Beach boys led Jimmy to Motherwell
Motherwell will be hoping youngster David Turnbull continues his goalscoring streak this week.
The Steelmen face Celtic on Wednesday night and then Hearts on Saturday.
Turnbull is a product of the club’s youth system. But one former player burst onto the Fir Park scene, thanks to friendships he made as a kid in Edinburgh.
Jimmy Robertson was only on a month’s trial when he scored on his debut against Hearts, and inspired a 3-0 victory for the Steelmen.
The 22- year- old forward had already played in three countries, and was back in Scotland after unhappy spells in Wales and England.
He recalled: “I started my senior career with Aberdeen in 1960, but only played three firstteam matches for them.
“Hindsight is a great thing, but I probably made a couple of unwise decisions when I was a teenager.
“I had gone down to Newcastle United for a trial and then came back to Edinburgh for the weekend. While I was there, I was told that Hibs’ manager Hugh Shaw wanted to talk to me.
“I was a Hibs fan, so I jumped at the chance of becoming a provisional signing for them.
“I should probably have gone back to Newcastle and spent more time there.
“Things seemed to be going well when I played for Hibs in a friendly against Leicester City.
“I was in a forward line that also included Johnny Macleod, Bobby Johnstone, Joe Baker andwillie Ormond. That was a great experience.
“But then manager Hugh Shaw wanted to send me out to a junior team to harden me up.
“I didn’t fancy that. I also saw players like Malcolm Bogie, who couldn’t get into the first team. That was when I signed for Aberdeen.”
After just one season at Pittodrie, Jimmy was off to join Newport County.
He went on: “Bobby Evans had become player-manager and persuaded me to go down.
“I knew Andy Bowman and he also joined up. It was a good bunch of lads but the results went very badly.
“I spent my time saving money to come home, and I was back in Scotland after one season.
“Then Malcolm Allison phoned and asked me to join Bath City.
“That lasted just another year before I was looking for a new club.”
Old pals then came to Jimmy’s rescue. He said: “I’d grown up with a number of lads who became footballers. We used to go down to the beach at Gullane and play five-a-sides.
“Willie Hunter and Bobby Roberts were both good friends. They were doing well at Motherwell, and asked manager Bobby Ancell if I could come along to training.
“I played in a trial match and was then put straight into the first team.
“To score in my first game, and against Hearts, wasn’t a bad start. I was then in and out of the team for the next two seasons.
“People compared me to Pat Quinn but he was a better player than me.
“In the end, I wasn’t good enough to have a longer run in Scotland’s top division.”
Jimmy’s travels then took him to South Africa, where he remains to this day.
He explained: “I was friendly with Dundee goalie Bert Slater, and he introduced me to Alf Boyd, who was manager of Germiston Callies in South Africa, and he asked me to join them.
“I spent five years with them before playing for P.G. Rangers.
“The P.G. stood for plate glass and I was given a job in the glass industry.
“I then set up my own business, Randburg Glass, that I run with my son, Wyn.
“I’m 78 now, but I’m still up and out to work every day. I like to keep busy.”