shannon2007

The World Cup was over – for Scotland of course it had been over long before the end – and so was Duncan's mothers relationship with Larry Watkins. That this was something for rejoicing never crossed the young lad's mind, his mothers relationships rarely lasted very long and her lovers were never interested in being father figures to her kids. It was not long before a new man appeared on the scene, almost as if somehow with a man in her life, Agnes MacLeod could not survive. Yet the choice of men she made, it was amazing that she did survive with one. This new man however turned out to be a bit different to the rest. He actually acknowledged Duncan existed.

With the World Cup over, there was no real excuse to head over to Mitch's house every day, and Duncan found that he missed that. Summer was drawing to a close, and school would be starting soon – and the new football season. Although there was no reason now to call on Mitch, there was not much else for the young Duncan to do and so he popped in on the off chance one sunny afternoon. Mitch was home and was delighted to see him.

'Wait there' He said, clearly not doing a good job of hiding some exciting news, ' I've got something for you I think you'll like.'

Duncan could not think what it was his friend had bought him, and when Mitch handed him an envelope his excitement vanished. What on earth was this to give to a small boy?

'Open it then!' Mitch exclaimed.

Duncan did so and inside was what seemed to be a small book.

'It's a season ticket to Rugby Park' Mitch could not hold back, then hesitated in case perhaps his gift had not been as welcome as he might have thought.

Duncan did not know what to say. Eventually he found the words to say thanks, 'It's great Mitch. But I'm not sure. I mean, it must have cost you a lot of money and I don't know what's going on at home at the moment. That new guy is weird.'

'Don't worry about the cost' Mitch tousled his young friends hair, 'And we'll find a way, we always do.'

They spent that day plodding around the garden of Mitch's house and made plans to do something at the weekend.

'Keep that ticket book safe' Mitch called as Duncan left for home.

'I will!' Duncan called back, 'Looking forward to the new season already!'

But he never did get to use any of those season tickets.

Fraser Adams was a good deal older than most of the men Duncan's mother had gotten involved with, and he was also, at first at any rate, the nicest. He didn't send Duncan to his room at meal times, he didn't chuck him out of the house and he even gave the young lad money on occasion to buy things for himself. That in itself was unique experience and at first Duncan was delighted to be finally getting some attention. The attention though was soon to become what no young child might want, and Duncan found himself trying harder than ever to stay out of the way of one of his mothers boyfriends. From this one though, that was much harder than you might think.

And Fraser did not approve of Duncan's time spent with Mitch.

'It's not right' He told Agnes mother one dinner time, 'The boy spends too much time over there, why would someone of that age want to spend time with a nine year old boy.'

Agnes had said nothing, either for or against but it was clear that whatever Fraser Adams said was what Duncan was to do and eventually he was told that he was not to go and see Mitch again. It simply wasn't right. Duncan of course had no idea what Fraser was on about, Mitch had been the best friend he had ever had, how could it be not right. It never crossed his mind that his mother's latest boyfriend might be jealous of her sons relationship with another man, but it wasn't because he wanted to be the father figure in Duncan's life and felt threatened over that. Fraser Adams had something much more sinister in mind.

shannon2007

Notes:

I suspect by now a few people are wondering where the hell this is going, where is the football!

Well, the football will be here eventually, but this is one story that will have a lot of depth to it and if it's just results you want to see you'll have to wait a while.

The football is coming, but I want to get a depth of character I haven't explored before on FMS and for that you'll just have to be patient, sit back and enjoy the show. Or not as the case may be

shannon2007

In his autobiography, On and Off The Park, Duncan MacLeod skimmed over the events that unravelled in the weeks after the 1974 World Cup, even though in many ways that period had a profound affect on his life. It was perhaps understandable, and a later biography by well known journalist Alex Steel, To the Moon and Back described a bit more the details of that time and the events that so tortured a young mind. Although there had been two other unofficial biographies on his life by that point, MacLeod was decidely unhappy over the publication by Steel and at one point even threatened legal action over the contents of the book.

Fraser Adams had indeed been jealous of his lovers son's relationship with youth club leader Jonathan Mitchell. A fact he made very clear to the young man, and with a promising career in teaching, Adams attempts to scare off the lad were successful. Even though Adams had warned Duncan not to go round to Mitch's house, the young boy could not stay away but one afternoon when he called in his friend was not at home and his mother told Duncan that he had gone away. It would be almost two years before Duncan saw Mitch again, and by that point it was clear their relationship could never be the same again, even although Fraser Adams was out of the picture.

In fact Fraser Adams was dead, and it was as much the circumstances surrounding his death that so scarred that young MacLeod as the fact of losing his best friend. Adams had been found, naked, in Duncan's bedroom by the police who had rushed after a frantic call for help from a young boy in a telephone box. Adams had died of a heart attack, but the police could get little sense out of the boy and he never did fully reveal what happened on that awful night, but it was circumstantially obvious what had, or what possibly was going to have had occurred. And it was not wonder Duncan tried to blank such from his memory.

By the time of the 1978 World Cup, the past had gone and Duncan was now a typical moody, thirteen year old but he nevertheless retained his love for football. And of course in 1978, Scotland were going to Argentina to win the World Cup on the March with a certain Ally's army. That of the legendary Ally MacLeod.

Ally MacLeod was not, as far as anyone could ascertain, related to Duncan, but the boy was inspired by his namesake as indeed were much of the country at that time. The 1978 World Cup turned out to be a disaster for Scotland, but whilst the nation wept young Duncan, spotty faced teenage geek that he might well have been, was celebrating having signed schoolboy forms with his beloved Kilmarnock and although no-one knew it at the time, the road to legend had taken it's first, tiny steps.

shannon2007

Although by the age of thirteen Duncan had committed himself to a footballing career, he still kept an interest in athletics. The interest though was more romantic than actually the liking for run round and round a track, although at the time that is not exactly how the teenager would have described it at the time. Even if the focus of his budding admiration would go on to become his wife and bear him three children.. Alyson James was just over a year younger than Duncan and entered first year of secondary school when Duncan was in second year. Alyson was a slim, good looking brunette – and totally different in appearance than when the two had first met three years earlier, when Duncan had stepped in to save her as bully boy Henry Smith, much older than the then nine year old girl, had bravely threatened to beat her up if she didn't give him her pocket money.

Duncan was no hero. He was not in the habit of stepping in to help people, he usually had enough trouble of his own to deal with. Somehow though, the sight of this thirteen year old lad picking on a plump, bespectacled little girl nearly half his size stirred something inside and although he was a good deal younger and a good deal smaller, he was faster and more agile and on this occasion at least it was Duncan MacLeod who handed out the beating. As a course of revenge, when with a group of his mates, Smith used his penknife to scare Duncan for life just a few weeks later, and may well have gone further if his mates hadn't suddenly realized the enormity of the situation and backed off. It was a well considered fact that Henry Smith may actually have been insane, and Duncan tried his very best to never cross his path again. He was not a stupid boy.

Three years later, Alyson James, raw first year student at Kilmarnock Academy, joined the schools athletic team and Duncan MacLeod fell in love for the first time. As the months passed, his commitments to football became greater and he found that he really should give up athletics, but his crush on the young girl kept him going longer than he would have otherwise. It would be two more years before Duncan actually asked Alyson out, and another five years after that before they would get married, by which time Duncan was on the verge of a full Scotland cap – and a move to Liverpool.

There was a lot of water to pass under the bridge before that though, and an injury crises at Rugby Park saw the still fifteen year old MacLeod given a seat on the bench for a Scottish Cup tie away to Albion Rovers. When another injury struck one of the strikers with twenty two minutes left, Duncan was given a surprise chance, and he was determined to show what he could do. The answer was, not a lot. There was little sign of the talent that would one day make Duncan MacLeod the all time top scorer and most capped player for his country as he missed two 'sitters' and Kilmarnock were sent out of the Cup by a goal to nil. It was hardly Roy of the Rovers stuff, and just a few weeks later Duncan was sent off on a short term loan to Ayr United. It was the lowest point of his career. Then again, to have the lowest point of your career when you are only sixteen is possibly not a bad thing.

Although it didn't seem so at the time, Kilmarnock's relegation from the Premier League that season turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Duncan MacLeod as, being in a lower division, he was given a lot more playing time and by the time his side returned to top flight football Duncan MacLeod was fully established in the team, top scorer at the club and beginning to attract a little bit of attention from the bigger clubs. Kilmarnock of course were not going to be overly successful, they simply didn't have the resources and most of Duncan's time with the club was spent avoiding relegation, usually by the merest of margins. The club had once again avoided relegation from the Premier League in the 1985/86 season(*) and Duncan MacLeod had been one of the leading scorers for in the League, despite that fact that Kilmarnock were far from challengers.

That season though has seen Kilmarnock overcome the odds to win the Scottish Cup against Aberdeen at Hampden Park. A Duncan MacLeod hattrick had seen off a downward spirling Aberdeen side by 3-2, and perhaps it was that performance as much as anything that saw MacLeod make a summer move to Liverpool for a fee reported to be around one million pounds. That, and of course MacLeod's heroics at the 1986 World Cup Finals.



* note: Whilst I have, and will, occasionally use historical fact, I have taken the liberty of changing history to suit the purposes of this story. Kilmarnock in fact went back down to the First Division and eventually the Second in reality and they did not in reality win the Scottish Cup. In this reality however, they did

shannon2007

We really need editing back

BarryLFC

At least he got to play for Ayr. And at a time when he would be playing alongside the likes of Steve Nicol and Alan McInally in the First Division, not a bad football education.

retired_brittni10

This is excellent PM7

shannon2007

And of course two players with whom he would possibly play alongside on the international stage, nice info.

Thanks Wag, unfortunately that last post was riddled with mistakes, perhaps I shouldn't write at 1.22am!

BarryLFC

Also, Nicol would be at Liverpool around the same time as MacLeod, I'd guess.

shannon2007

Hehe yeah, I realised that when I checked the 1986 World Cup Squad.