A group of young pals from the same area of Dundee were all ballboys together at Dens Park in the late 1950s.
And most of them are still great friends to this day and they regularly meet up for a chat and to reminisce over old times, especially getting the ball back in to play at Dens.
“We were all brought up in and around the Morgan Street area,” said Douglas Petrie, of Rothes Park, Gotterstone, Dundee.
“Some were from Morgan Street, Morgan Place and Craigie Street.
“It was a great time to be a ballboy at Dens in the late 1950s with the big crowds.
“Mind you, sometimes you got pelted with small stones if you stood in front of a fan with the cry usually . . . ‘Get oot the way’.”
Douglas (71) also had his brother Willie (69) alongside him on duty.
He remembered: “At half-times in games, we used to get a cake.
“So, you usually tried to do ballboy duty either in front of the main stand or at the old TC Keay end. That way, when the half-time whistle blew, you would be first to get back inside to get the best cake.
“There were some great players and personalities at Dens at that time.
“Ian Ure always had time to chat to ballboys and trainer Sammy Kean was a real gentleman.
“Even during his time at Dens, he always remained a big Hibs fan.
“Pat Liney, who is back as an ambassador at Dens, was also good fun.
“I can remember on more than a few occasions that, if Dundee were winning going into the later stages of a game, Pat would shout: ‘Take your time in getting the ball back!’
“He was another real gentleman.”
Douglas, a retired electrician, and Willie, a retired toolmaker and mechanical engineer, are still season ticket holders, and Willie remembers one game in particular.
“It was a night game against Hearts and it was drawing to a close,” said Willie, who stays ‘just across the back’ of Douglas in Strachan Avenue, and who played for teams such as Douglas
U/16, Timex and Low and Bonar, before having a stint in Australia.
“The referee blew his whistle and the tannoy announcer immediately started playing music.
“I grabbed a corner flag and ran towards the players’ tunnel.
“It was only when I glanced back and saw a player lobbing a free-kick into a packed penalty box that I realised the ref had blown for a free-kick and not for time up.
“The music stopped immediately, and a local photographer said to me: ‘You’d be better putting that flag back in the hole, son’.
“Great times, though.”
Douglas gave me a photo (above) of his time at Dens as a ballboy, with his brother Willie and several of his counterparts.
Back row (from left) — Alex Davidson, Douglas Petrie, Unknown, John Stewart, Edwin Davidson.
Front row — David Cummings, Duncan Leonard, Willie Petrie.
Edwin may strike a chord with some of our local social club-going readers.
Under his professional name of comedian Eddie Davis, he went on to gain great fame locally as local entertainer Bella Nugget.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.