The following post was kindly submitted to us by Gordon McCreath, who is a keen Ayrshire junior football historian.
Hugh Drennan signed for Meadow in season 1954-55. After breaking into the team he helped Meadow win the Western League Cup, the Irvine & District Cup and the Western League Championship, beating Auchinleck Talbot 1-0 after a 4-4 draw in the title play-off.
GMcC: You were fairly young when Meadow signed you from the Kilmarnock amateur club Saxone in 1954.
Hugh Drennan: I was just 17 at the time. Irvine Meadow arrived one night. Jimmy Delury and Joe Houston came to my house and wanted to sign me for the Meadow. At that time Irvine Meadow was known as the Rangers of junior football, so I was delighted,
GMcC: That was quite a step up going to Meadow.It must have been quite a difference moving to junior football.
Hugh Drennan: I was very lucky to get in the team, because it was an experienced team. There weren’t many young players in it. I wasn’t there for even a whole season, but I played in the cup finals. I must have come into the team in October or November. And also I played in the final of the West of Scotland Cup the next season, when I was in the army doing my National Service. I was stationed in Newcastle and the Meadow contacted my commanding officer to see if he could release me to play in the semi final and final. They were both played at Cathkin Park, Third Lanark’s old park.
GMcC: In 1954-55 you played in the Western League Cup final at Ardeer, beating Lugar. That was your first medal at junior level.
Hugh Drennan: Yes, nearly all the local cup finals were played at Ardeer at that time. I think it was 5-1 at the end. Funnily enough we didn’t get medals at the time. I’ve got a barometer and I’ve had a clock.
GMcC: You were described in the local press as “one of Meadow’s best recruits for many years,” and you were listed at inside-left, which is a term a lot of younger fans won’t recognise.
Hugh Drennan: Inside forwards at that time were the workhorses. Inside forwards and half-backs were like midfield players, joining up the defence and the forward line. The attackers were two wingers and a centre-forward.
GMcC: Who would you say were the best players in that Meadow team?
Hugh Drennan: I would say Willie Niven, who was a good player. Jackie Morrison. And Big Jock (Jock Murdoch) was a good goalkeeper. You could hear him all over the place. The Meadow had a good side at that time, very experienced, and as a youngster you got great help from the likes of Jackie Morrison, Willie Niven, John Carr and all the older players.
GMcC: Then the seniors moved in and there was a tug of war between Rangers and Dundee for your signature. Why did you choose Dundee?
Hugh Drennan: I think it was because of Willie Thornton’s influence. He was the manager of Dundee. And I’m not too sure whether I did the right thing or not. I don’t think I did, to be quite honest. I also got a letter from Bolton Wanderers offering me a trial, but I didn’t go.
GMcC: Later you got into local radio and became a well-known voice in their Saturday football programmme. How did you get started in that?
Hugh Drennan: When I finished playing football with Stranraer I got re-instated as a junior with Ardeer Thistle, but I was getting older and it was becoming hard work, so I gave it up after about a season. I never went to football after I stopped playing. When I went to collect my wife from her work on a Saturday I used to put the radio on and got all the junior results and comments on Westsound. And I thought it would be quite good to do that. I wrote in to Westsound and asked if the had any vacancies for reporters. I got word back saying there were no vacancies, but at the start of the following season I got a phone call to see if I was still interested. The presenter said they were getting criticism for concentrating on North Ayrshire and they could do with somebody to cover the south.
GMcC: So you got the job as easily as that?
Hugh Drennan:Well, they said they would need to find out if I could do it, This was the start of the season and Meadow were playing down at Maybole on a Wednesday night. I was to make a report, call the presenter the following morning, and he would record it. So we did that and it was fine. My first game for Westsound was at Ardrossan. I was to phone in and the presenter would introduce me. That was my cue. And I said “what about a phone?” There were no mobile phones in these days. That’s your problem, he said. I used to have to get somebody to get me into a house or a pub, because a lot of the clubs didn’t have phones.