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Allison Black …
A wee revelation from the mid / late 70s
Congratulations to Allison ( Alli ) Black on her retirement from football at the age of 55 . Alli was one of Stewarton United Ladies Football Club ’ s most skillful and experienced players to have graced our fields and a great team mate to many during her time with the club .
Back in the 70s , Alli began her football career at the age of 9 . Elsie Cook spotted Alli kicking a baw against the wall at Tourhill shops with her two wee pals . According to Elsie , “ There was not a thing Allison couldnae dae wae a baw , she had it aw in a tidy wee package !” Elsie remembers telling Alli about her wee U12s team , training in Onthank PS . One night as the weans were getting warmed up in the gym for training , one of the U16s came running out excitedly shouting , “ Oh my god Elsie , ye should see this wee teeny 9 yr auld lassie wae a baw !” Aye it was Allison fae Tourhill Rd !
When Alli was part of the Under 10s , 12s and 14s , her team always gave the boys a run for their money be it 5s or 11s . Alli ’ s 5s teams walked away with quite a few trophies in the boys 5s at “ Johnny Hubbard Fives ” at Dam Park Ayr .
When Alli was about 11 / 12 , she travelled with her team and coach Elsie to Hamburg and won the Under 14s tournament .
Elsie states , “ Allison widve been capped for Scotland but I had been banned by SWFA for reading them the riot act .. the committee members were only interested in wan thing ... promoting their ain daughters that was why I resigned as Scotland manager in ‘ 74 and that was the year when wee Alli came along , she was only 9 , and because I was banned , my wee players were not seen as Scotland material , ( we set up a Strathclyde League outwith SWFA ... jist so they could keep playing ) and as the talented lassies like Alli developed they were unknown tae SWFA and Scotland ... Incredible young teams I had then .... every wan a star !”
When Stewarton United Ladies formed in June 2018 , Alli joined . During her time with the club , she built up a fantastic relationship with younger players encouraging their participation in the game and helping them to build up their skill set . She recognised individuals ’ strengths and weaknesses and helped them to work on them as best as she could .
As an ‘ older ’ player Alli also recognised her own strengths and weaknesses and had open and honest discussions with coaches to best aid the team ’ s success – Alli has a strong engine for the midfield and can pick out a fantastic defence splitting pass , she has an eye for a good pass . Alli will give the game everything she ’ s got because of her passion for the game and gets a little angry when it ’ s not working out quite as she would like and that just shows how driven she is about the sport .
Alli would give feedback on drills and training session ’ s which helped coaches plan sessions that the team as a whole would enjoy .
Alli will be missed in the game – everyone at Stewarton United Ladies FC wish you the very best in your retirement and hope to see you back in the game in some capacity in the future !
Interview with Allison Black
How long have you been playing women ’ s football ?
On and off now for 45 years !
what got you into playing women ’ s football ?
I was approached by Elsie Cook who saw me kicking a ball around when I was nine years old . She asked if I wanted to play for a girls team and my obvious response was total excitement .
what have been the major changes you ’ ve noticed in the development of women ’ s football ?
I think mostly for me it ’ s the opportunity for a girl to follow her dream , without negativity or prejudice ! Over the years the footballing dream has slowly opened to everyone . It ’ s been a long time coming but it ’ s amazing that the women ’ s game is now more than ever in the fore front of the media , tv etc …
What has drawn you to keep playing women ’ s football ?
To be honest it ’ s just the love for the game and the desire to be able to contribute on some level and of course to be part of such a wonderful set up at S . U . L .
What do you think can be done to encourage more women to continue playing football for longer ?
From an older generations perspective it would be terrific to have a over 40 ’ s league but in reality that ’ s difficult to execute but we did have a wee joke about rolling substitutions for the over 40 ’ s which might encourage older players to participate more as I think some at that age might find 90 mins daunting !
Finally , what would you say to other women who are thinking of maybe coming back to play football ?:
Get your boots on girls ! You ’ re never too old , I ’ m testament to that !