Strathman

Think he was from Baillieston unfortunately...

Many years ago places like Balfron, Bonkle and Newport on Tay were associated with the home towns of referees in Scotland. I am sure many on here would get the referees associated with these places in a quiz. There were a few anomalies in that a Glasgow ref was never Glasgow. It would be Clarkston, Newlands or even Queens Park. An Aberdeeen or Edinburgh ref would be Aberdeen or Edinburgh. There was a referee called Sandy Roy who lived in Westhill but he was always Sandy Roy, Aberdeen. Now you have no idea where the referees are from. All the old ones have retired and we never hear where the new ones are from. Is there a Grade 1 Aberdeen or Inverness referee on the list these days for example? Alan Freeland was the last ref Aberdeen I recall the last Inverness top flight ref I remember was Ward Balfour but that was fifty years ago. I don't think they stopped saying where refs are from in England I wonder why they did it here?

Fort William crowd was 675 according to the Depressing Journal.

I notice Coupar Angus missing from the Scottish Cup results for the first two rounds. Did they not enter? Looks like the best set of results the North Region teams in general have achieved for years. Incredible result by Bridge of Don Thistle. A draw away to Kilwinning and winning the replay. I cannot think of a better one since Banks O'Dee and Sunnybank won the cup in the fifties. I am sure there must have been right enough.

Dufftown 2 1 East Kilbride

I agree with that particularly for Elgin City. If they went down and were financially in reasonable shape I think they would regroup and bounce back. A season or two playing local sides and presumably winning more often would not be the end of the world. Suspect they would get bigger crowds. Tougher for Brechin I would have thought.

First full cap almost certainly. The Wiki suggets Odmar got an under 19 cap at Keith.

Odmar Faero respresented the Faroes while playing with Keith. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odmar_Færø

Cheers for the link. Connah Quay are a bunch of cloggers with a good defence. Cove very good and had the bulk of possession although despite hitting the post they did not make the Welsh keeper make a save. Cove finished the game with 9 players who played in the Highland League last season. Would be astonished if Cove left back Harry Milne does not end up playing full time.

Davie White's Clyde team was counted as Glasgow by UEFA when they were denied a Fairs Cup place in the sixties.

Either that or Fraserburgh Bonnyrigg Rose. Top of Highland League v Top of Lowland League.

For most of the time when there has been Scottish League football the Highland League area was an afterthought. Respected guys like Jack Steedman and Bob Crampsey actively fought against Highland teams advancement. In Steedman's case blatantly and Crampsey who championed Gala's right to join instead of teams with fan bases such as Elgin and Ross County. The decision to elect Ferranti Thistle who did not even have a suitable ground ahead of Inverness Thistle was incomprehensible to anyone looking at the game as a whole. The Pyramid, far from perfect but a lot better than nothing, means that clubs can achieve Scottish League on merit. I think it is inevitable that the Lowland League will eventually become a much better standard than the Highland League. Last year's Scottish Cup results was the first real sign of that happening. For the time being though the current system is fair enough. Cove outclassed East Kilbride and Spartans in the last couple of play offs. Brora have also won so the current system is not lop sided in terms of ability. Leave it for a while yet would be my take.

Impressive research. I have never heard of Addiewell and had no idea Lochwinnoch had a team.

Just checked up Steve Paterson's Dens Park record in his 18 months at Pittodrie. He had a couple of wins and a draw. Dundee had a much better team in those days.

Banks O'Dee 3 1 Montrose Roselea

Below is a table of the results of the non league teams in the Scottish cup since the changes in eligibility twelve seasons ago. Talbot top and will be for a while yet. The preliminary rounds that they have to play in does give them a boost. They have however only competed in seven of the seasons. Edinburgh City would have been top before their promotion. Spartans and Formartine have beat four league sides each which is the best. Thirty six victories against league sides in total averaging three a season. Curiously the team with the most draws is Forres Mechanics with twelve five more than anyone else. They must love a replay.

Locos and Formartine have been a win on the last day away from winning a title. Fair point about losing the bigger clubs however there are not loads of locals playing for the bigger clubs that went into the league. Pele's Inverness team probably had the most. They majority of the teams players that go in to the National leagues tend to go to other Highland League clubs fairly soon afterwards. The standard in my opinion recovers eventually.

There was a copy of the Highland Hundred for sale in the Peterhead Club shop the other day. I have a copy. It is very good despite a few mistakes as I recall.

Can remember Avoch playing in what used to be known as the 2nd XI League in the sixties. They were either Rovers or Rangers forget which. Smart wee park. Decent shout though. Muir of Ord might be technically in the Black Isle in fact it probably is as it was the venue for the Black Isle Show. They were in the league from the seventies for a good number of years.

North Region had a Cup for the second tier for years. Think it was called the Morrison Trophy. Not sure if it is still on the go.

Banks O Dee won 8-0 tonight against the team who finished second in the league, Bridge of Don Thistle, in a Cup Final tonight. That means they have had a clean sweep locally. They also lost in the final in two Aberdeenshire Cups where all their opposition was Highland League. I see them as having three options. 1. Status Quo. Huge fish in a small pool. 2. Highland League 3 Have a right go at being a top Junior side nationally. They have played Talbot and Kilwinning away this season losing narrowly. On both occasions many of their first choice players were unavailable. That is no use if you want to compete at that level. Level being capable of winning the Junior Cup. I think they should have one more season Junior and agree a deal with the Highland League to join the following season whatever the number of clubs.

When McNamara won his awards there were not a lot of Scots in the Celtic team. Suspect that worked in his favour.

Certainly from the referee when the Cove goalie was rugby tackled and the goal allowed to stand.

Many Thanks. The new date explains why I could not find details at the library.

I have a programme Highland League v Scotland Juniors 23rd March 1980 at Boroughbriggs, Elgin. Does anyone have any details of the match? There was a player who went on to play in a European Cup Final in the Programme line up curiously enough!