JIMMY RECALLS GOLDEN SEASON
Swifts legend Jimmy recalls cup glory days from 50 years ago
Star striker’s team was invincible
JONATHAN GEDDES
For a man who once scored an incredible 50 goals in a single season, Jimmy Smith makes it sound very simple.
Rutherglen resident Jimmy was the star striker for the allconquering Burnbank Swifts 50 years ago.
The juvenile club – juvenile football was a level between junior and amateurs – went unbeaten in the 1969/70 season and lifted an astonishing six trophies.
Jimmy modestly recalled: “To be honest, I had great players with me like Hugh McMillan, who played up front, and Billy Docherty who would put a great ball into the goalmouth and all I did was head it into the net.”
It might have been a straightforward formula, but Jimmy’s goal-laden campaign with Burnbank Swifts half a century ago helped propel the Hamilton team to its remarkable run of success.
The standard of competition was high, with many exprofessionals playing every week, and the Swifts had players turning out for them with experience at the likes of Rangers, Clyde, Dunfermline and Hamilton.
One player even had connections to English giants Tottenham Hotspur.
The juvenile game has long since disappeared, meaning that the club’s tremendous season will never be matched.
The final trophy the Swifts lifted that year was the Scottish Juvenile
Cup, when they beat Dundee Fairfield 3-0 on aggregate.
Jimmy remembered: “I have great memories of winning the Scottish Cup that day and all the celebrations after the game.
“The team was invited to many of the local social clubs over the following weeks showing off the cups and the squad was also asked to a civic reception by the Hamilton council.”
The Swifts won 1-0 in Dundee with a header by winger Jim McGowan, while the home leg was won thanks to goals from Billy Docherty and Hugh McMillan, with this month marking the 50th anniversary of the triumph.
Watching at Hamilton’s Douglas Park that day was a very special guest – none other than then Celtic manager Jock Stein.
A Burnbank man, the legendary European Cup winning manager was there to cheer his hometown team on and he congratulated the club’s manager, Bobby Murray, after the game.
Jimmy, who grew up in Hamilton but has lived in Rutherglen for many years, didn’t know that Stein was in attendance until afterwards.
He explained: “We didn’t know until he came in and spoke to Bobby.
“But Jock Stein was born in Burnbank so it was no surprise for him to be there. He was also a Blantyre Vics Player.
“There were over 3000 in the crowd that day, which was more that Hamilton Accies were getting at their games.
“We actually played Accies in a friendly in a build up to the final and beat them 2-1.”
The juvenile game was limited to players under 27, and Jimmy believes the key to their incredible success was the professionalism that the coaching staff brought to the club.
He said: “Bobby Murray was a great motivator and his team talk before the game was something else. That team talk gave you a goal of a start!
“He would come round you before the game and pinpoint who to mark and how he wanted you to play.
“John Shearer, who’d been with Clyde, was our trainer. We trained two nights a week, running miles, along with hours of exercise and that professional approach was part of the reason that we were too strong for other teams.”
The trophy-laded season saw the Swifts win the Scottish Juvenile Cup, West of Scotland Juvenile Cup, Lanarkshire Juvenile Cup, Richmond Trophy, Alan Anderson Cup and the Lanarkshire League, where they only dropped one point all season.
Despite a gruelling fixture list, Jimmy says the players never discussed the fact they were unbeaten.
He said: “As the season drew to a close we were having to play two and three games a week and a few of the boys got injured, which added some pressure.
“But I don’t remember talking about going undefeated at all.”
The Scottish Football Museum have a display cataloguing their season and bringing back the history and memories of juvenile football, while the players are hopeful of organising a reunion later in the year.