One of Bobby’s teammates became a Wurzel
ABERDEEN love having a left winger in their ranks.
The Dons lost Irishman Jonny Hayes to Celtic, but have replaced him by signing Gary Mackay-Steven from the Hoops.
There’s a long tradition of talented widemen at Pittodrie, with players like Jackie Hather, Arthur Graham and Peter Weir key to some major successes.
Bobby Tait did his level best to become a Dons’ favourite on the left flank – but ended up wondering if that really was his best position.
He recalled: “I made my first-team debut for Aberdeen in 1961 in an away match at Airdrie.
“A problem for me was that George Mulhall was the first-choice left winger.
“He was a Scotland international and very rarely injured.
“I’d played a few games for the reserves at left- back and got some rave reviews in the local papers.
“However, the manager, Tommy Pearson, didn’t seem to consider playing me there for the first team.”
It was because he played so much football as a youngster that Bobby ended up joining the professional ranks as a left winger.
He said: “I was brought up in Edinburgh and used to play three games on a Saturday.
“I was an inside- forward, but my father said I should go on the wing for the third
match to get a bit of a rest. It then became my position.
“Quite a few of my team-mates went on to become professionals and one became a musician.
“I was on the left wing when we won the Scottish Amateur Cup with Lothians Under- 18s and on the right was Tommy Banner. He went on to be one of the Wurzels!”
Nottingham Forest and Portsmouth had been interested in Bobby during his National Service in the RAF.
He was left to ponder if he should have stayed in England after being released by Aberdeen.
“I don’t think that insisting I finish my apprenticeship as a bookbinder helped my first-team chances at Pittodrie,” Bobby went on. “I then had a season with Elgin City in the Highland League before a letter arrived from Notts County manager, Tim Coleman, asking me to join them.
“I was fortunate to play alongside future England internationalists Jeff Astle and Tony Hateley.
“I often joked that their big moves came because I was supplying the ammunition for all of their goals.
“My first goal for the club came against Port Vale in a match that saw the new floodlights at Meadow Lane used for the first time.
“After half a season, it was decided that I’d be more useful playing in the middle of the pitch and I never played on the wing again.
“There was another time when I briefly played another role.
“Tim Coleman used an unusual tactic for a game against Colchester.
“They used a man-marking system, so he got us to randomly pick shirts out of a bag and line-up according to the number we got. I think I had the No. 6 shirt.
“We stayed in the unfamiliar spots for the first 10 minutes and then changed back to our normal positions. “It completely confused the opposition.” Bobby, now 78, went on to play for Barrow and Chesterfield before playing non-league for Arnold Town and managing in the Midlands League.
He worked as a sales rep for Levi’s, ran a sports shop and had a spell as deputy leader of Gedling Borough Council.