Frankie Campbell was in the Dundee Schoolboys team (BwB, June 11) and he, too, confirms the game was played at North End Park.
“We played one game at Craigie Park and the next at North End,” he recalled.
“The third game, which we lost has been handily erased from my memory.
“However, I’m pretty sure that photo was taken at North End’s ground.”
On another note, Frankie can’t wait any longer for his brother to get in touch with BwB.
“My brother Tam (Sniper) keeps meaning to email you with some stories and pictures but I fear he’ll never get around to it,” he continued.
“Tam was signed for Raith Rovers for a while and had trials at Liverpool, where he met Bill Shankly, and Notts Forest, where he failed to meet the legendary Brian Clough.
“Just recently, he let slip a story about how, as a youngster, he came up against a central defence consisting of John McPhail, who later played for Dundee, and Dave Narey.
“Tam managed to score five goals against them.
“Not many people can say they scored five against Dave Narey.”
Tam then got in touch himself on hearing Frankie had contacted me.
“I thought I’d best contact you to make sure he got the stories right,” was Tommy’s opening line.
“In seasons 69-70 and 70-71, I played for St Patrick’s U/16, who were managed by Frank McGinnis, whose son Gary went on to play for United in the 1980s.
“We had a great team that first season and this has previously been featured in BwB.
“There were quite a few lads from Douglas notably Pat (Pandle) Craig, George Morris, who signed for Blackpool, and Jim McCann, who went down to Notts Forest.
“Jake Thomson, from Fintry, and I were younger but were invited down to Liverpool for a trial, where we met the legendary Bill Shankly.”
Tam revealed that St Patrick’s won the league that year but said the following season was dominated by St Columba’s BC, who basically seemed to be a feeder club for Dundee United.
He continued: “Graeme Payne was their star man but they also had a formidable pair of centre-backs in Dave Narey and John McPhail, who went on to play for Dundee, Sheffield United and York City.
“They got the better of us most games but, in one game, played at Caird Park, everything just clicked for us and we managed to beat them 8-3, yours truly scoring five goals.
“You can imagine my delight then when Dave was recently voted best-ever United player I bored my kids for weeks with tales of that game!
“After that match, Jake Thomson, Peter Markie and I signed for Raith Rovers.
“In truth, though, none of us made much of a mark there, though Peter went on to play for East Fife.
“Funnily enough, it was at Methil that I had to shape up against another formidable duo.
“I got a trial at East Fife and was asked back for a game against Rangers reserves.
“I played rubbish but, at 18, perhaps I was overawed playing striker against Scottish internationalists Ron McKinnon and Colin ‘Bomber’ Jackson, both of them in their 30s!
“Still, East Fife did win 2-1 that day.
“Before I packed in the game in my early 20s, I was lucky enough to play for the Dundee Violet team who had a great cup run in 74-75.
“Despite being a Second Division side, we knocked the mighty Linlithgow Rose out of the Scottish Junior Cup after a second replay. There were nearly 5,000 fans at Glenesk Park for one of the games but that’s perhaps a story for another day.
“My brother Frank and I are still regularly in touch with the usual banter about who was the better player, though in truth, neither of us could technically match my 16-year-old son Jamie, who trained with Dundee United last year.”
Tam and Frankie are in this Lawside Academy 1st XI photo (above) from September 1970.
Back row (from left) T Campbell, A McCarle, W Jones, I McGouldrick, A Petrie, W Mollison.
Front row F Campbell, G Smith, G Forbes, A McKenzie, P Craig.
Arbroath fans will remember Alan McKenzie, who played for the Gayfield club for quite a number of seasons in the 1970s.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.