Smallies’ great hairstyles and nicknames

At the foot of this column is a picture from 1982 of the D. C. Thomson Meadowside Caseroom apprentice compositors (nicknamed “smallies”) lining up prior to a match against their journeymen counterparts.

The game was an annual fixture on the department’s sporting calendar and was always eagerly contested.

My “mole” in the company suggests this game, played almost 25 years ago at Lochee Park, went 4-3 in favour of the smallies.

However, rumour has it the journeymen were furious at some of the decisions made by Grade One match official, and fellow-compositor, Bob Valentine.

I spent my early years in the Bank Street offices of the firm and, in the years ensuing, I had the (dubious?) pleasure of working with almost all of them when they were transferred to “Bankie”.

As you can see, most of the players had terrific hairstyles and even better nicknames.

Alas, while the nicknames remain, much of the hair has long since gone.

In the picture are (back, from left) — Kerr “Dorothy” Byars, Ash “Donkey” Wright, Graeme “Bear” Finnan, Jim Kelly, Derek “RJ” Gray, Davie “Rougvie” Robson, Colin “Cecil” Pilkington (head coach).

Front — Greig Mitchell, Keir “Basil” Gordon, Steve Finan, Raymond “Young Tiger” Barr, Steve “Mufty” Taylor.

WHEN SCOTS’ JERSEYS WERE BORROWED

ANDY WALKER’S latest piece is a rant at the Scottish football powers-that-be.

“The decision that a rock concert takes precedence over the national team does not surprise me as, over the decades, the SFA has made itself the laughing stock of the football world,” said Andy.

“For instance, the match between Scotland and Wales on Wednesday, October 26, 1932, had to kick-off twice.

“The Tynecastle crowd roared with laughter as Neil Dewar kicked off to Alec James, who darted forward past three Welsh players. Suddenly, the strains of ‘God Save The King’ were heard.

“James immediately stopped, the crowd stood up, and removed their hats.

“The SFA had informed the bandmaster that, on the referee’s whistle, the band would start playing. However, nobody informed the referee that the plan was . . . one blast, band play; second blast, game starts.

“When the national anthem was finished, they kicked off again.”

Andy cites another example of sheer incompetence as that when Scotland travelled to play England in a 1943 wartime international.

“The team arrived at their hotel two days before the game.

“The day before the match was the pre-match photo-call and the players were sitting around twiddling their thumbs.

“After a while, a representative of the SFA was forced to admit that the team did not have any jerseys.

“Pandemonium then broke out, with the Press scrambling for phones.

“Some players were shocked with embarrassment, others were laughing their socks off.

“As this comedy of errors reached a crescendo, one man saved the day.

“An ex-player phoned his old team’s chairman and asked if he could supply the Scottish team with jerseys. Three phone calls later, the answer was ‘yes’, and, as he was travelling overnight down to the game, he would hand-deliver them.

“And that was how the Scotland team ran out wearing the jerseys of the ex-Hearts and Scotland legend Tommy Walker.”

ROCK CUP NOW IN GOOD NICK

Dundee’s NICK MARRA resurrects a story from December 2005 when BwB mentioned there were gaps in the engraving on the base of the Dundee Primary Schools trophy, the Rock Cup.

“The gap was in 1958 and your readers may remember that Terry Mitchell got in touch to show his medal,” recalled Nick. “The cup was shared after two draws. However, I’d like to let BwB readers know that the cup has now been updated.

“In the summer, as well as having the name of this year’s winners St Mary’s Lochee engraved, the 1958 gap has now been filled with the names of St Peter & Paul and St Mary’s Forebank.

“I’m sure that Terry and the other lads who played in that final will be happy to know their success has now been carved on the trophy base.”

BRECHIN WON CUP AT DENS

Former St Joseph’s keeper Sandy Henderson thought it was North End, while Ian Fyffe of Kirkintilloch Rob Roy pointed to Bernard Stocks’ book ‘the winners’, which stated it was Kirrie Thistle.

However, a wee bit of research, not to mention a minor bout of hypothermia as I trawled through the archives in the dungeons which hold our bound files, revealed the 1961-62 Forfarshire Junior Cup was won by Brechin Matrix.

The Angus outfit defeated Lochee Harp 2-0 in the final, held at Dens Park on Monday, March 19, 1962 in front of 1750 fans. Malloy and Clunie were the Brechin scorers.

The Forfarshire Junior Cup and the Scottish Junior Cup (won by Kirkintilloch Rob Roy) were the only two trophies Dundee junior outfit St Joseph’s missed out on that season — a question posed by Vince McNally (BwB Feb. 2).