The following post was kindly submitted to us by Gordon McCreath, who is a keen Ayrshire junior football historian.
Recalling the 1959 Scottish Cup final triumph over Shettleston conjures up famous names like Ian Prentice, “Hookey” Walker, Johnnie McIntyre and double goalscorer Jackie Morrison. However, one small but important personality from that glorious day has been sadly neglected over the years — the lucky Teddy Bear mascot!
On the day of the Cup Final, the lucky mascot had set off for Hampden Park from Girdle Toll with his owner, seven-year-old Ramsay Clark. The bear was dressed in a miniature Meadow strip and Ramsay, who now lives in Canada, says, ‘I really don’t know who made the strip, but it’s a good assumption that it was my mum.’
‘It was a long time ago and I can’t remember much about that day, but I know that my Dad took me to Hampden Park to see the Scottish Junior Cup final. We were right at the front of the crowd.’ Before the kick-off, young Ramsay presented the Teddy to the Meadow captain, Jackie Carr, who happily accepted it on behalf of the team. The bear then found its way into the grasp of Meadow’s goalkeeper, Ian Prentice.
Prentice, who was to be a real cup hero for the Meadow that afternoon, placed the Teddy Bear in the corner of his net. The Teddy must have had a great view of the action when Prentice blocked a penalty with his legs. The save kept score at 0-0 at a crucial stage of the game. Jackie Morrison went on to show how it should be done with two goals from the penalty spot. Shettleston pulled a goal back in the last minute and there is a press photo of the ball nestling in the back corner of Prentice’s net beside the Teddy! However, there were only seconds left to play, leaving no time for Shettleston to equalise. As a Sunday newspaper said the next day, ‘That Teddy Bear sure kept Meadow’s goal clear of trouble – right up to the end.’ The final whistle blew with Meadow 2-1 ahead and the Scottish Cup was on its way to Irvine for the very first time!
When the team returned to a jam-packed High Street on their open-topped bus, the lucky Teddy Bear was still with them. Shortly afterwards when the team appeared on the balcony of the Townhouse, Ian Prentice was still clutching it and waving it to the crowd below.
That evening when the team and officials went to the Caledonian Hall for a celebration dance, the Teddy Bear went too. There is a group photo of the wives of the Supporters Club Committee posing with the Scottish Cup and one of them, inevitably, is holding the wee blue-shirtedTeddy Bear. On the following Sunday morning, Ian Prentice and Bill Haldane of the Supporters’ Club took the lucky Teddy Bear mascot on one more journey. They carried him along to Burnside Children’s Home in the town’s Kilwinning Road and presented it to the children. All in all, it was quite a weekend for a wee Teddy Bear.