This time we look back at a player many will remember from the 90’s.
Ally Mitchell
Kilmarnock F.C. Legend (Born 1968, Kirkcaldy)
He started playing with his local junior side Ballingry Rovers after playing two seasons then was snatched up by East Fife. Ally spent three seasons at the club playing 87 times contributing a respectable 23 goals from midfield. He spent 3 seasons (88-91) at the Fifers before attracting interest from the mighty Ayrshire Killie in the summer of 1991.
Kilmarnock signed Mitchell in July 1991, paying £100,000 to East Fife for his services.
Ally would be joining a team with future club legends Ray Montgomerie, Gus MacPherson and Tommy Burns within the squad. Ally made his first appearance for the Killie boys against Hamilton at Rugby Park in August 1991. This would be the first of a fantastic career at the club.
Scored his first goal for Kilmarnock away at Stirling Albion in October 1991. Mitchell became a fan favourite at the club due to his hard work and bustling performances. He was given the nickname “Bully” by the Kilmarnock faithful. At only five foot seven he gave what he got and more.
Ally then played in premier league for next 11 years with Kilmarnock, amassing an exceptional 363 appearances for the club. In that time scoring 45 goals and creating many more for his teammates.
Myself having only been born in 1993 and never having seen us been out of the Premier league in my lifetime I can briefly remember an ageing Ally as I started attending games not long after our Scottish Cup success which he was part of.
My dad and papa think most Kilmarnock supporters took well to Ally in his decade and a bit at the club and enjoyed watching him play for us. A player when researching this I didn’t realise had played so many times with the club. A Fantastic servant.
Bully’s arguably most important goal of the 45 he scored in the stripes came at Ibrox on May 2nd 1998. Scoring in what was a very telling game as it would be a winner at Ibrox 1-0 for Killie. Which stopped Rangers clinching ten in a row. Also attempting to achieve Kilmarnock a European place for the following season.
Ally spoke about this Goal saying: “I still talk to people who tell me they can remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when I scored. You don’t realise how many people are affected by something like that. Celtic drew at Dunfermline the next day so our win effectively cost Rangers 10 in a row, which makes it easily the most important goal I’ve ever scored. The whole 10-in-a-row thing tended to overshadow the fact that we were also going for a place in Europe and we got that result for Kilmarnock Football Club, not Celtic or Rangers”
A dedicated professional only interested in one team his own.
In November 1999 Mitchell was given a testimonial match against Everton for a decade's service at Kilmarnock.
In his time at Kilmarnock he played 13 times in Europe against Kaiserslautern, Nice etc and was part of the last team to win now defunct Ayrshire Cup against the great unwashed.
Super Ally would call a halt to his career at our beloved club in 2003 under the guidance of Jim Jeffries at the time. Making a final appearance against Dundee Utd from bench.
He would go on to play with St Mirren a dozen times in an attempt to get game time before returning and finished his career at East Fife where it all began for Bully.
After retiring he had a brief stint at managing Lochore Welfare a local junior club in Fife. This spell lasted a year before parting ways in 2008.
A Kilmarnock Legend a successful and honest player. Who travelled through some of the best moments of recent past with our club.
A tribute to him from limited information I know and found out about him.
We’ve got…Ally, Ally, Ally Mitchell…
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