Treasures from city’s oldest boxing club
Fascinating facts about Perth Railway Boxing Club - Perth’s oldest, with a history going back to 1944 - will be on view on Saturday.
There will also be a rare chance to see a treasure trove of archive photographs lovingly compiled by former club secretary Bill Anderson.
The club is throwing open the doors of its South Methven Street premises to the public as part of the 2020 Doors Open Day, co-ordinated locally by Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust and funded by the Gannochy Trust.
The club formerly operated from premises near the current Tesco’s, on Perth’s Edinburgh Road, before moving to the former Carriage and Wagon Repair Workshops, also on Edinburgh Road.
It switched to a Nissan hut off the Tulloch Road and then used St Ninians Cathedral hall before settling into the current premises in the city centre in 1982.
World flyweight champion Walter McGowan performed the opening ceremony there, joined by local dignitaries.
The public are being invited in to learn about the club’s rich history on Saturday and potential new members can also get information about joining.
One of the highlights of the open day will be a rare chance to look through Bill Anderson’s archives that have been kindly loaned back to the club by Sarah Wilcock, archivist at Perth’s AK Bell Library.
Bill was a club legend. A former boxer himself, as well as coach and secretary, he gave unstintingly of his time, nurturing local boxing talent for more than six decades.
The club was formed by Robert H.P. Duff, David Ruthven, Gordon Allison and a group of local railwaymen as part of the umbrella organisation Perth Railway Amateur Athletic Club.
Boxing was the main interest but other sports also included gymnastics, weightlifting and wrestling, as well as more unusual activities like steel strand pulling.
The club’s Gavin Pearson and Bobby Fawcett held world records in that event and Arthur Nicol was the Scottish champion.
The club initially met in a converted railway canteen off the Edinburgh Road and club fees were 1d a week - an old penny - back in those days and are a very competitive £2 for juniors and £3 for adults in 2020.
Club founder and secretary Bobby Duff was tragically killed in a motor accident in 1957 and was followed in that post by Danny Cruickshanks, then Bill Anderson, who sadly passed away in 2015.
Bill was succeeded by Stuart Campbell and the current secretary is Alan Stewart.
Alan has been training at the club since 2008 and got on board as a volunteer and working official in 2017 to help the club meet minimum operating requirements to once again stage its own boxing shows.
An 18-year hiatus of railway club shows ended in May, 2018, with a successful event in Perth’s Salutation Hotel.
Alan said yesterday: “It’s been a privilege to be involved with such a huge local institution as Perth Railway Boxing Club.
“The past six months have been challenging as we were closed from March 12 due to COVID-19 and only just re-opened on September 8, albeit to reduced numbers with enhanced cleaning processes.
“Before lockdown we would sometimes have 25 at a training session but our numbers now are limited to eight prebookable slots, which obviously limits club income.
“But the team are all working together to deliver training differently and adapt to the new environment.
“We are looking forward to inviting in new faces and old members at the Doors Open Day on Saturday. We are hoping that some previous members will come along and help us fill in some of the blanks with our historical records.”
The club has an impressive history of Scottish champions and people representing Scotland, from J Murray, Billy Lawrence, Neil Gibson, Sandy Taylor and Doug Holden in the 1950s, through to Steve Petrie, Dougie Reid and Craig Davidson in the 1980s; Robin Brown, Usmaan Hussein, Billy Moore and Sam Kynoch in the 90s and 2000s and current club top boxer Luke Bibby, who leaves for Lithuania to train with the Scotland Team on September 19.
The South Methven Street club will be open on Saturday from 10am-noon and then from 2-4pm.
To book a time slot, those wishing to attend should visit https://www. eventbrite.co.uk/e/perth-railway-boxingclub-doors-open-day-2020-inc-billanderson-archives-tickets-120689673061