Norman Christie

Physiotherapist, footballer and manager; Born September 1, 1925; Died October 6, 2010.

NORMAN Christie, who has died aged 85, was a physiotherapist and also a well-known figure throughout Scottish football during the 1950s and 1960s.

Born in the parish of Kilmuir in Ross-shire, he spent part of his early life in Glen Isla and was educated for a time at Kirriemuir High School. He was also a member of the Air Training Corps which led him to enlist in the RAF during the later stages of the war, serving as a wireless operator with Bomber Command.

On his demob, he became a professional footballer, playing for Third Lanark, Stirling Albion, Ayr United and Brechin City, before ending his career with Montrose.

Freed by Montrose FC at the end of season 1958-59, he was appointed manager at Links Park just weeks later following the resignation of George Hill, the club’s first ever manager.

Prior to him becoming manager, the board had selected the team but Mr Christie soon assumed full control of all playing matters. It proved to be an inspired appointment, for the new managerwas one of the game’s thinkers. He took Montrose forward and, in an era when kick and rush was the norm in the lower division, introduced a tactical dimension.

Partly through his training as a physiotherapist, Mr Christie was a man ahead of his time who had firm ideas on all aspects of the game, including training. He believed that fitness should be specifically related to football and that muscular injuries often stemmed from players, while having high general fitness levels, not being tuned to the game’s peculiar physical stresses and strains. The result was that he introduced his own training regimes with an emphasis on stretching and body movement, as well as stamina, a policy that reduced non-contact injuries considerably.

In those days, the B Division generally included some of the top names in Scottish football with Clyde, Falkirk, Dundee United, St Johnstone and Hamilton among those who had spells in the league in the 1960s. With Mr Christie at the helm, however, the Gable Endies, traditionally one of the basement clubs, quickly became one of the more successful sides.

Always a fair man, Mr Christie was both a strict disciplinarian and a shrewd tactician, and he introduced the 4-2-4 formation, a con- cept, as he later told a meeting of the local Rotary Club, that came naturally to the side, largely thanks to the skills of Kilgannon and Sandeman in midfield.

Gone were the whipping boys of B Division but, although they mounted a number of serious title challenges under Mr Christie, they never quite managed to clear the final hurdle to gain promotion to the top flight.

In August 1968, Mr Christie suddenly resigned, saying that he felt he was “saturated” after almost 10 seasons in charge, but he is still remembered as the man who brought credibility to Montrose FC, a legacy that would later be taken forward by managers such as Alex Stuart and Ian Stewart. Following his resignation, the Montrose Standard reported: “He had a phenomenal run of successes in his early years as manager, bringing the team within an ace of promotion to the consternation of several sports journalists and many local fans.”

After quitting Links Park, he spent a spell on the coaching staff at Dundee United and he was also responsible for the fitness training of the referees in the area for a time.

Like most successful managers and players, Mr Christie was a winner although, unlike many of his colleagues, he refused to dwell on bad results, usually telling the family: “We lost, but we should have won.”

Another example of MrChristie’s competitiveness was that recalled by his son, Paul, who, as a boy, was occasionally allowed to take part in some of the pre-season sessions that his father led. Although appreciating that the youngster couldn’t manage all of the exercises, he always pushed him to his limits.

Also a qualified chiropodist, Mr Christie met his wife, Irene, whom he married in 1951, during his physiotherapy training in Glasgow.

All of his professional life was spent at Stracathro Hospital near Brechin, where he became an important part of a team engaged in the treatment of geriatric patients and people who had suffered strokes.

While others had often been inclined to write off such patients, this team succeeded in getting positive results in a significant number of cases, much of that due to Mr Christie’s enthusiasm and positive thinking. The importance of his contribution to making the unit happy and cohesive was much appreciated by his colleagues.

Always a keen golfer, retirement allowed him more time on the course and he became a member of Edzell Golf Club, although the final years of his life were blighted by Alzheimer’s disease and the last few months of his life were spent in a care home.

In his private life, Mr Christie was dedicated to his family, although they do recall sometimes spending part of their summer holidays in a caravan at Montrose so that dad could be there for the club’s pre-season training.

That particular aspect was turned on its head in later years when Mr Christie and his wife would take their school-age grandchildren on holiday to St Andrews for a week during the summer.

Mr Christie is survived by his wife Irene, children Janice and Paul, and five grandchildren.