WHAT A “WIND-UP” MERCHANT

In all my time working on this newspaper, I’ve rarely come across a “wind-up merchant” like Rae Of Sunshine.

I’ve no idea who the guy (gal?) is, but his promptings in our popular Sporting Postbag certainly had Dundee United fans responding in their droves.

But now, RoS has turned his attention to BwB.

“This is definitely my last letter to the Tele for a few months as I am off abroad,” he writes.

“Before I go, though, BwB may be able to assist me.

“At half-time at a recent Dundee game, I was discussing St Johnstone with my nephew and I kept on referring to their home ground as Muirton (old age or force of habit).

“He laughed that I referred to a ground that’s been gone for a couple of decades, but started asking about it.

“Among other things, I told him Dundee were the visitors when the record attendance was set at both Muirton and McDiarmid.

“With so many new grounds being built in recent years, he asked which other clubs’ old and new grounds had the same visitors when their record attendances were set.

“I told him I had no idea . . . but knew a man who might. So, it’s over to you, BwB.”

For the first part of RoS’s query, Dundee were, indeed, the visitors when record attendances were set at St Johnstone’s two grounds.

On February 10, 1952, Dundee visited Muirton in a Scottish Cup tie and 29,972 paid to get in.

On May 23, 1999, the Dark Blues visited McDiarmid in a Premier League encounter watched by 10,545.

Clyde are the only other club I could find which had record attendances set at both their old and new grounds, Rangers the visitors on both occasions.

For clubs with new grounds over the past few years, the record attendances were set by (old ground first):

Airdrie — Hearts and Morton; Stirling Albion — Celtic and Aberdeen.

Dumbarton (Raith Rovers), East Fife (Raith Rovers), Falkirk (Celtic) and Hamilton (Hearts) don’t currently list the new grounds’ record attendances in reference books or websites visited.

However, I’d welcome any input from readers on this subject.

DAVIE’S AUNTI E RECKONS THE LOGIE HARP 40TH CELEBRATIONS MAY BE A YEAR OR TWO OUT

Oh dear, there is family trouble ahead for Davie Anderson, who supplied the details of the Logie Harp reunion (BwB, Apil 20).

Davie and his team are trumpeting next year as Logie’s 40th anniversary, but, not so, according to the wife of one of Logie’s greatest players Danny McCluskey.

IRENE McCLUSKEY, who is Davie’s aunt, said, “I’m sure Logie Harp are a year too late in their 40th anniversary celebrations.

“I’ve tried to tell Davie, but he just wouldn’t listen.

“The current committee are saying they were founded in 1968, but that was the year (January 1968) I got married to Danny.

“However, I had watched him — as his girlfriend — playing for Logie for at least a whole season prior to that — possibly two!

“Indeed, I can remember Logie’s Jimmy Snaith and Derek McGlone coming up to Danny’s house in the Garry Place prefabs to sign him. I don’t want to put a damper on their celebrations, but I’m sure they are at least a year out.

“Another great thing about Danny is that, to help the team out on occasion, he was still playing for them at the age of 55.”

BILLY PLAYED A ONE-TWO AGAINST A TREE . . . THEN WANTED TO SIGN IT

My former team-mate JIM SHEPHERD came on from Canada, where he has lived for around 30 years, to relay a tale about BILLY BERRINGTON, who died recently.

Billy was a former player with Montrose FC and East Craigie JFC, and was briefly a fellow-player with me at Broughty Athletic.

I also remember him helping out with the training at Lochee Boys Club in the late 1960s.

“I played with him for a season in Kitchener Ontario during one of his several efforts at emigrating,” said Jim, who hailed from the Douglas part of the city.

“Billy was a very skilful player, but he had a real penchant for getting people riled up, even his own team.

“I remember one training session, in particular, when he went round one of the other guys by playing a one-two against a tree.

“He immediately stopped the ball then shouted over to the coach, saying, ‘Sign that tree, that's the best pass I have had all year’.

“The thing is that Billy was deadly serious — and the rest of the players knew it — but stuff like that didn't bother him.”

Jim, who was alongside me as a talented wing-half with Butterburn Youth Club in the 1960s, continued, “Further to Neil Wallace's note regarding Bobby McMahon.

“Bobby is doing a great job on Fox Sports and is on TV almost nightly.”

Jim was always well supported during his football time in Dundee by his dad, Jim, Sen., who was also a committee member at Broughty Athletic during my time there.

One of the traits of Jim, Sen., was his hearty laugh, and many a time you could hear him before you saw him.

He was a real character around the grounds in those days.