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Old Highland League days....


Tichy_Blacks_Back

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On ‎2‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 3:18 PM, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

Jags.jpg

What a strange perspective! The Prison looks as if it's right beside the Cathedral with the River completely obscured. Argyle St looks very wide and Kingsmills Rd very narrow. With no stand there at Kingsmills Park, I wonder what the date is? Some of the houses in Broadstone Ave also seem to be missing. They were presumably built later at the bottom of some of the Broadstone Park back gardens.

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John Gordon was a long time friend of my father, from 5th company BB days.  He stayed with us in Inverness a few times, including when he refereed the exhibition match against Celtic which inaugurated the Jags' floodlights.

He stayed in Newport-on-Tay and worked for Keillers in Dundee.  Remember that this was long before the Internet, video and DVD.  Whenever he refereed in Europe, he would take big bags of Keillers sweeties with him. Just before the match, he would go round the photographers, giving them bags of sweeties and his address, saying "If you get any good photographs of me, please send me a copy."  He had a really good collection!

Dave Williamson I knew through the Thistle and also through the golf club at Culcabock. Lovely man. He was a leftie, so you had to be careful where you stood when you were playing golf with him.

And everyone knew Jackie Sutherland!

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  • 3 weeks later...
On ‎2‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 7:18 PM, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

Jags.jpg

Is that taken post-war? It looks like a flag pole next to the large hut and there appears to be what looks like an entrance to the ground where the stand eventually went up. Also there is no raised area and sloped bank behind the far goal as there was in later years.

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  • 3 weeks later...

It's clearly a "seniors" team, and that isn't one of the trophies that a Highland League first team could win. It's still a substantial trophy, though.

The photos to me suggest late 50s or early 60s. Before substitutes, anyway - only 11 players in the seated pic (and 10 in the other!). 

At first I thought the ground in the seated picture might be Telford Street before the Howden End enclosure was built (I don't know when that was) . But I am really not sure about the ground.

I have a feeling this is not Thistle. Even if it was a senior team, I'd have expected to recognise some of the faces - of the officials if not the players. As I said, that's a serious trophy! Could this be a works team, with a strip based on or borrowed from Thistle, or that just happens to look like Thistle's in black and white?

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1 hour ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

I have a feeling this is not Thistle.

You could well be right Snorbens and there are two pieces of evidence in the photo supporting your theory - the twin unlikelihoods of Thistle winning a trophy and of their notoriously parsimonious committee stumping up for individual trophies for the players. :lol:

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13 hours ago, Charles Bannerman said:

... the twin unlikelihoods of Thistle winning a trophy and of their notoriously parsimonious committee stumping up for individual trophies for the players. :lol:

My father was secretary at Thistle for a couple of years - shortly before they won the League twice in a row.

Early bath for your two-footed foul, CB. :redcard:  

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On ‎4‎/‎15‎/‎2017 at 7:59 AM, snorbens_caleyman said:

My father was secretary at Thistle for a couple of years - shortly before they won the League twice in a row.

Early bath for your two-footed foul, CB. :redcard:  

I actually remember that vaguely. Must have been fun having to do Jock's bidding!

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46 minutes ago, Charles Bannerman said:

Must have been fun having to do Jock's bidding!

It wasn't - which is why he walked after two years and many rows. (And I wanted to move on from playing the records on match-days at Kingsmills :wink:)

Having said that, Jock was undoubtedly successful at hauling the Jags from the bottom of the league to the top. One wonders what he would have made of this season at ICT...

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15 hours ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

It wasn't - which is why he walked after two years and many rows. (And I wanted to move on from playing the records on match-days at Kingsmills :wink:)

Having said that, Jock was undoubtedly successful at hauling the Jags from the bottom of the league to the top. One wonders what he would have made of this season at ICT...

So you were responsible for the best play list in the Highland League in the early seventies :smile:

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On ‎17‎/‎04‎/‎2017 at 11:42 AM, snorbens_caleyman said:

Sadly, no - I was there at the end of the 60s. Can't remember what I played, apart from the Dambusters' March!

By the early 70s I had moved on.

 

caleysmall.jpg

Bad luck....poor timing missing the skills and goals of Ian Stephens and the original Don Cowie :smile:

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1 hour ago, Kingsmills said:

Bad luck....poor timing missing the skills and goals of Ian Stephens and the original Don Cowie :smile:

Ian "Chipper" Stephen.  And Johnny Cowie. Tony Fraser. Bobby McLean. An incredible goal-scoring machine.  They were all there in the couple of seasons before they won the league.

Johnny Cowie's wife never saw him score :lol:   She used to sit in the stand reading a book, and would only look up when the rest of the crowd went wild.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 1 month later...

Snorbens

Well, I am glad that I went this far back on this post today because one of my longings over the years was to be able to look at J R P Gordon's face because it brought back some quite vivid memories. 

I remember him at a Hibs match at Easter road  when I lived in Edinburgh  a long time ago  As soon as his name was announced my interest pricked up since he had a most distinct style of moving that  I never forgot. When he blew for a foul he would race at top speed  to the point of the indiscretion with the top part of his body pushed well forward and his legs turning  ferociously as if his life depended on it. At the same time his arm with the whistle suspended on the end of it was also  pointed forward at the same spot, until he arrived, just  like a spear  that was on a mission which brooked no challenge. It truly was a sight for sore eyes and he left no doubt in your mind, whether you liked it or not, that that WAS a foul. And I don't ever recall a player arguing the toss with JRP.

I never forgot his name nor the place associated  with it (Newport on Tay) and there is no doubt that he was synonymous with character and entertainment. I never questioned his judgements because (a).  it was pointless :tongue:, and (b). no one would have shared your view anyway  because who could not like him, the man had such verve and style.:clapping:

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Cheers, Scarlet.

Another of John Gordon's stories was about a time he was refereeing an Old Firm game. The teams were warming up, when the pitch was suddently invaded by a large bunch of students. It was either Rag Week or some protest - I can't remember. They spread out and were running around all over the pitch, so that it was impossible for the police to catch them. There was no sign of them leaving the pitch, and, with the stadium crammed to capacity wih rabid OF fans ready for the match and/or a fight, it was potentially a very nasty situation.

So John grabbed the nearest one, and asked him who the "heid bummer" was.  (First time I'd ever heard that term.) Then he called the boss student across and said "I've got to get this game under way. Here's what'll happen. I introduce you to the two captains, and you get to shake their hands. Then you toss the coin. After that, you and your mates get off the pitch. Do we have a deal?".

Deal!

Edited by snorbens_caleyman
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On 8/23/2018 at 11:02 AM, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

How many can you name ?

 

Select.jpg

This must have been before my time. I dont recognise any. Then again, for the most part, i only really recognise old Caley players, from about 1978 onwards

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