Murray Gets Spectacular Homecoming

Written by: Staff on 17th September 2012

Murray Gets Spectacular Homecoming |

Andy Murray was afforded a true hero’s homecoming as 15,000 of his fellow Scots lined the streets of Dunblane for the US Open champion and Olympic gold medalist. His adoring fans chanted Murray’s name after waiting in pouring rain for hours as he walked victoriously through the streets, stopping at a golden postbox erected in his honor before heading to the courts where he learnt to play the sport.

Murray, four times a losing Grand Slam finalist before finally beating Novak Djokovic a week ago, was truly moved by the occasion and said: “It’s overwhelming and I’ve never had anything like that before. I think it win will sink in over the next couple of days. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind since the match with all the stuff the day after and traveling back, then all the stuff today with so many people.”

The win ended a 76 years long wait for a British male singles Grand Slam champion and Murray continued: “It was great, I’ve really, really enjoyed it. I had all my family here and a lot of friends from school and teachers who taught me, my old tennis coaches. It was a great day, I’m really happy to have been part of it.

“These are the courts where I started playing and to come back now and see so many kids on them is unbelievable. They used to be very quiet when I was playing here so to see so many kids back on the court and enjoying it is great and I hope that stays the same.”

Mike Robbins, the Lord Provost of Stirlingshire who was Murray’s host and delivered a welcome on behalf of the whole area, said: “It’s always a pleasure to welcome him back, but this time, of course, it’s extra, extra special.

“I visited local schools the morning after Andy’s US Open triumph, and everyone was just buzzing. The one thing the children wanted was the chance to say ‘well done’.”

Central Scotland Police said the event had been extremely busy from early in the day. Stirling Area Commander Supt Gordon Dawson said Murray had asked for plenty of time to meet his fans so they worked closely with the council to plan a lengthy route.

Now Murray hopes his hero’s status is amplified in England where he has long been treated with antipathy and resentment after an intended light-hearted joke at the expense of the nation’s soccer team backfired six years ago.

At the age of 19, he was interviewed alongside Tim Henman in the build up to Wimbledon that was taking place at the same time as the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Being Scottish, the youngster was teased his team hadn’t qualified and then asked who he would support. His reply has stuck with him ever since: “Anyone who England are playing.”

Today there is even a Facebook page entitled ‘Andy Murray Hates England, So We Hate Andy Murray.’ But only now, that he has effectively demanded a re-write of British sporting history, does Murray feel comfortable in discussing the bitterness to which he has been subjected.

“I was disappointed because I felt that I hadn’t really done that much wrong,” the 25 year-old is now prepared to admit. “I was still a kid and I was getting stuff sent to my locker at Wimbledon that said: ‘I hope you lose every tennis match for the rest of your life.’ People within the grounds of Wimbledon were saying stuff to me, too. I felt I hadn’t done anything wrong.”

Hate mail and insults were all part of the Murray learning process and resulted in the circumspect and seemingly surly persona he thereafter adopted. “I started to understand how things worked better after that,” he recalled. “I started to become a bit more guarded and spoke with people about how to deal with that stuff.

“You need to try to be yourself as much as possible, but at the same time, if people don’t like you, it’s not your problem. You need to make sure you stay true to yourself and the people around you. Hopefully, things will turn round.”