Andy Provan Obituary, Death Cause – The news of Andy Provan’s passing has left everyone at Southport FC in a state of deep sadness. Obituary By Michael Braham Andy Provan was Southport Football team’s highest scorer and one of the stars in that season that will never be forgotten. The news of his passing came just fifty years after the team won the Fourth Division Championship. Andy Provan was one of the stars in that season. After a long and courageous battle with Alzheimer’s disease, Andy passed away on May 12 in Torquay.
At Greenock, on the first day of the new year in 1944, Andrew McKelvie Hughes Provan was born. After joining Port Glasgow Rangers while he was still a student at Mount Street School, he was selected for two matches in the Scottish Youth International team that year, playing against England and Wales. Andy dropped out of school when he was 15 years old and began working in the shipyards as an apprentice engineer. Andy first joined St. Mirren as an amateur player when he was 16 years old. He turned professional the following year and remained there until he left on a free transfer at the end of the 1962–1963 season. In May of 1963, he made the decision to try his luck in England by signing with Barnsley, but he was sidelined for the next six months with a knee injury.
After that, he signed on with York City for a trial period of one month and immediately made an impression. He was contracted for the season and ended up being an ever-present player who finished as the team’s second leading goal scorer, helping them win promotion to the Third Division. In August of 1968, Andy made the transfer to Chester, and he didn’t sign with Wrexham until April of 1970. once falling out of favor, Andy was put on the transfer list with a price tag of £5,000; however, Jimmy Meadows was able to get him for a lower price once the transfer cost was lowered.
Meadows quickly realized that his speed would be best utilized by putting him beside target man, Jim Fryatt, with whom he struck up a fantastic connection. Hitherto, Andy had been considered as a lively, conventional left winger. Andy, who was just 5 feet and 5 inches tall, was transformed into a striker, and this provided him with a fresh start in life. It all started with a stunning performance in a preseason friendly against Airdrie, in which he scored three goals in the second half, and after that, Southport and Provan never looked back.
