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Iain Flannigan


jam1869

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When he first broke into the team he looked like he was going to make it. Very composed on the ball. I think he may even scored v Hibs in one of his first games.
Went on to have a reasonable career in the lower divisions. Helping to keep Alloa in the championship for so long is an achievement in itself.
All these youngsters who are now retiring doesn't half make you feel old.

Edited by historyman
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In one of his first games, think it was a 4-1? home win v Inverness, a game where Medhi took Tokely to the cleaners, Iain took in-swinging corners from the right with his left foot and from the left with his right. Not something you see very often. Thought we had a real player, glad he had a good career at Alloa, their fans loved him.

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41 minutes ago, Killiesince69 said:

In one of his first games, think it was a 4-1? home win v Inverness, a game where Medhi took Tokely to the cleaners, Iain took in-swinging corners from the right with his left foot and from the left with his right. Not something you see very often. Thought we had a real player, glad he had a good career at Alloa, their fans loved him.

He was brilliant that game. Scored a great goal and then another goal was his free kick that hit the post and gave Wright a tap in.

 

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Think his lack of involvement made it that he became held up as a poster boy by those who wanted JJ out by the end of his time at RP - perhaps disproportionately elevated expectation for someone who undoubtedly was a very talented player. 

One of my best mates is an Alloa supporter, he's held in incredibly high esteem over that way.

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THERE'S an old trope on the long-running BBC Radio Scotland show Off the Ball where presenter Tam Cowan recalls an event from Scottish football, winks - I assume - at his cohort Stuart Cosgrove, and bellows into the microphone that it was a genuine "JKF moment". 

It's a phrase used to often during the programme's history it now comes with a not so subtle asterisk warning the listener Cowan's tongue is pressed firmly against his cheek.

Cliches like this - so much a part of our language and life - are the bedrock of the football discourse. Tiresomely so perhaps and regular readers will know barely a match report goes by without your reporter digging one out. 

"A game of two halves," you say after another Alloa fightback. "Someone has got to gamble on that," you shout as a Scott Taggart cross flashes across goal. "Never in doubt," you boast to your mate when Alan Trouten runs off to celebrate another penalty finish. 

Sometimes, however, a moment comes along which is so raw and uniting in shock only an old cliche will do. 

It was around 9pm last night and I'd gotten to that point in a shift where every glance at the clock is in hope it will finally be the one of freedom. Suddenly, my phone buzzed. That wasn't surprising as, given I get notification every time Alloa Athletic tweet, it had barely stopped all day. 

In increasingly weird and wonderful ways - and through reference to the Six Million Dollar Man and Terminator - the Wasps had announced a score of the existing squad had signed on for another year, bringing a reassuring sense of certainty to uncertain times. 

Alloa and Hillfoots Advertiser: Alloa star Iain Flannigan in action against Brora Rangers

One name was missing from the list though. Where was Iain Flannigan? The linchpin to the Alloa identity. A player who could so easily have walked into any other team in the league. A man with hair so fine I've often wanted to ask - instead of the cliched post-game questions - just what his secret is. 

Surely it was just a matter of time before a picture of a beaming Flannigan appeared on my timeline next to the news we'd all been waiting for. 

Then it happened. Glancing away from a screen of Glasgow Times pages to my phone, I smiled as the little blue bird appeared next to the Alloa Athletic name. Rounding a brilliant day off with the best news of the lot? I'm all for that. 

"Alloa Athletic announce retirement of Iain Flannigan," read the tweet from media guru John Glencross. Seven simple words but with a meaning of so much more. A link to the Wasps' website confirmed the news with a stock quote from the man himself. 

As with any shock, it was the tributes which came next, filling my timeline with a steam of reminders this was really happening. There were tears, yes, and grief. But, one point prevailed.  

"A gifted footballer who stood out in virtually every game he played," wrote Alloa fan Donald Pollock. "We were very fortunate to have him at the Recs."
 

"Always a standout, made everything he did look so easy," said Brian Roach. "An absolute pleasure to watch every week." 

And it wasn't just Alloa fans who wanted to share their love for Flanny. 

"Iain Flannigan is a Rolls-Royce of a football player!" beamed the fellas from the Tell Him He's Pele podcast. "One of the best part-time players in the country, he still had a lot to offer Alloa Athletic and the Championship."

Perhaps that's why it all felt so raw. At just 32 and a class act on and off the park, it feels like one of Scottish football's great pleasures has been snatched away from us without so much as a warning. 

Never again will we see Flannigan glide beyond the reach of an opponent, his hair bouncing as he goes, or curl the ball into the top corner from a free kick. 

In the melodramatic words of Cowan; this was a JFK moment for Alloa fans. 

 

https://www.alloaadvertiser.com/sport/18510465.iain-flannigan-retires-jfk-moment-infectious-talent-taken-away-soon/?ref=twtrec

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