BOB A GREAT SERVANT TO LOCAL BOXING AND FOOTBALL
Manchester’s Dundee ex-pat TOM McGOVERN continues the boxing theme, with, of course, a Dundee connection.
“Floyd Patterson was not the first world champion to visit the city,” informs Tom, a regular contributor to this column.
“Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion, was made a Freemason in Dundee.
“He said at the time that Dundee had honoured him more than his homeland, America.
“The toughest bloodiest battle fought in a British ring was said to be between two Scots — Dundonian Bobby Boland and Glaswegian Peter Keenan.
“Jim Brady fought Benny Lynch on several occasions.
“Brady was a clever boxer, though, and Lynch could never knock him out.
“The boxing scene in Dundee was lively and entertaining.
“Apart from the club scene, that great servant to local football Bob Griffin ran boxing shows in the NCR canteen.
“Bob was (and still is) a great man on the sporting scene in Dundee.
“He went on to become president of the NCR football team which won the Scottish Amateur Cup at Hampden Park in 1965.
“He still helps to run a team called NCR today.”
Indeed, he does.
I popped into East End Park just a couple of Saturdays ago when The Cash were playing, and Bob, as ever, was on the home touchline.
However, Tom, now 71, continues, “I was privileged to be involved with Bob at NCR.
“I played for the team after I left the RAF in 1957, then served on the committee with Bob.
“The chairman of NCR, Nelson Carne, was a great football fan, and supported both of our teams regularly.
“We dominated the Midlands Amateurs for many years.
“The victorious team at Hampden was — Donaldson, Wynd and Ferney, McLaren, Balmer and Breen, Hutton, Ogilvie, Young, Fleming and Duncan.
“They did Dundee very proud on that day.
“These were happy days for me, but I left Dundee in 1971 when work became impossible to find. I joined a large Dundee contingent in Burnley, Lancs.
“Bobby Seith, a star of the Dundee FC team which won the league in 1961-62 and went to the European Cup semi-finals the following year, is remembered fondly as he played for Burnley at Turf Moor.
“My two grandsons were also in Burnley’s youth squad.
“Dundee folk got on well in Burnley as we identified with local working people.
“Their main product was cotton, while ours was jute, but the trades and skills were more or less the same.”
“FRIENDSHIP FLOP” PUT IN COLD STORAGE
Dundee’s JOHN LEDDIE offers information on Celtic’s first European match, which is generally reckoned to be against Valencia in 1962-63, when they were knocked out of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup after a 6-4 aggregate.
“However, in season 1960-61, the Anglo-Franco-Scottish Friendship Cup appeared and subsequently disappeared just as quickly,” he recalls.
“Among Scottish teams invited to participate were Clyde, Motherwell and Dundee.
“Rangers, Hearts and Hibs declined as they were in official European competition, while Kilmarnock, who finished second in the league, declined as they were due to play in a New York tournament.
“When Ayr United, in eighth place, had to decline the invite as they did not have floodlights, Celtic, in ninth, were subsequently invited and were drawn against UA Sedan Torcy.
“They lost the away game 3-0, but, rather surprisingly, went into the home game quietly confident as they had just re-signed Willie Fernie from Middlesborough.
“They had also just won two consecutive home games for the first time in 14 months.
“The result was a 3-3 draw and the referee Mr Syme was from Glasgow.
“Incidentally, Dundee met Valenciennes, Clyde played Lens and Motherwell took on Toulouse.
“All four games were intially played away from home the same weekend and the total attendance for the four games was just 14,000.
“The ‘Friendship Flop’ was quickly put in storage after only one season.”
REILLY WAS A REGULAR SCORER AGAINST ENGLAND
BILLY DOCHERTY, of Ravensby Road, Carnoustie, wants to know the names of the Scotland and England players, who played at Wembley in 1949 and 1951.
He recalls, “I believe that it was in the 1949 game that the Celtic-supporting Greenock Morton goalkeeper Jimmy Cowan made lines at different angles with the heels of his boots outside the penalty areas.
“This caused the English football establishment to forbid this ever happening again.
“In the 1951 match, Billy Houliston, the Queen of the South centre-forward, was picked to upset big Frank Swift, the England and Manchester City keeper, by shoulder-charging him each time he picked up the ball.
“This was known in Scotland as ‘bundling the keeper’. Both players’ tactics paid off, as Scotland won both internationals. I’m sure the 1949 match score was 3-1, but I’m not sure of the score in the 1951 game.
“Some of your older readers will enjoy recalling these international matches.
“My late father saw Scotland score in the last minute of the England v. Scotland international in 1953.
“This match finished 2-2 and the scorer that day of the second goal was Laurie ‘Last Minute’ Reilly, of Hibs, famous for his late goals against England.”
On April 9, 1949, Scotland beat England 3-1 at Wembley in front of 98,188. Mason, Steel and Reilly netted and Scotland lined up — Cowan; Young, Cox; Evans, Woodburn, Aitken; Waddell, Thornton, Houliston, Steel, Reilly.
On April 14, 1951, Scotland beat England 3-2 at Wembley, with the crowd listed as 98,000. Johnstone, Reilly and Liddell scored and Scotland lined up — Cowan; Young, Cox; Evans, Woodburn, Redpath; Waddell, Johnstone, Reilly, Steel, Liddell.
The 1953 encounter did, indeed, finish 2-2, with Reilly actually getting both goals (crowd 97,000). Reilly also scored at Wembley in 1955, when Scotland went down 7-2 to the Auld Enemy (crowd 96,847).
CLOSE FRIENDS
FRANK JORDAN, well-known for his massive input to local swimming and water polo, shares a tale from a recent holiday abroad.
“I was in Tenerife, where I met up with Bert Wilkie, his wife Sheila and family,” said Frank.
“Bert, as has been mentioned previously in BwB, played for Lawside Academy, St Stephen’s and Lochee Harp, before signing for Tottenham Hotspur, along with another Harp player Archie Campbell.
“We celebrated his 70th birthday and I managed to take out to him a wall poster of the Harp club from 1904-2004 and a centenary programme from Derek Soutar.
“He was delighted, and he also received a gift of a wee book titled ‘Do You Think You Ken Lochee?’.
“He inquired about Bobby Reid, John and Sid Pacione, Jimmy McGuire, Jimmy Bannon and many other Harp players.
“Our conversation threw up tales of the one-arm footballers Tommy Rogers and George Harrow, and I told him I played school football and U/18 with Tommy and George.
“Moving sports, I brought up the name of the one-legged swimmer and water polo player Kenny Smith and, to my surprise, he told me he lived up the same close as Kenny in South Mid Street, Lochee.
“Of course, I told him that these great local personalities were mentioned from time to time in BwB.
“Bert also keeps in touch with Tom McGovern, who often writes to BwB from his home in Manchester (see main story).”
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