A chill wind wafts the smell of Bovril across the terraces. Pies are being eaten - we've had our tea, but it's tradition. Something to do as the tension mounts and we wait for our team to take to the field.

This isn't Hampden and we're not out in force to support Scotland against Iceland. This is Dunterlie Park, home of Arthurlie Football Club, and we're here to support Team Barrhead.

But this isn't a football fixture. This is Transform East Renfrewshire - a National Theatre of Scotland (NTS) Learn event and part of a project that brings schools and communities together with theatre professionals to create large-scale performances. This Barrhead production was, given its location, appropriately tagged One All.

Six months ago, Jess Thorpe and Tashi Gore went on a recce to Barrhead. Simon Sharkey, NTS associate director in charge of Learn, had asked them to co-direct this tranche of Transform, and the first challenge was to find a suitable outdoor location. As graduates of the RSAMD's Contemporary Performance Practice (CPP) course, Thorpe and Gore were used to thinking outside the box, and had shown resourcefulness in their work with acclaimed Glasgow youth group, Junction25. This time, though, the remit was much larger. Sharkey's call was for a cast of hundreds.

"We soon realised the football ground was the biggest space locally," says Thorpe. "We also liked the idea of audience as supporters', meaning that the community could come along and get behind their local team - their own town - so Dunterlie Park was ideal."

And the cast? Gore takes up the story. "We decided to work with students from Barrhead High School. But then we visited community groups and started working with them. Every Monday morning we went line dancing. Every Friday afternoon, we'd finish the week with sequence dancing, and then we'd pop into the Arthurlie Social Club for a drink and a chat with folk there."

The plan was to involve as many Barrhead voices as possible, so second-year CPP students went out wearing signs that said: "Tell me a story."

Judging by Wednesday night's lively pageant of personal memories and participation, there was no shortage of material. Even former residents got a look-in, and Alex McLeish - now manager of Birmingham City - made a virtual appearance, in a brief but heartfelt video clip, recalling, "I had very good formative years in Borr-heed' as they call it. I frequently get called Big Eck Fae Borr-Heed and I'm proud of that."

His message fitted the footballing theme that ran through One All. An opening film followed a football as it was kicked and headed by kids and pensioners, from pavement to shop counter, bus stop to cafe. Then the pitch filled with scores of youngsters in the blue and white Arthurlie colours and the next (almost) 90 minutes saw the passing on of memories, nifty footwork from the line dancers and a singalong - a medley of old favourites that had us joining in Show Me The Way To Go Home.

Even those who didn't hail from Barrhead felt pride in the place. When local employers, Shanks, were honoured with a pawky ditty, we chorused in praise of their sanitary ware, "If you're European, you're a-pee-in' in Shanks."

When a street map of Barrhead was created with tape, everyone claimed a foothold on it. The young spoke of what was good - and lacking - on their home turf. The older generations did the same, but with the poignancy of having known a Barrhead that no longer exists. "This," said John Joe Reilly, gesturing to the pitch and invoking a long-ago childhood, "was our field of dreams."

On Wednesday, Barrhead proved itself a winner and, according to Jess Thorpe and Tashi Gore, if they think it's all over - it isn't yet.

"It isn't enough to parachute in and then leave," says Thorpe. "We've struck up relationships with the community here, made connections that we value. We'll be thinking about how we can maintain those ties. One All was never about people turning in some kind of slick, polished performance, it's about people having the heart to go out and do it. Do something for their team."

By the way, while Barr-head's community spirit was scoring at every turn, Scotland were beating Iceland, 2-1. A brilliant result, either way.