Stoneyburn boss Steven Sharp says the club were ‘humbled’ by the response to their inaugural Steven Macmillan Memorial Tournament.
The Fulshie hosted the event over the weekend with Armadale Thistle, Harthill Royal and Airdrieonians under-18s also competing with the hosts running out winners after defeating Thistle 3-1 in the final.
Macmillan, who served as the club’s secretary for over 20 years, passed away last year at the age of 43. Sharp said it was an emotional weekend and thanked the footballing community within West Lothian for helping to pay a fitting tribute to a club stalwart.
On Saturday, Thistle defeated Airdrie 8-1 with Stoneyburn reaching the final thanks to a 4-0 win over Harthill.
Royal grabbed third place thanks to a 4-2 victory over Airdrie the following day before Stoneyburn lifted the trophy.
Hundreds of supporters flocked to Beechwood Park over the course of the four games to help pay tribute to a West Lothian football legend.
Sharp said: “The crowds during the two days were incredible. It’s real testament to Steven that so many people were there to support this tournament. I knew it would be busy but we were all really humbled by it. Steven was loved by everyone and it wasn’t just a Stoneyburn thing.
“Everyone in West Lothian football knew him and knew the type of character and man he was. It was a really emotional and humbling weekend.”
He added: “Football rivalry is just 90 minutes on the park. Away from that there’s a huge amount of friendship and respect between the clubs in West Lothian.
“There’s good people running clubs like Armadale and Harthill just trying to do the best for their community - and that’s exactly what Steven did for Stoneyburn over so many years.
“We obviously had some of the local teams playing but many more made sure they had representatives at some of the games or sent well wishes to the club before the weekend. It speaks volumes about Steven and football in this area."
Airdrie stepped in at the last minute after Livingston United were forced to pull out a couple of days beforehand with Sharp paying tribute to the club and boss Rhys McCabe.
He added: “I can’t thank Rhys enough for what he did. To be more than happy to step in at the last minute and put in a team that’s really just newly established is incredible.
“Rhys and Callum Fordyce (Airdrie assistant) are both from West Lothian so they know the impact Steven had at this club and football in the area in general. Stoneyburn will always be incredibly grateful for their help in making sure the tournament went ahead.”
The Fulshie deservedly ran out winners after getting the better of Armadale in the final and while Sharp admits the results were far from the key factor during the weekend, he admits it was perhaps fitting that the trophy is being kept at Beechwood Park for the next 12 months.
He said: “They were friendlies and it’s still pre-season when results don’t matter so much but I thought over the tournament we deserved to win.
“It was wonderful getting to celebrate with Steven’s family and maybe it really just meant to be that we’d be the first-ever winners of the Steven Macmillan Memorial Tournament.”
Steven and all at Stoneyburn Juniors would like to thank Andy Johnstone for his support in sponsoring the tournament.
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