Double honours for a charismatic chairman
Jordanhill celebrated chairman Mark 'Jive' Thornton's 20th year at the club along with his 50th birthday on Saturday. Past and present players re-united to play out a friendly in his honour, with his oldest son Aaron scoring a last minute penalty for 'the greens' against 'the blues'. The game had a sense of authenticity with players wearing the old Jordanhill Campus strips.
Mark is a very popular man amongst the players; notorious for his dressing up and Dundee wit. Even making the Sun column of his lifelong hero Frank McEvitie. Every amateur team has someone who has to drag themselves through the admin in the background and Mark is someone who does this with great care and detail. The 2014/15 season was a particularly difficult time for the club; relegated from the premier division and no influx of new players. Senior player Iain Brown described it as "the dark times... we turned up to games with 9 or 10 players at times". Brown went on to state "we couldn't have got through it without Jive. He kept the morale high and was confident we would get over the slump". 3 years on; Jordanhill are back in the premier , have a very successful partnership with Giffnock SC and a squad of 20 players. Captain Andy McCall has said "although we have taken huge steps in a few seasons, Jive has always maintained the ethos of a friendly atmosphere amongst the players and their are no cliques."
When I asked about some of Marks traits, players all mentioned him being a family man. Robbie Stewart stated "Jive would turn up with his four kids, set up a wee pitch at the side of the game and take the team at the same time". Robbie fondly remembers a game in Clydebank in the heart of winter: " I went into the team bag at the side of the pitch to get a hat as I freezing, and there was Jive's youngest son Luke curled up in a ball." Mark is infamous for his stories from a night out, from falling asleep on the train and ending up in Edinburgh (stranded until the morning) to attending A&E in full Belgian regalia.
The Jordanhill wanted to show their appreciation to Mark and all the great work he does. It's men like him that keep the amateur game alive. The No17 shirt is now retired in his honour.
Credit for this article goes to Iain Brown of Jordanhill, a wonderful read about a charasmatic football chairman, a passionate man and devoted father. I want to wish Mark Thornton and Jordanhill a lot of success in the future, it is great to see the level of commitment that "Jive" clearly has for his football and his family.
Happy birthday and best of luck to Mark "Jive" Thornton.