One reader delighted that former DFC player Gordon Strachan has been appointed Scotland’s manager is Kenneth Brannan, of Greenlee Drive, Lochee, Dundee.
And Kenneth’s reason for his full support of the new Scotland boss is that their paths crossed several times many years ago.
“I sincerely hope his tenure is a successful one,” he said.
“I doubt if Mr Strachan will remember me but I remember him from one of my previous jobs.
“I used to be a barman at the Tay Centre Hotel in Dundee from 1975 until 1977 and Mr Strachan and many of his DFC team-mates were regular customers at that time.
“They were a great fun-loving bunch of players and I remember them all.
“According to some recent newspaper articles, Mr Strachan’s best friend is George Mackie, who also played for the Dee.
“However, some of his other former DFC pals who regularly frequented the Tay Centre at that time were Bobby Hutchinson, Alex Caldwell, Bobby Ford, Tommy Gemmell (who was manager), Derek Laing, Thomson Allan, Ian Purdie and the late Bobby Robinson.
“Bobby Ford always ordered a very strange drink.
“We had to get a pint tumbler, put a tomato juice in it and then fill the glass with Tennent’s Special, and serve it to him.
“I used to joke with my colleagues the drink showed Bobby was an animal off the pitch as well as on it!
“One man who surprised me, though, was Tommy Gemmell, a smashing bloke who turned out to be totally different to what some members of staff myself included expected him to be.
“What we expected due to Tam’s great success with Celtic over the years was a brash, over-confident man who would be the life and soul of the party.
“However, Big Tam was nothing like that. He came across as a very intelligent, quiet, much reserved kind of person who never offended anyone or said a single word out of place.
“Tam would come into the bar with some colleagues but he would then find a quiet corner and keep himself to himself.
“Tam did, however, have a sense of humour. On one occasion, Tam came to the bar to buy a drink and, as he waited to get served, one of our other customers spoke to him.
“The other chap was a bit of a toff and he spoke with quite a posh accent. He said to Tam, ‘I haven’t been to a football match for many years but I see your team are playing rather well at the moment. I’m thinking of going to Dens Park to watch your team this coming Saturday. What type of seats do you have in the grandstand? Are they benches or tip-ups?’
“Big Tam replied: ‘Yes, we are playing rather well, sir, and if you do go to Dens Park you won’t need to worry about what kind of seats we’ve got because the way my team’s playing you’ll be on your feet cheering all the time!’
“I was standing behind the bar about three feet away from them and I heard every word. I was in stitches.
“On another occasion, one day, near the end of the football season when his team had a few recent adverse results, one customer came up to Tam at the bar (who was minding his own business and waiting patiently to get served).
“The other chap said to Tam, ‘You’re Tommy Gemmell, Dundee’s manager, aren’t you?’
“Big Tam, polite as ever, smiled at him and replied, ‘Aye’.
“The other chap then said, ‘Tam, if you get beat on Setterday ye’re oot!’
“Big Tam just collected his drink and walked away, laughing his head off.
“If my memory serves me right, I think Tam’s last game in charge at Dens resulted in a 5-1 victory for the Dee over Celtic.
“Although the pay was low, I had some of the happiest days of my working life working at the Tay Centre.
“Even now, all these years later, I still laugh when I think about how I got a job there. I was standing in the queue at the bar one Thursday evening waiting to be served. The bar’s manager, the late Doug Thomson, was serving behind the bar (as they were very short-staffed).
“When I went up to get served, Doug who had never met me before said to me, ‘And what do you want?’
“I said the first thing that came into my head and replied, ‘I want a job’.
“Doug replied, ‘Have you got any experience behind the bar?’ I said, ‘No but I’ve got plenty experience in front of it. I know all the prices’. I was hired on the spot and I spent my next two years learning about bar work and learning about life.”
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