FEATURE: Al’s Goold-en moments with Clan

If there’s someone who can and who has captured the biggest moments in the Clan’s history, then look no further than the club’s photographer, Al Goold.

Al has been in that spot from day one, 1st October 2010 and it’s fair to say, he’s captured those occasions in front of the Purple Army, documenting in picture form the history of the club.

From Bruce Richardson to Malcolm Cameron, from Brendan Cook to Dyson Stevenson, from JF Perras to Shane Starrett, Al’s got photos of them all.

It’s an incredible body of work from someone who, by his own admission, was never really a fan of ice hockey prior to 2010.

In fact, had he not eventually received the press pack he was initially rejected for, it could well have been a sliding doors moment for the Clan’s resident ‘Photo Guy.’

“I sent an email to Kirsty Longmuir asking for a press pass and was rejected at first because the club had already sorted out a photographer in George Monaghan,” he explained.

“George had done the promo shots that people will remember were out in the foyer and in the shopping centre, but he’d never photographed ice hockey.

“So I went to Jeff Holmes at the Paisley Daily Express, for whom I covered the speedway for, asked if he wanted any ice hockey photos. He said he did so I asked him to get me a press pass and the rest was history.

“I’ve never missed more than a couple of games in a season, because I’ve had wedding work or even been unwell, but I’ve been there every game, more or less, since that first game against Newcastle Vipers on 1st October 2010.”

Al’s history as a photographer is spread out over his whole life, an interest fuelled by his parents and other relatives and it became a massive hobby.

Whenever the opportunity arose, Al would take the camera with him and snap anything and everything going, which led to sports media work covering other sports such as speedway and football.

But a trip to Castle Semple, near Lochwinnoch in January 2010 led to something that’s since become a huge part of his life.

“Before I got involved with ice hockey, I used to photograph motor cycle racing at Knockhill and I would take pictures of anything.

“In January 2010, I was out and about in the car and I had my camera with me when my oldest daughter phoned to ask me to go to Castle Semple and take some photos of swans for her.

“So I went there and it was frozen. There were two hockey rinks made out – one with just kids so I stayed away from that one and the other was mainly adults all playing and I noticed some of them were wearing hockey jerseys.

“The main club that was represented was the Paisley Blackhawks so I spoke with a couple of people there and asked if I could take photos. They agreed so I took some and later on, I contacted them.

“One of the other teams was Strathclyde Fire Brigade’s team, Strathclyde Flames and I’d noticed there was a trophy sitting on the ice, which I learned was the Recreational Scottish Cup, which had been won by the Blackhawks.

“So, all in, I spent an hour and a half taking photos of this sport that I’d never been a fan of beforehand.

“From there on, I was visiting clubs and photographing training sessions and in many ways, learning my trade.”

As everyone will know, Al occupies the spot between the benches and is very close to the action and has heard and seen things not many of us will have on game nights.

Al lifts the lid on what goes on, but also talked about what he gets out of coming to every game and doing what he does, not to mention the more memorable players he’s had the pleasure of working with.

“What happens in the benches stays on the benches,” he laughed. “This is my 11th year shooting the Clan and I’ve also done eight years with Paisley Pirates so out of 19 years combined, the star without doubt has been Linden Springer.

“He was on point every single time and his put down lines were superb.

“There can be an awful lot of work involved on game nights and I’m kept busy for most of the night, but the one thing I’ve got out of doing this through the years is the friendships I’ve made, in all honesty.

“The number of people I’ve met has been great and, bearing in mind I was an amateur photographer to start with, I managed to build a business out of it and was working for a government department full time and doing jobs in photography and getting paid.

“In dealing with the players and coaches, the two biggest characters I’ve ever come across where Chris Frank and Zack Fitzgerald. They were the heart and soul of the team that season and their wives were good people too.

“Those two were different class. More recently, I didn’t get to know too many of the guys in the 19-20 season, but Springer was a hoot.

“There’s also the special occasions as well, such as Matt Haywood’s Testimonial and a night where I remembered everyone was happy that night.

“My wife came along that night and it happened to be her 60th birthday. She’s not a regular attender, but that was her night out.

“I made it up to her with a couple of nights away a little while later.”

So what about some of the memorable photos Al has taken through the years? There have been many, such as the photo of a young Sheffield Steelers fan finally making friends with Clangus at the play-off final weekend.

There’s also the arrival of NHL star Drew Miller during the NHL lockout in 2012 and Jay Rosehill’s toothy roar, set to background darkness.

But there are two that stands out for Al personally.

“One of my favourite pictures I’ve ever taken was the one with Franky at the play-off finals weekend in 2014 and the story behind it,” he added.

“Everyone thinks it was him celebrating. He had actually been ejected from semi-final against Sheffield, after jumping in to defend his team mate Joel Champagne.

“The gesture was made toward the Sheffield fans, his old club, and I think was Franky saying ‘The Clan is my team now, I play for this jersey’.

“It’s equal with the one I took of what I call the Landry hit from season one, where he came together with the late Scott Matzka, who was with Cardiff Devils.

“The photo was lucky. As you watch the learn the game, you can see players moving in certain ways and certain directions and you know something might be coming or they anticipate it.

“I couldn’t catch that photo today as I use a longer lens, so it was pure luck in that instance. If I’d used the longer lens, I wouldn’t have got it.

“I could see at the time, the two players heading towards each other and the puck was off to the right so I swung the camera round and pressed the button. There are actually five or six shots in sequence of that hit. If I’d been a split second either way, I wouldn’t have got it.”

Another benefit of covering the Clan has also led to other work for him, including going to the play-offs and sharing the special day of various people associated with the club and actually acting as their official wedding photographer.

But what else would he like to do with the club?

“Firstly, I’m just glad we’ve got hockey back this year, although we’re going through another tough spell just now,” he said.

“We went a long time wondering if we would see it back so even just having it back in our lives is a very good thing.

“Sure, I’d love to see a trophy in the arena being shown in front of the fans, but I’d also love to get back to the play-off weekend in Nottingham as well.

“I’ve been twice – in 2014 when Clan were there and it was brilliant and I went back a year or two later, but it wasn’t the same.

“Because of the friendships I’ve made at the Clan, I had the privilege of photographing weddings and of all the weddings I’ve worked at, the majority have come from that.

“I’ve also done the wedding of an Elite League referee and a linesman as well. The last one I did was – and it was the last wedding as I’m no longer doing them – there were five previous brides from others I’d done in the past.

“It just captures what I said about the friendships I’ve made over the years and it’s great to still be part of it, even after all this time so far.”

(All photos by Al Goold – of course)