The Edinburgh Reporter June 2021

22 SPORT
Gallacher
Live Edinburgh News
dynasty
Hat-trick hero Amy joins Hibs greats
By JOHN HISLOP
With the men’s teams playing in different
leagues this season it was up to the women to
quench the Edinburgh Derby thirst and the
Hibs’ players did just that with a memorable 6-0
victory over their city rivals live on BBC ALBA
at Ainslie Park.
“Player of the Game” Amy Gallacher wrote
her name into the history books that day with a
memorable hat trick, joining Gordon Smith,
Lawrie Reilly, Joe Baker, Pat Quinn and Mixu
Paatelainen who all did likewise, and the only
downside was that it wasn’t the seven-nil score
that many fans wanted.
Amy is the latest member of the Gallacher
football dynasty that started with great
grandfather Patsy “The Mighty Atom” Gallacher
who remains a Celtic legend, scoring 192 goals
in 464 appearances, winning six league titles and
four Scottish Cups. Grandfather Tom enjoyed a
successful career with Dundee winning two
League Cups, and uncle Kevin represented
Scotland in the France 98 World Cup and won
an English Premier League medal with
Blackburn Rovers.
The versatile midfielder, who has been in fine
form this season, told The Edinburgh Reporter:
“I’m from Dundee and started playing football
when I was about four or five as I come from
a football family, so you could say that it’s in
the genes.
“I started my professional career with Forfar
Farmington then Chris Roberts signed me for
Hibs. This is my fourth season and I’ve really
enjoyed my time at the club. We’ve won a few
Scottish Cups including the 9-0 victory over
Celtic, but probably the highlight would be
scoring against Slavia Prague in the
Champions League.
“We are aiming for fourth place because
obviously the top three are running away. With
them putting money into their teams it makes
things tougher but I think it’s a good thing. The
league is becoming more competitive. Obviously
Rangers and Celtic are full-time now and we are
going through a transition so we may be there in
a few years, you never know but it’s definitely
good for the league.
“We’ve been playing well but not been getting
the wins our play deserved. “Dean’s (Gibson) a
good manager and we are beginning to play well
under him and hopefully that can continue.
“Personally I’m aiming to keep playing every
week and keep scoring goals. I’ve struggled a bit
with injuries so hopefully I’ll keep fit. I’ve scored
six so far but I am looking to add to that. A lot
of players from Hibs have moved down to
England and gone full-time and that is
something I would like to do at some stage
but I don’t have any sort of timescale. I don’t
really like looking too far ahead so I’ll just see
what happens but I’m still enjoying my time
with Hibs.”
Amy Gallacher in
action for Hibs
Amateur sides
relish return to
football action
By JOHN HISLOP
Last month outdoor contact
sport for over 18s returned,
much to the relief of
thousands of grassroots
footballers throughout
the country.
Amateur teams in particular
have felt hard done by as they
were banned from playing
whilst other teams in
competitions such as the
East of Scotland league
were able to carry on even
though the Covid protocols
were identical.
When the restrictions were
eased, Tollcross Thistle’s Alan
McKay told The Edinburgh
Reporter: “This is a huge day.
Regardless of the level,
people like to play football.
“It’s so important in many
Tollcross Thistle just want to play
people’s lives and everyone
has missed it so much. We are
all so very excited to get back
playing again.”
The Thistle players have
been involved in non-contact
training including runs and
passing drills but within a few
days of the restart they were
due to play old rivals “Sandys”
at the Jewel in the inaugural
Football Nations tournament.
The team play on Saturdays
at different venues, mainly
on the 3G at Saughton Park,
but sometimes at the Oriam
or Peffermill, and the league
is hoping to start in July
or August.
A Scottish Cup semi-final,
held over from last season
awaits, and will take place in
the autumn.
Alan continued: “No firm
dates have been announced
yet in case we have to go into
another lockdown, but the
delay will hopefully mean that
it will allow friends and
families to come and watch.
“We’ve been fortunate as
we have a good team and can
compete for trophies.
“We have been able to
retain all but three of our
players.”