Andy Penman was the theme as Jim Ritchie, of Douglas, Dundee, got in touch.
“None of my friends and family believe me but I maintain Andy Penman made his debut for Dundee FC as a 15-year-old,” he stated.
“However, I know I have read that before.
“I also remember him scoring five goals in a game at Dens.
“My brother-in-law Jimmy Wilson also thinks that players in the early 1960s had to go through juniors before they signed for professional clubs.
“That way, he says, they would be well over 15-16 years.
“Can BwB give the facts on this and also tell me if Penman went into management after he stopped playing?”
Well, first of all, Jim is correct as Andy Penman did play his first game for Dundee as a 15-year-old.
He played against Hearts at Tynecastle on February 7, 1959, just 13 days before his 16th birthday.
But Jimmy may also have a point.
Making your debut as a 15/16-year-old in those days was quite rare.
Also, if memory serves me well, players at that time also signed for a junior club when they were joining a senior side.
This was basically a cosmetic exercise and allowed players to be reinstated freely to the junior grade if they did not progress at professional level.
However, as I say, I’m not 100% sure on this rule. Perhaps a junior old-timer may be able to expand on this?
Back to Penman and he, of course, went on to be part of the Dundee side which won the league in 1962 and made the semi-final of the European Cup the following season.
The game in which he scored five goals was actually a friendly — an 8-2 win at Dens over Swedish side Elfsborg Boras on November 22, 1961.
He played over 200 times for Dundee before being transferred to Rangers in 1967, where he turned out over 100 times for the Ibrox side.
From there, it was on to Arbroath in 1972 and he played just under 80 games for the Red Lichties.
He finished his career in the Highland League with Inverness Caledonian.
I have no details of Penman being in any managerial or coaching role after he hung up his boots. He gained one full cap for Scotland against Hungary in 1966, and also five Scottish League caps.
Such is the esteem he was held in at Dens Park that there is a lounge named after him.
Sadly, he died in 1994, aged 51.
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