Ken MacDougall, on behalf of his eldest brother Allan, is on the lookout for information about an old football team.
Said Ken: “My eldest brother Allan, is 82, and has had football in his blood since he was a boy.
“I wonder if you could give a wee mention to him some time soon.
“I am the black sheep of the family and hated sports day.
“I used to forget my gym shoes on purpose but our ‘tyrant’ of a PE teacher Tom Hermiston (featured recently in BwB) made us do it in bare feet (circa 1958).
“However, my other brothers, who all also went to Morgan Academy, were all football daft — three of them.
“So much so that Allan started his own football team called Parkdale, around early 1947.
“They played on pitches at Caird Park and I wonder if you or your readers may have old photos or bits of copy relating to the team.
“Allan now lives in Bridge of Allan but grew up in Kirkton, Dundee.
“He used to do sports reports for various papers and has been a lifelong supporter of Dundee FC, although recently has a yen for Liverpool FC.”
Ken sent in this photo (above) of Allan, who was captain, with his Parkdale team-mates. Unfortunately, there are no names with the photo but Allan is in the centre of the front row.
Ken also let me peruse Allan’s Parkdale notebook, which he started for the 1949-50 season, a couple of years on from when they were founded on January 8, 1947.
Their first game, according to the notebook, was an U/16 friendly against Lawton Victoria, which they won 4-0, with goals by Logie, Livie and Hegarty (2).
Parkdale lined up — Drummond Bowman; Fred Drurie, William Nicoll; Robert Robb, Allan MacDougall, Fulton Inglis; David Logie, Livie, Pat Hegarty, Wilson, Robert Fernie.
Around the same time, they were trying to start an U/18 side and their first outing was a 6-5 loss to their own U/16 outfit.
The U/18 team, on August 29 that year, also then recorded a 4-0 win over Lawton Vics, with goals by Keith (2), Gormley and Fagan.
The line-up for that match was — Gibson; Fagan, Ross; Gormley, Soutar, Black; Martin, Brown, Keith, Borland, William Hegarty.
At the end of that 49-50 season, the U/16 team won just six of their 27 games, conceding 94 goals.
The U/18s also just emerged victorious in six encounters out of 28 games played, letting in 104 goals in the process.
Allan noted in the book . . . “we are finishing in poor light and are on the downgrade.”
At the back of the book were several full names of the players and their addresses.
This even included one John Brown, who resided at 17 William Street.
As far as I am aware, he is no relative of mine, with most of the players staying in the Coldside, Beechwood and Glens areas of the city.
I can’t find any other info on this Parkdale team. If any reader knows anything about this team, or recognises a relative in one of the line-ups, then get in touch.
Ken concluded on another theme.
He said: “As a schoolboy, I went to the match when Manchester United played an evening game at Dens.
“This was when their fifth team was supposed to be as good as Dundee, who won 5-1. Do you remember that one?”
Indeed, I do, and this game was highlighted recently in BwB as it was Bobby Charlton’s first-team debut for Man U.
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