I am aware that according to 'folklore' many of the Thirds fans (being in the most from the south side) took their allegiance to Newlandsfield home of Pollok FC when the shutters came down. I have to say 1967 did see the emergence of Pollok as a 'force' in the Junior game and it's nice to think the old Thirds fans played a part in that.
As someone who witnessed Pollok grow (in tandem with the Hi Hi) from 'the ash park days' to their current status as one of the top Junior sides it gives me a feeling of 'what might have been' for our dear old Third Lanark.
By the end of the 70s and through the 80s and 90s Pollok were bringing in a reguler support of between 1000-1200 per home game and when you consider the Hi Hi were hitting the dizzy heights of a fan base of 250 at their demise then it identifies the potential of the area that was available.
The old 'what if' term comes into question. If the Thirds could have ridden the storm and a decent management structure put in place then that 1000-1200 could have been at Cathkin by the end of the sixties. Even today these figures are better than most 3rd, 2nd and i'm sure some 1st division crowds (PTL to confirm ) and there is no reason not to assume we could have exceeded this fan base and reached the staus of a Premier League club. As a 'for instance' Pollok played Halbeath in the Scottish Cup at Newlandsfield around '83 and a crowd of 4500 turned up...makes you think!
Anyway it wasn't to be and for any of our 'overseas' readers who may be interested Pollok won the West of Scotland Premier League this season (average home crowd 700) .
) and there is no reason not to assume we could have exceeded this fan base and reached the staus of a Premier League club. As a 'for instance' Pollok played Halbeath in the Scottish Cup at Newlandsfield around '83 and a crowd of 4500 turned up...makes you think!
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