Jags mourn death of Paul McGrillen

Aug 6 2009 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

WILLIE HILL may have led Bathgate Thistle to Junior Scottish Cup glory last year – but he reckons the credit lies with Paul McGrillen, tragically found dead last week.

Hill signed McGrillen for the Jags and like everyone else who came across the popular striker he has been left devastated by his death.

McGrillen — who was nicknamed Mowgli — was found dead at his home in Hamilton last Wednesday night at the age of only 37.

Staggeringly, he is the fourth member of the famous Motherwell team of 1991, which won the Scottish Cup, to tragically die young.

Hill paid tribute to a player he regards as among his best ever signings, and as one who became a hero to Bathgate fans after scoring the goal which took the Junior Scottish Cup to the West Lothian town for the first time.

He said: “I signed Paul for Bathgate as I felt he would be a good signing which is exactly what he proved to be.

“There is always an element of risk when signing an ex-professional player in the juniors as you don’t know what their level of commitment will be – but that was never an issue with Paul.

“It would be hard to find a more dedicated and committed player than him in the game.”

No one at Bathgate looked happier than McGrillen when he clutched the Scottish Cup trophy at Rugby Park last June.

He had scored the winning goal to bring Junior football’s most prestigious trophy to Bathgate for the first time.

And Hill admits it was McGrillen’s goals which proved the difference in the end on the Jags’ glory day in the Ayrshire sun.

“All the important goals which took us to the Scottish Cup final were scored by Paul and if anyone was ever going to get the most credit for helping Bathgate to the cup it would be him,” insisted Hill.

McGrillen scored a barrowload of goals for Bathgate in his two seasons at Creamery Park — including a phenomenal 34 in his debut campaign.

But Hill has revealed the striker was always striving to improve despite his tremendous haul.

He continued: “He was always so full of life and was a bubbly character. He always looked after himself, kept fit and didn’t even drink. His death is so sad.

“Paul was one of the kind of guys you always want in your dressing room as well as your team. He was always buzzing and was a real handful for defenders.

“It wasn’t uncommon for Paul to ring me up on a Sunday and ask me how I felt he played the day before as he was always keen to improve and do his best for the team.

“We are all devastated by his passing and Paul is a real loss to football and he was truly the most committed and dedicated player I ever worked with.

“He never gave me a minute’s trouble.” Bathgate Thistle team-mate Graeme Love has been a friend and team-mate of McGrillen’s in recent seasons and he was gutted when he heard the news.

“It is still quite raw that he is gone,” admitted Love.

“He was very, very positive about the new season and he was looking fitter this pre-season than he had for a long time.

“It is such a shock to think he is gone.”

Love feels for the family, especially his wife and two young children.

He added: “He used to take his wee boy to the games with him and I feel for his family who must be crushed by this.

“He was a quiet guy who loved his family and was a great player for us.

“Paul was always good for a goal and he scored a lot of goals, many of them important ones for us.

“My own biggest memory of Paul was seeing him scoring the winning goal in the Junior Scottish Cup final.”