From half-a–crown and a pie to playing at Wembley
One of the last moves before the transfer window closed highlighted the growing financial gap between Scottish and English football.
Lincoln City were finally successful with a bid for Dundee United left-back, Jamie Robson.
The League One side had previously seen two offers rejected by the Tannadice club.
The Imps have not always been a club that would have been able to buy a player from a top-flight team.
The football landscape was very different when winger Bobby Samuel moved from Tayside to Lincolnshire in 1967.
He went to Sincil Bank on the recommendation of a former team-mate.
His time in English football wasn’t as successful as he would have hoped, but he did play a part in getting his club to Wembley for the first time.
Bobby said: “I had played with Lewis Thom in the Dundee United reserves, and he had signed for Lincoln after playing for Shrewsbury.
“He knew they were looking for players, and mentioned me to the manager, Ron Gray.
“I went down for a trial, and they offered me a contract. I got a signing-on fee of £20.
“It was a lovely place, but there weren’t any of the glamorous trappings of modern football.
“We stayed in digs, although the landlady was very good to us.
“Even playing in the reserves was a good experience because we played teams like Arsenal and West Ham. I remember meeting Charlie George and coming up against Clyde Best.
Looking back at his career, Bobby wonders if things might have worked out differently.
He said: “I was playing youth football in Aberdeen with Sunnybank when I was spotted by Dundee United scout, John Sjoberg. His son, also John, went on to play for Leicester City.
“I was serving my apprenticeship as a welder with Hall Russell Shipbuilders at the time.
“I didn’t go full-time with United because my father wouldn’t let me. He was adamant I finished my apprenticeship.
“That meant I just met up with Dundee United once a week, and played a reserve game.
“I was what they’d call a tanner ba’ player. I sometimes think it would have made a difference if I’d been coached to improve my game.
“I remember playing in front of Stewart Fraser at Dundee United. He encouraged me to lay the ball off to him before he gave me it back. That sort of thing just never occurred to me.
“When I was a kid, I did go to Aberdeen’s Pittodrie Stadium on a Monday night for a bit of coaching from players like Charlie Cooke.
“We’d be there for three hours, and afterwards we’d be given half-a-crown and a pie!”
Bobby, now 75, is very realistic when assessing his time in football, but he does have a place in the history of the English game.
He took part in the first national five-a-side tournament that ran from 1968 to 1986.
With three goals in four games, he helped Lincoln win their regional heat.
The finals took place at London’s Empire Pool, now known as Wembley Arena.
Bobby said: “That style of football suited me. It was all about getting the ball down and being tricky. You could use the walls to get past people.
“One of the teams we knocked out was Rotherham, managed by Tommy Docherty.”
It wasn’t all over in England for Bobby when he left Lincoln.
He said: “I went to Margate, but didn’t really fancy it there, and signed for Stevenage.
“I had a good season with them. I was one of the better players at that level, and I used to get invited to present prizes at local schools.”
A return to Aberdeen led to spells in the Highland League with Inverness Clach, Keith, Peterhead and Buckie Thistle.
Bobby said: “I gave up football when I started working in the offshore oil industry as a welder.
“Maybe my father got it right when he made me get a trade.”