Former Stirling Albion manager Kevin Drinkell knows the feeling of bringing silverware to a hungry Forthbank faithful – and hopes Darren Young’s latest success can usher in a brighter period for the club.
The Englishman orchestrated league winning success back in the 1995/96 season where his Binos side romped to the Second Division title after a glorious campaign which saw them lose only three times all season.
That side, like their 2022/23 counterparts, also had a long unbeaten run to thank for putting them in the position for glory, which saw Albion take their place in what was then the second tier of Scottish football.
Drinkell has always retained a soft spot for Stirling after guiding them to that success and has been keeping track of the current crop’s progress throughout the season.
He said: “It’s a season that they really built into, they were sitting in the pack and then had that good run. The result against Dumbarton earlier in the season gave them a wee kick down the hill.
“Our run was enormous and it was built on being so close the year before and so it was about building on the mentality already in the squad.
“We were going around winning 4-0 and 5-0 most weeks and it was a time when squads were smaller, compared to the tendency of modern managers to rotate, you are only using 13 or 14 players so the players are drawing on each other and having their backs.”
The 2023 edition of the Albion have been buoyed by the goalscoring exploits of forward Dale Carrick, whose goal tally of 19 in the league won him the accolade of SPFL League Two Player of the Season.
But Drinkell insists it’s a team effort across the side to pitch in and help out when the main marksman is quiet.
He added: “I’m always a big believer that everyone must contribute in terms of goals, Boney [Alex Bone] and [Steve] McCormick used to get me 40 goals or so and [Craig] Taggart was there to nick a goal.
“But over the period, that has to be spread out and when there are a couple of games where a midfielder or a full-back scores the winner, then that takes the pressure and responsibility off the strikers so much.”
Darren Young’s crop are now preparing for their latest campaign in the third-tier – with local rivalries against Alloa and Falkirk confirmed to be on the fixture list next season.
Drinkell continued: “In my time, we were in the third league as standard and you were expecting to be in that third league as a worst case and managing to get into the Championship as it is called now.
“The disappointing thing is that they have been in the bottom league for the last ten years now and hopefully they can really have a go in the division next season as they are back where they should be.
“We were the Alloa of today back then – our reserve team could beat Alloa back in those days, where Falkirk were a premier league team and occasionally dropped to the second-tier, they were our benchmark because we knew they would always be up there.”
