Crawford Rae
Chairman
Crawford Rae
Chairman
After serving as stadium director for 17 years, Crawford Rae was confirmed as the new club chairman on Saturday 28 April 2018 after his father, Douglas Rae OBE, stood down from the position due to ill health.
Brian Clements
Director
Brian Clements
Director
Brian was born in Greenock and is a long time supporter of Morton. His early memories of the club go back to the 1980’s when he returned to the town with his family.
He fondly remembers the last season the Ton had their place in the top tier of Scottish football. He only missed one home or away game that season, the match that Morton defeated Rangers 3-2 at Cappielow in front of a crowd of 12,000.
The Morton goals were scored by Derek Collins, Tommy Turner and Brian’s all-time favourite striker, ‘Super’ Rowan Alexander. What a game to miss!
He is the managing director and owner of respected Glasgow-based fine art auctioneers McTear’s. The company was established in 1842 and Brian took ownership in 2005.
His proudest moment came in 2012 when the business was named Britain’s Best Auction House, an award voted for by the British public in recognition of an outstanding level of customer service. McTear’s remain the only company to have won the award.
Brian is chair of the Ardgowan Hospice Annual Ball and he also sits on committees for the local Senit Foundation and Marie Curie Hospice Glasgow.
Over the years McTear’s has provided significant support to both the club and to the community trust, and Brian is perhaps best known to many Morton fans for his place taking the gavel at sports dinners and other charity events.
Brian is extremely proud of his place on the Morton board of directors and will be actively involved in a number of areas, including event organisation, matchday hospitality support and the establishment of the Greenock Morton Business Club.
Nick Robinson
Director
Nick Robinson
Director
Nick was born and brought up in Greenock and comes from a long line of Morton supporters. His grandfather saw the club play teams like Renton, whilst his dad was taken by his father to the 1922 Scottish Cup final!
Nick’s early teens coincided with something of a Cappielow renaissance during the Hal Stewart era, with record-breaking league wins, cup finals and semi-finals, and the famed ‘Danish invasion’.
He is a product of Highlanders Academy, Greenock High School, and Glasgow University and recently retired after a career as chartered accountant during which he ran his own niche insolvency practice.
Prior to that he was, for many years, a partner in a large multi-national firm of accountants where he variously held the positions of Scottish managing partner, north managing partner, and deputy national managing partner.
He specialised in insolvency and has held approximately 5,000 insolvency appointments – assorted administration orders, receiverships, liquidations, trust deeds, and bankruptcies – over the course of his career.
He has sat on public bodies advising the Scottish Government on insolvency law, proposed alterations thereto, amd has delivered lectures on business planning and improvement across the globe.
Nick was involved with the Greenock Morton Supporters’ Trust for a number of years and was a founding member of the board of trustees of Greenock Morton Community Trust.
Nick has always had an interest in computing and was responsible for internal IT for his previous employers where, under his watch, they became the first major firm of accountants with all offices linked by email and to have a website.
He has utilised some of those skills at the football club by overhauling, updating and modernising many of our back office systems.
Brendan McEleny
Club Secretary / CWPO
Brendan McEleny
Club Secretary / Child Wellbeing & Protection Officer
Greenock-born Brendan has followed and supported Morton his entire life. He fulfilled a boyhood dream by joining the backroom staff here at Cappielow in August 2017.
If you ask Brendan what his favourite Morton game is he would be torn between the Scottish Cup win over Kilmarnock in 2007 or the famous League Cup triumph over Celtic at Parkhead in 2013.
Contact Details
wellbeing@gmfc.net
admin@gmfc.net
Sponsored by
Larry Duff
Mark Farrell
Groundsman
Mark Farrell
Groundsman – sponsored by Manchester City MSC
Mark has been Head Groundsman at Greenock Morton Football Club for the past 13 years, and enjoys every minute working with the owners, directors, players and passionate fans.
After being educated at Myerscough College in Preston, Mark went on to work at two prestigious golf courses, namely The Oxfordshire and Loch Lomond. The skills, knowledge and experience gained within turfcare in the golf sector was extremely valuable for Mark as he made the transition into caring for a grass stadium pitch in professional football.
The same hard work and dedication Mark put into providing the best possible playing surface in golf transferred very well into professional football pitch care. This work ethic and commitment to turfcare has earned Mark an excellent reputation amongst his football groundsman peers.
Mark is highly regarded and well respected, but he is also modest. He prefers to let the pristine grass pitch at Greenock Morton Football Club speak for itself. His unquestionable commitment to Greenock Morton is on display for everyone to see. Last year the pitch received platinum award for 2015-16 season from SPFL.
Craig Speirs
Club Doctor
Craig Speirs
Club Doctor
Dr Craig Speirs joined the Club in 1978 and he tells us it’s all the fault of the late Tom Robertson who was his next door neighbour! Craig took up the mantle from Dr Ross Brown and Dr John Campbell, both of Greenock. Craig had been a life-long Morton Supporter, attending matches, and had previously standing in for the other physicians if the need arose.
Over the years he’s found himself treating more than just the on-field injuries – the Doc finds that it’s a holistic approach to their overall well-being. He’s made a lot of friends through the game and also found himself as the Doctor for the Scotland U21 team from 1981 to 1999 (as if his practice wasn’t enough to keep him busy!).
Widely travelled both with the club and the Scottish team in Europe, he’s covered over 75 International duty matches including two for the senior Scottish side. The trips have taken him to all the Scandinavian countries and such strange places as Belarus, Yugoslavia, Malta and Hungary – he was there before the wallpaper stuck to the wall!
A particular story stands out when a 70 year old support member of the squad had to be admitted to hospital abroad due to appendicitis, which was an experience perhaps not to be repeated!
The Doc also remembers having to practically wrestle Marco Maisano to prevent him from returning to the field of play following a head injury during the famous Peterhead game, proving that administering to the needs of the players can be more than bandaging them up and handing out pain killers…
Being ever conscious about their looks, Craig has always been pressured to make sure that his needle work is perfect, however the stoicism of the players does not always match the perfection of the Doc’s handiwork and he reliably informs us that we have had some right big Jessies playing for us over the years! He’ll protect the identity of the injured.
Now enjoying retiral from General Practice, Craig keeps his hand in by assisting with disability assessments all over Scotland, in fact he feels like he hasn’t retired! Past president of Greenock Rotary, he’s still an active member and is coming up to 40 years’ service – and of course his four grandchildren keep him busy when he isn’t gardening or enjoying a meal out with Mrs Speirs.
We are very fortunate to be in the position to have two dedicated Club doctors. The load is shared between Craig and our other resident Dr Fraser Gray who, between them on a match day, cover all our medical requirements – for only for the playing staff, but the Cappielow crowd as well.
Andy Adams
Disability Access Officer
Andy Adams
Disability Access Officer
Lifelong supporter Andy was brought on board as the club’s first ever disability access officer in July 2017.
Contact details – dao@gmfc.net
Andy Ritchie
Matchday Commentator
Andy Ritchie barely needs an introduction to any Greenock Morton supporter or, indeed, any Scottish football fan of a certain age.
Widely regarded as the club’s most talented player of all-time, Ritchie signed for Morton from Celtic in October 1976 and delighted Cappielow crowds for seven goal-laden seasons.
Ritchie’s first four campaigns in particular were sensational – he scored at least 20 in each of these seasons – and earned him nicknames including ‘the Idle Idol’ and ‘The King of Cappielow’.
In his first full season, 1977/78, Ritchie guided the club to the First Division title and carried his superb form into the next season when he scooped the Scottish Football Writer’s Player of the Year award.
Such was Ritchie’s form in those years that he was alleged to be set for a place in Ally McLeod’s squad for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina until the SFA decreed that it wouldn’t look good for a part-time footballer to be involved.
Sadly, Andy was only to gain a solitary Under-21 international cap and a Scottish League XI appearance as reward for his imperious talents and a reputation as Scotland’s finest player not to win a full cap.
Blessed with a sublime first-touch and ability to score from seemingly anywhere on the pitch, Ritchie is renowned for his stunning goals including a number straight from corner- kicks and free-kicks.
Ritchie became something of a nemesis for Scotland goalkeeper Alan Rough, with the Partick Thistle shot-stopper being a favourite target for some of his most spectacular efforts.
Rough wasn’t the only Scotland hero to be terrorised by Ritchie, though. The great Aberdeen team led by Sir Alex Ferguson was regularly on the receiving end of his magic too.
Most famously, Ritchie scored perhaps the club’s best ever goal by twisting the legendary defensive pairing of Willie Miller and Alex McLeish inside out before slotting past Jim Leighton in the Sinclair Street goal.
Ritchie finally left Morton for Motherwell for the sum of £35,000 in 1983 having established himself as perhaps Morton’s greatest and most popular player ever.
Sponsored by
Alan Mather
David Bell
Senior Photographer
David Bell
Senior Photographer
When David started taking pictures at Cappielow from the stands during the dark days of administration in 2002, he feared he was documenting the demise of the club.
As the years passed since then he has continued to capture the highs and lows of the club from pitch side in his role as senior club photographer.
David’s images can be found here on the official club website, in the matchday magazine, and on social media channels Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Gary Bradley
Club Photographer
Gary Bradley
Club Photographer
Lifelong Morton supporter Gary Bradley was initialy invited to contribute to the club as Under-20s photographer during the 2016/17 season.
As well as covering the fortunes of the development squad, Gary also covers most first-team fixtures here at Cappielow, providing an alternative angle to complement the work of senior snapper David Bell.
Alistair Wyllie
Programme Sales
Alistair Wyllie
Programme Sales
Alistair Wyllie’s love for Morton is so great that he’s prepared to miss the first half of every single home fixture here at Cappielow.
It is a tough sacrifice to make but the devoted fan knows it is for the greater good of a club that he has volunteered for since 1973.
Just 17 when he started helping out with the Ton, he’s done everything from selling bingo tickets, lottery tickets, and flag day sales.
The 59-year-old from Skelmorlie arrives at 11.45am to look after the 50/50 draw ticket sales and programme selling, with around 20 youngsters, all keen Morton fans, helping with the selling.
Alistair said: “You get to know the managers over the years; the nicest was Jock Stein, who always bought a ticket. He was a supporters’ manager. Most of them say hello but few would buy a ticket these days.
“Anything I am asked to do I will for anyone at Cappielow; it’s part of my life and I love it. You meet a lot of good people. They are diehards but they are genuine folk.”
“It’s for the love of the club, but don’t get me wrong – I also love the closed season. It’s nice to get a break!”
Cappie the Cat
Mascot
Cappie the Cat
Mascot – sponsored by Catriona & Gregor McPherson
When former chairman Douglas Rae accepted the keys to the club, he didn’t know that he was embarking on a journey as a cat rescuer.
Cappie was just a kitten in 2001, happily living with his mum and litter brothers and sisters. The only interest he had in football was chasing the ball across the screen on the television.
Unfortunately for Cappie – his young life was to be completely disrupted when his human family moved house and didn’t register his microchip to their new address.
Cappie got out while investigating their garden, lost his bearings and began using the main stand at Cappielow for shelter, sleeping behind the away directors’ box which is where Douglas Rae found him.
Cappie wasted no time in growing his role: public appearances, dance-offs with Nuts the Killie squirrel and the occasional friendly banter with a certain Panda from Paisley.
However, on one fateful Halloween in 2012, Cappielow was broken into and horror of horrors – Cappie was abducted. A frantic door to door enquiry saw us search for our feline friend.
His body remained missing for a full week following the incident. It was a local fan who came to our rescue, calling late on a Friday evening to let us know that he’d been found at the side of Octavia Court.
Worse for the wear, Cappie took time to make a full recovery but our feisty feline was only absent from Cappielow for one home game. He felt he couldn’t let his loyal fans down especially after receiving so many good wishes.
His comeback was made in dramatic fashion, entering on a stretcher at the Partick Thistle game to a rapturous round of applause. Much loved by staff, players and fans alike, he’ll be at Cappielow for many years to come.