at Tynecastle. It was really unfortunate for Eamon
but to be given that chance after I thought it had gone was fantastic for me.
What’s been the high point of your 55 years with Linlithgow Rose?
There have been dozens to be honest but nothing will ever beat winning the
Junior Cup for the first time. We’d been through some lean times and to see
the club win the biggest trophy on the biggest stage and to do so as
convincingly as we did was the icing on the cake.
And the low point?
There have been a few of them too!!! There were times during the early part of
my time on the committee where we really struggled to fund the running of
the team. On the pitch, it’s a tough call. Losing in the Junior Cup final is hard
to take because it takes so much to get there that you just want your team to
get over the line. We had a really good side in 1974 when we lost out to
Cambuslang and again when Tayport beat us in 2003 but I think the defeat by
Auchinleck at Livingston is up there because, like everyone else, I really
believed the boys would bring the cup home after they’d had such a fantastic
season. I felt for Mark and the whole squad – they were brilliant for us and it
was a shame that they didn’t get the reward they deserved by winning the
double.