I’ve gone on record many times as saying he was the best player I’ve witnessed in the dark blue of Dundee.
“I was reading Charlie Cooke’s autobiography recently and he mentioned he played for Scotland against Wales at Hampden in 1965, a couple of weeks after Scotland had famously beaten Italy in a World Cup qualifier at Hampden, with John Greig scoring,” said Craig.
“The following game against Wales, which saw Scotland record a 4-1 win, was described as one of our best performances in years.
“Cooke starred in midfield and, with the likes of Jim Baxter and Billy Bremner around at that time, Scotland had a wealth of talent — world-class talent.
“My parents moved from Glasgow to Dundee in the summer of 1965.
“My dad took me to see a League Cup section tie at Dens in August with Dundee playing Dundee United.
“I was just eight at the time and I remember it was a 0-0 draw.
“Was Charlie Cooke playing that day?
“Later, at New Year, United were at home to Dundee in the league on a really frost-bound day.
“Again, I think it was 0-0 and I remember the Dundee fans chanting his name, but my only real memory of the match is the United keeper Donald Mackay making a fanastic save.
“What contribution did Charlie make that day?
“The reason for my interest is that his book reminded me of his brilliance.
“I saw him on TV regularly playing for the great Chelsea team of the late 60s early 70s.
“He would, undoubtedly, be a major star today.”
Scotland beat Italy 1-0 at Hampden on November 9, 1965, then beat Wales 4-1 at Hampden two weeks later.
The team v. Wales was — Ferguson; Greig, McCreadie; Murdoch, McKinnon, Baxter; Henderson, Cooke, Forrest, Gilzean, Johnston.
Cooke signed for Dundee from Aberdeen for £40,000 and made a scoring debut at Dens in a 4-0 win over Airdrie on December 19, 1964, striker Alex Harley getting a hat-trick for the Dark Blues.
At the start of the following season, Dundee fought out a goalless draw with United at Dens, with Cooke playing.
Dundee’s team was — Donaldson; Hamilton, Stuart; Cousin, Easton, Houston; Murray, Penman, Bertelsen, Cooke, Cameron.
United lined up — Mackay; Millar, Briggs; Munro, Smith, Wing; Carroll, Gillespie, Dossing, Mitchell, Persson.
The only other times the city teams met that season resulted in a 3-1 League Cup win for Dundee at Dens (September 1), then a heavy 5-0 loss for the hosts at Dens (September 11) and also a 2-1 reverse at Tannadice (January 3). Cooke played in all three games.
He also played against United that season in a 1-0 Forfarshire Cup win at Dens (October 23).
Cooke was transferred to Tommy Docherty’s Chelsea for £80,000 just before the end of that season.
TIMEX OFFICIAL IDENTIFIED AS ALAN
The “Unknown” official in the Timex AFC team of the 1980s (BwB, Nov. 9) has been named as ALAN HENDERSON (left).
Thanks to Broughty Ferry’s BRUCE RALSTON, Lochee’s JIM WATSON, Menzieshill reader ALAN BROWN, Dundee FC commercial manager DAVE FORBES and others for their input.
UNCLE JOHN HIT 13 GOALS IN ONE GAME
TONY PRIOR, of Carnoustie, recently unearthed this old football photograph (below) and thought it might be of interest to BwB readers.
The picture shows MORGAN PLACE boys football team taken around 1950.
Even though he is the smallest in the photo, Tony was the goalie.
Tony said, “The team was fairly unusual in that all the boys, apart from one, lived in Morgan Place, Dundee.
“Six of the team members went on to play for Parkside Hearts in the Angus Amateur league in the mid-1950s — Jack, Freddy, Ron, Murray, Doug and Gibby.
“Parkside Hearts were formed, I think, by Doug Crumley, Sen., Bill Petro and John Hinnie, who were also Morgan Place residents.
“Two of the team went on to play for Downfield Juniors — Jack and Freddy. Another interesting point about this photo is that Doug and Andy Crumley are the great nephews of famous Dundee goalkeeper Bob Crumley.
“The late Gilbert Petrie, in the front row, also had two famous great uncles — Bob Petrie, who played for both Dundee and United, and John (then 18), who went into the book of records for scoring 13 goals for the Red Lichties in the legendary record-breaking 36-0 win over Bon Accord in the Scottish Cup.”
