In Arbroath’s darkest hour, Brian Cargill was waking up in the middle of the night, responding to text messages from all over the world, desperate to bank the money that would put the Angus side back on track to success.
Newly-appointed Arbroath chairman Cargill, a retired civil engineer, quite literally rebuilt the Angus club brick-by-brick after the 2020 Covid lockdown threatened its stability.
A supporters’ wall was far from a new concept when Cargill launched the scheme with humble expectations. But it quickly became a symbol of hope, solidarity and togetherness at Arbroath.
Today, it is home to well in excess of 1500 bricks, generating an estimated £150,000 for Arbroath, and Cargill is sleeping a lot easier at night.
“We thought if we sold 60 to 100 bricks that would be fantastic,” Cargill said as he unveiled the wall.
“I knew we were onto something special when I started getting texts at 2am from Dubai, Australia, New Zealand, USA and…Friockheim.”
The very fact that Cargill, 60, was willing to be contacted on his personal mobile phone at all hours of the day to sell bricks epitomises why he is such a popular figure amongst the Lichties support.
Approachable, community-minded and visible, the lifelong Arbroath fan was the overwhelmingly popular choice amongst supporters to replace the retiring Ewen West as chairman.
Cargill is very active and responsive to supporters on social media, At a supporters’ summit last summer, in the days that followed the club’s relegation from the Championship, he offered fans the chance to call him with any concerns they had over the direction the club was taking.
A charismatic after-dinner speaker, Cargill warms up the sell-out hospitality lounges before games and his love for the club shines through as he entertains the room, selling off bizarre auction prizes such as signed tins of Fray Bentos pies, denture cases and toilet seats to raise money for the club.
Tellingly, almost every second word out of his pre-game speech is ‘community’.
And as the driving force behind the Arbroath Community Trust, he is every bit as focused on improving life chances for the people in the town as he is on bringing success on the pitch.
Arbroath’s confirmation on Thursday of Cargill’s appointment ended a week of uncertainty and whispers, with unacceptable abuse aimed at long-standing director Douglas Bain – thought to be a rival contender to Cargill for the role of chairman.
A banner appeared in the young ultras’ section of the Arbroath crowd as the League One champions celebrated trophy day that read: ‘If you hate Douglas Bain, clap your hands’.
Few, if any, around the fans joined in but it was not the kind of thing you expect to see at a club celebrating success.
Bain had eight years’ service on the Arbroath board before leaving the club in the wake of Cargill’s appointment and should be thanked for his contribution.
As Arbroath begin their preparations for life back in the Championship, after pushing the boat out financially through Cargill-inspired fundraising schemes that spawned signings such as Sam Stanton, they have a big task ahead of them.
Home crowds have held up in League One, but they have missed the income stream generated by travelling supports.
Nevertheless, the foundations are firmly in place for Arbroath to rekindle the success they enjoyed during their recent five-year stint in the Championship.
And in Cargill, a trusted lieutenant of immensely popular ex-chairman Mike Caird, they have the local bricklayer ready to rebuild fortress Gayfield again.
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