In the heyday of Scottish Junior football, it was fairly common practice for fans to celebrate their clubs’ successes by immortalising cup wins and great players in verse. In 1909 Kilwinning Rangers gave the amateur poets amongst their fans good reason to sharpen their pencils. The following lines are attributed to “Garnock”
Hurrah! for the Kilwinning “Buffs,”
The “Buffs” whom we adore,
As they have done for Ayrshire
What was never done before.
All Ayrshire’s hope is realised,
Old “Segton’s” looking up,
` By one to none the darling “Buffs”
Have won the Scottish Cup.
Kilwinning Rangers showed the rest of the clubs throughout the county the way in 1909, when they became the first Ayrshire club to win the Scottish Junior Cup. After the replayed final at Rugby Park, the special train back from Kilmarnock to Kilwinning was packed with happy fans cheering loudly, and fog signals were set off at the stations they passed through to mark their success. Main Street in Kilwinning was taken over by parading fans carrying the victorious players shoulder high. One year later the fans were out on Main Street celebrating again as the Buffs brought the Cup home for a second time. A solitary goal scored by Robert Menzies had been enough to win the final. Or had it?
A look at the clubs the Buffs beat on the way to the semi-final in 1909 shows the changing face of Junior football, with Dundee Violet the only one of the six clubs still in existence.
1st Round St Joseph’s Hibs (Home) 2-0
2nd Round Afton Thistle (Home) 5-1
3rd Round Sanquhar United (Away) 4-0
4th Round Coatbridge Rob Roy (Away) 2-2, Replay 4-1
5th Round Bye — —
6th Round Dundee Violet (Away) 3-2
7th Round Kirkintilloch Harp (Away) 3-2
Kirkintilloch Harp lodged a protest with the SJFA on the grounds that the influential right-half Robert “Bobbie” Brown was on Carlisle United’s books as a signed player, which meant he was ineligible. They even claimed to have a telegram, allegedly from the English club, to support their claim. However, the Kirkintilloch officials eventually admitted that they had produced the telegram themselves. Not surprisingly, the protest was thrown out.
Penicuik Athletic was a tough nut to crack in the semi-final. After a 1-1 draw at Petershill’s Atlas Park in Glasgow, Kilwinning came out on top in the replay at Brockville. Jocky Bannerman put the Buffs into the lead, when he ‘got away on his own, and after eluding the entire defence, opened the scoring with a fast, low drive from about the penalty line.’ (Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald). The report went on to describe the second goal in typical fashion of the time, ‘Dickson was responsible for a second goal—the scoring of which was a bit comical. Donald and Dickson got entangled and while the keeper was lying stretched on the ground with the ball at his hand, and Dickson in the act of falling over him, the latter reached forth his foot and back heeled the sphere into the net.’
The Cup final took place at Shawfield in Glasgow, where Kilwinning and Strathclyde fought out a 0-0 draw. The replay was fixed for Rugby Park on 29th May 1909, but just days before the game there was a shock in store for the Kilwinning fans. Two first team regulars had left the club and joined Senior clubs. Sam Currie signed for Leicester Fosse, and James Weir, the club captain, put pen to paper with St Mirren.
Kerr and Dickson were pulled into the team for the replay and the following eleven players took to the field in Kilwinning’s change colours of black and white.
Hodge; Harvie, Kerr; Brown, Paterson, McLaughlan; Parker, Lundie, Dickson, Bannerman, Campbell.
There was no scoring in normal time, so another two periods of 15 minutes were required and just before half time in extra time Kilwinning Rangers made the breakthrough. The fans were getting restless and beginning to think a goal would never come, ‘but they reckoned without Brown and Dickson, the former of whom burst through and Parker, passing to Dickson, that player beat Cherry with an unsaveable shot.’ (The Scottish Referee).
The goal was inevitably celebrated in verse, this time by an anonymous fan.
“Centre forward Dickson is a corker, there’s no doubt.
It was he who scored the goal that put ‘the Strathies’ out!
But honour to whom honour’s due –
The ball was well-manoeuvered to him by nimble Bobbie Brown.”
The following season, 1909/10, Kilwinning reached the Junior cup final again in great style. Some of the cup-winning heroes were still in sparkling form. Robert Brown, in particular, was at the top of his game. Jocky Bannerman and the legendary “Switcher” McLaughlan had caught the eye of Motherwell and Ayr United respectively and would soon turn Senior with them. And the goal-scoring hero of the 1909 final, Alexander Dickson, was still scoring goals.
The final against Ashfield was a close game, but the Buffs snatched the only goal when Robert Menzies netted. The celebrations could start again in Kilwinning Main Street.
But then the news came through that Ashfield had put in a protest and had demanded a replay. They claimed that Dickson had played in a charity match for Abercorn. a Senior club from Paisley. There was a meeting at the SJFA offices in Glasgow and when a vote was taken there were six votes for a replay and six against. The chairman of the meeting had the casting vote, but chose, like several others, to abstain. Following further discussion a second vote was taken which came out in favour of a replay by ten votes to seven.
Even worse was to follow. The rumour went round Kilwinning that the person who had informed Ashfield that Dickson was ineligible, was Dickson himself. And he had received a substantial financial pay-out in return for the information. The Cup hero of 1909 had turned villain.
The clubs faced each other in the replay, but the devastated Buffs were unable to raise their game again and lost 0-3. Now it was Kilwinning’s turn to lodge a protest and it was remarkably like the one that had brought about the replay. Ashfield’s Wilson had played in a Senior match for Queen’s Park Corinthians. Ashfield admitted this, but pointed out that they had asked the SJFA for permission to play him in the final. Crucially, they had a postcard from the Secretary of the SJFA granting that permission. The Buffs’ protest failed and Ashfield had snatched back the Scottish Junior Cup. Kilwinning had been beaten by a postcard