Former Riverside Athletic striker Ronnie Mitchell recalls the time his grandad fought in World War One.
William Stewart Orchison also played football locally.
Ronnie said: “My grandfather fought in the Somme in WW1 in 1915.
“He was injured over there and had to have one of his legs amputated,
“The reason I am contacting you is that he went on to be involved with a football team which I don’t know much about.”
Ronnie sent in a photo (above) of the team, Seafield AFC from 1928-29, and continued: “My late grandfather is secretary-treasurer in the centre of the middle row with the tie on.
“Can you find out more about this team and the trophies in front of them.”
Our super archives team were able to dig out sparse info on Seafield.
From cuttings, it would seem they had their first AGM in 1883, suggesting they were reasonably newly-formed at that time.
They are still mentioned as late as 1951 in reference to an abandoned match in Montrose.
Their clubrooms were situated on Taylor’s Lane and were utilised by the Hawkhilll Harriers.
Does anyone recognise the team name and/or any of the trophies?
Ronnie Mitchell made his name as a prolific striker for Riverside Athletic, who swept the boards in the Angus Amateur FA, then had similar successes in the Midlands Amateur FA in Dundee.
Junior clubs came calling and he signed for North End.
He recalled: “I played in the first ever Cream of the Barley Cup Final at Thomson Park, beating Aylth United.
“There were no medals for the winners in this competition. Instead, we were given Cream Of The Barley cufflinks.
“At that time, I didn’t even own a shirt with sleeves!
“Great players such as Ronnie Kenneth, Jim Kinness and Danny Murphy were all playing for Alyth at that time.”
Ronnie emigrated to South Africa for a spell and played for the Wit’s University team.
On his return to these shores, he joined North End and had other spells with Violet, Lochee United, East Craigie and Broughty Athletic, in addition to a return to the amateur grade with NCR.
Ronnie is a director of Dundee-based timber preservation and asbestos services specialists Intona Limited. The 61-year-old is a former pupil of Gilburn Primary School and Kirkton High School in Dundee.
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