On Saturday 1st October 2005, the day Arbroath played Queens Park at Hampden I arrived outside the national stadium at 12.30. A bit early for the match you might think, but I was on my way to take a look at another famous ground that stands out in the history of Scottish Football. That ground was Cathkin Park, once the home of Third Lanark, a club that remains a part of Football History but sadly that is where it now belongs.

The pitch is still there as are parts of the crush barriers and terracing. Cathkin is only a few hundred yards from the North Stand at Hampden -a short walk up Bolivar Terrace. Much of the iron fence that once marked the boundary of Cathkin Park still remains but nature has long since started to reclaim the field of dreams that became the stuff of nightmares Thirds supporters.

It is now thirty-eight years since third Lanark Football Club ceased to exist. The fact that the land remains undeveloped after all those years is surely a significant statement in itself. The decaying ground remains a potent memorial to one of the saddest episodes in Scottish Football History.

There are lots of trees and bushes growing on the older parts of the terracing and there is still evidence of the wooden sleepers, now overgrown with greenery. The concreted parts of the terracing are still in pretty good condition, (although the ground safety inspectors would no doubt disagree). The pitch and goals are still intact and I was lucky enough to see a game taking place while I was there. Not ghosts from the past or a product of a fevered imagination but a seven a side game with jackets for goalposts. Perhaps they were local pub teams or just a group of lads enjoying a bounce game. Whoever they were, it was good to see the old ground still being used to play the beautiful game.

Arbroath played Thirds four times in their last ever season (1966/7) Twice in the League Cup sectional stages. On 13th August, Arbroath won 2-0 at Gayfield with Cant and Jack the scorers. A fortnight later, the score was 1-1 with Jack again on the score-sheet.

In early September, the two sides met again, this time on league business and Arbroath won 2-1 at home with goals by Jack and Wilkie. The following week, the Lichties lost 2-0 in what subsequently proved to be their last ever match at Cathkin Park. In between those two league games, Arbroath scored a convincing 9-2 victory over Forfar Athletic.

It 1959/60, Third Lanark stopped Arbroath from reaching the League Cup Final by beating the Lichties 3-0 at Ibrox in the semi-final. The last ever professional game at Cathkin Park ended in a 3-3 draw with Queen of the South. Thirds’ last ever league game was at Boghead and Dumbarton won that encounter 5-1 with Drew Busby scoring the Last ever Third Lanark Goal.

David Dewar