The North End Fives alarm clock story from early April provoked a response from John Carlin.
“In reference to Danny Brady’s story about the fives, I also have his photo and the goalkeeper is, indeed, John Carlin, who was my father,” confirmed John.
“Sadly, he passed away a few years ago.
“The player on his left is Alec Wright, who, along with his brothers Bud and Adam, played for Coldside Rangers, who were a team in the Dundee Juvenile league.
“The photo must be pre-1950 as my father was born in 1923 and you could only play in the juveniles until you were 27.
“After they left the Coldside team, they played for an amateur team called St Mungo’s.
“They must have been good players as one of the teams reached the semi-final of the Scottish Cup.
“My father told me that they travelled through to the west to play a tie around New Year’s Day, stopping at a few hostelries on the way as they did not think that the game would be on.
“However, the referee gave the go-ahead for the match to be played.
“My father said the pitch was just a sheet of ice, and so bad that he was wearing a pair of football socks OVER his boots to try to stay upright.
“They were beaten in the end by, as I recall, a team from Jordanhill PE College.
“It would be interesting to hear if anyone could expand on this story.”
“Unfortunately, apart from Danny Brady and Alec Wright, my father also never could remember the names of the other two lads.”
Hopefully, someone else can come in and name them.
John concluded by being very complimentary.
“Keep up the good work in your BwB column. I look forward to reading about the players I played with and against, and how they are doing.”
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