Refs whistle up cash for Gowans fund

EDINBURGH referees have raised £1,100 in memory of former Falkirk starlet Craig Gowans by donating their match fees to the youngster's memorial fund.

This year marks the fifth anniversary of the tragic death of the 17-year-old Stewart's-Melville High School pupil, who died in an accident on the Falkirk training ground.

Craig was allocated the squad number 37 by Falkirk and now 37 local whistlers have backed an idea by Tom Carter, convener of the Craig Gowans Memorial Fund, to pay their tribute to the youngster.

The referees, all members of the Edinburgh and District Referees Association, agreed to hand over one match fee to the fund with the money going to the Sick Kids.

The refs now plan to raise even more money for the fund with the proceeds of their annual quiz night to be donated while Hutchison Vale and Tynecastle FC will promote the second game for the Craig Gowans Memorial Cup which will take place at Saughton Enclosure in July.

THE referees who each contributed a match fee were: Tom Carter, Willie McKenzie, Steven Crawford, Campbell Duncan, Declan Reid, Callum Bryson, Tom Robertson, Chris McGregor, James Campbell, Bill Crombie, Malcolm Stewart, Graham Chambers, Patrick Munro, Robert Thomson, George Salmond, Brian Colvin, Peter Morris, Alex Liston, Callum Doyle, Martin Forbes, Jimmy Markey, Stuart Richardson, David Doig, Neil McLennan, James Sim, Willie Connor, Jimmy Millar, Paul Hanlon, Steve Cochrane, Douglas Gordon, Lorraine Quinn, Simon McLean, Liam Rafferty, Willie Lynch and Iain McGill.