Kenny’s team didn’t know how to celebrate their win
One of the great pleasures in football is celebrating a winning goal.
That’s especially true when it’s a long-awaited victory against local rivals.
But Kenny Payne admits his Arbroath team-mates were flummoxed when the ball hit the net for a second time against Dundee 50 years ago.
The winger had headed the Red Lichties into the lead, but that was somewhat overshadowed by a dramatic own goal by Jocky Scott.
It was a gaffe that gave Arbroath their first post-war league win over the Dark Blues.
Kenny recalled: “I opened the scoring at Gayfield with a header.
“It was a well-worked goal, with Eric Sellars chipping the ball over the defensive wall with a free-kick, and I ran round to head it in.
“I didn’t see the ball hit the net because it was a back header.
“Although I was only only 5 feet 2 inches tall and eight stone when I started out, I actually scored a few goals with my head.
“It was all about the timing in getting to the ball first.”
John Duncan got an equaliser for Dundee and it looked like the visitors might get a winner.
Then came a moment that Jocky Scott must still cringe about.
Kenny went on: “Dundee keeper, Thomson Allan played a short goal-kick to Jocky, and he played it back towards the goal.
“It went speeding past Allan and rolled into the net.
“Our fans loved it – but we didn’t really know what to do.
“Normally you congratulate the scorer, or the guy who’s put in a cross.
“We weren’t sure how to celebrate a goal like that. We just stood in our positions on the pitch.
“It was great to win, but you couldn’t help feeling for Jocky a bit.”
Kenny signed for Arbroath in 1970, and helped them win promotion to the top flight two years later.
His second game for the club was a 4-0 win against Clydebank, with The Sunday Post acclaiming him “a brilliant find” by manager, Albert Henderson after giving the Bankies’ defence a roasting.
Kenny said: “Albert had an eye for a player, and we had a good mix of youth and experience.
“Other teams probably didn’t look at me because of my height, and the fact I was slightly built.
“Defenders would give you a real kicking. Back then, people would say: ‘He’s a good full-back. He can fairly chip a winger’.
“Pitches were pretty rough, too. They’d only think of postponing a match if the mud was coming over your ankles.”
It looked like Kenny’s career might come to a premature end after five seasons at Arbroath.
He added: “I had a bad shoulder dislocation, and I was told there was nothing that could be done.
“The shoulder kept popping out, and I was playing less often.
“I got a free transfer and it looked like I was finished, until I met Forfar manager, Jerry Kerr.
“He always knew somebody who could get things done, and he sent me to a surgeon.
“I had an operation where a muscle in my back was used to keep the shoulder in place.
“I got playing again, and had three enjoyable seasons with Forfar.
“We got to the League Cup semifinal against Rangers in 1978.
“We were 2-1 up with just seven minutes to go. But Rangers got an equaliser and their full-time fitness told in extra-time, where they scored another three times.
“We were always holding our own throughout the 90 minutes.”
Kenny, now 70, might have won a penalty during the game when he was sent tumbling in the box by Tom Forsyth, but the referee waved claims away.
An ankle injury later forced his retirement, and he worked for many years in social work.
His younger brother, Graeme, played with Dundee United under Jim McLean, and was voted Scotland’s Young Player of the Year in 1978.