‘A forgotten entity in junior football’ - Dean Muir targets a bright future for Bellshill Athletic after years of turmoil

‘A forgotten entity in junior football’

That is how Dean Muir would best describe Bellshill Athletic - a club that knows all about the highs and lows of the glorious game.

The birthplace of sporting legends such Sir Matt Busby and Celtic’s Lisbon Lion captain Billy McNeill, Bellshill is an area stepped in Scottish football history. Founded in 1897 as a Juvenile club, the North Lanarkshire side had long been the focal point of the town.

A constant presence at Junior level for over 120 years, with the exception of a short spell in the late 1920s, the core following behind the club has certainly dwindled in recent years after period of turmoil both on and off the park.

It has been a very challenging decade for the club. From being made homeless for the second time in three years back in June 2011 to seeing large swathes of their Rockburn Park premises burned down after an attack by vandals in April 2020, Bellshill have not had their troubles to seek.

A club in crisis some might say but their plight was followed by online support from English outfit Bridlington Town’s offer to donate an entire clubhouse package from their ground to Bellshill. A fundraiser was set up to help upgrade the new stadium facilities and the decision was taken to leave the Scottish Junior Football Association (SFJA) and transition over to the West of Scotland Football League (WoSFL) two-and-a-half years ago, along with 63 other member clubs.

Things are starting to look up on the pitch as well after a previous committee fall-out had left the club in a difficult financial position and majority of the playing squad opted to leave for greener pastures. “If any club are due a bit of luck, it’s Bellshill Athletic,” one elder supporter echoed.

Gary Elliott was appointed manager at a time when the club were in freefall. But after a complete squad overhaul, with players stepping up from the amateur ranks, he was able to turnaround their ortunes.

41-year-old Dean Muir, a club stalwart after three previous stints as a player, re-joined for a fourth spell to add much needed experience to a youthful side. Little did he know that at the start of this season, he would find himself in a position to take over from Elliott in the Bellshill hotseat.

Speaking exclusively to GlasgowWorld, Muir said: “I’d been away from the Junior football scene for about six years after picking up a bad injury when I was at Rutherglen Glencairn. During that time, lifestyle changes and various circumstances started to take up a lot of my time.

“But having played for as long as I had, when I got chatting to Gary (Elliott) in the close season about coming back to sign as a player with a view to getting my fitness back, I thought why not? You never really lose that hunger and love for the game. There was always that urge and desire to get back involved.

“I said to myself ’You’re not going to get any younger. If you want to get back playing again then I‘d be as well giving it one last go before age really catches up with me.’ Once I was back around the club again, I obviously knew most of the committee guys like David Brown (chairman) and the head groundsman whose been there for a number of years.

“I’m a local boy, I’d played with the club three times and I suppose it was maybe always going to be a natural progression for myself (into management), if or when Gary moved on. When the vacancy became available, I knew that was probably a natural move for me to make.

“At the time, the position that the club found themselves in and being back in amongst it all reignited some relationships that I had with guys involved with the club and that also includes Neil Rowatt. His boy is a signed player as well so that’s where the co-management idea blossomed back in September/October time.”

The club are currently competing in the West of Scotland Third Division and Muir knows the scale of the project facing him. He’s in it for the long haul in an attempt to help Bellshill, somewhat of a sleeping giant, return to the top end of the game.

“That goes without saying,” Muir admitted. “Obviously the club has fallen on difficult times over the last number of years and it’s really only started, this year in particular, to find it’s feet again. The club are indebted to Gary and the squad of players he was able to bring in from the amateur set up because maybe 18 months ago, they were in a very precarious position and really struggling.

“The reality is Gary came in and saved the club. He re-built the team from scratch and that allowed the club to fulfill their fixtures. This year was always going to be a proper learning curve for a lot of the players because they’re young, inexperienced and haven’t played at this level before. It’s a step up from amateur football, you’ve got to carry yourself a certain way and look after your body better. You’ve got to treat things more professionally and give it more commitment.

“These are all things that in the amateurs, boys don’t need to worry about an awful lot. There’s never that pressure put on them and that was one of the big things Neil and I noticed. We saw plenty of potential in a lot of them, but you could see they hadn’t operated in the Juniors before and it was going to take a significant shift in their mentality and professionalism. That was the sort of fundamentals we brought into the dressing room from day one when we took the job on.”

Muir has 25 signed players at his disposal at present, a number he will look to trim down slightly over time. However, like any manager at this level, finding players of added quality can prove a difficult task.

He stated: “I think at any level of football you must have that foundation and core number of players within your dressing room that you can always rely on and are the bedrock of your team. We had a signifcant number signed and we’re still operating on that high end.

“For us now, it’s about being able to add quality, but that’s easier said than done. That isn’t just about trying to stabilise our position in the league this year. We’re looking more long-term towards a view at what we’re hoping to try and achieve going into next season and the following years.

“This isn’t a six or seven month job. We’re always looking at ways we can improve the calibre of player. As much as their is quality in our squad and throughout the division, you just need to look at the levels of inconsistency. That doesn’t necassarily just come from individual players or from the performance side of things. It comes through our good run in the Scottish (Junior Cup) and our domestic campaign which has been a bit stop-start.

“Now that we’re over the worst of the weather, we’re hoping our domestic form starts to improve. We can really try and find a level of consistency in terms of how we win games. The boys have done really well and a lot of the times where we’ve dropped points it’s been undeserved.”

Four points from their last two league matches and with a Scottish Junior Cup quarter-final tie against Premier Division outfit Glenafton Athletic on the horizon, it’s safe to say Bellshill are on the rise. Muir reckons the relentless work taking place both on the playing side and by the committee off the park leads to a bright future.

He explained: “I think anyone whose been to Rockburn Park this season or over the last 18 months will remember the club suffered pretty bad fire damage to the main pavilion. The elder supporters who once followed us around were finding that there wasn’t any cover for them during the cold winter months.

“There’s a good committee and groundstaff in place now. We have five or six volunteers who are just local hard-working guys that put their heart and soul into improving the environment and surroundings for the players and the supporters to come back and enjoy watching the team again. It’s a labour of love for them.

“That was probably first sampled when the club held a family fun day as part of the 125th anniversary celebrations back in July. We had a great turnout and it’s about getting these people back through the gates again on a Saturday. If they see the improvements that are happening, then hopefully the crowd numbers will return.

“We have invested in an expensive piece of kit to improve the pitch and it’s as good as it has been since the club moved there in 2015. For Bellshill to commit to that level of investment just to improve the quality of the playing surface after years of struggle is testament to how everyone is trying to kick the club on.

“We’ve added a small enclosure and the club are looking at introducing a second slightly bigger in size to accomodate more support. It offers more protection against the elements through the winter. We’re also in the latter stages of discussions with North Lanarkshire council about getting building consent in place so that we can get our clubhouse up and running properly, which will offer an onsight bar and function area.

“All of these things matter in terms of attracting people to come and visit us. There was a £1,000 investment put in to revamp the dressing rooms a couple of months ago as well. The volunteers gave us their hard earned time and we’ve now got changing facilities that is fit for a club trying hard to push forward.”

Muir added: “While it’s important to see the improvements happening off the pitch, for me on the playing side, it makes my job easier to meet with a potential player. We’re competing against teams like Wishaw, Lanark, Lesmahagow round about us but we can take boys down to the Rockburn for them to see for themselves the work that’s in progress.

“Neil and I are fortunate in that we’ve got a wealth of experience at this level. We recently signed JC (Hutchison, goalkeeper) and he’s another local boy who lives just five minutes from the ground. He’s played for some big Junior clubs, so being able to attract guys of his experience in to have a look around the place complements what we’re trying to do. I think even he was surprised and probably didn’t expect to see what he saw.

“Ultimately, we need to be successful on the pitch. and I believe we’re starting to get there. Our objective for the rest of the season is to consolidate in the Third Division. Yes, we’re currently in the bottom half (of the table) but we’ve got a lot of games in hand over a number of teams. My message to the players, esepcially after beating Kilbirnie Ladeside, is if we can find that level of consistency in terms of how we perform and get the job done - if we can replicate what we did in that second half after coming back from 2-0 down - then the domestic business will take care of itself.

“We’ve got more than enough quality and ability in our squad to compete. We’ve played the vast majority of teams sitting in that top half at present and none of them have outplayed us.

“It’s always difficult to run a club at this level. Sometimes you feel as though you’re banging your head against the wall because you’d love nothing more than to pick up the phone to potential players and say ‘Listen, we’re interested in getting you in. What’s your thoughts?’ and people are desperate to come here.

“The reality is we need to use whatever advantage we can, whether that’s our experience as a management team at this level or the improvements being made around the ground. As long as we continue to keep driving the club forward the way we are then it can only stand us in good stead.

“The current squad are buying into what we’re trying to achieve and what we want to get out of them. You need players who are willing to listen and learn, and their attendance at training has been different class. I’ve been at clubs competing at a higher level and sometimes you wonder if that 100 per cent commitment is there. Our boys are improving all the time. Myself and Neil are always looking to add better quality because I think we’ve got to otherwise we’ll stand still. We’re here to keep driving the standards and move the club forward.”