SOMEONE HAD TO KEEP STANDARDS HIGH

THE MODERN DAY TEDDY-BOY

It’s an accepted truism of football nowadays (as Joe Hart found out to his cost with Pep Guardiola) that distribution is every bit as important in the make-up of a goalkeeper as the more acknowledged essentials of shot-stopping, physical presence, reading of the game, as well as command of one’s penalty box and of course,the guys in front of you.

No less than one of Junior football’s legendary No 1s Eddie “Teddy” Pryce readily agrees and goes on to demonstrate he was ahead of his time by vividly recalling the culture of the game in his heyday being at odds with this modern viewpoint.

He mused, “I was with Ayr United around early 1980 and in the aftermath of a Reserves match against Clyde at Shawfield was getting a dressing down from our coach George Caldwell on account of having been `too quick` to play the ball upfield when it was in my hands.

“Willie McLean, the Ayr manager came into our dressing room but stayed totally silent during my attempts to argue I had realized Clyde had gone man for man at the back and felt our speedy front three would take advantage of my quick release but George was having none of it and shouted me down.

“Funny thing was that a few months later I brought up that very disagreement during a chat with Willie and he admitted I had been in the right.”

Bailleston born and bred Teddy for whom celebrations are in order on account of him turning 73 today went to St Bridgets Secondary and initially established himself as a ball winning centre-half for both his run of the mill school team and a local Boys Club.

Then at 16 years of age when taking an obligatory turn between the sticks during a park kickabout with mates, he was singled out by goalkeeper seeking Bargeddie Amateurs Under 18’s manager Jim Corrigan who persuaded the teenage Eddie  to join his club by promising he would also allow him the chance to play in his preferred outfield position.

That opportunity was never to transpire mainly because the young Eddie excelled playing in the company of such as Jimmy McCabe and John Burns (both Motherwell signings) and Bobby Gentles, whose electing to join Kilsyth Rangers brought a later move to Leicester City.

The teenage goalkeeper’s displays meant he was not short of admirers of his own and in 1967 he was enticed into stepping up to the Junior ranks with a  formidable Carluke Rovers side that prior to his arrival on the scene had made it all the way to the Scottish Junior Cup semi-finals only to lose out 4-3 against eventual trophy winners Kilsyth Rangers.

Teddy took part in the Lanarkshire outfit’s final dozen or so meaningless fixtures which brought the stark realization to both him and club officials that he was lacking somewhat in the physicality needed for the Junior game so it was agreed he should rejoin Bargeddie when the season concluded and he was to experience no such problems at his own age level over the next twelve months.

It was then a  more self-assured and steeled performer who appeared eager and ready when Rob Roy’s manager, former Morton striker Joe Cavan made a signing approach at the onset of the 1968/69 season which culminated in Eddie putting pen to paper for the Kirkintilloch cracks whose line-up back then boasted the likes of  Eddie Anderson and Gus McLean (later to join Clyde), Andy Lynch (of Celtic and Hearts fame) and not forgetting Billy McLaren (Dunfermline, Hibs and Queen of the South ).

Yet another of the acclaimed Adamslie Park stalwarts  was Jim Eadie their highly regarded goalkeeper who was tasked with wearing the gloves at Hampden Park when a crowd of over 32,000 watched on as the Rabs were beaten 1-0 by Cambuslang Rangers in the Junior Cup Final towards the end of that season.

Eddie scoffed “I hardly got a look in because of Jim but my game came on in leaps and bounds from working alongside him and better still, I  picked up our bonus for the Final which if memory serves me right was used to buy a pair of hipsters!”  

“All joking aside he was a top keeper, one of the best in the Juniors at that time,  and fitting recognition came when he signed for Cardiff City right after our Cup Final defeat and he moved down there to play out his career with them and Bristol Rovers .”

Eadie’s departure South allowed Eddie to assume the undisputed No 1 mantle and few can deny he visibly thrived as part of a rebuilt Roy side whose ranks now included brothers Pat and Tommy O’Hara, Eddie Halliday Kevin Lowe and the `wonderfully talented` George Gallagher (now deceased) ,a midfielder whom Eddie lauds to this day as having been an absolute  certainty to forge a career in the Seniors were it not for him taking an alternative career path as lead singer for Scottish rock group The Poets.

The spotlight was likewise falling on Teddy as both he and Rabs midfielder Tommy O’Hara were selected for Scotland Juniors to play in international matches against Eire(5-0), Wales (3-3) and Northern Ireland (3-2) when among their capped team mates were Cambuslang Rangers greats Jackie Mordue and Keith Nelson as well as East Region winger pair Malky Robertson (later of Raith Rovers and Ayr United) and Rab Prentice (Celtic and Hearts).

In early 1971/72 season time, word on the street reckoned Airdrie were on the verge of making Teddy a signing offer but Hibs , through their Director pair of Tom Hart and Tommy Younger beat them to the punch, after they were in attendance for what was to prove the shotstopper’s last game for Rob Roy, a 1-0 victory over Shotts Bon Accord in the Central Sectional League Cup Final .

They had seen enough to meet and agree terms with him and Rabs officials immediately after the final whistle and next day Eddie was reporting to Easter Road to train alongside notable worthies Pat Stanton , Jim Black, Erich Schaedler and Alex Cropley .

He recalled, “Eddie Turnbull was manager and had recently got rid of goalkeepers Thomson Allan and Gordon Marshall which left just myself and Roy Baines competing for the gloves or so I thought until Jim Herriot arrived on a transfer from a South African club before the week was out and I knew immediately the writing was on the wall.

“I made my unhappiness known so within a matter of months I was released at my own request and I actually ended up seeing out the 1971/72 season at St Mirren but bizarrely under three different managers … Wilson Humphries followed by Alistair Miller and then Tommy Bryceland. “

EDDIE IN HIS GOALKEEPING PRIME WITH SCOTLAND JUNIORS

An even shorter stint for Teddy duly ensued at East Kilbride Thistle where Martin Ferguson (older brother of Alex) asked him to come on board but he had yet to learn the names of the Show Park defenders in front of him when an out of the blue approach from then Highland League outfit Ross County twinned with an opportunity to work on the oil rigs proved impossible to turn down and caused him to join the Dingwall club.

Teddy reminisced,” Hand on heart; I really don’t have a bad word to say about my time with Ross County.

“Highland League playing standards were decent and ours was a particularly good team containing tried and trusted professionals  like ex-Hearts and Partick Thistle  midfielder Jim Fleming  as well as George Urqhuart who had spells with St Mirren and Wigan  and I thoroughly  enjoyed playing up there, so much so that I extended my stay to  2 seasons before coming back down in 1974 to play for my local team Bailleston .”

Returning to his Glasgow East neighbourhood suited the now 24 year old keeper no end and over the next five seasons he established himself as a mainstay, no easy task in a Station Park dressing room inhabited initially by seasoned campaigners Davie Thomson, Jimmy Neville and Rusty Craig prior to the emergence of such as Davie Murphy, Alex McLaren, Jim Murdoch and Jim McGhee.

It will arguably go down as one of Teddy’s biggest disappointments that major trophy success eluded him in the suburb however his burning desire to be `best in his class` remained as strong as ever and just short of his 29^th birthday, he did not hesitate when a transfer bid for his services came in from Ayr United’s outgoing gaffer Ally McLeod.

Teddy reflected,” Ally made no secret of the fact he wanted me as back up in case Hugh Sproat moved on to greater things but part of me felt I could hold onto the No 1 jersey if I could just get my foot in the door.

“Unfortunately it never happened for me and matters didn’t improve even after Ally took up the manager’s job at Motherwell and made Sproat his first signing because Willie McLean replaced him at Ayr and immediately brought in his former goalkeeper Stewart Rennie…from Motherwell of all teams.

“To be fair, “Big Des” was a top keeper and consistent to a fault with it so I had no complaints about playing second fiddle to him however 2 and a bit seasons of playing for Ayr United reserves had left me totally disillusioned so I jumped at the chance to drop back into the Junior ranks when Forth Wanderers came calling.”

Eddie coming on board at the remote Lanarkshire outfit, just a matter of months on from their 1981 Scottish Junior Cup semi-final defeat at the hands of eventual winners Pollok, unfortunately coincided with the break-up of their very successful side comprising of star turns Sid Sage, Danny McDougall, Charlie Smith, Danny McGeoch and Gerry Canning.

He kept goal for one season and accepted the position of player/manager at the start of their 1982/83 campaign however Kingshill Park officials very quickly took umbrage to Eddie’s big name capture of ex-Hibs and Rangers midfielder Johnny Hamilton and he received the dreaded midweek telephone call saying there was to be a parting of the ways.

Not long afterwards Eddie agreed to help out a struggling Glenboig ( now defunct)  where he recalls playing alongside Graham Miller, Bobby McConville and Eamon Lynch until the onset of the 1983/84 season brought him , aged 33 years, to hang up the boots.

He insisted ,” It was an easy decision to make because I had all but lost my love for the game at that stage but I still went on to dabble with a bit of coaching at Cambuslang Rangers  and then allowed myself to be talked out of retirement by the Shettleston player/manager Davie McDermott towards the end of 1987/88 season when he didn’t have a fit goalkeeper.

“I wasn’t there very long if truth be told but good friends Paul Doctor and Davie Armour also played a few games which made it more enjoyable than it actually was .

“Ever since I’ve kept away from the Juniors and other than taking in a few Celtic games, my only footballing interest has been helping out at a local boys club near my home in Uddingston.

“I have wonderful memories of the many crazy and funny characters met during my career so I don’t mean to be disrespectful in saying that’s all they are to me now is …memories.”

FIXTURES FOR SATURDAY 11^th MARCH 2023 (Kick Offs 2 PM): P.D.M Buildbase Premier Division. Largs Thistle v Irvine Meadow, Cambuslang Rangers v Glenafton, Pollok v Arthurlie , Petershill v Troon,, Cumnock v Auchinleck Talbot ,Beith v Kilwinning Rangers, Rob Roy v Clydebank.PDM Buildbase First Division. Blantyre Vics v Gartcairn, Benburb v Cumbernauld Utd, Thorniewood Utd v Bonnyton Thistle, Neilston v Shotts Bon Accord, Kilbirnie Ladeside v Rutherglen Glencairn, Johnstone Burgh v St Cadocs, Whitletts Vics v Rossvale.PDM Buildbase Second Division. Maryhill v Greenock, Maybole v Forth Wanderers,  Glasgow Utd v Ardeer Thistle, Craigmark v Wishaw, Yoker Athletic v Renfrew, Glasgow Perthshire v St Anthonys, Muirkirk v  Kilsyth Rangers. PDM Buildbase Third Division. Lanark Utd v Ardrossan Winton Rovers , Carluke Rovers v Larkhall Thistle, Vale of Clyde v Girvan, Dalry Thistle v Kello Rovers,  East Kilbride  Thistle v Vale of Leven, Saltcoats Vics v Bellshill Athletic, Lesmahagow v  Lugar Boswell , Newmains Utd v  Irvine Vics,  Royal Albert v Finnart.PDM Buildbase Fourth Division. BSC Glasgow v St Peters, West Park Utd v Kilsyth Athletic , Thorn Athletic v Rossvale Academy,Eglinton v Campbeltown Pupils, Harmony Row v Threave Rovers,

Regards   Jim O’Donnell

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