Jimmy’s tennis career paid the price for his football
THERE aren’t many footballers who manage to excel at another sport.
Former England striker Peter Crouch said recently that he could have been a professional tennis player.
Andy Murray reckons he’s pretty talented with a ball at his feet and would like to be a football coach when he retires.
Back in September, 1969, a young Scottish player was doing his best to combine tennis with flying down the left wing for St Johnstone.
Jimmy Mackechnie would sometimes appear on the football pitch one day, and a tennis court the next.
St Johnstone were having a great start to the season 48 years ago. They were installed as third favourites for the title after drawing at Celtic Park.
Saints boss Willie Ormond then announced that 18-year-old Jimmy had been granted a week’s leave of absence to compete in the British Youth Tennis Championships at Wimbledon.
He left for London after pitting his wits against Danny McGrain, Kenny Dalglish and the rest of the Celtic reserve team at Muirton Park.
So how did he combine professional football with tennis?
Jimmy, now 66, said: “Probably my downfall in terms of my tennis career was the football.
“I’d had a couple of years in the St Johnstone reserves and was on the verge of the first team.
“But Saints had a very strong side at the time and making the breakthrough wasn’t easy.
“A month after playing at Wimbledon, I was selected to represent Scotland in the Dewar Cup at Perth Sports Centre.
“I was drawn against Lew Hoad, who was making a comeback, in the first round.
“I think Willie Ormond began to get fed up of letting me go off to play tennis.
“Before that, it hadn’t been a big problem because most tennis was played between the end of April and September when there was little football.
“I must admit it could be hard to combine the sports at times but life is all about experiences and I learnt a lot.
“Football was a lot more physical back then.
“I remember playing against Rangers reserves and running past Alex Miller to get in a cross.
“On the way back he warned me what might happen if I did it again.
“It could be just as tough training with St Johnstone, especially if I was up against John Lambie.
“At least there was a net between me and the opponent in tennis!”
Jimmy was released by Saints in 1971, but was snapped by Stirling Albion boss Bob Shankly.
He went on: “The tennis also had an impact again at Stirling. I was part-time and taking my tennis coaching badges.
“I played in the first round of the Scottish Under-21 championship on Friday, then played against Queen’s Park on Saturday and scored with penalty in a 1-1 draw.
“I won another tennis match that night, then the semi-final and final on Sunday.
“But Bob Shankly saw an article in the Dundee Courier that reported: ‘My Great Sporting Weekend’.
“He said he thought I’d looked a bit slow during the match.
“I told him I’d won the match in 45 minutes and I knew a lot of the other players were probably in the pub on a Friday night!”
Jimmy then played for Brechin City before turning out for Ross County and Inverness Caley.
These days he lives in Nairn and has been a top tennis coach for more than 40 years.