Young Harry turned down Liverpool

JIMMY ASHWOOD, of River Crescent, Dundee, spoke of the passing of his great friend HARRY HARWOOD.

“Harry (61) recently died of a heart attack in Canada, but he was well known in Dundee football circles in the 1960s,” said Jimmy, himself a very well-known player locally.

“Harry played junior for North End, amateur for Westgrove Albion and, I think, Kirkton Juveniles among others.

“He was a great footballer and, if he did have a fault on the park, it was that he tended to be a bit outspoken to referees.

“I played in several St John’s school teams with Harry and also served my apprenticeship with him and worked with him when our apprenticeship was finished.

“Indeed, we both got married within weeks of each other.

“Harry then emigrated to Canada and I met up with him when he visited Dundee a few years back.

“After finishing playing in Canada, he coached the youths and worked his way up to a top job with the Winnipeg Soccer Youth League.

“In his time in Dundee, Harry had a few offers to make the step up to senior.

“However, he was ‘Dundee-daft’ and always said to me he was waiting for the Dundee offer which, unfortunately, never came.

“The Dark Blues missed out on a good one there as I’m sure he would have made the grade, no bother.

“Though I had seen Harry just once in the 40 years since he emigrated, I still considered him a friend.”

Harry’s brother-in-law WILLIE GRACE, of Deanbank Street, Dundee, also spoke of his relative, adding in other information.

“During his school days, he also played for SS Peter and Paul Primary School football team,” said Willie.

“At 15-years-old, he had a trial with Liverpool FC during the reign of the legendary Bill Shankly.

“Although the Anfield club was keen to sign him, Harry’s parents felt he was too young to live on his own in England.

“On leaving school at 16, he served an apprenticeship with Bett Brothers as a joiner.

“In addition to playing junior for North End, he also played for Maryfield Juveniles and Windsor Amateurs.

“The photo enclosed (see foot of column) is of the very successful SSPP school team of 1957, which won the Rock Cup, A. C. Little Cup, Meikleham Shield and League Shield. Harry is in the front row, third from left.”

Having emigrated in 1971, Harry lived in Winnipeg and carved out a role for himself as the “dean of youth soccer” in the Canadian city.

Under his management, the Winnipeg Youth Soccer Association grew from just a couple of hundred teams to well over 1000 involving some 17,000 youngsters.

He coached his son Scott’s team to city and national championships and daughter Pauline’s side to the city championship.

He was then taken on as the first-ever paid employee at the WYSA and remained executive director for 26 years.

Harry’s passing was covered extensively in Winnipeg newspapers, where the WYSA’s executive director said, “Harry built youth soccer in this city. Under his guidance, it became the largest participation sport in the city for youth.”

He is survived by his wife June, daughter Pauline and son Scott.

Digging into my own memory reserves, was Harry not one of the brilliant Maryfield United U/27 side which won the Scottish Juvenile Cup in the late 1960s?

I seem to remember a very hot sunny Saturday afternoon at North End Park, sitting high up on the big bank at the bottom goal at the ground.

The name of the opposition escapes me, but I’m sure Harry was pointed out to me pre-match as one of the stars of the team.

I may be wrong, but other players on show that day for the Dundee side might have been Jim McNicoll, Gil Kerr and Charlie Macdonald.

TANNADICE CROWDS

A few weeks ago, a reader caused consternation among Dundee United fans when he sent in a tongue-in-cheek letter to our Sporting Postbag under the nom-de-plume Rae of Sunshine.

He has now written to me with a query.

“There was an argument in the pub recently about the highest attendance at Tannadice in the 1980s,” he said.

“I reckon it was the Dundee v. Aberdeen League Cup semi-final in 1987. If it isn’t, it will be in the top five.

“However, some of my friends of a differing persuasion (Arabs) think not.

“Hope you can help here as a pint of Guinness rests on this.”

Ah, Guinness . . . many a good night has started with a few sips of the black stuff.

However, back to the query, and RoS was nearly correct.

The Dee-Dons semi was played in front of a crowd given as 22,000, and this attendance is the second-highest during the period in question.

According to the files I’ve scanned, the highest attendance at Tannadice in the 1980s was in April 1986 when Hearts visited in the league, with 22,300 paying to watch.

This was the season which saw the Jambos eventually blow their title chance at Dens Park on the final day of the season.

The third highest I found was Celtic’s trip to Tanny in September 1984 on League Cup business, and 21,182 saw that tie.

TANGERINE CONGA

As a “life-long Dundee fan”, FERGUS McCURLEY also remembers “Black Saturday” (BwB, Aug. 18) when Dundee United clinched the league title in 1983 with a 2-1 win over Dundee at Dens.

“What I remember about that night was that I had tickets to see Jack Bruce, the Cream bassist, who was playing at the Bonar Hall,” recalled Fergus.

“After the concert, some friends and I were on the way back into the town centre, and I remember seeing a conga line of United fans twisting in and out of Winstons, the pub connected to the Angus Hotel.”