DENNIS IN HIS TALBOT SCORING HEYDAY

Dennis The Menace is a famous Beano comic strip character and is also a tag  that opposition fans bestowed upon the Scottish footballing great Dennis Law on account of his penalty box exploits as a Manchester United striker during the 1960’s and early70’s.

But is the acclaimed Lawman more deserving of this moniker than a certain Dennis Gray whose goalscoring prowess in Juniors circles caused defenders to have sleepless nights from fearing the very prospect of  having to come up against him ?

Before committing to an answer, consider the following…

The Gray boy was one of four children (a brother and two sisters) born and raised in the small Ayrshire village of Fenwick from where he attended St Josephs Secondary in Kilmarnock and was very quickly recognized as the star turn in a fairly average school team containing goalkeeper Jackie Ferrie (Dennis thinks he later joined  Darvel) as well as future Hurlford United and Auchinleck Talbot signing Michael Woods.

The team’s only silverware prize he can  recall was the Under 18’s Ayrshire Schools Cup which St Josephs` won with a 4-3 replay victory over Dumfries Academy following a 2-2 first game draw and it was no real surprise that Dennis bagged a brace of goals in both Final games as he scored a total of 45 goals in just 19 games that season to beat the school record of 40 set by Jack McGowan in 1961.

His netfinding exploits also brought Dennis deserved  recognition at Scottish Schoolboys level and he picked up two caps for appearing as a  substitute against both England  and Wales, no mean feat considering among his team mates were Ian Redford (later of Dundee and Rangers), Ian Munro (St Mirren, Rangers and Hibs), and  Ian Philips (Dundee).

Like just about every football mad youngster of that era , Dennis doubled turning out for his school on a Saturday morning with amateur under age games in the afternoon and Kilmarnock based Bellfield Boys Club  were the team he represented alongside captain Billy Reilly (later of Annbank United) and Jock Minford, snapped up by Hibs before he was reinstated to become a renowned Junior football adversary of Dennis down through the years.

He recalled , “ I was partnered up front by Adam Cairns whom if memory serves me right scored more goals for Bellfield than I  did in the 1977/78 season and  went on to play for Ardrossan Winton Rovers.

“The following season saw both myself and Michael Woods (he was also at Bellfield) make the move to a very good Hurlford United side where the likes of big Willie Frew and Sammy Murray were at their peak but I struggled with the physicality at Junior level…well I was coming in at just over 10 stone soaking wet in those days …and my  lack of games led to me very quickly deciding to drop back into the amateur ranks with my local team Fenwick Thistle.

“It was the right thing to do for a number of reasons not least of all because Thistle duly won the West of Scotland Cup with a 4-0 defeat of much fancied Viewfield Rovers in the Final played at Beith’s Bellsdale Park and I scored twice which paved the way for a move to Annbank United at the start of the following season. “

With confidence renewed and suitably buoyed, Dennis hit the ground running under Pebble Park boss Bob Telfer in his second start at Junior level and he excelled playing alongside the likes of former Boys Club skipper Reilly, goalkeeper Tony Kennedy and striking partner Neil McKenzie who outscored him with an impressive 42 goals haul albeit Dennis did weigh in with  an impressive 37 strikes of his own  in just 38 games, somewhat  notably inclusive of 3 goal and 2 goal returns respectively in 9-0 and 4-1 victories over Auchinleck Talbot.

His stunning start to that season ,11 goals in 11 games no less ,had caught the eye of Ayr United boss Ally McLeod whose fixing him up on provisional forms allowed Dennis to continue playing for Annbank as a prelude to him embarking on a three year stint at Somerset Park where he has fond memories of rubbing dressing room  shoulders with feted Ayr worthies Sanny McAnespie, Davie McCulloch, Spud Murphy,Les Train ,Jimmy Flynn, Tommy Reynolds, Rikky Fleming , Brian Lannon, Joe Filippi, as well as goalkeeping duo Ally McLean and Jim Gilmour.

In typical fashion Dennis made a storming start to his Senior career, bagging  Ayr United’s only goal on his debut  in a televised match against Dundee which ended in a 2-1 defeat.

He admitted, “ Ayr were a decent side during my time there and  made it to Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangers along with a 4^th top finish in the League  but I was predominantly restricted to bench appearances which is hardly surprising when  Dixie Ingram, George McLean , Johnny Doyle and Phil McGovern were all vying for forward line places.

“ I was so far out of the picture that the last six months of my contract saw myself and Jimmy Flynn  loaned out to Stranraer ,then managed by the former Rangers and Scotland full back Eric Caldow whose management style was unique insofar as he favoured the old 2-3-5 set up and even more bizarrely, he played me as his right-half???”

Dennis grimaced when thinking back to him making a regrettable faux pas during his brief Stair Park playing stint.

“The Scottish Cup draw paired us with Ayr United at a time when Jimmy and I were still training a couple of nights each week at Somerset so I became a focus for local media and television prior to the tie taking place.

“ I took a lot of ribbing from the Ayr guys after one such occasion  when my response to being asked if Stranraer had a chance of coming out on top was to say an upset was more than possible so you can imagine how I was made to feel when Ayr turned us over by a 7-1 scoreline ?”

A free transfer at the end of 1973/74 saw Dennis in demand however Auchinleck, thanks in no small part to the persuasive influence exerted by former school team mate Michael Woods, won the race for his signature and Dennis teamed up with him again in a Beechwood Park dressing room also frequented by soon to be Ayr United goalkeeper Hugh Sproat, Tam Shirkey, Benny Ferrie, Andy McDade, Puggy Allan and Gavin Goudie among others.

He takes up the story of that first Talbot season, “ Goudie and I formed a 96 goal partnership (Dennis racked up 59 scores )yet the team won absolutely `hee haw` that season or indeed my next one for that matter however I will forever have abiding memories of my very first league game .

“It was a 3-2 win against our arch rivals Cumnock in which I scored a goal that prompted  Talbot’s  supporters  to invade the park at the final whistle and carry me off  shoulder high to the dressing rooms, in celebration (as I later discovered) of beating Cumnock for the first time in eleven years.”

59 goals were never going to go unnoticed despite Auchinleck’s lack of trophy success and Dennis duly won the first of his 11 caps for Junior Scotland in 1975 when manager  John Binnie selected him along with such as Eddie Bashford (Irvine Meadow), Andy Dailly (Petershill),Billy Paton (Cumnock), John Donnelly (St Rochs) Tam McGill (Kilbirnie Ladeside) and Bobby Brown (Kello Rovers)  for a mini-tour of West Germany to play a trio of games against British Army teams and it was a case of “didn’t he do well” again after the prolific scoring ace was on target  in all three outings .

He mused , “After Germany, I was one of only four players retained in the 1976 squad that were 3-0 winners over an England side managed by the former Aston Villa and Manchester City manager Joe Mercer.

“And I was then the only survivor when John Hughes took up the reins in 1979 and put together a vastly different squad which saw me playing up front with Norrie Fulton (Pollok) and Gavin Murray (Rob Roy).”

DENNIS RECEIVING A TROPHY AT AUCHINLECK TO COMEMMORATE HIS 1975 SCOTLAND CALL UP

Around this time  his Auchinleck Talbot side were likewise going through a period of change sparked by the appointment of Willie Knox as team boss at the start of the  1977/78 season

“ Knoxy coming on board was undoubtedly a  game-changer for everyone connected with Talbot “ reminisced Dennis before adding “ His desire for a winning mentality above all else saw Cammy Hitchell, Mick McGinn, Stan Webster, Brian Lannon and Hughie McLean arrive at the club as well as laterally George Rattray and the team was transformed.

“ Picking up our first silverware prize ,the Jackie Scarlett Cup , with a 3-2 Final defeat of Irvine Meadow was followed by Talbot being crowned Ayrshire First Division champions and there was no stopping us from then on.

“ The Ayrshire title was again added in 1979 when we never lost a single league game but we arguably topped even that by going on to win both the Dryborough and West of Scotland Cups.

“Our West success (the first of four consecutive triumphs) was particularly memorable for the fact we beat Cumnock  4-0 in the  Final just after they had beaten Bo’ness United to win the Scottish Junior Cup.

“Talbot had understandably been outright underdogs going into the Final which maybe explains why I got a bit over-excited with us leading 2-0 at half time and I sat down beside  Brian Lannon to say `Hey if they don’t score we  are going to win this Cup `

“If ever there was a case of someone stating the obvious then that was it and he still gives me pelters to this day”

His outstanding goals return enabled Dennis to reap a total of 16 winners medals as well as 3 runners-up gongs (he doesn’t like talking about coming second best) during his nine seasons at Auchinleck yet arguably his biggest disappointment has to go down as the 1-0 Junior Cup semi-final defeat by Bo’ness United in 1982/83, which had followed on from him remarkably notching up an astonishing 300^th goal wearing the black and gold colours in an earlier round 2-1 Scottish replay victory over Newtongrange Star.

PREVIOUS WINNER TAM SHIRKEY HANDS OVER A PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD TO DENNIS

To bow out at that juncture, (his work commitments with a leading Bank were compelling him to take up a post through in Edinburgh) having come so near yet so far to landing the biggest trophy prize in the Junior game was a hammer blow yet Dennis was to show his goalscoring knack had not deserted him after Linlithgow Rose gaffer Jimmy Crease convinced him to throw in his lot with the East Region giants.

He bagged 17 goals in helping a Rose side comprising of fellow Junior internationalist Tommy Ure, goalkeeper Les Donaldson and Keith Burgess take the prestigious East of Scotland Cup honours on top of being crowned league champions however his Prestonfield tenure was to be cut short when yet another work posting (Glasgow this time) saw him return to the West of Scotland.

The then 33 year old rejoined Talbot midway through the 1984/85 season but making sporadic appearances at best were not to his liking so he did not hesitate during the close season to take up a player/manager role at Whitletts Vics particularly as moving there presented an opportunity to rekindle his partnership with Gavin Goudie, back then a signed Vics player.

Revealed Dennis, “John Crawford was my assistant and our Vics team had players of the ilk of Goudie, Stevie Black, Ian Sim, David “Monty” Munro, Jim McGhee and Barry McCorriston to name but a few and we duly won promotion to the First Division.

“I was able to strengthen our side further with the capture of Hughie Findlay upon his return from Australia .and we held our own against many of the the top teams despite taking a 7-1 pasting by Talbot in the Scottish but just surviving was not enough for me so I stepped down after one season and took up going to the gym on Saturdays with Lannon who had walked away from Talbot .

“If truth be told , it was boring , so we were never going to turn down the Whitletts Match Secretary Norrie McLean when he asked  the pair of us to come on board as co-managers with the Vics staring relegation in the face midway through 1986/87 season .

“We took on the challenge and managed to keep them up against all the odds which in turn sparked an out of the blue phone call from George Morton enquiring as to whether we (two Auchinleck Talbot players with more than 20 years’ service between us) would be willing to take charge of Cumnock.

“It was a big ask, even before taking into consideration the fact Talbot and Knoxy had just clinched a third Scottish Cup triumph in a row, but after Brian and I sat down and  talked things over at length , we decided to give it a go…and the rest as they say is history.”

The acquisitions of Jim McGhee, Raymond Day, Tony Bryden and striking trio Joe Smart, Gerry Phillips and Derek Love were just some of the many changes wrought by the new management team whose teambuilding skills paid off handsomely in their very first Townhead Park season when a 1-0 Rugby Park victory over Ormiston Primrose (Love scored) enabled Dennis to finally get his hands on the Scottish Junior Cup, albeit as a manager.

“Our background was glossed over by the Cup win but it was a different matter when the departure of a number of players, most notably Gerry Phillips who decided to retire, led to Cumnock making a woeful start to the following season.” he admitted.

“ A 6-0 Jackie Scarlett Cup defeat by Talbot did not go down well and caused some rumblings but even more embarrassingly we were then knocked out of the Scottish Cup in an early round tie , beaten 1-0   by Musselburgh Athletic, which gave our critics all the ammunition they needed so Brian and I decided to tender our resignations .”

A subsequent approach from Beith saw Dennis take up the Mighty helm, with Rab Hamilton as his assistant (Lannon had opted to step away from the firing line) and the former hitman visibly thrived over the next five years with a dressing room comprising (at various times) of gifted striking duo Craig Shannaghey and Billy Borthwick, Barry McCorriston, Les Train, George Coll, Gary Graham  Jock McNeil as well as a couple of his former playing charges Derek Love  and Hughie Findlay.

As if amassing an impressive haul of seven local Ayrshire silverware prizes, inclusive of a memorable Jackie Scarlett success against Auchinleck, was not enough to whet his appetite ,Dennis also assumed the mantle of Scotland Juniors boss while holding the Bellsdale Park reins and  appointed  his then Beith No 2 Billy Young and  the North Ayrshire club’s former playing legend Ian Balmer onto his backroom team.

The formidable trio were to make their mark by winning the 1997 Quadrangular Tournamentwith  a playing squad heavily laced with Ayrshire based players , Derek McCulloch, Dunky Sinclair, Gary Graham, Stuart McIntosh, and Davie “Pele” Walker, along with  Danny Diver and the sadly deceased Iain Ashcroft  (Pollok) Digger Fulton,Gavin Duncan and Stuart Allison (Arthurlie) and Brian Smith (Petershill).

DENNIS ,BILLY,BAM AND THEIR SCOTLAND TEAM with BIG ASHY (centre) CELEBRATE THE TOURNAMENT WIN

By then though , Dennis was carrying out twin club and country roles as Auchinleck Talbot manager, having been unable to  resist when his former club had come calling for him to replace Jock Minford prior to the onset of the 1995/96 season.

He signed a little known Del McCulloch from Maybole and by his own admission “stole” McCorriston , Shannaghey, Findlay and Graham from Beith while heading up Bot team affairs for a total of six seasons and seven (he thinks) local Ayrshire trophy wins.

Losing to Tayport and Renfrew in Junior Cup semi-finals ranks among his biggest managerial disappointments as does  the 1-0 defeat by Maryhill in the 2000/01 West of Scotland Cup Final  which preceded him calling time on his Beechwood Park reign.

He went on , “Football wise, I did nothing throughout the following year but Robert McCarter of Beith  was plaguing me with telephone calls asking me to return to Bellsdale and I finally relented in June 2002 with Hughie Findlay at my side this time along with Balmer .

“ I have a mixed  memories of the next four years ,the highlights a notable 5-1 West of Scotland Cup victory over Talbot as well as four local trophy wins but yet again the big prizes stayed out of reach and a losing Junior Cup semi-final appearance against Glenafton was as good as it got.”

DENNIS AS HE IS TODAY WITH GRANDSON CHARLIE

2006 was the final parting of the ways between Dennis and the game of Junior football he had graced with distinction for all of 34 years but he was at great pains to explain his quit decision was nothing to do with Beith Juniors.

He reflected, “ It was reported in some circles that I had resigned when in fact I was retiring from the game because I was then 55 years of age and tiring of  the necessary day to day involvement with running a team.

“Ever since , my spare time has been taken over by Golf and in particular running the Portman Golf Clubin Kilmarnock which had 13 members when starting out and now boasts all of 86 which as you might expect takes a lot of admin.”

He added, “ I’m rarely ever to be seen on Junior  terracings  not least because the game is a completely different animal nowadays as I discovered first-hand when I took in a Cumnock v Talbot cup tie just a few years back.

“The teams coming down the long tunnel at Townhead together would have  been unheard of in my time but I then had to sit down and rub my eyes at the sight of opposition players shaking each other’s hands before running out onto the pitch??

“Thank God I played when I did.”     

FIXTURES FOR SATURDAY 15^th JULY 2023 (various kick off times). Friendly Matches: Petershill v Linlithgow Rose, Dalry Thistle v Muirkirk, Neilston v St Peters, Johnstone Burgh v Hurlford Utd, Finnart v Glenvale, Lugar Boswell v Craigmark, Vale of Clyde v Rutherglen Glencairn,  Dalry Thistle v Neilston, Broomhill v Beith , Newmains Utd v Blantyre Vics, Tranent v Auchinleck Talbot, Huntly v  Pollok, Vale of Leven v Glasgow Perthshire,  Cumbernauld Colts v Cumbernauld Utd, Ashfield v Kilsyth Athletic, Cumnock v Cambuslang Rangers, Largs Thistle v Irvine Vics, Rossvale v Glasgow Utd, Yoker Athletic v Thorniewood Utd, Bonnyton Thistle v Girvan,Broxburn Athletic v Gartcairn, Threave Rovers v Glenafton, Fauldhuse Utd v Shotts Bon Accord,  Creetown v Benburb, Glenrothes v Troon, Preston Athletic v Darvel St Cadocs v Kilwinning Rangers,Thorn Athletic v Maryhill, Giffnock v Kilsyth Rangers, Forth Wanderers v Lesmahagow, St Anthonys v St Rochs.    

Regards   Jim O’Donnell

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