Ayrshire gripped by derby fever as Kilmarnock and Ayr United prepare to clash in one of Scotland’s lesser-spotted local skirmishes

His lap of honour at Rugby Park almost complete, Garry Hay thought about making his way back up the tightest tunnel in football.

Feeling the love of the Kilmarnock support after his testimonial match against Ayr United in 2010, the long-serving full-back felt obliged to extend his gratitude to the 30 or so visiting fans who’d also paid at the gate.

Approaching the visiting section, he clapped his hands in appreciation and thought – for a moment – that this was being reciprocated. He soon thought again.

‘They were certainly waving at me,’ the full-back later recalled with a smile of the sea of one and two-fingered gestures which caught his eye.

Ah, the Ayrshire derby. It’s been much too long. Where have you been?

The answer, regretfully, is that it’s been hiding behind the curtain in Scottish football with the respective sides rarely coming into each other’s line of vision in league business.

Kilmarnock were a top-flight team for 28 years until being relegated in 2021, ensuring the four jousts in the Championship the following season (three Killie wins and one for Ayr) were something an entire generation hadn’t witnessed.

This quirk goes back further. When Ayr were last in the top division in 1978, Killie were in the tier below them. When Kilmarnock were champions of Scotland in 1965, Ayr had to reapply for membership of the league having finished in 18th spot in the bottom division.

Friday night’s clash at Rugby Park is just the seventh in cup competitions this century. That’s thin gruel for those who would like to feast on this famous fixture more regularly.

Absence may make the heart grow fonder but it can apparently also intensify a rivalry.

The game’s rarity value ensures those who emerge as heroes are never allowed to forget it. The likes of Andy Walker and Dean Shiels will gladly attest to that.

Speak to supporters on both sides of the divide and there’s no escaping the fierce nature of the perennial fight for the bragging rights.

There’s a very inexact divide which has Symington as the geographical dividing point for supporters.

But while it’s true that many fans who live south of the village will vouch for Ayr and the majority who stay north of it will don the colours of Killie, followers of both clubs live, work and drink beside each other throughout the area and thrive on the exchange of insults.

Yet, while there’s clearly no love lost between the respective fan bases, matters have rarely crossed the line of decency.

By and large, unlike other derbies seen throughout Britain, a bit of verbal goading – essentially good-natured – will be about the extent of it.

There will be no need this evening for the local constabulary to impose martial law. There is banter and some bitterness lurking beneath the surface, but rarely do matters get out of hand.

Four years ago, lifelong Kilmarnock fan Colin McCue suffered a heart attack while leaving Rugby Park after a derby match. Had it not been for Ayr fans rushing to his aid as they left the Chadwick Stand, he’d have died on the spot.

Eternally grateful that he and his family were given a few more precious hours with him in hospital, his son Scott ran a marathon in his memory – the distance to and from the grounds measuring 26 miles.

The coffers of both clubs’ community programmes benefitted significantly from the contributions of so many.

There’s also an occasional outbreak of humour which other great divides could learn a thing or two from.

When Ayr were constructing a new stand a couple of years ago, construction worker – and Killie diehard – James Sim posted a picture of him burying a blue and white shirt under cement.

‘Right in the middle of their new stand. F*** yer Ayr United,’ read his accompanying social media post.

Fair play to Ayr chairman David Smith, who didn’t get too po-faced about the prank. Later posting a picture with the pair wearing high-viz vests, he wrote: ‘Found James Sim and he’s down the road. Can’t beat a bit of banter. A bar of soap has also been laid to rest…’

For all that, there’s no mistaking that the desire to get one over on the other side is just as strong as any other divided corner of the land.

While Kilmarnock supporters will forever cherish seeing their side defeat Celtic in the 2012 League Cup Final, the win over Ayr in the semi courtesy of Shiels’ goal in extra-time (in front of 25,057) means just as much.

Simon Ford played over 150 games for Killie over six years between 2004 and 2010. The defender will always be synonymous with the two goals he scored in a 3-1 win in a Scottish Cup replay at Rugby Park in 2009 after Ayr had scrambled a 2-2 draw in the first game at Somerset.

Rory McKenzie, a Kilmarnock fan, also lived out his dream when scoring the only goal of a drab League Cup game in 2014 when Ayr were a League One side.

For all they have spent most of the past decades looking up to Kilmarnock in terms of league placings, fans of the Honest Men have not been without moments to savour.

Andy Geggan has never had to buy a drink in Ayr since netting the only goal of the game in a League Cup group stage clash at home in 2017-18. His side went on to top their section.

The 1998 clash in the Scottish Cup at Somerset saw Jim Dick and Ian Ferguson score in the final seven minutes to secure Gordon Dalziel’s side a passage to the quarter-finals. To this day, it’s recalled as the Valentine’s Day massacre.

Walker enjoyed a distinguished career on both sides of the border with clubs including Motherwell, Celtic and Sheffield United.

Yet, his audacious ‘Panenka’ style chip over former Parkhead team-mate Gordon Marshall in Ayr’s colours in November 1999 will be remembered forever in the town.

‘I decided I didn’t want to blast it and then the idea popped into my mind,’ he recalled of his second conversion from 12 yards in a storied 3-0 win.

‘It’s something I would have loved to have done in an Old Firm game, but I never got the opportunity.’

For those who take the field tonight, the chance to write their name into the fixture’s folklore may never come around again.

Two former Hearts’ team-mates, Neil McCann and Gary Naysmith, will know that the outcome will go a long way to defining their respective tenures, while fans of both sides may well watch the match unfold through the cracks in their fingers.

Even if it’s for one night only, how pleasing it is to have one of the Scottish game’s great derbies back with us. It’s been gone too long.