I relayed the sad news of legendary amateur football official Tom Wilkie’s passing in our August 19 edition.
However, it came as a shock to one other equally-legendary local figure.
Former Dundee Lord Provost John Letford said: “I was shocked to hear about Tom, as I didn’t know anything about it.
“I was very sad to hear about that.
“Tom was one of the nicest people in football.
“It doesn’t seem that long ago that we used to see Tom and his wife shopping in ASDA and we’d stop and have a chat.”
In addition to his political career, John, of course was well-known for running successful football teams, in particular St Columba’s Boys Club.
And he wanted to inform BwB readers of a major move very early in the history of the Dundee Sunday Boys League.
In my original article, I wrote . . .
It was only the upsurge of Sunday Boys football which eventually led to the Angus Amateur FA youth leagues folding.
John continued: “In those early days, I was secretary of the Dundee Sunday Boys League, with Alex Baird as chairman.
“We actually approached the Angus AFA first and offered them our teams.
“We said: ‘If you want our teams to join your association, you could have a conveyor belt of teams every season’.
“However, they turned us down.
“The reasons they gave was that they were an amateur outfit, which did not have binding signing-on forms for players.
“Our Sunday Boys League did.
“The Angus committee, I have to say, were all honourable men, and it was just that they did not want to go down that road.
“They were all people of principle, though, and I’ve no doubt they were doing only what they thought was right for them.
“Our next approach was to Jimmy Johnstone and the Scottish Juvenile FA — and he jumped at the chance for us to join.”
It wasn’t easy for the Sunday Boys League in the early days.
John revealed: “In those early days, representatives of the Angus, Midlands and Juveniles approached the council to stop us using the parks.
“Referees were even advised not to officiate at our games.”
Although well retired from front-line politics, John is still involved with several non-football associations, notably the Dundee Transport Museum.
* Jackie Knight, a retired teacher no less, pulled me up on a spelling mistake.
Broughty Ferry resident Jackie, who is also well known in cricket circles and on the after-dinner circuit, commented: “Your article on Rangers v Moscow Dynamo on March 4 listed a ‘Johnstone’ on the left-wing for Rangers.
“His name is Jimmy and he does not have an ‘e’ on the end of his name, as it is spelled Johnston.
“This may seem very trivial but it allows me to tell you that I know this because I was very friendly with his son.
“We were at Jordanhill College together, and he was also a great footballer.
“I was involved in the recent Broughty Ferry YMCA fund-raising sportsman’s dinner and, as we have kept in touch after over 50 years, I invited him through to the event.”
This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.