Morton: Hal for nothing?

Allan McGraw during his playing days at Cappielow

BBC Scotland football correspondent Chick Young ditches the tribal allegiances of Renfrewshire to wish Morton well in their battle for survival.

You know your club is in a bad way when the least of your problems is relegation.

In fact, things are so severe at Morton that they would crack open the champagne if they knew for sure that this time next season they were going down again.

That would at least mean that they were still in existence.

Sadly, from this distance, that is far from a certainty, because even a preservation order and the caring work of Greenpeace might be too late to save the Greenock club now.

I pray for them, I really do, even if my allegiences lie elsewhere in Renfrewshire.

Other local mob

As it happens, I've never gone for this local rivalry - St Mirren hating Morton, Rangers loathing Celtic and even Arbroath spitting on Montrose.

Sure, Saints are my team, but why can't I have a soft spot for the other local mob?

Andy Ritchie: part of the 'Crazy Gang'

In fact, it doesn't even make good economic sense for Paisley fans to hate the Greenock club. Because, if St Mirren are to be relegated, it would have been better that Morton had stayed up.

The cold fact of life is that local derbies attract big gates and consequently some much-needed revenue.

But, in the case of Greenock Morton, I talk not just with the wallet but with the heart.

I have had a special affection for them since the early sixties, when the late Haldane Stewart, one of the most remarkable men I ever met in football, breathed life into the club.

At that time, they were in much the same mess as now, but Hal - the Arthur Daley of Scottish football - applied his showman approach with a little bit of wheeling and dealing and dragged them out of the gutter.

Quick Draw McGraw

He was some man. He could sell snow to the Eskimos and he turned Cappielow in to a Big Top. And they started to roll up for the wackiest show in town.

Hal treated the place like a circus. He was the first man to bring in Scandinavians and he launched a Danish goalkeeper by telling the press that he had a mystery signing known simply as "the man in black".

McGraw: showing strain of survival fight

The papers loved it and bought it hook, line and sinker. The goalie turned out to be Erik Sorenson and so useful was he that Hal later sold him to Rangers at a tidy profit.

He also found a striker in Allan McGraw, who was the Henrik Larsson of his day. Hal tagged him "Quick Draw McGraw" and suddenly football at the Tail of the Bank had a great big smile on its face.

Later, in the late seventies and early eighties, Hal, with his soft hat and firm handshake, was still in charge.

In fact, Morton were so successful that they topped the Premier Division at the end of the year and the great man proudly told the players they had a choice of Christmas bonus.

They could have a turkey or a pair of jeans! Alll stored, presumably, in a lock-up somewhere.

I loved that man, I really did. And, with Benny Rooney and Mike Jackson in charge of a team led by the Ambling Alp, big Andy Ritchie, alongside Bobby "the Beast" Russell, Davie "Hannibal" Hayes and the rest, Morton were the Crazy Gang of the day.

Unmitigated disaster

To be fair, Cappielow was a coup even then. But I loved going there.

They can never take away our memories, but I would prefer it if they didn't take away dear old Morton.

Hugh Scott was an unmitigated disaster as owner, but the rot had set in before he got his hands on the place.

Geography put them at the Tail of the Bank, but that doesn't mean they had to be sold down the river.

I hope they make it against all the odds . . . but these odds are stacked and the great Hal isn't around now to pull them out the manure.