‘Football man’ Angus enjoyed fantastic trip to the Maracana

with a response from Angus himself!

He opened: “The Harris FP photo in your page was taken before Harris played at Elliot Road before a North of Tay Cup game on November 19 1966, against Gilburn Rangers, which ended in a 3-3 draw.

“The photo, with names, appeared in either the Tele or Courier in late January or early February 1966 with the players all named. They are, back row from left – A Cosgrove, V Connor, D Forrester, T Ewan, B Alexander, I Hamilton (capt). Front row – G Cowper, D Cowper, A Bowman, W Jenkins, A Garland.”

I contacted Angus and told him I recalled him being with Harris FP for many years, and he replied: “I was with Harris over two spells – 1964-1976 and then 1979-1980. I also played for Elliot Albion amateurs for two seasons – 1962-64 – in the Angus

Amateur League, which was tough for a 16-yearold, before going to Harris.

“The break with Harris saw me play two seasons in the Midlands AFA with Morgan FP.”

Angus has stats of his career and they show him turning out well over 400 times for Harris sides, scoring nearly 200 goals.

Spells at Elliot and Morgan FP brought his tally up to around halfa-century of games, but what stuck out for me in the overall stats was other clubs he had played for, some briefly, and listing legendary names of local football officials. These included John Speed at Harris, Frank Davie and Andy Hughes at Elliot Albion, Norrie Coulston at Morgan, Ally Kennedy at Windsor, Chris Symes at Newport, Jim Thomson at Wellbank, John Prain at Newtyle Hearts and Alistair McGregor at Vale of Atholl.

Angus was brought up in the Scott Street area of the city and attended and played for the school teams of Blackness Primary School and Logie Secondary.

His employment life saw him work for British Rail, Dundee General Hospitals, Dundee University and several positions with the local council authorities.

Now 78 and retired, he lives in Longforgan and is a keen traveller, having visited more than 100 countries, including Brazil, where he went to see a live game in the Maracana Stadium in Rio, which was “fantastic for a football man”.

George Cowper also revealed the Harris photo names.

He then added: “As a youngster Ian Hamilton was with Dundee United, Bruce Alexander signed for Forfar Athletic, while Alan Garland turned out for Brechin City, if my memory serves me right.”

The Dundee United SC U-12 side from 1997-98. Back row, from left – Walter Wyllie, Craig Thomson, Paul Kidd, John McCafferty, Stewart McCarthy, Charlie Adam, Martin Szpak. Front row – Russell Headridge, Shaun Duffy, Steven Cook, Liam Gibb, Ross Wallace, James Ferrie, Daryll McKenzie.

Morgan 1954-55 Football 1st X1. Back row, from left – Robert Young, Bert Winning, Ronald Murray, John Duncan, Raymond Ross, George Campbell. Front row – Ian MacEwan, Ian Stevenson, David Craig, Raymond Mudie, William Sutherland.