Beating Rangers wasn’t as tough as Iain thought
Ayr United have had a fantastic start to the season, and were aiming to make it three victories-in-a-row against Morton yesterday.
Fans of the Honest Men often reminisce about great victories of the past, like their 2-1 home win against Rangers in September 1969 in front of a record attendance of 25,225.
But, 10 years before that, a newly-promoted Ayr side recorded a feat rarely achieved by provincial sides – they won away at Rangers and Celtic.
The League season kicked off on the first Saturday in September, and a 5-0 thrashing by Third Lanark didn’t bode well for United’s campaign.
Goalkeeper Iain Hamilton had good reason to believe that things would be no easier in the second match.
He recalled: “On the Wednesday night before we played them, I went to see Rangers beating Anderlecht 5-2 in the European Cup along with our centre-half, Jim McLean.
“We reckoned it was going to be tough game when we went to Ibrox.
“I remember Rangers’ Harold Davis chasing one of the Belgian players across the pitch because they kept committing fouls.
“But we went there and won 3-0 on the Saturday, thanks to two goals from Jim McGhee and one by Billy Elliot.
“We then took on the great Motherwell side, known as ‘The Ancell Babes’.
“I read a football columnist saying Ayr fans
should not be too disappointed if we lost to a Motherwell team with talents like Ian St John and Willie Hunter.
“But it was a 5-2 victory for us. We then beat Arbroath, the team promoted with us, 1-0.”
Ayr really did bounce back in style from their opening-day thumping.
They finished the season in eighth position, one place ahead of Celtic, who they beat 3-2 at Parkhead.
This was a team using the momentum built up the previous year when they romped to promotion. But bonuses were a little more modest back then.
Iain said: “At the start of the season, the chairman came in and gave us all an envelope.
“It contained our Second Division winners’ medal, and £14. He said: ‘You can’t say we’re not giving you anything, as we’re paying the tax on this money.’.
“Mind you, we’d been offered £5 a point and we racked up 60 points. That seemed like a fortune.”
England, rather than Ayrshire, might have been Iain’s destination, but for one goal.
He went on: “I played Junior football with Armadale Thistle, where team-mates included Hibs stars Joe Baker and Johnny MacLeod.
“I then moved to Kirkintilloch Rob Roy, and it was said I had the pick of a host of senior teams.
“But in the replay of the Central League Cup Final against Port Glasgow, I was out of my goal and they scored from the half-way line.
“After the game, a committee member told me that I’d have been off to Aston Villa if I’d played my normal game.
“Fortunately, Ayr manager Jacky Cox continued following me and made an offer.”
Cox resigned in 1961 when the club were relegated. His replacement, Bobby Flavell, lasted only 17 days and Gerry Mays took over.
Iain said: “Gerry Mays and I didn’t see eyeto-eye. George Farm took me to Queen of the South as his understudy for a season.
“I then went to Cheltenham Town, but that was a disaster.
“Midway through the season, they told me and former Rangers centre-half Bill Paterson that we could leave. We refused and saw out our contracts.
“I came back to Scotland and had Falkirk boss, Alex McCrae, at my door asking me to sign. I wasn’t there long before Jimmy Bonthrone took me to East Fife.”
Iain, now 83, turned down playing in Australia in favour of a job as a draughtsman in Canada.
These days he lives in Maine, the northeastern-most point in the United States.