“It was in 1918 when some men came into my father’s classroom at St Mary’s Lochee,” said Rob.
“They briefly conferred with the teacher, studied the boys in the class, and then selected a few of them.
“The boys were taken to Cox’s mill and, at 12 years of age, my father started work in the mill.
“The year 1918, when all of Dundee’s young working men were in France, was the final year of the First World War — and the Cox brothers had orders to fill.
“Cox’s mill had a youth programme to promote good healthy habits for young men.
“My father — also Robert — illustrated good co-ordination and played football with local amateur and junior clubs, but he had a penchant for boxing.
“He fought amateur and won the Scottish Midlands title, then turned professional and joined Stewart’s Boxing Booth, which travelled with the carnival.
“At the carnival, outside the boxing tent, a barker would tell people they could have pound notes which he was waving in front of them.
“All they had to do, in a three-round fight, was knock out one of the boxers that were standing in a line behind him.
“This was in the late 1920s — the Depression — when a shilling was a lot of money, and a pound was a fortune.
And they came: The teuchters — big strong lads with never ending stamina. The miners — tough and lean with arms and fists as hard as the coal they clawed from the earth. The street fighters, the hard men.
“All of them eyeing the purse money and knowing what had to be done.
“My father often recalled, when the bell for the first round sounded, they came at you — some of them exploding out of the corner, some of them plodding toward you, but all of them throwing punches at every part of your body.
“If they got close enough, the head was stuck on you and a knee driven to the groin.
“The referee? He was there only for entertainment value. He had never heard of the Marquis of Queensbury, let alone that there could be rules.
“My father was taught by experienced ring craftsmen how to make it through that first round.
“You had to. If you knocked out an opponent, the crowd would not be happy and might not come back.
“God forbid that you were knocked out as Stewart’s Booth would have to pay out the purse, and you were out of a job. When you survived that first round, you knew you were in control.
“Anyone who has boxed — or tried to — knows how physically difficult it is to go three minutes in a ring. To go three rounds of three-minutes — without training and conditioning — is almost a physical impossibility.
“And so it was with the challengers. In round two, holding up those arms became difficult. In round three, they could barely raise them, so the booth boxer would take them out — and that was OK with the crowd.
“My father did a stint with the booth and was then offered a 15-rounder for the featherweight championship of Scotland.
“The fight was to be at the Caird Hall in Dundee against the title holder Jim Cowie (see picture at foot of column), another Dundee lad and a worthy champion (he later stayed in the Alexander Street area).
“At the end of his career, Jim Cowie had climbed 97 times into a professional boxing ring.
“During my teenage years, at work and when I was old enough to step into a pub, I would listen to my father’s generation talk about the Jim Cowie-Robert Boag fight.
“They said it was the greatest 15-rounder ever seen in Dundee, the fighter versus the boxer.
“My father’s friends and fans say he put on a boxing clinic that night — and that may be — but, at the end of 15 rounds, Jim Cowie was still standing and retained his title on points.
“Dad walked away from boxing after that, and started work as a labourer with the GPO.
“He then took on the biggest fight of his life, going to night school.
“Over the years, he caught up to the education that was stolen from him and then surpassed it.
“At the GPO, he drove a company vehicle with licence plate number GLP 112.”
FIRST DOZEN
Dundee reader TERENCE O’FEE was watching the Antiques Road Show recently, which came from Sheffield on that day.
“The first item up for scrutiny was a membership card for the first-ever amateur football club from 1863,” said Terence, of St Mary’s Road.
“Everybody and his brother knows the beautiful game was cradled in Sheffield, but, while examining the ancient card, which was in excellent condition, the expert made an almighty gaffe.
“He stated that Sheffield were instrumental in founding the English League, the very first in the world.
“Not so.
“The very first football league in the world was formed on March 22, 1888, in a Fleet Street hotel in London by the following 12 teams, which I’ve listed in alphabetical order — Accrington Stanley, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Derby County, Everton, Notts County, Preston North End, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers.
“You will note that no team from Sheffield was included or, for that matter, none of the so-called big four — ie Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea or Liverpool.
“I used to catch workmates out with the question — name just four of the founder members of the English League.
“Of course, they would all start with the above-mentioned teams, only to find they were wrong.”
WHY DOES GORDON HAVE THIS PHOTO?
GORDON BRUCE, former mine host of the Arctic Bar in Dundee, sent in the photo below of ST CLEMENT’S AFC from season 1964-65.
“I just don’t know why I have this particular photo, as I never played for St Clement’s,” said Gordon, of Dalkeith Road, Dundee.
“I know just three of the players in the photo.
“Extreme left at the back is Jimmy Gibson, with his brother Andy three from the left.
“In the front centre is George Wright.
“It would be great to get all the other names,” concluded Gordon, who, amongst others, played for Gillburn Rangers and Ashdale in the old Angus Amateur FA.
