‘Could it be a wind-up?’ My Helicopter Sunday with Jim Wallace
The former Deputy First Minister, who died on Thursday, was far from the action and had abandoned all hope long before full-time on May 22, 2005
By David Ferguson
“Here you go… no, no — the beer’s free. Oh, and have you heard the football scores? Rangers won the league.”
If I had known then that the Scottish Bartender of the Year award was a thing, I would have campaigned for it to go to Sonny Priest, owner of Valhalla Brewery, in 2005 for simultaneously supplying me with free pints and the news about Helicopter Sunday. Beat that, hipster mixologists.
Like many Rangers fans, I’ve pondered that day frequently over the years. And every time I reflect on those crazy events my first thought is for Jim Wallace, later Lord Wallace of Tankerness, whose untimely death on January 29 has deeply saddened all who knew him.
Many excellent obituaries will be written about Jim, by people far more eminent than me. But I alone can tell you the tale of how Jim found out and reacted to that legendary title win.
Back then, Jim was the Scottish Government’s Deputy First Minister. I was his private secretary. In Yes, Minister terms I was Bernard Woolley to his Jim Hacker. Whenever government ministers go somewhere there is invariably a Bernard in tow to carry the bags (literally) and make sure the minister knows where he’s going, what he’s doing, etc. It’s an important but far from glamorous role.
Jim and I shared a love of Rangers. It’s not essential for a minister and private secretary to support the same team (handy, given I was also once private secretary to Celtic interim chairman Brian Wilson in his Westminster days), but it does help.
The happiest I ever saw Jim was on Sunday May 22, 2005, when I broke the news to him about events at Fir Park and Easter Road. On that day we were visiting the island of Unst, the northernmost inhabited part of the United Kingdom. Getting there was a long slog involving a plane to Sumburgh and then two car ferry trips until we finally reached our destination. You feel perplexed that you’ve spent half a day travelling and yet you’ve not even left Scotland.
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Jim had been invited to represent the Scottish Government at the launch of the Promoting Unst Renewable Energy (PURE) project. This involved making a speech and then formally switching on a wind turbine. Ironically the wind that day was too strong for the turbine to operate safely, but nonetheless we managed to set up a decent photo with Jim posing in front of the ‘on’ switch with his hand poised portentously.
After the formalities, we retreated to an adjacent refreshment tent. Before devolution, Jim had been MP for Orkney and Shetland constituency for a long time and so was well-known and much loved in Unst. As we entered the tent, I invited him to mingle and offered to find us both a drink.
Jim and I had been listening to the football on the car radio as we travelled from Sumburgh. On arrival in Unst, the Rangers and Celtic matches had reached half-time, with Rangers drawing and Celtic leading by one goal. Jim said: “Ah well, that’s it. No coming back from this.” I concurred. We turned our phones off, exited the car and gave football no further thought.
This brings me to the Bartender of the Year. Sonny had supplied a generous amount of beer that day and was on hand to pour the pints himself. He handed me a drink and, presumably able to recognise a Bluenose when he saw one, casually mentioned that Rangers had won the title.
I scuttled off to find Jim muttering, “Excuse me everyone, sorry DFM; something urgent has arisen” and took him into a corner to break the news.
He smiled but then doubt crept in.
“Wait — it could be a wind-up. Is it a wind-up?”
He nodded in the direction of two men in the corner.
“Go and ask them the scores.”
These random blokes were able to confirm that somehow Celtic had blown it against Motherwell and the title had gone to Govan. Jim was watching anxiously and it was great to be able to give him a thumbs up and a smile. We had earlier vowed to have “just the one” beer but that went out the window (or tent flap, technically) and the early flight back to Edinburgh the next morning was no fun.
Jim was a man of honour, compassion, decency and good humour. I had huge respect for him and enjoyed spending time with him. Not many bosses you can say that about. I had been a tad grumpy that morning because I’d be travelling and working instead of plonking myself in front of Sky Sports, but my Helicopter Sunday experience turned out to be far better and more memorable than could ever have been the case in a pub or on the sofa. And I will always treasure the memory of such a special, unique day in the company of a truly great man.
Rest in peace Jim, and thank you.
What a great story. As a news journalist, I met Jim on many occasions over a long period of time and always found him to be a very pleasant and courteous guy. Definitely, one of the nicer politicians. I had absolutely no idea that he was a Rangers supporter.