Andy Gore 1,000th match celebration

From http://bvetsfootballgroup.blogspot.com/

It was a fun evening last night - it started with the usual match of the Old Guys v the Youngsters. First of all, of course, were the team photos - front and rear views:

The "kids" were ahead for most of the match but the Old Guys, with one more man, pulled it back later on, and, into the last minute, blow me, Ryan Hay stepped in to the box - penalty! Up stepped the Man of the Moment - missed! Fortunately, sharp-eyed referee Ian Stewart noted defensive transgressions in to the box, so there was an immediate shrill on the whistle - re-take. Up stepped Andy again - and this time, he hit the bar and the ball bounced down - did it cross the line? The Russian linesman thought so - goal! The match therefore finished with an honourable 8-8 draw.

It was then all back to the Douglas for some ale, curry, and a slide show celebrating Andy getting to 1,000 matches. The show centred round an update of the "Goredian", whose first and only edition was issued - in paper form - back in December, 1996, to mark Andy's 50th birthday. Editor Dave Williamson revisited the pen portraits from the original Goredian and added a modern narrative update on all 28 players who had featured in the original version and/or were playing tonight.

For those not able to be present last night, the slide show can be viewed - in 4 parts - on the Files section of the Yahoo site - http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/BanchoryVeteransFootballGroup/files/

Lots of ale was supped during the evening, but Geordie eventually got waterlogged and opted to switch to cocktails:

 Geordie looks a bit scarier in this one:

At the end of the show, we presented Andy with a trophy to commemorate his achievement:

(Note the narrative on the final slide behind him!)

We also presented Andy with an electronic photo album, allowing him to reminisce in his retirement with memories of his almost 25 year stretch with BVFG.

Just time for one last team photo:

Well done, Andy - and a great evening. Special thanks to the guys who came out from Aberdeen for the celebration - and just made the last bus back! Thanks too to Andy for his rake of drams for the lads to round the evening off in fine style.