The following post was kindly submitted to us by Gordon McCreath, who is a keen Ayrshire junior football historian.
When we read reports of Junior football matches we often encounter the term “hero” to describe members of Scottish Cup winning teams, goalkeepers who defy the odds in keeping a clean sheet or maybe saving a crucial penalty. Or perhaps it was the striker who grabbed the glory by smashing in the goal that won the cup for his club. But for ex-Meadow player Kenny Beaton the use of the word “hero” took on a whole new significance, because in his case it followed on from a real life or death situation.
The Irvine Herald, dated July 2, 1948, reported the remarkable story under the sub-heading, Former Footballer Saves Boy From Drowning, “Mr Kenneth Beaton, a former well-known local footballer, was one of the central figures in a gallant rescue incident at Irvine Harbour last Saturday night shortly before six o’clock.
“Kenny, as he is popularly known, was changing himself in his house at 170, Harbour Street when his wife heard a commotion outside and said to him it looked as if someone had fallen in the water. With only a vest and trousers on he immediately ran down in his bare feet and across the street to the edge of the wharf where he saw a young boy in difficulties in the water.
“It was at once evident to his experienced eye that the boy was in dire straits and that there was no time to waste. Realising that if he dived in valuable time would be lost by the time he surfaced and got his bearings, Beaton slipped down a nearby ladder and gripped hold of the boy by the back of the neck just in time to prevent him going under the dredger which was berthed at that point. The prompt action was the more necessary because of a strong out-going tide and if Kenny hadn’t got to him in time he would gone under the dredger, and all hopes of rescue would have gone.
“Retaining hold of the boy he swam back towards the wharf and caught hold of one of the skeeds (Skeeds = a ladder of spikes driven into the face of the wharf). Each time, however, that he tried to get the boy up his other hand slipped on the slippery surface of the wood. At this stage Mr John Sinclair came down, hauled the boy out of the water and got him on to the wharf, the rescuer, himself in a rather exhausted condition, following. At the time the water at the scene of the incident was some sixteen feet deep.”
When he saved the little boy Kenny Beaton was in his fifties but was still very fit and, incredibly, it wasn’t the first rescue he had been involved in at Irvine harbour. If fact, he had previously assisted several people who had fallen into the harbour. According to The Irvine Herald: “the last occasion was about two years ago when a woman was discovered in the water.”
Kenny had been a Meadow player for only one season, signing for 1914 –15, a season whose opening coincided with the declaration of the First World War. The Irvine and District League was abandoned around the half way stage as clubs found it increasingly difficult to field full teams. Cup football, however, continued and Meadow won three trophies; the Irvine and District Cup, the Ayrshire Consolation Cup and the Irvine Herald Cup. Kenny, a member of the Territorial Force since 1909, had volunteered for active service by that time and he didn’t feature in the line up for any of the three finals. He saw service with the Royal Scots Fusiliers until being discharged in 1916, returning to the Territorials. During his time on active service he had been “accidentally wounded” during the disastrous Dardanelles campaign.
Kenny, who was a left-winger, also played for Irvine Victoria after the war when the Irvine and District League was revived in season 1919-20. By the end of the season many fixtures were still unfulfilled but Victoria sat at the top of the league table and were declared champions. As it turned out, the Irvine and District League was dissolved after 1919-20, as a result Victoria became the last Irvine District League champions.
That season Victoria also won the Irvine Herald Cup on 20 June 1920, beating Kilbirnie Ladeside 2-0 at Winton Park with Beaton at outside left.
The following season, Kenny was again listed at outside left in the first ever Marymass Derby, and helped the Vics to kick off the series by winning 2-1. The Irvine Herald reporter obviously appreciated Kenny’s performance in the match and wrote: “Beaton’s runs along the wing were always a source of danger on the Vics’ left, and well plied with the ball by Livingstone, he made good use of the physical advantages of which he is possessed. His crosses were well timed and dangerously accurate.”