Book Review: Tartan Throstles, Volume 2 – 1939 to 2023) – Scottish Football Supporters Association – SFSA

Date: 31st October 2024

The authors, Robert Bradley and Douglas Gorman, have followed up their first volume on the 33 Scots who played for West Bromwich Albion before 1939, with a post-war account of the 61 who followed them after the Second World War.

Every player is given at least two pages of this 232 page A4 softback book, with full statistical details of their entire playing career and as much narrative as their contribution to football warrants.  Willie Johnston, for instance, has four pages of text after his two pages of statistics.

The great and the good and the could-have-been good are displayed in alphabetic order.  There are the great Albion club-men like Bobby Hope, Doug Fraser, Ray Wilson Ally Brown and Ally Robertson; the “did they play for Albion?” players include Peter McKennan, Matt Armstrong, David Stewart, Andy Goram, Graeme Hogg and Brian Rice.

Andy Aitken, Jock Wallace, Max Murray, Eddie Colquhoun, Danny Hegan, Ken McNaught, Andy Gray, Bobby Williamson, Darren Fletcher, Robert Snodgrass and Derek McInnes either achieved, or went on to receive, greater acclaim elsewhere while Stuart MacLaren, Joe Tortolano, Micky Mellon and several others started their careers with comparatively brief spells at the Hawthorns.

 The introductory chapter makes reference to Albion’s notable reluctance to sign Scots players in the early 20th century, and contrasts that with the cover photograph of 11 young Scots on the club’s books in 1969. Seven went on to play for Albion’s first team, the other four finding first team opportunities elsewhere later in their careers, including future full internationalist Jim Holton.

Among the teaser facts printed on the back page are the youngest Scotland captain since 1886 ; the goalkeeper who played in the FA, Welsh and Scottish Cups all in one season ; a player born in the Outer Hebrides who played against Scotland ; a winger who bought a greenhouse from a supporter during a match and a forward mentioned in dispatches after the 1944 D-Day landings.

As with volume one, this book is available on the Lulu self-publishing website www.lulu.com/shop and it costs £18.50 posted to the UK.  ISBN 978-1-4467-3822-1

Article first published in the Scottish Football Historian.  For more details and to subscribe (four issues a year), please visit: https://www.scotlandsfootballers.com/sfh.html

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