A Photographic History Of Scottish Football

[Eednud]

^^^ Top picture is Dundee’s outside right Tommy Robertson taking a corner in  Dundee v Aberdeen on New Year’s Day 1936. Game ended 2-2 in front of 22,000 fans. Have read somewhere that the top photo wasn’t during the actual game but staged before kickoff. Not sure if the bottom picture is from the same game but would smoke be reeking out of work’s lums on a holiday?

[hk blues]

2 hours ago, Eednud said:

^^^ Top picture is Dundee’s outside right Tommy Robertson taking a corner in  Dundee v Aberdeen on New Year’s Day 1936. Game ended 2-2 in front of 22,000 fans. Have read somewhere that the top photo wasn’t during the actual game but staged before kickoff. Not sure if the bottom picture is from the same game but would smoke be reeking out of work’s lums on a holiday?

I find it hard to believe, but I read that New Year's Day didn't become a public holiday until 1974.

[AyrshireTon]

20th October 1979

Morton hosted top-of-the-league (and unbeaten) Celtic at a time when we were 2nd, Rangers 6th and Hibs bottom.

Lots to see here - 

70s perms, fans mixing behind the goals, Bobby Thomson running in to deliver a full GIRFUY to Murdo MacLeod after the penalty miss and the famous free-kick that won the game.

We cut Celtic's lead to one point and a couple of weeks later our part-time side went top of the Premier League.

 

[Eednud]

1 hour ago, hk blues said:

I find it hard to believe, but I read that New Year's Day didn't become a public holiday until 1974.

That was when it became a public holiday south of the border. 

[Salvo Montalbano]

On 16/10/2023 at 21:05, reidster78 said:

And not a coloured pair of boots among them!

They seem to be wearing mouldies too. I guess with the warm weather the pitch was brick hard underfoot.

[hk blues]

4 minutes ago, Eednud said:

That was when it became a public holiday south of the border. 

When did New Years day become a holiday in Scotland?

 

 

1974

 

As well as Christmas Day becoming a public holiday in 1958 in Scotland, both Boxing Day and New Year's Day achieved public holiday status over a decade later in 1974.

[Eednud]

6 minutes ago, hk blues said:

When did New Years day become a holiday in Scotland?

 

 

1974

 

As well as Christmas Day becoming a public holiday in 1958 in Scotland, both Boxing Day and New Year's Day achieved public holiday status over a decade later in 1974.

I’m no historian but think it fell into the category of a common law holiday so it was always a holiday. Nobody would have been in a fit state for work anyway pre 1970’s. Surprised about 1958 for Christmas as I can remember family members and friends going to work on Christmas Day in the 1960’s and a some in the early 1970’s plus a young me had to deliver Tele’s then out again to deliver the Sporting Post on Christmas Day 1965.

[hk blues]

12 minutes ago, Eednud said:

I’m no historian but think it fell into the category of a common law holiday so it was always a holiday. Nobody would have been in a fit state for work anyway pre 1970’s. Surprised about 1958 for Christmas as I can remember family members and friends going to work on Christmas Day in the 1960’s and a some in the early 1970’s plus a young me had to deliver Tele’s then out again to deliver the Sporting Post on Christmas Day 1965.

Yep...I was highly dubious about the 1974 date as I was 9 then and I am pretty sure I remember New Year's Day parties and my old man etc being present.  Probably a terminology difference.  

[Ranaldo Bairn]

Younger folk I tell about, sorry moan about, Christmas becoming more significant in Scotland than NY only recently, find it hard to grasp. 

Especially when I tell them my paternal grandparents were married on December 25th in the 30s and it was no big deal. 

[Dundee Hibernian]

21 hours ago, ScottyDee1893 said:

I think A. Bruce back left may be Dundonian Alex Bruce who spent all of his career in England, primarily with Preston North End. If my memory serves me right he was regarded as a bit of a cult hero by the NE fans

Aye, I mentioned him in the listing. Also played at Newcastle and Wigan. He was,as you note, a big hero at Deepdale, top scorer for several seasons.

[Dundee Hibernian]

5 hours ago, Eednud said:

^^^ Top picture is Dundee’s outside right Tommy Robertson taking a corner in  Dundee v Aberdeen on New Year’s Day 1936. Game ended 2-2 in front of 22,000 fans. Have read somewhere that the top photo wasn’t during the actual game but staged before kickoff. Not sure if the bottom picture is from the same game but would smoke be reeking out of work’s lums on a holiday?

The bottom pic looks like an icy surface, not waterlogged. Possibly a completely different day. 

[ScottyDee1893]

2 hours ago, Dundee Hibernian said:

Aye, I mentioned him in the listing. Also played at Newcastle and Wigan. He was,as you note, a big hero at Deepdale, top scorer for several seasons.

Apologies fella, I missed that

[tamthebam]

23 hours ago, HibeeJibee said:

The top picture was used in The Absolute Game fanzine with the caption "Just try to float it over to the back post"...

[PossilYM]

16 hours ago, Ranaldo Bairn said:

Younger folk I tell about, sorry moan about, Christmas becoming more significant in Scotland than NY only recently, find it hard to grasp. 

Especially when I tell them my paternal grandparents were married on December 25th in the 30s and it was no big deal. 

Only became an official holiday in Scotland in 1958.

398 years after it was banned in Scotland in 1560.

[rollstar]

On 20/10/2023 at 07:38, AyrshireTon said:

Morton hosted top-of-the-league (and unbeaten) Celtic at a time when we were 2nd, Rangers 6th and Hibs bottom.

Lots to see here - 

Also this seems to show the old rule (still applied in rugby union) that when there was a clash it was the home team that played in its change strip. I had thought that ended in the early 70s in Scottish football.

[rollstar]

14 hours ago, PossilYM said:

Only became an official holiday in Scotland in 1958.

398 years after it was banned in Scotland in 1560.

A very important point to remember. Before 1560 Christmas was as big in Scotland as it was in every other Roman Catholic country. It was only after that that new year became the bigger festival here. I have a "Boy's Book of Steamships and Trains" given to my grandad by his cousin on 31/12/1912 (ironically it heavily features the fantastic new Titanic, which had already been on the bottom of the sea for several months by then).

The other thing about new year here is that January 1st was our new year's day going way back. In England new year's day was March 25th until long after the 1707 union, so even when Christmas was temporarily banned in England in the 17th century they wouldn't have switched to having a celebration on January 1st.

Edited October 21, 2023 by rollstar

[AyrshireTon]

22 minutes ago, rollstar said:

Also this seems to show the old rule (still applied in rugby union) that when there was a clash it was the home team that played in its change strip. I had thought that ended in the early 70s in Scottish football.

The home team changed (in the event of a clash) until the 81-82 season. From then on the change kit became "the away kit".

[HibeeJibee]

Remember too the government formalising a national bank holiday in law doesn't equate to it suddenly becoming observed in radically different ways to how it was before. It would as likely be recognising what had already evolved.

Christmas Day had become a local holiday in parts of Scotland - either via customs of employers and institutions or the actual policy of parish, burgh or county councils - long before the 1950s. It's been discussed before, but Third Lanark v Dundee was an established game of Christmas Day in Glasgow every year literally for decades: other than the apocryphal explanation attributing it to the Jews, there was clearly a holiday audience for it. Other matches clearly used Christmas Day as a weekday holiday... indeed in 1939 under war restrictions they played the Glasgow Cup Final on Monday 25th December.

(You still see this with Easter Monday which has never been recognised as a public or bank holiday in Scotland... we get January 2nd instead... but is actually observed locally across most councils. However culturally Good Friday football was barely tried in Scotland - while in England the Easter weekend remains a mainstay of holiday matches upto and including EFL). 

What it didn't have until the 1960s was the same status as New Year and not until the 1970s did it become taboo to run football on Christmas Day when it fell on a Saturday. In recent years football has become increasingly taboo on Christmas Eve too (which EPL haven't used for almost 30yrs).

Simultaneously our tradition for New Year's Day derbies has dried-up... SPFL seem to prefer evening matches between Christmas and New Year, or using January 2nd holiday.

Meanwhile in Ulster they still play a lower-level cup final on Christmas morning.

Edited October 21, 2023 by HibeeJibee

[Lurkst]

The late great Bobby Charlton scores on his international debut at Hampden in a 4-0 win for England.

He maintained a slight edge over Scotland throughout his career, Pld12 W5 D3 L4.

 

[Dundee Hibernian]

Forgot to explain this last night, the photograph is from a 1981 match where 44 year old Bobby Charlton played for a Scotland XI v and England XI at Old Trafford. The match was a testimonial for ex-PFA secretary who retired that year, Cliff Lloyd.

I assume Charlton appeared as a substitute late in the match, as the original line-up listed for the Scotland XI was  composed entirely of Scots.

Here's a link to the programme for anyone interested:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275437883130

Edited October 22, 2023 by Dundee Hibernian