Hamilton Accies book published

Aug 5 2010 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

FIRST-TIME author Ian Kelly has put his obsession with Hamilton Accies to good use, by writing a book about the New Douglas Park club.

East Kilbride man Ian (44) spent nearly a year researching and writing his debut tome ‘Hamilton Accies 25 Year Roller Coaster Ride’, which is now available.

With help from the Accies Trust and various figures around the SPL club, including secretary Scott Struthers and photographer Andy Clinton, Ian self-published the book through Northampton-based Paragon Publishing.

Weighing in at 320 pages, including a foreword by BBC broadcaster and Accies fan Alison Walker, the book takes supporters through the last 25 years, detailing highlights of the Douglas Park years, homeless years, and to the New Douglas Park years right up to the season just ended.

Qualified accountant Ian said: “I took six months to write it, from December to June, and it took a month in July to get the final printed versions. It is a self-published book and Paragon have been first-class to work with.

“The major hurdle was researching the time period pre-internet – it is amazing how much life has changed!

“I do, however, have a collection of almost every Hamilton home programme since 1975, so that was a big help.”

Ian is a life-long Accies fan and first got the bug in 1974 when he was taken to his first game by his father when he was just eight-years-old.

But the inspiration for Ian’s first book – and probably his last, by his own admission – was when he realised just how vast his Accies memorabilia collection was.

Ian, a treasurer of the Accies Trust, said: “My inspiration came from a meeting I had with Richard McBreartry, who is the curator of the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden. This led me to review the memorabilia and newspaper cuttings I had accumulated over the years.

“Then I realised that the summer of 2010 marked the 25th anniversary of Accies’ first promotion season in my lifetime, so I thought it made sense to do something.”

Hamilton Accies 25 Year Roller Coaster Ride is described as “a fan’s diary of the 25 seasons which saw the club’s final nine seasons at Douglas Park, the first nine at New Douglas Park and the seven homeless terms sandwiched in the middle.

The book is available now, priced £15 plus £1.50 postage and packing, directly from Ian by e-mailing: acciesbook2010@tiscali.co.uk or calling or texting him on 07505 997243.

It will be formally launched in the function suite at Hamilton Accies’ New Douglas Park on Sunday, August 29, at 7.30pm.