Andy Latham doesn’t consider himself to be a statistician. It’s just that he spends a great many hours of his life tracking down stats, compiling stats, checking stats and publishing stats on the compelling website he has run for seven years. And it’s a pretty good rule of thumb that if someone sounds like a statto, acts like a statto and thinks like a statto, in all probability you are looking at a statto.

“No, I’m not a statistician,” the 51-year-old from Bellshill said. “I started the website [www.theroadtohampden.co.uk] because I wanted to learn more about computers, and I loved football, and wanted to stay involved in the game after my playing days ended.

“Before I started, it used to frustrate me that there was so little information about Scottish football on the internet. I thought, ‘Right, that’s what I’ll do.’ And I’ve spent the last few years filling the gap.”

Latham played for numerous amateur and junior clubs during his career, as an adaptable defender or midfield player. But the highlight was a spell with Third Lanark in the 1980s, when a group of enthusiasts did their best to resurrect one of the fallen giants of Scottish football. “They were great days,” Latham said. “We never quite got back into the League, but it was worth trying.”

Now Latham achieves his sporting satisfaction by shining a light on obscure corners of Scottish football, to provide a completely comprehensive picture of the game in the country. “There’s more of a hunger among people to find out about the history of the game now,” he said.

“Folk get in touch wanting to discover more about grandfathers who played in the League, and I’ll do all I can to uncover the information they want. It’s a source of pride with me that I’ll never give up until I find the story, or at least find someone else who knows. That gives me a huge amount of satisfaction. I just hate letting anybody down. I know people appreciate it because they keep coming back. I get from 600 to 1,500 hits in an evening.”

Latham is a sheet metal worker by trade, but last October he was made redundant. Sheet metal working’s loss was the web’s gain, though, as Latham began working on his site full time.

“I’d love to get a job in the field, designing websites or working in websites,” he said. “I’ve never made a penny out of the site, but in a couple of years I might look for a sponsor, but it’s been a labour of love more than anything. Sometimes I feel as if my head is bursting with information, but it’s all worthwhile when someone says they’ve found it useful, or interesting.”

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