Many are the people who have come to expect a certain narrative played out with any mention of Tommy Bryce… a man of many clubs who enjoyed a long-lasting football career comes immediately to mind… but Guinness Book of Records entrant…surely not ?
Sounds a bit far-fetched yet that is one of the distinctions merited against the soon to be 63 year old’s name (his birthday is next week) as a result of an extensive 38 years playing and managing stint spanning both the Senior and Junior ranks.
His prodigious claim to fame arises from turning out for Queen of the South in a 1994 game against Arbroath when between the 6th-8th minutes, Tommy helped himself to a hat trick of goals in just 106 seconds which sparked an application for his feat to be acknowledged as the fastest ever hat trick scored in Scottish professional football despite official bibliographic sources continuing to insist an even quicker treble strike by Tommy Ross (deceased) playing for Ross County against Nairn ,albeit in a Highland League match, was more deserving of the accolade???
Tommy himself has never sought recognition and it becomes clear he is pretty unruffled at the thought of missing out on a place in the game’s history books and simply puts it down as just another of the many twists and turns he has experienced in football since first coming to the fore with crack Youth side Ferguslie United.
Though born in Johnstone, Tommy was brought up in Paisley and attended St Mirin Academy where his appearances for an underachieving school team were in stark contrast to playing up front and alongside the notable likes of John Dougall, Gerry Sharkey and Brian McFarlane for a more than decent Ferguslie outfit that won league title honours but agonizingly suffered a Scottish Cup Final defeat by fierce rivals Eadie Star.
Aged just 17, he and team mates Jimmy McBride and Keith Robin , caught the eye of a Kilmarnock scout and were invited down to Rugby Park where playing successful trials led to the trio signing professional forms for Killie boss Davie Sneddon whose part-time playing squad back then included seasoned types Derek McDicken , Paul Clarke and John Bourke.
The youngsters teamed up in a very successful Reserve Team that won the Scottish Cup with a dramatic two-legged Final victory over Hearts, a Jim Docherty hat trick earning a silverware clinching 3-0 victory on Ayrshire soil after Hearts had won the first leg by a 2-0 scoreline.
Not long afterwards Killie’s relegation saw Sneddon sacked in a move that saw Rob Stewart who had previously managed the Reserves take temporary charge of playing matters and he unhesitatingly gave first team debuts to many of the youthful Killie talents, Bryce among them.
Tommy insisted , “ Looking back now, we weren’t quite ready for the step up and Rob affording us the opportunity was clearly not to everyone’s liking at the club because he was duly replaced by Jim Clunie whose assistant Davie Wilson ,the former Scotland and Rangers winger ,showed no inclination whatsoever to give youth a chance and dumped myself and the other guys back down to the Reserves.
“That was a major disappointment but an even bigger blow was waiting at the season’s end when free transfers were doled out to one and all but thankfully Davie Sneddon had moved to Stranraer in the interim and he threw us a lifeline by snapping up both Jimmy and myself however he failed to persuade Keith to come on board as he had become so disenchanted by our treatment at Killie that he quit football altogether.”
Tommy, by now 22 years of age, stayed at Stair Park for all of three seasons before agreeing on a transfer to Queen of the South whose manager Nobby Clark played him as his main striker in a team containing star turns Jimmy Robertson, Jim Thomson, Graeme Robertson and current Chelsea assistant manager Billy Reid that comfortably won promotion to the Scottish First Division in 1986.
All was looking rosy in the Bryce garden but a couple of cruel quirks of fate conspired against him as firstly Nobby Clark resigned following a fall-out with the Palmerson board and then the new man at the helm, Mike Jackson lasted only a matter of months himself before calling it quits thus opening the door for the appointment of Tommy’s former Rugby Park nemesis Wilson.
He mused “I could never really put my finger on why I wasn’t Davie’s cup of tea but needless to say I soon found myself out of favour again so the chance to join Clydebank when Jack Steedman put in a bid was too good to turn down and more so when I found myself partnering up with Ken Eadie and Owen Coyle in a freescoring forward line.
“Budgie McGhie , Mick Conroy and the former Pollok pair Stuart Auld and Stuart Gordon were also at the Bankies around that time and ours was a side reckoned to have heaps of potential but a stroke of bad luck saw me lose my day job with Safeway and I was therefore only too willing to jump ship when Ayr United, a full time club back then , showed a signing interest.
“Ally McLeod’s pursuit of my signature was understandable given I had scored 7 goals in just three games against Ayr that season ,including a couple of hat tricks, but I was never to reach those same prolific heights playing under him during the next 18 months or indeed for George Burley when he took over after Ally resigned in the aftermath of a fall out with the Ayr Board .
Tommy laughed ”There was no hope for me if I couldn’t do the business for two Scotland managers.”
Silverware honours may have eluded Tommy throughout his Somerset Park playing stint however he did feature in the Ayr side that lost 3-2 to Dundee (Billy Dodds bagged a hat trick) in the 1990 Centenary Cup Final and was again a starter in the following season’s showpiece finale when the competition, now called the B & Q Cup ,was won by Colin Harris netting the only goal of the game for Hamilton Accies.
Finding alternative employment away from football brought him to revert to playing part-time again and he gladly put pen to paper for a second time around spell at former club Queen of the South which had been fairly uneventful until that historic goals burst in a 6-0 early December rout of Arbroath.
He recalled, “I actually scored four goals in the game but didn’t realize at the time how close the first three goals were to each other
“What I do remember well is the Arbroath manager being Danny McGrain who apparently had designated his defender Toby King to mark me tightly yet there I was less than ten minutes in with three goals to my name so the unfortunate Toby got the mother of all rollickings from Danny at half time.”
TOMMY IN HIS QUEEN OF THE SOUTH DAYS
By his own admission, Tommy thrived playing under the Dumfries club’s infamously hard taskmaster gaffer Billy McLaren and in his third season back, he outshone illustrious team mates Jamie McAllister, Stevie Mallan, David Lilley and George Rowe by picking up the Man of the Match award as Queen of the South were narrowly defeated 1-0 by Falkirk (David Hagan was the marksman) in the Scottish Challenge Cup Final .
That third Final reverse was supposed to be the veteran’s Senior Football swansong however a meeting with close friends Sammy Johnston and Willie Jamieson brought about a change of heart after they convinced Tommy that he was the perfect fit for the vacant Partick Thistle manager position .
They were right insofar as his application duly proved successful and with Johnston and Jamieson in coaching roles, he got away to a proverbial flier as player/manager with a Jags team boasting the likes of Martin Lauchlan, Alan Archibald Kevin Gaughan and Alan Morgan.
The Firhill outfit actually sat atop the standings nearing the end of October but a horrendous run of injuries , Lauchlan was ruled out for months while an ACL tear brought the curtain down on Morgan’s career ,proved nothing short of disastrous for Tommy on account of him having next to nothing in the way of transfer funds to bring in suitable replacements.
The embarrassment of being outbid by Junior clubs for players, Bonnyrigg Rose actually beat him to the signature of Graham Harvey, was bad enough but he felt compelled to call it a day when his failure to arrest a slump to mid-table in February culminated in Thistle ‘s top table opting to restore legendary gaffer John Lambie to the manager’s chair .
He then briefly returned to Queen of the South for a third time but took umbrage at being asked to “prove himself” in order to earn a contract offer and instead answered a plea for help from David Baikie at Arbroath where at 39 years of age he weighed in with almost 40 first team appearances netting six goals in the process.
The regular journeys up to Tayside were a bit of a grind ,even though Baikie allowed him to train one night a week at Arthurlie, and the start of the 200/01 season saw Tommy electing to join another of his former clubs, Stranraer, however just a couple of months down the line he called time on a feted Senior career of over 650 appearances and 160 plus goals .
Tommy’s recollections would probably not have been mine to write up had he decided to ease himself into retirement gracefully rather than agree to help out the long standing friends John McStay and Davie Kennedy,back then the Glenafton management duo .
He takes up the story, “ I went there on a player/coach basis ,not knowing the first thing about the Juniors, but it didn’t take long for me to appreciate this was a very decent footballing level.
“Towards the end of my second season, Jock who was having a nightmare time of it in juggling his team boss duties with trying to get his painting and decorating business off the ground, decided to walk away and the Glens Committee asked if I would take over from him.
“In all honesty, it was an easy call for me to make given our dressing room contained promising young players like Joe Carruth, Keith Hogg, Ritchie Newall and Stevie Agnew along with older heads such as Davie Kennedy and Dougie Johnstone.
“”My first full season in charge ended with the West of Scotland Cup won for the first time in the club’s history with a 4-2 defeat of the Tommy Coyne steered Bellshill Athletic yet though the next 12 months were not as successful, you could still have knocked me down with a feather when the Glens officials met up with me after a Friday night 5-2 victory in our final game of the season to say they had decided to replace me with Gordon Dalziel.”
Troon manager Chris Strain availed himself of Tommy’s undoubted nous in a player/coach capacity over the next few months until the attraction of “being his own man” at relegation threatened Kilbirnie Ladeside proved too much for him to resist .
He couldn’t save the Blasties from the drop however his teambuilding skills brought the likes of Mark Colville, Liam McGuinness, the fabulously gifted Davie Anderson and East Kilbride based pair Chris Erskine and Jamie Longworth to Valefield and not surprisingly Kilbirnie were restored to the top flight before in 2008 ,Bryce tasted West of Scotland Cup Final glory all over again as his Kilbirnie playing charges produced a stunningly memorable 5-1 Final victory over Pollok .
Tommy revealed , “On their day Kilbirnie played football that was an absolute delight to behold and I held the reins for fully eight years with the backing of a terrific Committee ,but we lost several key players to the Seniors and found replacing them an anything but straightforward task so I thought it best for everyone if I stepped down in order for someone to come in with a fresh approach and new ideas for the good of the club.”
He was not at a loose end for long because Queens Park manager Gardner Spiers took to employing him to report on future opponents and prospective signings prior to a shock 2013 telephone call from Glenafton Secretary John Stewart enquiring whether he fancied a return to New Cumnock pastures following the departure of erstwhile gaffer Darren Henderson .
Tommy added, “The manner of my previous exit from the Glens left a bad taste in my mouth so before taking the job I sought and received assurances from John that I would be backed to the hilt this time around.
“I’m sure he made his promise with the best of intentions but it was not the case as I discovered within a matter of weeks when my door was being constantly chapped by players saying they had an agreement to leave and join up with Darren at Hurlford United.”
Stalwarts such as Ross Robertson, Paul McKenzie , Chris Robertson and brothers Danny and Glen Mitchell were among the host of players who moved to Blair Park in lthe close season and left Tommy with no more than a shell of a dressing room which he was at pains to rectify with a number of impromptu playing squad signings.
He said , “ It was a shambolic pre-season to say the least and only eclipsed by a 7-1 drubbing from Lugar Boswell in our opening League Cup game however there were promising signs when the team only lost 3-2 against Auchinleck Talbot in our b next outing .
“Slowly but surely we tweaked things to make improvements but managing a mid-table league position did not best please supporters and club officials alike which brought a lot of unfair criticism and I had made my mind up to quit at the end of the season.
“But then our team raised a few eyebrows by making it all the way to the Junior Cup Final and I changed my mind despite the downer of losing 3-0 to Hurlford United of all teams however I soon realized this was a mistake on my part and I tendered my resignation just short of the following Xmas. “
Ever since, Tommy has avoided entering any Senior or Junior grounds and has restricted his footballing involvement to nothing more than helping coach the various Renfrew Juveniles under age sides for whom his son , also Thomas plays.
His was the last word in saying , “I always said I would never do this however I do enjoy it immensely.”
FIXTURES FOR SATURDAY 14th JANUARY( Kick Offs 1.30 PM unless stated): P.D.M Buildbase Premier Division. Rob Roy v Largs Thistle, Auchinleck Talbot v Cambuslang Rangers,Clydebank v Troon, Glenafton v Pollok, Arthurlie v Irvine Meadow, Kilwinning Rangers v Darvel(Friday 7.30PM), Beith v Petershill, Cumnock v Hurlford Utd. PDM Buildbase First Division. Shotts Bon Accord v Cumbernauld Utd, St Cadocs v Bonnyton Thistle, Neilston v Rutherglen Glencairn, St Rochs v Kilbirnie Ladeside,
Johnstone Burgh v Benburb, Rossvale v Blantyre Vics, Drumchapel Utd v Thorniewood Utd, Gartcairn v Whitletts Vics. PDM Buildbase Second Division. Greenock v Glasgow Perthshire, Kilsyth Rangers v Forth Wanderers , St Anthonys v Renfrew, Craigmark v Yoker Athletic, Maybole v Ashfield, Glasgow University v Maryhill (Friday 8PM) Wishaw v Ardeer Thistle, Muirkirk v Glasgow Utd. PDM Buildbase Third Division. Finnart v Lesmahagow, Bellshill Athletic v Larkhall Thistle,, Irvine Vics v Girvan, Ardrossan Winton Rovers v Dalry Thistle (Friday 7.30PM), Newmains Utd v Vale of Leven, Lanark Utd v Royal Albert, Saltcoats Vics v East Kilbride Thistle, Port Glasgow v Vale of Clyde, Newmains Utd v Lanark Utd, Lugar Boswell v Kello Rovers. PDM Buildbase Fourth Division. West Park Utd v Harmony Row, Threave Rovers v St
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