From boyhood fan to trialist left winger, and from voluntary youth coach to dedicated kit man, Mo Hutton has had a near-lifetime’s association with Dunfermline Athletic.
In almost 33 years of working for the club, the 73-year-old has been right there in the dressing room and the dugout as the Pars have suffered the agony and ecstasy of the beautiful game.
He has had a ringside seat to witness the highs of five promotions and four cup finals, and been right in the thick of plenty of bitterly disappointing lows.
Now awarded a testimonial season to mark his time at East End Park, Hutton has been trawling through decades of memories from his loyal service to the Pars.
So, who was the one player of the hundreds he has dealt with that he could not warm to?
Which of the 17 managers he has worked under did he enjoy the most?
And who are the former players he still keeps in touch with regularly to this day?
Courier Sport has been in deep conversation with the much-loved member of the Dunfermline backroom team as he begins the countdown to his retirement at the end of the season.
How did the Pars job come around?
“I was at Rosyth (Recreation) with Bert Paton and Dick Campbell. I was helping the younger ones there,” he explains.
“When they came into Dunfermline, they wanted to start youth development. I loved helping with the coaching.
“Then, Joe (Nelson) was retiring as kit man. He had to take a step back, so I sort of stepped in to help. Then he decided to pack in and come back and help me. So that’s how it all kind of started off.”
How has his job changed?
“It’s come a long way since the first time I was here with Joe. It used to just be two hampers and away in the boot. Now it’s a van load.
“It’s now things like the warm-up. Commercially, they want you to wear stuff before the game as well and then change it, and then it’s the washing at the back of it all.
“You need people behind the scenes to just keep it right and you need a team. So, I’ve got Bobby (Drummond) and Sammi (Connell) and my grandson Jack who sort of muck in and get on with it.
“You need organisation. When I’m emptying the hamper on a Saturday night or a Sunday, I’m starting to prepare for the next game.”
Dressing room shenanigans
“Even when I was just helping, when Norrie McCathie was alive, you’d get boys like that in the dressing room and you’d just have to watch your back, you know what I mean? Some of the things they used to get up to!
“The Jimmy Calderwood era was probably the best for people that have stuck together. That group of players, we’re on a group chat yet.
“We’re playing a Legends game in a couple of weeks against Cowdenbeath and most of them are going to try and get there. Craig Brewster, Stevie Crawford, Barry Nicholson, Gary Dempsey, Scott Wilson, Nipper (Scott Thomson).
“Everybody used to think he was called Nipper because he was quick. It’s because he nips your head!”
Getting to sit on the bench on match days
“Sometimes it’s okay, but sometimes the manager, the assistant-manager, the other coach, they stand up, so you can’t see. So sometimes I just go to the side, out the road.
“But I love sitting on the bench, because you get the craic with the boys. Football players are just human beings, they’re not special, they’re just great guys who have got ability.
“I’ve not really met any bad football players, really.”
Apart from one player…
“The only player I’ve not really taken to was the boy Youssef Rossi. I’m a great believer that if you’re bringing a player into a club you have to bring him into an environment where he’s going to be happy and you’re happy to have him.
“They brought him out of nowhere into an environment where he just didn’t fit in. I’ve never really fought with anybody, apart from him; he was the only one.”
Happy days with managers
“I used to go down to Jimmy Calderwood’s training because I would help with the U/19s and U/18s at that time as well. It was great.
“He brought a new freshness to training. Everything was with the ball with him. I used to sit and take notes and take them to the training for myself at night.
“He got a bit heated at times because he just had that high standard, probably from working with better players in Holland.
“I really enjoyed that time and (assistant) Jimmy Nicholl was the man who just kept everything going, he just ticked away.
“When I was with Bert and Dick, it was the same. Dick was the one who did the coaching and Bert, you didn’t have heart monitors and all these things, his eyes were his monitor. He just watched and he could tell if a player wasn’t doing enough.
“He still does it to this day. You go to a game, and he’ll sit there and say, ‘look at him, lazy’. Brilliant.”
Favourite memories
“When you’re a football man, Hampden is the place to be isn’t it? Even going there now, it still gives you a wee feeling. I take my grandson there and I think it’s just clicking with him now, how big a thing it is to go to the national stadium and play.
“But when I think of the best moments it’s games like being 3-0 down against Airdrie and coming back to win 4-3. Or the Martin Hardie goal against the Rovers. They’re the kind of moments you remember. They were special, eh?
“I’ll sit and look at the squad photos, then try and pick out things when I’m looking back. I can’t really say I’ve had a bad experience; everything’s been good.”
Credit: Iain Collins // The Courier
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/sport/football/5328662/mo-hutton-memories-dunfermline-athletic-kit-man/