Category: Uncategorized

The following tribute to Steve is by his friend and team mate Fraser Clyne.

The man who made history by becoming Aberdeen AAC’s first Scotland international runner has passed away.

Steve Taylor made his mark in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s as one of the country’s top athletes over a variety of distances.   Although most of his greatest achievements came on the track, he was also an accomplished cross country runner and made his Scotland debut at the 1960 international championships at Hamilton racecourse where he finished 45th.          He made two further appearances in this annual match, which was a precursor to the modern day world championships, finishing 58th at Nantes in 1961 and 35th at Sheffield in 1962.

Taylor enjoyed considerable track success, winning his first Scottish title at Meadowbank in 1961 after an epic battle with close friend and training partner Alastair Wood.   Wood had set a Scottish native record when winning gold in the six miles the night before, but that didn’t prevent him from pushing his Aberdeen clubmate all the way.    Taylor had to use all his pace, power and strength of character to earn victory by the slenderest of margins, stopping the clock at 14min 29.9secs with Wood breathing down his neck 0.01secs behind.

He retained the title the following year when recording 14:10.4 but his fastest performance over this distance came at the 1966 championships when he recorded 13:47.8 to finish behind Olympian Fergus Murray (Edinburgh University) who won in a championship record of 13:46.0.

Taylor had also lost out in the six miles the year before to another Scottish athletics legend, the future Commonwealth Games 10,000m gold medallist Lachie Stewart.   In addition to his two gold and two silver medals in the three miles, Taylor picked up silver (1960) and bronze (1959) in the one mile and bronze (1964) in the six miles at the Scottish championships.   He also represented Scotland in five track internationals between 1961 and 1966.

Moving up to longer distances he won the national 10 miles track title at Scotstoun, Glasgow in 1970, recording 49:52.6 to finish one minute ahead of another Aberdeen runner and future world ultra-distance record breaker, Donald Ritchie.

Taylor was willing to help others, none more so than his old sparring partner Wood whom he paced to a world 40 mile track record at Pitreavie in 1969. The duo also shared Scottish 30km, 20 miles and two hour records along the way.

Taylor also had a fascination with the John o’ Groats to Land’s End relay record. He was part of the Aberdeen AAC side which failed to break the mark in 1972 but was again heavily involved when the club slashed 30mins off the record the following year.

It was late in his career when he dabbled with the marathon, but still achieved a highly respectable best time of 2:19:28 in 1971, which is still the 12th fastest by an Aberdeen runner.

           Steve leading Graham Everett in the SAAA Mile Championship

*

Steve Taylor – A Personal Tribute

by Fraser Clyne

Forty-five years ago Steve Taylor was what was called a ‘mature student’ at Aberdeen University.    At 36 years of age he gave up a job with Aberdeen Journals in favour of taking a bold step into the world of higher education to study for a degree in sociology.   Although his best days as an athlete were in the past, Steve continued to compete with a fair degree of success on the universities circuit.

I was also at the university at this time and had chosen to take up running as a sport, having failed miserably as a footballer. I joined the student cross country club – the Hare and Hounds – and was soon introduced to Steve.   Along with Mel Edwards, he proved to be an extremely influential character in my early development as an athlete, providing me with valuable advice and educating me how to train and race properly.   When he realised I was showing growing enthusiasm for the sport and making decent progress, Steve presented me with one of his Scotland international vests and indicated I should strive to earn one of my own in the future.   I was overwhelmed that he had such confidence in me and I have proudly held on to that vest to this day.

Steve introduced me to interval training and preached its benefits. One of his favourite sessions was 20x200metres with a very short recovery. These were run at a punishing pace, for me at any rate, and I would try to keep a close count of how many we were doing.    On more than one occasion, when we were about to run the 20th, and were thankfully about to finish, Steve would say: ‘No, two to go’. I’m sure he frequently made me do 21.            It was a positive trick to find out whether I could dig deep for an extra effort despite already being exhausted – an important quality to have when it came to racing.

He was also keen on what runners call a tempo run. Steve would take me through Seaton Park and over the undulating Royal Aberdeen golf course at Balgownie for a seven or eight mile session at a sustained fast pace.    He would chat away while I was gasping for breath, barely able to reply. I cursed him, quietly to myself, for making me suffer so much, but I know it made me a better runner.

A few years later, with my fitness in the ascendancy and Steve’s slightly on the wane, I took my revenge on one of those same runs.   I did all the chatting and could tell he was toiling, so I showed no mercy, and I’m sure he didn’t expect it.

Steve was a true gentleman, quietly spoken but with a strong will and a fierce competitive instinct. One of Aberdeen’s finest athletes and a thoroughly pleasant person. I will forever be grateful for the help and motivation he gave me.

Steve leading team mate Alastair Wood in the N-E League, 1961

Westerlands

We already have the Track Rankings for 1966 and 1967 on another page, on this page we have the Mens’s Field Rankings for the same two years and the women’s for 1967.   The women’s for 1966 are already posted.   So it’s the men of 1966 first.

Norrie Foster

The universities’ women of 1967 were not as numerous as the men but there were some very good performances indeed.

It should be noted that many of the very best women athletes of this period wereinvolved in tertiary education at  Dunfermline College of Physical Education, which was in Edinburgh, and not in the universities championships.   They were competing against each other in two- and three-way competitions throughout the season.

The men’s field events for 1967 all-in-all were pretty good – the universities tended to do well on the technical events.   Here we go.

Irvine’s Tom McNeish, left

Having looked at the progress of the club and its members over the period from 1924 to 1950, we can be a bit more selective for the period up to 1972 when the YMCA ceased to exist.   Progress of the Senior team between 1950 and 1955 is noted in the following table.

Team for the Edinburgh to Glasgow, November 1949

Result of the South West District Championships, 1957

Individual success came again in the late 1950’s from Billy Thomas whose career as a runner in Scotland was far too short, although he did perform at a very high level in the USA where he had a scholarship to study English and Athletics.   In season 1955-56 he was third in the National Youths Championship and the following year he was second in the same age group and in 1958 he was fourth in the Junior Men’s race.   Nearer home, he won the Ayrshire Harriers Clubs Association and South Western District Championships in 1958.   His championship credentials were never in any doubt but how was he as a competitive runner?   There was no more competitive environment in Scottish endurance running than the Edinburgh to Glasgow eight man relay race and Thomas ran in it three times.   In 1957 he ran on the very tough second stage (probably the toughest in terms of the standard of runner put out by the various teams) and moved the team up from 11th to sixth – a quite amazing run for a Junior Man in his first go at the event.   The following year he again ran the second stage, and again he picked up places – two this tims, bringing Irvine YMCA up from 20th to 18th.   His last run was not a typical Thomas effort: he was on the first stage, which tells a tale on its own – you never put one of your two top men on that stage – and finished 15th.   Clearly a top talent, we are told on the Irvine AC website that “Billy joined the RAF where he excelled at 800 and 1500 metres, before accepting a scholarship to study English and Athletics at Howard Payne College in Texas, where he was nominated as a member of the National All-American cross-country team in 1963, 1964 and 1965.”

Result of Youths National, 1957

As a group, the club’s Youth teams won the South West District championships in 1954, 1955 and 1957.   The names of the 1957 team are shown above with Thomas, Taylor and McKenna all appearing in both District and National teams.   

The club’s record throughout the 1950’s in Senior, Junior and Youth groups as very good indeed and can be seen from the following lists of results at District level.   District has been chosen simply because it is not a parochial competition nor is it the highest level in the land – it is second only to the National in terms of relative importance..

Seniors in Black, Youths in Blue

* In this race Danny Lapsley finished first but had moved to West Kilbride: had he stayed, then Irvine YMCA would have had the first three places 

* 1958/59 was the first year that a Junior (U20) award was made to the first Junior in the Senior race.

The 1960’s would not be as kind to the club as the 1950’s had been.   In 1963 the YMCA building, home to the club, burned down and they had to the Woodlands Pavilion as a temporary home.   I quote from the club website’s history of the period:   “Spirit was low and the membership had lapsed to no more than 10, however by 1968 the club had rallied and a few short years of success followed, with team victories in the 10-mile relay championship, the Ayrshire 6-mile team championship (twice), the Scottish YMCA 10-mile relay championship (twice) and the Scottish YMCA 6-mile team championship (twice).”   The club had rallied, it was winning again, and the successes of the time should not be under valued.  It was not turning out in the national cross-country championship and for more than half the decade there were no teams at all from Irvine in the National Championships.   

Towards the end of the decade however the talent that was Brian Morrison appeared in the Irvine YMCA colours.   His peak year was 1969 when he was third in the Scottish Junior Cross-Country Championship.   This won him selection for the Scottish team competing in the international to be held in Clydebank.   He was a scoring runner for the Scottish junior team when he was 19th finisher.   He  had local victories in the AHCA Championships in both 1969 and 1970.   He was also a good class track athlete, ranked ninth nationally in 1969 for the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 9:24.0.   He was also ranked in 1970 and 1971 with 9:39.0 and 9:31.2.   Unfortunately, like Billy Thomas before him, he emigrated, in his case to South Africa.   

Then In the spring of 1972 the club resigned from the National Association of YMCA’s and renamed the club Irvine Athletic Club, eventually being incorporated into Irvine Sports Club in 1974 as a member section.   

Irvine YMCA had been a good club which produced more Scottish international athletes than any of the many other YMCA clubs in the country except Motherwell YMCA and contributed to Scottish athletics for 48 years before ceasing to exist.

From the Irvine Running Club website  (http://irvinerunningclub.co.uk/history-1.html )

1938 Ayrshire Cross-Country Championship at Benwhat

When I came into the sport in 1957 Irvine YMCA was a strong club that competed in Scottish athletics at every tier of competition – County, District and National and their athletes were to be seen at almost all events around the country.   The Edinburgh to Glasgow eight man relay was the top club road event in the calendar from its inception in 1934, and it was an invitation only event: in the very first race they were fourth. one place ahead of Motherwell YMCA, but their next appearance was not until 1950 when they were 14th.   That year there were four YMCA teams in the race –  Irvine 14th, Kirkcaldy 15th, Glasgow 18th and Motherwell did not finish the race.   The club record in this prestigious event was a notable one, indeed  their contribution to the sport in general was a notable one.   

Irvine YMCA harriers was founded in 1924 when the Irvine branch of the Y.M.C.A. movement was established in a building  in the High Street.   It was a very good time for cross-country running in Ayrshire with many more clubs than the county could just now: Mauchline AC was a very good club indeed, Kilmarnock had a good tradition even in the 1920’s Beith Harriers was also a very good club, Saltcoats had its own club with talented athletes, Ardeer was asuccessful club until well into the 1950’s, Barleith was considerably good, West Cumnock had its own club and so on.  Indeed, shortly after the formation of the Irvine YMCA Harriers the Ayrshire Harrier Clubs Association was founded and its first championship was on 17th January 1925.   More than 60 runners took part on a 7 mile circular course starting and finishing in Rugby Park.   The race was won by Satcoats Harriers.   The AHCA  is still in the twenty first century a major harrier and athletic force in Scottish athletics.   But we can give the new club a chance to find its feet and start our look at it from season 1927-28.

1927-28:   The West District Relay Championships were held on 21st November but the Irvine YMCA team was not in the first six teams although of the Ayrshire teams, Beith was third and Barleith was fifth, one place ahead of Shettleston.   Closer to home, the Ayrshire Clubs Relay was held on 10th December but Irvine was not in the first three, these being Doon, Beith and Barleith Harriers.   The first signs of the talent lurking in Irvine came in the Scottish YMCA Championships on 17th December, 1927, when the Irvine team was sjust out of the medals in fourth place, with CP Wilson fifth individual.   This was a bit of a drop from the previous year when the team had won their race with Wilson the individual champion.   We should have a look at this result since the club was just over a year old when it happened and to have both titles (individual and team) come its way was quite a feat.   The Scotsman report for 16th December 1926 read as follows:

“The fifth annual team and individual championship held under the auspices of the Department for Physical Education of the Scottish National Council of the YMCA’s were held at Motherwell on Saturday.   For the team event, which carries with it the JOM Clarke Trophy, there was an entry of eight clubs, all of whom were forward, while there were also seven individual entrants.   Teams comprised eight runners, the placing of the first four counting.   Altogether 64 runners set out on the 6 mile trail.   Mr H Lightbody, general secretary, Scottish National Council, acting as starter, while Mr John Craig, CBE, vice-president of the same body, was referee.   Results:-

Team Championship (JOM Clarke Trophy – 1.  Irvine YMCA Harriers (CP Wilson 1, R Wilson 2, W McMaster 4, J Hamilton 11 ) 18 points; 2.   Motherwell YMCA (holders) (JM Aitken 3, W McEwan 5, J McCulloch 7, JNH Gardiner 8) 23 pts;  3.  Paisley YMCA Harriers (A team) (C Hamilton 6,  D Cadenhead 16, JL Ritchie 17, A McGlashan 22) 62 pts; 4. Glasgow YMCA  63 pts; 5. Paisley YMCA B  127;  6. Renfrew YMCA 140; 7. Kirkcaldy YMCA 156; 8. Irvine YMCA Harriers B Team) 176.

Individual Championships (T Birrell Medal)   1.  CP Wilson, Irvine YMCA Harriers, 37 min 10 sec;  2. AD Brooke, Glasgow, 37 min 27 sec; 3. PS Findlay, Motherwell YMCA, 37 min 35 sec. “

They not only had the two champions but also had enough runners to enter two teams of eight men.  Against that fifth team and fourth individual were a bit of a come-down.   It also showed that CP Wilson had a bit of a pedigree.   

However, if we go back to 1927/28, there was no team from Irvine in the Western District Championships on 4th February, 1928, at Hamilton Racecourse.   It was not a long way to travel and again Beith (fourth) and Doon (sixth) carried the Ayrshire banner.   In the National Championship, again at Hamilton, there was no complete team from Irvine although we know that CP Wilson was 10th in the Junior National: this was a very good run as the winner was RR Sutherland of Garscube Harriers and the Scots Guards, from JF Wood of Heriot’s CCC.    

1928-29 The third annual West District Relay was held at Thornliebank on 17th November, 1928, and with 32 teams from 25 clubs, Irvine was almost certainly taking part but did not feature among the prize winners.   The Ayrshire Relay Championship took place at Beith on 8th December but there was no Irvine team competing.   Beith won from Barleith and Doon Harriers were the first three, other participating clubs were (in order) Kilmarnock Harriers, Eglinton Harriers A, Eglinton Harriers B, Doon Harriers B and Barleith Harriers B.   As in the previous year, the club turned out their runners in the Scottish YMCA Championships, held at Paisley, home of the previous year’s event on 15th December and performed slightly better than the previous year – fourth team behind Motherwell, Glasgow and Kirkcaldy YMCA’s, and in front of teams from Dundee, Paisley, Renfrew, Glasgow B, Motherwell B and East Kilbride.   CP Wilson in third was their best placed runner behind Suttie Smith and Frank Stevenson.   Their counting runners were A Aldie 8, D Kerr 15, J Watson 16, D Aldie 17.     

The next big championship was the Western District Championships, where CP Wilson finished first to win the first major championship for the club.   The Glasgow Herald report by Ggroe (George Dallas) read: “CP Wilson, Irvine YMCA, exhibited excellent judgment and fine pace in winning the thirtieth annual seven miles Western District Cross-Country Championships by 60 yards at Hamilton. He never showed any anxiety to be with the leaders until the five miles turning point, and the way he set about his rivals over the last two miles was a revelation.   This was undoubtedly Wilson’s best race of his career.”   Wilson won by 10 seconds (42:43 to 42:53 by J Gardner of Motherwell.   The club only had five runners when the team required six and there was no team position.    Came the National Championship on 2nd March and there wasno team from Irvine in the results column but CP Wilson started and was running with the leaders when he fell and suffered a knee injury that forced him to drop out.   Fortunately his form up to that point in the season had been good and he was selected for the Scottish team for the International (to be held that year in Paris) where he finished 30th and was a counting member of the Scottish team which finished fifth.

On March 9th 1929 the second annual Renfrewshire  v  Ayrshire Inter-County Cross-Country meeting took place and the result was a win for Renfrewshire by 14 points despite having only 14 runners to Ayrshire’s 16 following a number of call-offs.   CP Wilson was the Ayrshire captain and he finished second behind R Henderson who had been his predecessor as Western District champion.   

1929-30 The season started with the cross-country relays as usual but there was a change in the organisation of the Districts and the Western District was split into the Midlands District and the South West District.   The South West was made up of teams from Renfrewshire, Ayrshire and all points south.   It was a tough competition – Greenock Glenpark and Wellpark clubs were both in there along with all the Ayrshire teams that they had come to know so well.   The District Relay was held for the first time in 1929 at Largs – and was won by Irvine YMCA from Greenock Wellpark Harriers by a margin of 27 seconds.   The winning team was made up of R Wilson, J Watson, D Kerr and CP Wilson.   Quickest was D Kerr who was second overall, followed by CP Wilson fifth overall.   The race was exceptionally well organised and tea and the medals were presented at McKay’s Restaurant in the town.   

The Ayrshire Relay was next Irvine won comfortable with their second team 5th.   Teams and runners were A Team: R Wilson (14:21), J Watson (15:18), D Kerr (14:55), CP Wilson (14:51).  R Wilson was fastest on the day, CP Wilson 9th and D Kerr 12th.     B Team:  R Campbell (15:27), D Aldie (14:39), A Aldie (15:42), J Fletcher (14:58)  D Aldie was 4th fastest overall.    The press report read: “Irvine YMCA accomplished just what was expected of them in the Ayrshire relay except that their win was more striking than anyone believed possible.   The hero of the team was young R Wilson, borther of CP, also a member of the winning team.   He not only gave his side a winning lead but accomplished the fastest effort of the 40 competitors engaged.”   

The new District’s championship was held on 1st February 1930, ‘within the policies of Eglinton Castle’, and to no one’s great surprise, Irvine YMCA ran out the winners.   The team was R Wilson (2nd),  D Kerr (8th), D Fry (9th), J Watson (12th), D McGowan (15th), R Campbell (16th).   The race was over a distance of 7 miles, com posed of two laps with two stretches of plough in each and there were 130 runners.     

In the National at Hamilton where there were 18 teams and 29 individuals entered the team was ninth.  R Wilson was the top man in 4th, big brother CP Wilson was 41st, D Fry 55th, D McGowan 71st,  and the team was completed by another pair of brothers, A Aldie 76th, D Aldie).   There was however another big event to come: 26th April 1930 was the date when the first Edinburgh to Glasgow relay was run.   This was to become, along with the National, one of the highspots of the winter season.   It was an eight stage relay, entry by invitation only, and it would eventually settle for a date in November.   It started out in April 1930 and Irvine YMCA was one of the clubs competing in it.   The stages were of different lengths with the second (6 miles) and the sixth (7 miles) being the longest.   The irvine team on the day was R Wilson, D McGowan, D Aldie, A Aldie, D Kerr, CP Wilson, D Fry and D Watson.   It finished fourth of the 17 taking part behind Plebeian, Dundee Thistle and Maryhill Harriers and three minutes ahead of the fourth team, Motherwell YMCA.   

1930-31   The following winter, 1930-31, began earlier than usual.  On 4th Oct 1930, the new Springburn clubhouse in Auchinairn Road was opened with all the dignitaries present and the opening event was a  4 x 2+ miles relay.   The race was won by Plebeian Harriers with Irvine finishing 5th.  Runners that day were D Fry, D McGowan, D Kerr and R Wilson.   It was a good run in top company and two weeks later they held their own Club Novice Championship and Ballot Team race as a preparation for the National Novice Championship on 1st November in which they were a disappointing 31st team of 37.   It has to be remembered of course that it was a novice championship and men like the Wilson brothers would not be eligible.   They were now entering the championship season proper and on 15th November the South Western District Championships were held at Largs.  The race was run but declared void with a re-run to be held the following week.   The reason?  The leading three runners – D McGowan of Irvine, J Millar of Beith and W Ballock of Greenock Glenpark –  all went off the trail on the third leg, cutting a slice off the scheduled course.   They were well clear of the field at that point and the rest of the runners followed the correct trail.   At the end the first across the line were Beith, Glenpark and Irvine but a protest went in, the committee met and the race was declared void.   There had been ‘plenty paper’ laid but the strong wind had scattered it leading to the confusion.   The next championship was the Ayrshire Championship Relays at Benwhat where Doon Harriers won from Irvine YMCA by one minute.    The YMCA Championships were held on 19th December at Renfrew and Suttie Smith from Dundee won his fourth title.   First Irvine man to finish was D Fry in 5th place.   Because of the rules for this championship, which were a bit different from every other championship, he could not count for the team race in which Irvine, represented by AS Aldie, J Fletcher, D Duncan and McKinnon, were fifth.   Irvine were the reigning champions but the rules for the championship stated that members of a winning team could not count for the club the following year.   

The South Western Championships were held at Irvine on 7th February, 1931 and it would be thought that Irvine, reigning champions, would have won again.   Unfortunately not – there were not runners from the club in the first ten and the team finished tenth of eleven with only Barleith behind Whatever the club’s failings in the District Championship they performed well enough to be ninth team in the National at Hamilton.   Individually they were better than they had ever been with two runners in the first eleven – CP Wilson was 10th and D Fry was eleventh and both  were selected for the international to be held at Baldoyle Racecourse in Ireland.   The Thirties was a good decade for the Scottish international teams and in 1931 they finished equal second with France.   That meant that the two men from Irvine came home with medals from the international.   Fry had finished 22nd and Wilson 28th.  In the Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay held in 1931, 25th April and there were twenty two clubs entered.   Unfortunately the Irvine team dropped out and failed to finish.

1931-32 

Came the autumn season and in the National Novice Championships at the start of November the Irvine team was 18th of 42 clubs.   The South Western District relay saw the Irvine club finish third but, as the Glasgow Herald report said, “Irvine YMCA club, winners two years ago, were under strength owing to the absence of R Wilson who had to call off at the last minute.   Unexpected difficulty in getting a good reserve to fill the vacancy caused the club to lose the race which they might well have won.”   The club’s runners and times were D Fry  15:39, D Kerr 15:55, CP Wilson 16:00, J Dunlop 17:10.   The report might have bee a bit harsh in its tone as far as the replacement runner was concerned but nevertheless they finished just 32 seconds behind the winning Beith team and 23 seconds behind second placed Glenpark Harriers.   “Benwhat, a small mining village high in the hills to the north of Dalmellington”  was the venue for the Ayrshire Championships and this time the club had their top four men out – Fry, Kerr, CP Wilson and R Wilson – but could only finish second to the Doon Harriers team who defeated them by exactly one minute.   On the 19th December at Kirkcaldy in the YMCA championships their luck was no better when D Aldie was their first finisher in sixth place with the team down in sixth place of the seven competing.   Consolation was in the form of D Aldie being a member of the winning ballot team with Suttie Smith (winner for the fifth time) and George Pickering of Cambuslang YMCA.   

In the District Championships on 6th February the team could do no better than seventh of the eleven teams present and there was no runner in the top ten finishers.   Would the pattern of the previous year – poor District, good National – be repeated?   The answer is in the negative – there were only five finishers for the club so there was no team position and no runner was in the top twelve.   There was one man from Irvine YMCA selected to go to Brussels with the Scottish team – Trainer T Rae.    He did his job well – the team was third and  again brought home international medals.

The club was mainly a Harrier club but it did send some athletes to the Scottish YMCA Track and Field Championships on 21st May, 1932.   They were up against a situation where many ‘YMCA’ clubs included members of other athletic clubs – eg T Blakely, an international class member of Mryhill Harriers turned out for Glasgow North West.   The Irvine won none of the medals up for competition but there were some events labelled ‘First Claim Members’ and they picked up a second place in the 100 yards.   It should be noted that there were four events for first claim members while the ‘all who will may enter’ events numbered sixteen.

1932-33

In preparation for the National Novice Championship in November, Irvine, like many a club, held their own club novice championships and ballot team race on 15th October, and on the 29th of the month held their relay trial which was won by D Kerr from the two Aldie brothers.   In the actual Novice Championships on 5th November they could do no better than 19th of 36 teams, and there were no club men in the top ten.   There was a junior road race held at Mauchline on the 12th in which Irvine YMCA was equal third team with Beith Harriers.   In the South West District Relays on 19th November, they were without CP Wilson, R Wilson and D Fry and were never serious contenders, finishing ninth of 15 teams.  The YMCA Championships were held as usual on the third Saturday in December and D Kerr in fourth was the first Irvine YMCA man home; he could not count for the team however and the squad of A Aldie, GS Pringle, W Duncan and J Fernie was sixth of ten teams.   

The first of the two big championships of the cross-country season was the District Championship on 4th February when the team was sixth, A Aldie 13, D Aldie 20, S Pringle 29, J Finnie 54, J Storrar 56, and T Grier 63 were the men in action.   In the National Championships on 4th March, the team was 19th but that year a race for Youths was held in conjunction with the Senior event and in this one Irvine YMCA was eleventh of 24 teams.   There was an Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay on 8th April but the field was small and did not include Irvine.   

In the Track and Field Championships on 20th May, some events were labelled open and if that meant that the others were all for first claim members only, then that would seem to be an improvement.   Irvine won second place medals in the Mile Relay with a team of D Fry, R McCormick, J Lennox and J Dunlop and in the Two Mile Relay they were again second.      If it helped their morale, it should be noted that Irvine Meadow won the five-a-side football match.

1933-34   1933-34 started with the Diistrict Championships and Irvine finished third behind Greenock Glenpark and Eglinton Harriers with their team of Pringle, Kerr Aldie and Fry with Fry turning in the fastest time of the day by 15 seconds from Millar of Beith.   The Ayrshire County Championships took place on 2nd December and Irvine won from Eglinton by only ten yards.   Their top man was D Fry who had fastest time on the day  with R Pringle, D Kerr and D Aldie making up the team.   The last championship of 1933 was the Scottish YMCA Championship on 16th December where Irvine was fifth behind Kirkcaldy, Motherwell,Paisley amd Glasgow YMCA’s.   (Pringle, Aldie, McCulloch and Storrar were the men responsible.   Into the new year and in the District Championships and the club was eighth with D Aldie the top man in 101th place.   There was no team from Irvine in the National Senior Championship but D Fry ran as an individual and crossed the line in 26th place.   Nor were there any team or individual in the Youth event.   

The championship results from 1934-35 to the start of the War in 1939 can be looked at in tabular form.

This brings us up to the end of the last complete cross-country season before the 1939 – 45 War.   There was some athletics held in those years but athletics proper did not restart in Scotland until after the War.   We will pick up the story again in 1947.

The club picked up slowly after the War and there was no team from the club in the South West District Championship in Fenruary 1947, nor in either Novice Championships or District Relay in November and December 1947, and no team in the Senior National in March 1948 although there were three Youths in that race.   They were Hollas, McLeod and Raeside.   There had been a team in the District Championships on 7th February 1948 which finished sixth with runners placed 16th, 24th, 25th, 31st, 51st, and 54th.   These places are noted because the change that took place over the 1948-49 season was so dramatic.   It was called Tom McNeish.

The first championship of the winter was always the National Novice Championship in November and on the twentieth November 1948, Irvine was third = (with HMS Caledonia) of 35 teams in the event.   More to the point, Tom McNeish won the race and there were eight men racing.   He was described as ‘the well-built Tom McNeish’ by Emmet Farrell in the ‘Scots Athlete’ magazine and he went from strenth to strength that winter.   The others in the team that day in the Novice Championships were E Allan 21st, J Lawson 28th and D Lawson 51st.   The South West Relay was held on 4th December that year and the team was down in sixth place despite McNeish running second fastest time of the day.   How so?   J Lawson gave the club a lead on the first leg and D Lawson dropped one place on the second but they were still in contentio before the third leg runner, J Jackso, had a fall and as the report said, ‘put them out of the running’ despite a sterling effort by their top man.   The Ayrshire Harriers Clubs Association had their championships at Dalmellington on 18th December and Irvine YMCA won firly comfortably with a team of E Allan, D Lawson, J Lawson and T McNeish who had the fastest time of the day.   It was into 1949 and the first championship was the District Championships at Kilmarnock where McNeish won by 500 yards from internationalist Tom Stevenson of Wellpark Harriers..    The team took their cue from him and won the team race – J Lawson 8th, D Lawson 12th, E Allan 13th, H Diamond 18th and D Clotworthy 24th.   It was all good stuff with very good team performances and an outstanding runner in McNeish.   The club could have been expected to have a good turn out in the National Championships at Hamilton on 5th March.   But unfortunately not.  There was no team in either the Senior or Youth races, McNeish ran exceptionally well to be fourth in the Senior race and gain selection for the International, and there were two runners in the Youth race entered as individuals – A Diamond 26th and D Clotworthy 51st.   Emmet Farrell in the @Scots Athlete’ was most impressed with McNeish’s run and said as much in the April 1949 issue of the magazine:

“Tom McNeish was with the leaders right from the start and at one stage of the last lap looked as if he might pull off a surprise victory That he tired somewhat in the latter stages is no shame to him after such a hard season.   Discreetly handled, and with an easier programme, Mc Neish might prove a phenomenon.   He is a deceptive runner of amazing speed and stamina, and when he acquires more experience may reach even higher heights in long dtsitance running.”

McNeish in the National, 1949:  On the left in both pictures

In the left hand picture, McNeish is running with George Craig and Jim Flockhart in front of Andy Forbes, Jim Fleming, Jimmy Reid and Tom Stevenson; on the right, he is seen on the last lap with Reid and Fleming.   The caption writer draws our attention to the ‘long but powerful limbs’ of McNeish.    He ran in the international at Baldoyle Racecourse in Dublin and finished 44th to be a scorer for the team which finished ssixth.

It had been a very good season for McNeish and his club had run well, backing him up in all sorts of races with the exception of the National.   

Winter of the 1949-50 season started early for Irvine YMCA (1st October) when they entered the McAndrew Relay race at Scotstoun for the first time: the club finished 17th of the 49 teams who completed the course with McNeish their fastest man – but only 5 seconds quicker than J Lawson, the other runners being F Muir and S Cuthbert.   One month later (5th November) they ran in the South West District Relays at West Kilbride where they were third and McNeish had the fourth fastest time of the day.   Then, for the first time in a long time, the club was invited to run in the Edinburgh to Glasgow eight man relay when it was held on 21st November 1949.   They finished 17th with the team, in running order being T Garry (19th of the 22 starters), S Cuthbert (17th), H Kennedy (17th), J Malcolm (16th), H Clotworthy (17th), T McNeish (15th), A McLeod (16th) and D Andrew (17th).   The eleventh Scottis Youths Cross-Country Championship was held at King’s Park in Stirling on 3rd December and the Irvine team of D Andrew (23), H Kennedy (29), F English (79) and H Gibson (108) was 17th of the 20 teams.  There was no team entered for the South West Championships on 4th February but McNeish was out and finished fourth behnd Reid, McLean and Williamson. The National was held on the 4th March and again the Irvine team was absent although McNeish was there, ran well enough to be 16th but not well enough to make the team for the international.   

Irvine YMCA  Part Two

No coaching yet and too much of a novice to get much attention but the pictures here are of the people I learned from, trained with and raced with.

David Bowman

Every club had men who were great role models and they were often hero figures to club members.   Pat Younger inspired many in Clydesdale Harriers, as did Cyril O’Boyle, George White and Frank Kielty.   My own personal hero was David Moir Bowman who was a great club man – runner, official, administrator, club representative and more besides.   The first couple of pictures here will be of David.   The one above is during the SAAA Marathon, 1952.

David leading the Marathon at the Edinburgh Highland Games

David and Willie Howie at the Babcock & Wilcox Sports

Club Men’s Section, outside Bruce Street Baths.

Pat Younger coming down Ben Nevis

George White leading the first leg of the Edinburgh to Glasgow: handing to Duncan Stewart

George White to Pat Younger at the end of the first leg the following year

Rangers Sports: John Maclachlan, Iain Cooke,  George Rodger, ? , Ian Logie

John Maclachlan winning from Pat Younger at Singer’s Sports

Aird (7), George Rodger (7), John Hume (8), John Maclachlan (4)

George White to John Wright in the Dunbartonshire County Relay Championship

Pat Younger in Inter Department Relay at Singer’s Sports

Donaldttt Mackenzie: we trained together until he emigrated to NZ

Start of the first Edinburgh to Glasgow I witnessed

Junior National, John Wright and McParland of Springburn Harriers

John Wright behind George Govan, Shettleston, and in front of Joe Connolly, Bellahouston.

A Group of U17’s: Graeme Reid, Jamie Hendry, David Moore and Denis McGinley

All Schools and SAAA Age Group Internationalists, Graeme of course was SCCU Senior Man CC Champion in 2003

Denis McGinley

Graeme Forbes at Stretford

Scottish Medley Relay Champions, 1995: David McColm, Des Roache, Craig McDaid, Donald Govan

Des with the Trophy

Scottish Medley Relay Winners, 1994: Grant Graham, Graeme Forbes, Ruaridh Graham and Donald Govan

Grant with the Trophy

After a very good season, Clydesdale Harriers were awarded the Clydebank Sports Council Team of the Year Award

Jmaie Hendry to James Austin in the Edinburgh to Glasgow

Ewan Calvert to Derek Halpin in the Edinburgh to Glasgow

Group in Lanzarote: Ewan, Allan, Steve Moseley (Cardiff), Peter, Ian Gillespie (Bristol), John <cFadyen, Grant

Kheredine and Ewan Warming up.

Mark Govan

Graeme R, Mark, Graeme F,Des,  Kheredine, Allan and Matt Davies (Woodford Green), with Julie McDevitt and Charlotte McConnell (CoG) in front.

Allan and Grant in Lanzarote

The Bike Ride, Lanzarote: John, Steve, Ewan, Allan, Tim Grose (Serpentine Runners), Ian, Grant, Matt

More to come

Into the 1990’s and there were so many good runners in the squads – not all at the same time – but there were the 800/1500m men of the mid 90’s, the distance men of the mid and late 90’s, the excellent junior men all through the period, Scottish and British internationalists, Scottish and British champions as well as many very good club runners.   Let’s start with a group ..

As Staff Coach, I invited Steve Cram up to talk to some Under 20 athletes and their coaches.   Lots of easily identifiable faces in this one.

Des, Grant an Shane Daly at sponsored relay in Clydebank

Allan Adams and Des Roach on a Sunday morning run

Allan Adams

Billy Jenkins in the SAAA 10K, Strathclyde Park

Bobby Rosborough, Allan Adams, Peter Halpin, Grant Graham and Des Roache with Mark Govan at the back (he stopped to tie a lace)

SAAA 800m final: Des leads from Tom McKean, Tony Morrell, Ewan Calvert (31), Gary Brown and Paul Walker

Same Cast, same race, slightly later

Grant Graham, winning 1500m, Small Nations International, Cardiff

Mark Govan

James Austin, West District Championships, Stepps

Tommy Murray, Glen Stewart and Allan Adams

First Three, Bellahouston, James Austin, Tommy Murray, Stewart Bell

West District Relay Champions, Lenzie, 1995: Ewan, James, Grant and Des.

Ewan, first on the first stage in Lenzie

Shane, third on the first stage in Lenzie, 1995

Des, first on second stage in Lenzie, 1995

Kheredine, third on second stage for the B Team at Lenzie, 1995

Grant, first on third leg in Lenzie, 1995

Grant to James in first place at Lenzie, 1995

Allan Adams and Peter Halpin in La Santa, Lanzarote

Kheredine, Ewan and Grant in Alfa Mar, Portugal

Kheredine training in the pool at Lanzarote in the flotation jacket

Ewan, Peter, Grant, Kheredine in Lanzarote

Ewan leading Grant, Kheredine and John McFadyen (Greenock Glenpark) at La Santa

Many more to come -Go to 90’s Photographs     Part 2

Picture above was taken at Westerlands in early 1960’s – Jim Spence, Colin Martin, Albert Smith, Bert McKay, Alex Brown, Lachie Stewart, Alistair Milroy, Ian McCafferty, Hugh McErlean, Jim Brennan, Brian McAusland

I started coaching in season 1961-62 with the Ladies section and went on to coach some Boys, Youths and Juniors.   The girls were very good but unfortunately I don’t have a single photograph of any of the girls despite the fact that the group included Schools and age group internationals and won medals at the SAAA and, in Ann Hannah’s case, WAAA level.   However I was still running and racing seriously at the time and many of the photographs below are of training partners and racing rivals.

One of my all-time heroes and a great friend, Ian Donald who joined the club from Shettleston in 1964 and died tragically early in 1980

Ian Leggett, another good friend and team mate.   Seen here finishing the Nigel Barge Race – the same one as Ian Donald above

.Johnny B Maclachlan, a very good runner indeed who retired from the sport far too early

also finishing in the Barge

Cyril O’Boyle to Bobby Shields at the second changeover in the E-G

West District Relays at Cleland Estate: receiving the baton from Neil Buchanan

Handing over to Bobby Shields in the same West Districts at Cleland

Pat Younger and Roy Clarke

Allan Sharp (73) and Jack Girvan

Bobby Shields in the Ben Nevis Race.  

Another hero: David M Bowman who was a good marathon runner after the War and became a top class official and administrator.   David was President of Clydesdale Harrier, the Dunbartonshire Association, the Scottish Marathon Club and the Inter-Counties Association in the same year.   He was also responsble for a great deal of the planning for the Commonwealth Games Marathon in both 1970 and 1986.   At the time of this phorotgraph he was in his erly 50’s.

Pat Younger as a veteran running in the Ben Nevis race

Frank Kielty leading here was a wonderful character and philosopher who would argue any case in any argument and usually win; Andy Park behind him was one of the first male athletes I ever coached.   Anything but elegant he was a genuine character and people travelled across Glasgow just to see his race in the midweek league which was organised by Alex Naylor, Bert Winter and others.   Any ran in everything right up to the Edinburgh to Glasgow but his career was ended when he was seriously injured with the Army in Ireland.

Bobby Shields running in the Edinburgh to Glasgow

Coatbridge, 1986

Having been involved in athletics since 1957, I have some photographs covering that period.  I have actually been involved continuously for 62 years so far.  There are some of people I have trained and run against and with, there are also some of athletes I have coached or who have trained with one or other of the groups.  Some of the pictures have been posted on facebook pages or websites and just recently I was asked to put some of my own up as a collection.   As a result I will put up pictures from each of the decades from the 1950’s to the present.  First there are some from the 1970’s and the 1980’s.  Just follow the links below.

  The 50’s   The  60’s    The 1970’s    The 1980’s    The 1990’s   The 00’s

Robert McWatt, on the left below, was the first Junior or Senior Scottish international athlete that I coached.  He was selected for the Scottish team in February 1978.   A talented athlete who raced successfully at a tremendous range of distances from 800m and he even ran a 2:30 marathon.   I never coached Phil Dolan, but we ran in many a team together and even travelled to Boston in April 1977 for the marathon there.   

With Robert and Phil at the late, lamented Westerlands.

George Carlin in the steeplechase at the DAAA Championships at Scotstoun

George was one of the most naturally talented runners I worked with: a contemporary of Robert’s he was good at most distance track events but probably best as a cross-country and hill runner.

Robert finishing the Aberdeen Marathon in 2:30

Coach leading his bit of the field in the National at Livingston

Some of the younger ones of that period: John Cassidy, Denis Williams (coached at that time by Denis McGinley), Richie McGroggan and Lawrie McLafferty

Robert (and Phil) running in the SAAA 5000m at Meadowbank

Coach, second left, starting in the Edinburgh to Glasgow at the start of the decade

Robert in an 800m at Westerlands behind Graham Williamson and ahead of Ian Smith

Richie McGroggan receiving the Senior Boys’ Cross-Country Trophy from the club secretary

I was still running seriously for most of the 70’s and, living in Lenzie, I trained regularly wit Alastair Macfarlane, Doug Gunstone and Bill Ramage.   There were also the sessions at Clydebank with Ian Donald and Allan Faulds of course and the result was some of the best running I ever did.

Allan Faulds leading Don Macgregor, Martin Craven and Fergus Murray

Alastair en route to winning the SAAA Marathon in 1979

After the SAAA Track 10 Miles: Colin Youngson (2nd), Doug  Gunstone (1st), Martin Craven (3rd)