St Johnstone’s poet-in-residence Jim Mackintosh is well-versed in The Beautiful Game.
And now he has encouraged poets from across the country to put pen to paper for an anthology supporting the acclaimed Football Memories project pioneered by Alzheimer Scotland.
On Wednesday, Mind the Time was launched at the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden Park and editor Jim was joined by several contributors, including Dundee poet Andy Jackson.
Jim, from Perth, now plans to join colleagues promoting the book at festivals ranging from the Borders to the Highlands.
From modest beginnings, there are now more than 150 Football Memories groups meeting regularly in Scotland. Supporters include Sir Alex Ferguson and the Professional Footballers Association Scotland.
St Johnstone, Dundee, Dundee United, Dunfermline, Montrose and Carnoustie Panmure are among the Tayside clubs signed-up to the project.
Jim, 57, said: “There are over 84,000 Scots with dementia, the equivalent of every spectator on the average Scottish football weekend.
“The book has its roots in my role as poet-in-residence at St Johnstone, when I was invited to write a piece and deliver it at the club’s Hall of Fame dinner at Perth Concert Hall, weaving in the stories of the club legends being honoured.”
Lifelong St Johnstone fan Stewart Walker, a trained volunteer with the McDiarmid Park group, suggested Jim might like to work on poems which would generate talking points and take fans back down memory lane.
“I naively said that would mean a lot of poems. But it really hit home when Stewart said it wouldn’t really matter if I repeated the same poem every few weeks.
“I had been impressed with the project and wanted to do more to support the national ‘Football Memories’ programme so I suggested trying to pull together a book of poetry.
“I put a shout out to contemporaries across Scotland and was bowled over by their response. They have been incredibly supportive, giving their support free of charge.
“We have amassed more than 100 poems by around 50 poets, men and women of all ages, for the anthology.
“We have poems about Willie Bauld, Alan Gilzean, Jim Baxter, Davie Cooper, Denis Law and many more besides.
“As a Saints supporter I have one called ‘Gaffer’s Land’ which was prompted by Tommy Wright being acclaimed manager of the year.
“We are keen to raise awareness of ‘Football Memories’ and dementia, which touches the lives of everyone.”
Stewart added: “The groups are also providing companionship and respite care for a couple of hours. They raise the spirits and we are now seeing people coming along because they are downright lonely. That is an ever increasing issue facing society.”
