Former Brechin player Jimmy ‘Ossie’ Hodge, 92

Former Brechin City defender Jimmy “Ossie” Hodge has died at the age of 92.

Born and raised in Perth, Jimmy played more than 350 games for the Glebe Park side after joining from St Johnstone in the early 1950s.

He captained Brechin when they lost to Rangers in a League Cup semi-final.

Before playing for Saints, Jimmy turned out for Newport County.

His appearances for the Welsh club included playing in front of 52,000 away to Newcastle United with Newcastle fielding a star-studded team.

After leaving Brechin, Jimmy played for Inverness Clachnacuddin in the Highland League.

He played football until hanging up his boots at the age of 44.

Jimmy was never sent off or booked in his football career, the nearest occasion coming in a game for Brechin against Montrose.

“A Montrose player was niggling me,” he said. “So I fouled him, put him right up in the air. “The referee told me if I committed another foul I would be sent off. I got the message – and so did the Montrose player.”

Jimmy did his national service with the RAF and worked at Almondbank in the office of the Defence Aviation Repair Agency and for the Department of Social Security and for a sheriff’s officer in Perth.

Jimmy was predeceased by his 14 brothers and sisters and his wife Margaret.

He is survived by daughters Margaret and Linda, son-in-law Jimmy, grandchildren Barry, Lee and Jamie and great-granddaughters Eleanor, Jessica, Charlotte and Lois.

His funeral is at McDiarmid Park, home of St Johnstone, at 11am on December 28.