Brechin City: 1906-1920, the Early Years

By ALEX. WOOD

 
CHAPTER 2             BRECHIN CITY’S FIRST TWO SEASONS, 1906-1908
 
1906-07: Finding Their Feet
 
THE FIRST PLAYERS
The early Brechin City signings included David Gourlay, the old Harp and AberdeenUniversityhalf back, a native Brechiner.  David Nicoll, a slater from Laurencekirk, where he had been born in 1884, had played at left half for Brechin Hearts in 1905-06 (but had played against Hearts for a Kincardineshire Select XI in March 1906[1]) was a regular in the early City line-up.
William Chapman, “a tall youthful player with a good turn of speed” had played for both Harp and Hearts, moving from Harp to Hearts about October 1905.  William Bruce Chapman had been born in Brechin in 1888 and was therefore only eighteen when he signed for City.   He was a former right back, signed to be played as an outside right.[2]  Ultimately he was to play right back, outside right and once even centre half during his three consistent seasons with City prior to his departure to Montrose.
Brechin next signed W Graham, formerly of Dundee Wanderers and Montrose, who turned out at inside left in almost every game of the season, and Morrison, from Arbroath Rovers who was the regular goal keeper for the season.[3]
Shortly before the season started James Lyon, the ex-Harp player who had played for Dundee FC’s A team the previous year, was signed on amateur forms, having been reinstated from his professional status.  He played left back in most of Brechin’s games over the season with three appearances at right half.  Although born in Dundeein 1882, James Sedgley Lyon was by this time resident in Brechin, of which his mother, Lovina Smart was a native, and in which his father, James Lyon, was hotel keeper of the Star Hotel inSouthesk Street.  Lyon, a hairdresser to trade, was to captain the team for at least four seasons and become a fixture of City in the early years.  He was playing regularly until season 1911-12 and continued to turn out occasionally over seasons 1912-13 and 1913-14.
Knowles of Dundee West End and John Ower of St Johnstone signed professional forms.[4]  Knowles appears to have played for City on only three occasions and to have departed by the end of September but Ower was a regular at either right or left back until December 1906 when he disappears from the team lists. Moncrieff arrived early in the season from Perth Roselea.[5]
James Mitchell Caithness also came from Brechin Harp.[6]   Caithness had been born in Edzell in 1882 but by 1901 was residing in Brechin.  He had played for Harp in seasons 1904-05 and 1905-06 and had been a Scottish Junior trialist[7] in 1905 as well as playing a trial game forFalkirk.
George Smart, another former Harp player, played one game for City in 1906-07 and then turned up during the next season playing his football in Australia, scoring a hat trick in New South Walescup semi-final.[8]
Notable also among the new signings was James Melvin.  James William Melvin was born in 1881 in Brechin.  He was a coach painter to trade.  He played for Forfar Athletic in seasons 1904-05 and 1905-06 but moved to his home town team in its inaugural season.  He was a regular in the City line-up over the club’s first four seasons, playing usually at right half but occasionally at left half or inside right.  In April 1908 he played for the Forfarshire XI against Perthshire.  He played one game for City in season 1911-12.
David Easson, another of the most successful of the early City players and another native Brechiner, came from Arbroath FC, having previously been with Montrose and, prior to that, Brechin Hearts.[9]  While with Montrose he had played for the Forfarshire XI in the1905 inter-county challenge against Perthshire.[10]  He had been born in 1884 in Brechin, was one of a family of at least eleven and was a baker to trade.  Easson was a frequent goal scorer, heading the City’s lists in two of the first three seasons.  He was also an almost constant presence, appearing in every traced team sheet in the first two seasons.
It was not until close to the end of the first season that City appears to have taken its first player from Brechin Rovers when Colin Hampton, later to be famous as a Scottish League internationalist and as a war hero, made his debut as a trialist goal keeper in two end-of-season games.[11]
DAVID GLEN
Davie Glen, to become one of most famous of the early City players, had played for, and been captain of, Brechin Hearts before joining City early in the 1906-07 season.  His name will reverberate through these pages.
David Glen was born at Crosshill, in the parish of Brechin (less than a mile beyond the town boundary, on the Montrose road) on 31^st March 1881.  His parents were David Glen, a farm servant, and Mary Ann Glen (nee Cook).  By 1891 his father was dead but David’s widowed mother, himself, his two brothers and two sisters remained at Crosshill. By 1901 David Glen was residing inKinnaird Place with his widowed mother and his sisters and was noted as a bleachfield worker.
One splendidly written memorial of David Glen, from the pen of one his contemporaries, remains.  David Gourlay was one of the earliest Brechin City signings in 1906.  He was then playing for AberdeenUniversitybut was noted as previously having played for Brechin Harp.  By his own confession he also played for Brechin Hearts. Gourlay played only two games for Brechin in that inaugural season.  He graduated from Aberdeen Universityand became a school teacher in Glasgowbut retired prematurely from his profession on medical grounds.  On his return to Brechin he produced a series of literary sketches of Brechin characters.[12]  One of them was of David Glen.  Gourlay outlines Glen’s character as well as his footballing skills, describing him as “a real doon-the-tooner…. Brechin to the core in its sturdy independence, its reliability, its unspoken affection for the woods and fields and its loyalties to its native sports.”  Gourlay paints a picture of Glen’s physical appearance: rather short in stature, but deep-chested and of tremendous strength.
Prior to the war Glen was employed at the East Bleachfield.[13]  Gourlay indicates however that Glen’s traditional employment was as a quarrier but that when work at the quarries dwindled he took what unskilled labour came his way.  “I have seen him toil through a summer’s day with steady persistence, pausing to ‘dicht the swite’ from his brow, or to take a puff at his short clay pipe and then at it again….. When winter held up building or road mending, he was a grand ‘pu-er o’ neeps’….  Glen was a son of radical Brechin, shrewd in his judgement of men and motive, if lower in condemnation than the generation which followed: and when, work over, he met his fellows at the Port, no opinion was valued more than his, as it fell slowly from his humorous lips.”
David Glen played Junior for Brechin Hearts and is regularly noted on the Hearts team lists, at either centre forward or inside right, in seasons 1904-05 and 1905-06.[14]  Adams notes him as the captain of Hearts.[15]  Gourlay notes him as having given “all his strength and power” to Hearts and also noted that when he himself played for Harp at centre half, Glen’s “broad shoulders would send me often to the ground while he moved off, his taciturnity released into a smile of satisfaction.  I smiled too, for he ‘nothing common did or mean’ in these lists at Viewforth or Nursery.”  Glen played inside left for the Forfarshire Junior XI in October 1905.[16]  On3rd August 1906 he played for Brechin Hearts against Brechin Harp.
On the 15^th of August 1906 however, he featured in the Brechin City team which played a friendly against Montrose, Brechin City’s first official game as a senior club.  With that engagement commenced one the finest relationships between a  player and the club in City’s history.  He again lined up on Saturday 18^th August when Brechin City played East Fife in the Northern League, City’s first ever competitive game.   He was however back in the Brechin Hearts line-up against Dundee Stobswell on the 1^st of September and against Dundee Renton on the 20^th of October.  He turned out for Brechin City on the 3^rd of November 1906 against Forfar and seems to have played for City thereafter until close to the end of the season, his last game apparently being against East Fife on the 9^th of March 1907.  He played for the Forfarshire Select in March 1907 when the Perthsire Select won by two goals to one.[17]  He then played four games for Dundee in the latter part of season 1906-07, one on the right-wing and three at centre forward.  His first game for Dundee, on 23^rd March 1907, was a 0-0 draw against Celtic in Glasgow in front of a 35,000 crowd.[18]  He returned to Brechin for the start of 1907-08.
 
THE SEASON STARTS
Brechin City Football Club, as it is known today, came into existence therefore in 1906.  After its foundation, the club took over the lease of NurseryParkwhich had, until then, been the home of Brechin Harp.[19]
The Northern League had been founded in 1891 (initially comprising Our Boys, East End, Harp – all from Dundee – Montrose, Arbroath, Forfar Athletic,  St Johnstone and Aberdeen)  because the leading Scottish clubs from the west would visit the north eastern clubs only at new year.[20]  City was admitted to the Northern League for the start of season 1906-07, joining East Fife, Lochee United, Lochgelly United, Hearts of Beath, Kirkcaldy United, Wanderers (a Dundee team which played at Clepington, now renamed Tannadice), Dunfermline Athletic, Arbroath, Montrose, Forfar, St Johnstone and the Reserve XIs of Dundee andAberdeen.
BrechinCityalso played in various knock-out competitions such as the Forfarshire Cup, the Qualifying Cup and the Consolation Cup.
Brechin’s first game as a senior club was against Montrose atLinksParkwhere the new team enjoyed a 1-0 victory over the established club.
Brechin’s first competitive game was against East Fifeat Bayview in the Northern League on 18 August 1906.[21] East Fife won 4-1.
 
THE CUP COMPETITIONS
In its first season, 1906-07, Brechin City defeated Montrose 3-2 in the first round of the Qualifying Cup but was defeated 4-0 by Arbroath at Gayfield in a replayed second round Qualifying Cup game after having drawn the initial encounter at NurseryPark, 2-2.[22]  Arbroath also defeated Brechin, 3-0, in the one Forfarshire Cup game City played in its first season.  Four other games, friendlies and a benefit game, resulted in two wins, a draw and a defeat.
 
THE FIRST LEAGUE CAMPAIGN
Twenty-six games were played in the Northern League.  Of these, City won 11, lost 11 and drew 4.  Three-one victories were recorded at NurseryParkagainst both Arbroath and East Fife.  The worst defeat of the season was at Kirkcaldy by Kirkcaldy United who scored four for no reply by Brechin.  The club completed the Northern League that season a creditable seventh out of fourteen.[23]

	P	W	L	D	G f	G a	Pts
Kirkcaldy Utd 1=	26	15	5	6	62	28	36
Dundee A 1=	25	16	6	3	47	25	35
Lochgelly Utd	26	14	7	5	53	32	33
St Johnstsone	25	11	7	7	43	47	29
Dunfermline  Athletic	26	11	10	5	47	34	27
Aberdeen ABrechin City	2526	1111	911	54	4347	3652	2726
Arbroath	25	9	9	7	43	33	25
East Fife	26	10	12	4	41	40	24
Lochee Utd	25	10	11	4	42	44	24
Wanderers	25	9	11	5	31	44	23
Forfar Athletic	26	7	12	7	37	48	22
Montrose	26	7	13	6	31	61	20
Hearts of Beath	24	1	19	4	22	62	6

At the AGM of the Northern League it was stated by the secretary that “BrechinCitywere deserving of great praise for the meritorious show they had made in their first year of seniorism.”[24]
 
THE STATISTICS
At the Annual General Meeting of the club at the end of the season it was noted that City had not had a player on the books a few weeks before the season started but had finished creditably.  Income for the year was £328 13/5½d.  Expenditure was £317 17/3½d.  Home gates had generated £159 13/6½d and away gates £118 13.5d.  Players’ outfits had cost £35, travelling expenses £96 4/4d and players’ wages £37 15/-.  £82 2/9d had gone to visiting clubs as their share of the gates.  George Cumming was elected president and Mr R.N. Clift as secretary.[25]
Three Brechin players, Lyon, Glen and Graham, had been selected to play for the Forfarshire Select in its annual match against the Perthshire County Select in March 1907.  Forfarshire won 2-1.[26]
Records exist of thirty four games played by the club in its first season.
David Easson was noted as the only player to have played in every game.  Team lists have been traced for thirty three out of the thirty four games played and Nicoll with thirty games, Morrison and Lyon with twenty nine games each, Chapman with twenty six, Moncrieff with twenty five, Brand with twenty three and Melvin with twenty one also had consistent records.  Davie Glen, who had moved, briefly, toDundeetowards the end of the season, played eighteen times.
Scorers have not been traced for all games but Easson scored at least fourteen times in that first season, with Graham netting at least four and Glen at least three.
The line-ups tended to follow fairly clear patterns.  Morrison played in goal on twenty nine occasions, with the young Colin Hampton playing twice.  Jim Livie, previously Harp’s keeper but by then the regular keeper for Brechin Hearts, made a single appearance between the sticks late in the season and Thomson also played one game in goal.  Chapman and Ower had seventeen and thirteen games respectively at right back with Lawrence, McKenzie and Morgan playing there once each.  Lyon and Ower had twenty six and four games respectively at left back.  Hunter played at left back twice and Gordon once.
The half-back line was slightly more variable.  Melvin occupied the right half berth on twenty one occasions,Lyonand Strachan on three each, Brand and Smith on two each and Duncan and Moncrieff once each.  Nicoll was the regular centre half, playing there in twenty nine games, with Skea appearing twice and Chapman and Gourlay once each.  Moncrieff occupied the left half position on twenty three occasions, Smith six times and Strachan, Nicoll, Buchan and Maxwell once each.
The forwards rotated positions more frequently.  Easson wore the number seven jersey on twenty four occasions but Chapman, usually the right back, also played on the right wing eight times. Donald played once at outside right. Brand, who had twice played at right half, was the regular inside right with twenty one appearances.  Hunter also played at inside right, three times; Glen, Salmond andClarkeach occupied the berth twice and Easson, Fyfe and Gourlay once.  Glen was the most regular centre forward with sixteen games but Easson with eight, Hunter and Knowles with three each and Strachan, Richardson and Sim with one appearance each also filled the number nine spot.  Although Easson with his thirty three narrowly took the appearances record, Graham who played thirty two games, all at inside left,  appears to have been the most consistent player in his own position although Burness played at inside left once. Caithnesswas the regular left winger with twenty four games; Ritchie also had four games at number eleven and Moncrieff, Strachan Hunter, Rough and Smart all had one each.
The first season had ended well.  No trophy had been won but the club had established itself as a serious contender for future honours.
 
 1907-08: a Cup Marathon and the First Championship
 THE PLAYERS
As the 1906-07 season came to an end, City started to prepare for its second senior campaign.  Easson and Chapman were the first of the old guard to re-sign.  R Clark of Arbroath St Thomas and a native of Arbroath, A Skea of Arbroath Fairfield (both of whom had been twice trialled at the end of the previous season) and Alex Shand of Forfar all signed for City.[27]
Shand was born in Brechin in 1884 and was a lapper in a linen mill.  He had played for Brechin Harp in 1904-05 and gone to Forfar at the end of that season.  While there he had been selected as a reserve for the Forfarshire team in the inter-county challenge with Perthshire.  He was the uncle (although only three years older) of William Chapman and the two of them had been brought up in the same household by Shand’s parents.  Shand was to be a regular in the Brechin line-up for the next five seasons prior to his move to Dundee.
Melvin was the next of the old squad to re-sign.[28]  Milne who had played for Brechin Hearts in 1904-05 and for Lochee United in 1906-07, signed for City in July.[29]
Lyon remained with City on amateur forms.  W Don, the former Raith Rovers keeper, joined the club. David Easson, Davie Glen and D Graham, “last year’s fine trio of forwards (were again) in their respective positions” and Harry Brown, from Dundee, joined them.[30]  Brown however, briefly a regular player in the City forward line, transferred to Raith Rovers in December 1907.[31]
Steve McDonald had also transferred to Brechin from Dundee and appears to have played some five games for Brechin in late 1907-early 1908 before transferring in January 1908 to Aston Villa, the first City player (though not the first Brechiner) to make the move down south.[32]
George Richardson joined City and excited considerable interest from other clubs.  Richardsonwas born in Brechin in 1885 and was a joiner to trade.  He had played for Brechin Hearts in 1904-05 and 1905-06, moving to Brechin Rovers in 1906-07.  He played for the Forfarshire Junior Select in 1907 and played one game in 1906-07 for BrechinCity.  He played for City for one season, playing in seventeen games at either centre forward or inside left and was a prolific scorer, netting at least ten goals, with a hat trick against Dunkeld and four against Lochgelly United.  He was selected, along with Melvin, to play for a Forfarshire Select against the Perthshire Select in April 1908.  The Forfarshire reserves for that select included Hampton, Easson and Graham of Brechin.  George Richardson was also the sole Brechin player selected for a Northern League XI in March 1908.[33]  He then returned to Junior football playing for Brechin Rovers in season 1909-10.
Another regular for Brechin, usually at left half, for part of the season was Willie Campbell.  Campbellhad played for Montrose and, while there, had been selected as a reserve for the Forfarshire XI against Perthshire in 1905.[34]  He had also played hockey for Brechin Hockey Club and had been professional for Montrose Cricket Club.  His participative sporting activities had to be reduced however when he was appointed green-keeper at Edzell Golf Club, the duties of which post would “prevent him following either football or cricket”.[35]  (He in fact played fairly regularly for Brechin in the following seasons.)
 

THE CUP COMPETITIONS: EIGHT AND A HALF HOURS WITHEAST FIFE
Although City went out 2-1 to Lochee United in the first round of the Forfarshire Cup, an impressive 6-1 victory over Lochee United was achieved in a replayed first round Qualifying Cup tie at NurseryPark.  Unfortunately St Johnstone then defeated Brechin 4-0 in the second round.
A superb run however in the Consolation Cup (defeated Dunkeld, 5-1; Clachnacuddin, 3-1; Dunfermline, 2-1; Kirkcaldy United, 3-0) propelled the Brechin club to a marathon tussle with East Fife in the quarter final of that competition.
The first game, at Nursery Park on 14 March 1908, resulted in 1-1 draw.  The replay at Bayview was goal-less.  The second replay was at Clepington Park (later renamed Tannadice), Dundee, where the score was again 1-1 despite an extra thirty minutes.  For the third replay on 1 April the venue moved across the road to Dens Park and on this occasion the outcome was 0-0, again after extra time.  On the following day the sides played their fifth tie, again at Dens Park, and East Fifewon by two goals to nil.[36]   The two clubs had created a record, having battled against each other for eight and a half hours before reaching a settlement.  Almost exactly the same team played in all five games: Hampton, Chapman, Lyon, Melvin, Shand, Skea, Easson, Clark, Glen, G Richardson and Vass, with the only change being Campbell playing at centre half rather than Shand in the first and second replays.  This was a team of talent and loyalty: Hampton was to move to Motherwell and gain a Scottish League cap before playing for Chelsea and Crystal Palace but ultimately returning to Brechin; Chapman, a stalwart who was to move to Montrose; Lyon, ex-Dundee, and Brechin’s long time captain; Shand, ex-Forfar captain and ultimately of Dundee; Skea, a loyalist in the early seasons; Easson, ex-Montrose, ex-Arbroath, then of Forfar before returning to City; Clark, was to play briefly for Arsenal; Glen, was to play for Dundee and Milwall; Richardson, ex-Brechin Hearts, who was to return to Junior football with Brechin Rovers; Vass, the one player of whom little is known; and Campbell, sportsman in the round, hockey and cricket player, green-keeper at Edzell golf course and long-time City loyalist.  Despite that marathon however, City had the stamina to achieve a sustained and enormously successful league campaign in 1907-08.
 
THE NORTHERN LEAGUE: FIRST TRIUMPH
In 1907-08 the Northern league comprised thirteen clubs, Hearts of Beath having dropped out.  Brechin had a spectacular league season which started with a notable win at Methill againstEast Fife.  After their fifth game they topped the table, a position they scarcely surrendered for the remainder of the season despite a 5-1 defeat at the hands ofDundeeA in November.  The club’s record league score in the course of that campaign was 6-1 against Lochgelly United atNurseryPark.
The end of November however saw a dramatic local derby with Forfar (which Brechin narrowly won, 3-2) and in which a spectator “entered the field and struck a Forfar player”.  As a result Brechin’s Nursery Park was closed for a week “and the club ordered to post warning bills”.[37]
At the club’s half yearly meeting on 7^th January 1908, George Cumming, the club chairman, “congratulated the members on the prosperity that had attended the club, and expressed the hope that the Northern League championship would be secured”.[38]  When the club’s AGM occurred in April there only remained three league games to play.  George Cumming stated that they “had created a record that would take some beating in the Consolation Cup, and there was a good possibility that the Northern League championship would be annexed.”  [39]
City fulfilled George Cumming’s hopes, winning two of their remaining three league games and completing the season top of the Northern League, having played twenty four games, won fourteen, lost six and drawn four.[40]  Although not every team in the league completed their fixture list, it was clear that none of Brechin’s rivals, even had they won every outstanding game, could have ended the season with a higher points total than City.[41]

	P	W	L	D	G f	G a	Pts
Brechin City	24	14	6	4	53	38	32
Lochgelly Utd	23	13	7	3	59	43	29
Arbroath	24	12	8	4	56	44	28
St Johnstone	22	13	8	1	53	31	27
Dunfermline  Athletic	24	11	8	5	45	42	27
Aberdeen A	23	10	8	5	36	32	25
Kirkcadly Utd	23	11	10	2	47	36	24
Forfar Athletic	23	11	11	1	47	43	23
East Fife	19	10	8	1	44	35	21
Dundee A	19	6	9	4	33	42	16
Montrose	22	7	13	2	26	51	16
Lochee Utd	22	5	14	3	32	56	13
Wanderers	22	3	16	3	27	74	9

To have won the championship of the Northern League against clubs with much longer pedigrees and with much stronger populations bases and to have done so in the club’s second season was a major achievement.
 
THE STATISTICS
At the club’s AGM George Cumming was re-elected as president, James Law was elected vice-president, R N Clift as secretary and A Rankin as treasurer.  Income of £434 0s and 4d was reported, providing a modest credit balance of £4 8s 8½d.[42]
Team sheets have been traced for thirty nine of the forty three games played that season and a partial team list can be ascertained for one other game.  Chapman and Easson each played in at least thirty nine games, Shand in thirty seven, Graham and Glen in thirty six and Melvin in thirty four.  Skea and Clark with at least twenty six appearances, Hampton with twenty one and Brown with eighteen were all regular team players.  Of the scorers who have been identified, Easson tops the list with at least eleven goals, Richardson had ten, Davie Glen had at least nine, Graham eight, and Brown, Clark and Melvin five apiece, three of Melvin’s being penalties.
The Brechin team for its second season had a fairly regular pattern to it.
A named photograph of the Brechin Cityteam from that season shows the following players: J Melvin, D Glen, W Chapman, W Don, A Shand, A Skea, D Easson, R Clark, J Lyon, W Graham and H Brown.[43]  That particular combination of players played four games together over the late October-early November period in 1907.
Don, who had signed from Raith at the beginning of the season, played thirteen games in goal in the first half of the season, with Steele substituting for him on six occasions.  By December Don had moved to Wanderers and Colin Hampton, the Brechin Rovers keeper, who had two trial games in the previous season, started to wear the gloves and bunnet and was established by the end of the season as Brechin’s regular keeper with twenty one appearances.  Chapman established the right back berth as his with thirty five appearances, Shand and Lyon playing there on three and two occasions respectively.  These same three players shared the left back position, withLyon’s thirty five appearances there making him the regular and Chapman’s three and Shand’s two covering the other games.
Melvin was regular right half with thirty three appearances, Milne, Hunter, Skea, McDonald, Campbell and J Richardson each turning out once at number four.  Shand with thirty two appearances andCampbellwith four, Skea with two and Milne and Chapman with one each were the centre halfs.  There was fiercer competition for the left half berth with Skea appearing twenty two times, Campbell and McDonald five times and Milne thrice.
Easson was the regular at outside right with thirty seven appearances.  Clark and Graham each notched up seventeen at inside right, with Glen playing there three times and Milne and Eddie once each.  Glen’s regular spot was at number nine where he played thirty two times, his vacancies being covered by G Richardson five times, Easson twice and Clark once.  Graham had nineteen games and G Richardson twelve at inside left withClarkplaying there five times, and Glen, Petrie, Smart and Dakers once each.  The outside left spot was also vigorously contested.  Brown had eighteen games, Vass nine, Petrie five, Milne three, Clark two and Lyon, Skea and Dakers one each.
Several players had single appearances for the club.  One of them was James Low Bushnell, who played at left half.  Bushnell was a Brechin Hearts regular and was the brother in law of David Nicoll, Brechin’s regular centre-half of the previous season.
 
CHAPTER 3 MAY BE ACCESSED AT https://www.alexwood.org.uk/2012/08/brechin-city-the-early-years-chapter-3/
BUILDING THE ARCHIVE
The author of this article would be glad to hear any information which corrected, improved or enhanced any of the information given here and would be delighted to hear of any readers who have documents, photographs, articles or simply memories or knowledge of any of the names mentioned or of any other Brechin footballing connections with the 1914-18 War.  The author can be contacted at:
info@alexwood.org.uk .
 
Any such material will be used to supplement this article.
 

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Tangerine Dream, independent Dundee United fans website http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Park/8250/united.htm
WELLnet, Motherwell FC website http://members.lycos.co.uk/kissmyzeus/pa/h.html
Birth Certificates were traced for most mentioned men and marriage certificates for several via Scotland’s People, the web site for the General Register Office forScotland, from which were also traced census entries http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/
 
In addition the following individuals and institutions were of enormous assistance in compiling the material on which this article was based and their efforts and support is acknowledged with gratitude:
 
Chelsea Football Club (Claire Lait);
CrystalPalaceFootball Club (Rev Nigel Sands);
DundeeFootball Club (David Forbes);
DundeeUnited Football Club (Mike Watson and Steve Gracie);
Bill and Agnes Hampton, Brechin;
Jenny Hill, The Brechin Advertiser;
James Livie, Brechin;
Ken Macaskill, ofEdinburghand formerly of Brechin
Steve Mitchell, Editor,BrechinCityProgramme and Director, Brechin City FC;
Jack Souter, Luthermuir;
The Staff, Brechin Public Library;
The Staff, The National Library ofScotland.