Image description

SPORTS HISTORY BLOG

Over 250 articles on all aspects of Scottish sport

Image description
Published on
Picture
I have quite a large programme collection, covering many memorable games, but the above issue is one of the most poignant. From sixty years ago this week, it represents the last match ever played by Leith Athletic.
   The port club had struggled for years in the shadow of Hearts and Hibs, a fate also reserved for St Bernard's, Edinburgh City and latterly Meadowbank Thistle. Post-war reorganisation meant Leith found themselves confined to the wasteland of Scottish League Division C in the 1950s. The club and its supporters needed a better level of competition to bring in crowds to New Meadowbank, and in the face of the Scottish League's refusal to admit them (and other 'wee' teams) to Division B, in the summer of 1953 they took the drastic step of resigning from the League altogether.
   However, the club remained in existence and was duly entered into the Scottish Cup for 1953/54, given an away tie at Highland League side Fraserburgh. The skeleton club recruited a mixture of free transfers and half-forgotten players, played a few friendlies to prepare, and headed north for the cup match on 30 January 1954, backed by a busload of supporters. If they could beat this modest opponent, who knows what riches the second round draw might bring?
   The match was a cliffhanger: Finnie put Leith ahead after half an hour, Fraserburgh quickly equalised, half time 1-1. Goals flowed in the second half: 2-1, 2-2 (McKenna), 3-2, 3-3 (Dalziel), 4-3, 5-3, and finally 5-4 (Peat) with just a few minutes left. Fraserburgh's fifth goal was hotly disputed by the visitors, the linesman saying the ball had not crossed the line, but the referee overruled him. And so Leith were out, facing a long trip home, and oblivion. Attendance 2,181, gate receipts £189. 
   Fraserburgh's reward? A home tie against Hearts! Just imagine what that could have done for Leith's finances, to keep the club going until 1955, when the Scottish League did, after all, reorganise. But it was not to be: the club had no means of starting up again and was formally wound up the following year.
   A new Leith Athletic now plays in the East of Scotland League, but it is not a direct relation to the old team.  I know a fellow football historian is currently writing and researching the history of the original club, and I look forward to reading the full story.
Picture
Published on
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the challenges in tracking the clubs of two high-profile footballers with the same name, Thomas McInnes. But while their careers coincided, at least they did not play for the same team.
   Now, I've finally cracked a mystery that has eluded me for a long long time: the two players called James Gourlay who both played for Cambuslang and were both capped by Scotland.
   Most reference books simply state that J Gourlay of Cambuslang won two Scotland caps in 1886 and 1888. Doug Lamming's Who's Who of Scotland Internationalists identifies him as James McCrorie Gourlay (1860-1939).   
   But a few years ago I stumbled across an obituary that revealed the man capped in 1886 was James Gourlay (1862-1926). This was covered in a discussion thread on the scottishleague.net forum.
   It gets complicated, so bear with me. The Cambuslang team that played in the 1888 Scottish Cup Final, losing 6-1 to Renton, contained three Gourlays: H Gourlay who scored, J Gourlay in midfield, and J Gourlay on the left wing. Newspapers of the day generally called the latter J Gourlay (1) and the midfielder J Gourlay (2). Contemporary books confirmed there were two players called J Gourlay, and mentioned an Annbank (Ayrshire) family connection. DD Bone's Scottish Football Reminiscences gave their names as James and John.  This caused me all sorts of confusion as I searched for a John Gourlay who fitted the bill.
   I drew up detailed family trees for Gourlays in Cambuslang and Annbank, and found to my horror that there were two large families, each with numerous Johns and James. All I could be certain of was that they were not related - the Gourlay family of Annbank had come from Ireland early in the 19th century, while the others had always been in Cambuslang. However, several of the Annbank Gourlays had moved in the 1880s to Cambuslang to work in the coal mines so even the census returns were confusing.
   There was also an S Gourlay at Cambuslang from 1892, and various other Gourlays playing at Annbank, including two called Owen, senior and junior.  Where did they all fit in?
   After a long sequence of trial and error, I could not find a John Gourlay who could have been the missing internationalist of 1888. So this week I went to the National Library of Scotland and looked up obituaries on microfilm, which finally revealed the second J Gourlay's identity. 
   The Ayr Advertiser of 16 March 1939 had an obituary for James McCrorie Gourlay who had died the previous week at Annbank. He was "one of three Gourlays in the Cambuslang team, better known as 'White' Gourlay, centre half. His cousin Hugh, whose death took place at Annbank a few weeks ago, was inside left, and another James Gourlay, a native of Kirkhill, was inside left. 'White' Gourlay was capped for Scotland v Wales in 1888." Mystery solved! And, after all, Doug Lamming was half right in his Who's Who.
   In brief here are the summaries of the footballers:
   J Gourlay (1) capped for Scotland v Ireland in 1886, was James Gourlay, born Cambuslang 30 October 1862, died in Cambuslang 8 June 1926 (killed by a bus). He played for the town team from about 1884-1890. He is not related to any of the other Gourlays below.
   J Gourlay (2) capped for Scotland v Wales in 1888, was James McCrorie Gourlay, born Annbank 1 November 1860, died Annbank 10 March 1939. He played for Annbank, then Cambuslang just 1887-88 before returning to Annbank. His brother Owen Gourlay (1856-1932) played for Annbank; his brother Samuel (1873-?) played for Cambuslang in the early 1890s. His son James Gourlay (11 Jan 1888-12 Sept 1970) played for Everton and Morton, scoring the winner in the 1922 Scottish Cup final; another son John (1885-1930) played for Annbank. His cousin Hugh McKail Gourlay (1865-1939) played and scored for Cambuslang in the 1888 Scottish Cup final; Hugh's brother Owen (1861-?) played for Annbank and was club secretary in the 1880s. There were other football relatives, and also James's descendants include David Gourlay, the world bowls champion. All in all, an extraordinary sporting family!
Published on
Picture
I've just finished reading a fascinating new book on Canadian football, and while that may not immediately seem relevant to Scottish sport, there is a wealth of material unearthed by Les Jones in Soccer: Canada's National Sport.
   This excellent coffee-table size volume is packed with anecdotes and photos in its 250 pages. Of particular interest to Scotland there are the stories of pioneers such as Perthshire-born David Forsyth, considered as the father of Canadian football, and David Kerr Brown from Ayrshire, who promoted the ambitious 1880 tour of Canada by the Scottish FA (which was abandoned following the death of SFA secretary William Dick).
   Football was played in Canada by Scots long before the foundation even of the Scottish FA: as early as 1823, Hudson's Bay employees played a Christmas challenge; and in 1864 the St Andrew's Society of Ottawa organised matches. Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, the SFA's official annual contained detailed accounts of Canadian soccer, emphasising the links that were sealed by tours of the British Isles in 1888 and 1891. 
   And there is much more, through the tours of the 1920s and 1930s, to the modern era. It is, primarily, a celebration of the sport and all makes for an entertaining and informative volume.
   You can read all about Canada Soccer Stories at this link, and while airmail postage may make it expensive for UK purchasers, it does represent a worthwhile investment.

Archives

Author

All blog posts, unless stated, are written by Andy Mitchell.