Invergowrie reader Tom Hegarty posed a query regarding a 13-0 home defeat for Dundee reserves against city neighbours United.
The July 5 piece brought a response from Donald Gellatly.
“I wouldn’t normally read an article about Dundee losing 13-0 to Dundee United but I was unfamiliar with your tale of the 1993 reserve derby that ended with such a score, so I did a little research,” said Donald, a regular contributor to these pages.
“Dundee were not doing very well on or off the field at the time (surprise, surprise) with infamous owner Ron Dixon showing signs of disinterest and cutbacks to the first-team squad and managerial changes.
“In addition, the club sat rooted to the bottom of the Premier League.
“There was talk of scrapping the reserve team but a second XI was entered into its respective league, although most of the players came from the youth team.
“While it was reported that seven of the reserve players who lost 13-0 to United were trialists, only one was not either employed on a full-time or Youth Training Scheme contract.
“John ‘Cowboy’ McCormack’s reserve side consequently lost the first three fixtures of the season to Raith Rovers (8-0), Aberdeen (3-0), then Hibernian (8-0), so the thrashing by a strong United outfit full of first-team regulars maybe wasn’t such a shock, although an early red card received by Max Christie certainly didn’t help!”
Donald listed the The Dee’s reserve XI that night as — Barry Thompson, Jack Ross (St Mirren/Falkirk), Marr (trialist), Craig Tully, Donald McDonald (16-year-old), Max Christie, Iain Anderson, Lachlan Armstrong, Graeme Cadger, Dragutin Ristic and Neil McCann. Subs — Marcus Dailly and James Simpson (15-year-old).
Donald went on: “The reserve goalkeeper in that game was Barry Thompson, from Aviemore (not Billy Thomson).
“Barry’s father ran a restaurant called the ‘Ski-ing Doo’, which was one of the best hamburger/steakhouses in Scotland until it was sold a few years ago.
“Barry was actually praised following the 13-0 defeat by United for making several good saves to keep the score down, although he never went on to play for the Dark Blues’ first team. Indeed, Thompson holds the club record for sitting on the bench the most times during a competitive game without getting on to the field (55 occasions).
“However, the young goalkeeper did go on to enjoy a fairly long career in the Scottish senior leagues with Montrose, East Fife, East Stirlingshire and Ross County.”
George Aimer also confirmed the goalie was Barry Thompson, offering: “I was surprised to see him playing for Carlisle United at Ilkeston Town when I went there to watch an FA Cup tie.”
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