‘Corner’ keeper now Canadian football official
CHARLIE “CHIC” WELSH left Dundee for Canada in 1972, but was tickled to see a recent piece in BwB.
Emailing from Northern Ontario, in Canada, he said, “I’m a frequent reader of your page, and took great interest in the recent article (BwB, Aug. 19) regarding games being won by corner-kicks.
“Mr Holloway was not dreaming, as I was that goalkeeper.
“I was never a great player, but loved to play.
“I don’t really know why I was in the goal in the first place.
“Maybe we just didn’t have anyone else.
“I do remember making ‘quite a good save’ and it went out for a corner . . . and that corner cost us the game.
“Mr Holloway was also correct as it was the 16th BB team and, if my memory serves me correct, the team which beat us was the 17th.
“They were always our arch-rivals during the regular season.
“Another player who played was Alex Harqes and he was a very good player.
“I can’t remember if Sunday Post writer Ron Scott played in that particular game, but he was a member of the 16th.
“We used to ‘poach’ Ron from the ’Burn (Butterburn YC) when they didn’t have a game.
“Recently, I was chatting through the ‘3 Jays’ to a guy called Brian, and he mentioned the name Rab Todd, who retired not so long ago from D. C. Thomson.
“He reckons Rab may have also played in that five-a-side game.”
Charlie, whose “Chic” has now become “Chuck” on the other side of the Atlantic, is self-employed as an electrical contractor in the province, but still retains an active interest in the game.
He continued, “When I came to Canada, I got involved with refereeing, officiated firstly at Grade 2 before passing the Grade 1 exam.
“However, that’s when I quit the active side as I had a little handicap . . . a bit of a beer belly.
“Currently, I am an Ontario Soccer Association provincial assessor (supervisor).
“At the moment, the big thing worldwide is to try to encourage young people to become referees, without whom there would be no soccer.
“On another note, I was saddened to read a few months ago of the death of Junior Buchanan.
“We were at the Ann Street School together.
“I met Junior in a bar at the top of the Hilltown the last time I was home and we had a good chat about the old days.
“He was a great guy and a great player.”
DISCIPLINE, HUMOUR AND KNOWLEDGE
As you would expect, the tribute dinner for Billy and George Grier went very well, and it was great to see so many former team-mates, friends and colleagues.
One who didn’t make it was my good friend HENRY WILKINSON, now of Kirriemuir, but he got in touch to give his own tribute.
“Billy, George and Lewis were the finest amateur and junior coaches that Dundee has produced,” he said. “We all know their record in producing great teams and players, but they also had a huge influence in nurturing coaches and managers throughout the years.
“For myself, the Grier brothers were very helpful when I was first interested in managing and training teams. They allowed me to watch and learn their methods not only on the field but in the dressing-room.
“They had the perfect combination as a team — discipline, humour and knowledge.
“My version of their ‘Dream Team’ would be (4-4-2) — Grant Clark; George Malone, Andy Sommerville, Graeme Forbes, Jim McMulkin; Gus Malone, Dougie Berrie, Charlie Adam, Davie Anderson; Dave Baikie, Brian Flynn.”
P. WILSON, of Dundee, chose (4-4-2) — Ian Christie; Geo. Malone, Roy Price, Forbes, Gordon Winter; Gus Malone, Berrie, Adam, George Morris; Baikie, Flynn.
H.P., of Birkhill, went with (4-4-2) — Clark; Geo. Malone, Sommerville, Forbes, Gordon Winter; Jimmy Hunter, Berrie, Adam, Morris; Baikie, Flynn.
For the record, the XI. the Griers chose was (3-5-2) — Christie; Geo. Malone, Kenny Jones, Colin Craigie; Graeme Irons, John Young, Morris, Adam, Berrie; Flynn, Baikie.
My XI. would have been (4-4-2) — Christie; Geo. Malone, Jones, Craigie, Winter; Irons, Morris, Adam, Berrie; Flynn, Baikie. I reckon I could have won if I didn’t take ‘advice’ from a fellow-guest — North End’s Shuggie McLachlan!
ROCK CUP
WILLIE COUPAR, who has contributed to BwB in recent months, sends in info re the Rock Cup.
“The Peter Rock referred to in your bit about Dundee Harp is the person who donated the Rock Cup,” he said.
“This trophy came up in my query about schoolboy cups and trophies a couple of months back.
“It was good to get back in touch with my old school-mate Grant McLean through your column. I’ll be meeting him for a pint when next in Scotland.”
DUNDEE HARP
WILLIE SAMUEL, of Menzieshill, points me in the direction of a couple books for more info on Dundee Harp.
“Two books, written by Bill Murray, featuring the Old Firm, mention Dundee Harp,” said Willie.
“According to these books, they were founded in 1880 and dominated the local scene for around a decade.
“In 1887, they won the Burns Charity Cup, playing in front of a ‘record crowd’, but the book does not state exactly how many attended the game.
“Things then started to go sour and they threatened to fold on several occasions before eventually doing so in 1906.”
‘SNOW JOKE’ — ’BURN B LEAGUE WINNERS
JIMMY BORLAND, of Marryat Terrace, Dundee, has sent in this photo (below) of the BUTTERBURN PRIMARY FOOTBALL TEAM.
The photo is taken in the snowy school playground, with some snowballs sticking against the wall at the back. The goalkeeper, in particular, may not have felt the cold, given his attire.
“This is the team which won the B League in season 1955-56,” said Jimmy.
“Not for the first time in BwB, Arbroath goalscoring legend Jimmy Jack is featured.
“Three others in the team went on to play at a reasonable level in the juniors — Davie Fisher, G. Edgar and myself.”
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