Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Who would make best players to be
WITH the passing of Leeds United legend Peter Lorimer came a collective nod to agree he was one of the greatest players to have been born in Dundee.
Lorimer easily slots into the illustrious Dundonian midfield, with the city proud of him and his achievements – even if the glimpses we got of him and his power shooting were mainly confined to Saturday night TV highlights or the times when he graced the Scotland jersey.
If there were any “eh kent his faither” moments regarding Lorimer, the words were always spoken to big him up rather than knock him down.
That is no surprise, with this place by the Tay having a deep appreciation and understanding of the beautiful game, as well as a love of “futba” surging through its streets and spinning around its circles.
If Lorimer is one of the first names on the team sheet for the GOAT (greatest of all time, for those unfamiliar with the acronym), which other Dundeeborn footballers should make it?
What criteria should be used to rate them? Is it a case of comparing olden-day apples with present-day pears?
For example, if a Dundonian were to be in the winning FA Cup team at Wembley at the end of this season there would rightly be an immense sense of hometown pride north of the border.
How many of us, though, know that one of our own, Archie Taylor, collected two FA Cup winners’ medals playing full-back for, respectively, Bolton Wanderers in 1904 and Barnsley in 1912?
Outside left Willie Cook, who had two spells at Dundee and also appeared for Dundee United, spent most of his successful career with Bolton. He lifted the FA Cup in 1929 as well as playing three times for Scotland.
Then there is Dundonian centre forward John Anderson, who scored one of Portsmouth’s goals as they beat Wolves 4-1 in the 1939 FA Cup Final.
Another of the city’s sons, right-half Ewan Fenton, starred for Blackpool in no less than the famous 1953 final, which they won 4-3 against Bolton in front of 100,000 spectators.
The match was to be named the “Matthews Final” in tribute to the great Sir Stanley.
Despite Lorimer staying a weelkent face in the city, it is more difficult to be remembered if you have ventured south.
Take the example of Frannie Munro.
He joined Chelsea as a youngster but came back to Dundee United in his home town still aged just 16.
He quickly became a regular at just 17 and played in one of the club’s most famous matches – the 5-0 win over Dundee, aka the Dens Park Massacre.
Yet, how many Dundonians would be surprised to learn that Munro played in the very first Uefa Cup Final in 1972?
His team Wolves lost 3-2 on aggregate to fellow English side Tottenham Hotspur. Munro had done his bit to get the Molineaux club there, scoring in both legs of the semi-final against Hungarian team Ferencvaros.
Munro went on to lift the 1974 League Cup with Wolves thanks to victory over Manchester City and was capped nine times by Scotland.