The photo of the Butterburn YC U/18 Scottish Cup Final team, which appeared on May 16, brought a response from Linda McNaughton.
Linda opened: “My cousin George Beat played in that team but he was not in that photo you printed.
“He also doesn’t think any substitutes were allowed at that time.
“I told him one reason might be his mum (my auntie) had maybe grounded him that day for being naughty.
“Another reason, I thought, might have been the fact he broke his jaw during a match around that time but he told me that injury came later when he played for Lochee United.”
To try to clear things up, I spoke to Dave Bruce, who was in the Burn team that day.
Dave said: “Yes, I remember George. He was a big lad, a good player, and played full-back if I remember correctly.
“Most teams carried a squad of players and, unfortunately, like they still do today, some players inevitably will be left out of matches.
“I also think George may have been with the U/17 Butterburn team, who played at that time in the U/18 League.
“It was Burn policy at the time that the better players from the younger team would supplement the older team’s squad in Scottish Cup ties.”
Linda revealed that George now lives in Meigle after a career in insurance which saw him move to several locations in the UK.
With Royal Insurance, he eventually attained the mantle of area manager for the UK and Northern Ireland.
Linda continued: “George also remembers the Traynor brothers having a lot to do with Lochee United, who he also played for.
“George loved his football, but he seemed to lose touch with a lot of his team-mates by his early 20s because of his job.
“He always mentioned names such as John Duncan, Norrie McGowan, Pippy Prain, Dave Bruce and, of course, Hamish McAlpine.
“He was also sad to hear of the death of Iain Brown. George lived in Fintry until he got married in 1970.
“He is an avid Dundee fan and, since his retiral, has followed the team home and away.”
Concluding, Linda said: “I love your page, and have been sending your articles to George for years when he travelled all over the UK.”
The wonderful Gellatly Street FC photograph, courtesy of John Rae Donaldson, appeared on June 27.
And, early on the morning of publication, Ron Breen got in touch with information.
We had asked for info on the team, and if anyone knew where this photo was taken, and Ron offered convincingly: “These look like the huts on Dock Street around where the old Empress dance hall, which we called ‘The Tonk’, and Royal Arch used to be located.
“The team probably used one as changing-rooms.
“If you look closely at the photo, you can see the Royal Arch ‘peeking’ out at the back, along with a bit of the clock.
“Because of the location, they may have played games at Carolina Port.”
Ron (72), of Byron Crescent in Dundee, revealed he didn’t play much football himself “apart from the pub team!”
However, local soccer pedigree in his family is certainly high as his brother is Martin and uncle is George, both well known in local football circles.
And to further cement that pedigree, his stepson is legendary Lochee United goal getter Brian Flynn.
So, I went back to the original photo sent in, which was obviously cropped to fit the page.
And there, sure enough, is the Royal Arch in its glory with its famous timepiece!
For some reason, I just didn’t “clock it” at the time!
This grainy photo is listed as the Lawside Academy U/15 football team from season 1954-55. Can you help with putting names to the players and also any tales such as how successful they were?
Games being called off is not that unusual – unless you are Lincoln City and Coventry City.
On January 5, 1963, the FA Cup tie between the clubs was called off due to inclement weather and re-scheduled a few days further on.
That was also postponed, then again and again and again!
The fixture was called off a total of 15 times before a match was finally played 66 days later on March 6.
For the record, Coventry City eventually beat Lincoln City 5-1.
Any player who scores four goals in the same match would normally be thrilled with his achievements.
But not Aston Villa defender Chris Nicholl, who scored four goals on March 20, 1976.
The only problem being that he scored two own goals for Leicester City, with the match finishing in a 2-2 draw.
Nicholl gave Leicester the opening goal before equalising for Villa just before half-time.
The big centre-half would then go on to give Leicester the lead again with a great goal in the second half before drawing level once more for Villa late in the match – creating one of the greatest game reviews in the history of the game.
The defender recalls the afternoon well and laughs about the moment, saying his biggest frustration about it all was that he didn’t even get the game ball that day.
He said: “The third goal, Leicester’s second, was a cracker.
“It was the best goal I ever scored – diving header. No goalkeeper would have saved that.
“Fortunately, my fourth counter equalised for Villa, so that was a relief.
“So after scoring those four goals in that 2-2 draw, I asked the referee if I could have the ball.
“The ref said: ‘No, this is my last match and I am keeping the ball’. Just my luck, I suppose.
“So, it was my first hat-trick in a Villa shirt and I didn’t even get the ball.”
https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/dundee-united-pele-dens-park-dickie-boag-holiday-league/
This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.