Montrose boss didn’t bother to watch Les before signing him

Junior players a couple of times before thinking of a signing, but Barr was so highly recommended by my own scouts and had so many other clubs interested in him that I felt I must go after him.”

Barr, who is tall for a winger, has just returned from a trial with Nottingham Forest, the club that took Jimmy

McIntosh from Montrose. Raith Rovers, Dundee, Blackpool and Arbroath were also interested in Barr, who can play in several positions.

In another cutting, in Les’s own words, he summarised his career, saying:

“I joined Montrose in 1971 from Stobswell Juniors and stayed at Links Park until 1978 when I was transferred to Dundee.

“I moved back to Montrose in 1982 and saw out my playing days there.

“That was not the end of me at Links Park, however, as I went back in 1989 for Jim Leishman and Cammy Fraser to coach the reserve team for two years.”

■ FROM THE ARCHIVES . . . There was a spell in the early 1960s that the SFA asked their English counterparts to ban Scottish youngsters from taking part in an “apprentice player scheme”.

I picked this up when looking for something else and it came into being in the summer of 1961. However, I have no idea how long it lasted, but it couldn’t have been too long as, certainly, a few years on, Dundonians such as Eddie Bruce, Jimmy Stewart and others were signing for English clubs.

Before the ban, the final player to take part in this scheme was Dundee youngster Bobby Smith, who signed for Burnley after impressing locally for his Rockwell school team and Butterburn Youth Club.

The 16-yearold schoolboy internationalist couldn’t settle down south and Dundee United boss Jerry Kerr swooped to take him to Tannadice.

Smith turned out around a dozen times for United and went on to play for St Johnstone and Montrose.

A few weeks ago, reader Rob Boag mentioned his brother Neil and Lochee Boys Club. He has sent in this cutting from Neil’s time at LBC, and he is second from the left in the article seeking to attract older kids to the club.

A few Dundonians are in this photo of Brechin City celebrating winning the Scottish Second Division in season 1989-90, with boss John Ritchie holding the trophy. Players are (back row, from left) – H Hill, W Scott, P Ritchie, G Hutt, R Brown, G Lees, S Gillespie, A Brash, P Sexton, I Pryde. Front row – IG Paterson, C Candlish, S Wardell, R Baillie, F Conway, D Lawrie.