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Monday Supplementaries – Ibrox 1905 – 1909

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 Mel SheppardMel Sheppard

The 1905 Rangers Sports were held on Saturday 5th August before a crowd of 8000 which, according to the Press, was evidence of public apathy.    There were athletes of genuine class taking part including a small party from Pennsylvania including hurdler EA Amsler, English athletes like George Butterfield and some outstanding Scots like Stronach the hurdler and TR Nicolson the hammer and shot star.   Came the Monday session and there was a crowd of 5000 present.   The report in the ‘Glasgow Herald’ read:

“The Rangers Football Club continued their sports last night on Ibrox Park before 5000 spectators.   The running throughout was good, the feature of the meeting being the 100 yards handicap which was won by JC Howie of St Mirren FC off 10 yards, Amsler of Pennsylvania University being only a few inches behind, with Stark, the Scottish champion, third.   In the third heat of the 440 yards handicap, JR Taylor of Pennsylvania University gained a popular victory, but in the Final could make nothing of Charles McLachlan of Blackheath Harriers who was beaten for first place by RW Hepburn of West of Scotland Harriers, off 14 yards, by half a foot.”

The meeting included a 120 yards flat handicap for 15-17’s with six heats, 100 yards open handicap with 18 heats in which all sprinters of whatever standard took part with the best American and English men competing with all standards of Scottish runners and a 440 yards handicap with multiple heats.   There was of course also a 5-a-side tournament which was won by Rangers from Queens Park.

A year later the star attraction was Wyndham Halswell who won the 440 yards in 50.2 (headwind up the finishing straight)  with Stark winning the 100 yards in 10 seconds and McGough the half-mile in 1:58.8.   A very good meeting was the verdict and on the Monday, the ‘feature of the meeting’ was the running of George Butterfield in the 1000 yards.  A word about Butterfield is maybe appropriate at this point.   He was an Englishman (born in Stockton-On-Tees in 1879) who won the AAA’s mile title in 1905, 1906 and 1907, he also ran the world’s fastest mile in 1906 and ran in the London Olympics in 1908 in both 800m and 1500m.   There was a considerable body of knowledgeable opinion that favoured him for at least a medal in the Olympic 1500 but the London organisers had decided that only heat winners would go into the final.   The Americans, among others, protested about this but it stood, and the draw for heats was made in secret.   Butterfield was drawn in the same heat as America’s  Mel Sheppard who won the heat in a new Olympic record time of 4:05.0.   It was a bit of a travesty with several athletes mush slower than Butterfield making the final simply because they had been drawn in a slower heat.   He died in the First World War serving with the Royal Garrison Artillery.  Local papers were fond of the story that he once raced a greyhound – and the dog was second!   Butterfield was a favourite at Ibrox where he raced several times over the years and his London conqueror Sheppard was also highly thought of by the Ibrox crowds.

The Monday meeting in 1907 was a purely domestic affair but none the worse for that.   The report simply said that ‘The Rangers Football Club continued their sports last night at Ibrox Park.   The weather was excellent and there was a capital attendance.’    And that was it.   The results were listed showing that there was a 100 yards handicap with 12 heats, a 1000 yards handicap, a 220 yards handicap with 6 heats, a one and a half mile handicap plus the 5-a-sides in which Celtic won over Third Lanark by 2 goals to 1.

Reggie Walker

Reginald Walker

 In 1908 quite a few Olympic athletes (the Games were held in London) stayed over and competed around the country for several months afterwards.   The Rangers Sports had some real top notch athletes competing – Reggie Walker and Mel Sheppard being those who created most interest.   The report on the Monday night meeting on 3rd August 1908 read:

“The Rangers FRC continued their sports last night on Ibrox Park and were again favoured with splendid weather.   The crowd, which numbered close to 10000, witnessed some splendid racing, the features of the meeting being the magnificent running of RE Walker, of South Africa, in the final of the 100 yards flat handicap, and the splendid performance of MW Sheppard of the USA Olympic team, and the 800m and 1500 metres champion, in the half mile scratch race where he created a new Scottish all-comers record for the distance.   In his heat of the 100 yards handicap Walker equalled his record of Saturday – 9.4 seconds.   In the final J Spittal, of West of Scotland Harriers, off eight and a half yards, looked the winner, but in the last 20 yards Walker put in one of the finest efforts seen in Scotland for some time and won at the tape amidst the greatest enthusiasm.   Sheppard’s effort in the half mile was also a notable achievement, his long stride and easy movement creating a most favourable impression amongst runners and spectators alike.   The American’s time was 1 min 56 sec , the previous best in Scotland being 1 min 57 1-5th sec by LF Fairbairn-Crawford at the same ground last year.”

“Half Mile Scratch Race: This event was arranged to give MW Sheppard of the USA Olympic team, and winner of the 800m and 1500 metres at the OIlympic the opportunity of lowering the Scottish all-comers record.   He had as pace makers George Butterfield, Darlington, and John McGough,  Bellahouston, the latter going the first quarter in fine style.   Sheppard covered the first quarter in 56 1-th sec.   In the last lap McGough dropped out and Sheppard went on at great ace and finished in 1 min 56 sec, and beat the previous record by IF Fairbairn-Crawford made last year in the Irish International, also at Ibrox Park.   Sheppard had a great reception at the finish.”

There was also a 1000 yards flat handicap won by HT Jamieson (Watson’s College – 20 yards) in 2:16 from Sam Stevenson of Clydesdale Harriers (off 26 yards): McGough and Butterfield were both entered but neither started.   There were twelve heats of the 100 yards, result above, nine heats of the 220 yards, a mile and a half handicap in which Sam Stevenson (55 yards) was third behind Templeman of Bellahouston (110 yards) and Young of Paisley Harriers (170 yards) and an invitation quarter mile handicap in which Halswell (off scratch) finished third in 49.8 behind  Young (Bellahuston – 18 yards) and Hepburn (West of Scotland – 27 yards).   The obligatory 5-a-side had the six Glasgow clubs in it (Rangers, Celtic Queens Park, Third Lanark, Clyde and Partick Thistle) and, just to show that the draw was random, Rangers met Celtic in the first round and won 3 – 1.   The final was won by Clyde who beat Third Lanark by 2 goals and 1 point to 1 point.

www.rastervect.com

Arthur Robertson

The last sports of the decade held the Monday meeting on 9th August.   It was a great success although the crowd was ‘only’ 6000.   Seven record set on the night and top class runners including Olympic medallists Walker and Robertson to entertain the crowd.

“The Rangers FC brought their annual sports to a close last night on Ibrox Park.   The weather was again fine and the attendance numbered 6000.   During the evening no fewer than seven new records were created and the racing throughout was of the highest class.   Chief honours lay with the Olympic champions RE Walker of South Africa who is in magnificent form and set new records in the 120 yards and 150 yards distances – performances which were enthusiastically cheered by the crowd.   In the three miles walk no fewer than three new records were created.   In the 1000 yards flat race, Adam Turnbull of the Clydesdale Harriers beat McGough’s native record, while  in the mile and a half flat handicap Arthur J Robertson of Broughton Harriers broke Alfred Shrubb’s record for the distance made at the same track in 1904.”

Robertson actually finished third in the race running from scratch behind club mate William Scott of Broughton Harriers (75 yards) and Tom Jack from Edinburgh off 80 yards.   There was a local runner  from a club that I had never heard of called ‘Glasgow Hairdressers AC’ competing in the 100 yards and although he won his heat of the 100 yards, was unplaced in the semi final.   Still, a very good meeting to end a decade of top class athletics.

Monday Supplementaries – Ibrox

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Reggie Walker

The photograph above is of Reginald Walker, the South African who won the Olympic 100m in 1908 and equalled the world record of 10.8 seconds.    He was only 19 at the time and later in the same year he equalled the world record of 11.4 seconds for the 120 metres.   He wrote the first ever textbook on sprinting in 1910.

Now, in the twenty first century, if a sports meeting gets over 1000 spectators, it is doing well but it was not such a big deal a hundred years ago.  This page looks at the Monday sessions at Ibrox between 1910 and 1915.    Many sports meeting not only held their competitions on a Saturday but held a supplementary event on the Monday evening to which people would come after their day’s work in the shipyards, the factories or wherever.   The biggest was usually the Rangers Sports and their meeting on 8th August 1910 had a crowd of about 9000.   The report in the Glasgow Herald read as follows:

“The Rangers FC concluded their sports at Ibrox Park, Glasgow, last night before a crowd that fell little short of that of Saturday, there being 9000 spectators.    The main attraction was a five-a-side football tournament in which eight teams took part, victory ultimately resting with the representatives of the ground club.   There were also two sprints on the card – 100 yards and 220 yards.   In the former both RE Walker (South Africa) and FL Ramsdell (Pensylvania University) ran, but neither of the distinguished strangers gave a very impressive exhibition.   Of the two Walker made the better appearance, Ramsdell being beaten in his heat which was won in 10 1-5th sec.   The winner turned up in AJ Coyle (St Aloysius AC) who,  off the eleven and a half yard mark had a foot advantage in a tight finish over WS Stewart, Glasgow HS, off nine and a half yards.   The 220 heats developed some fine running, the outstanding winner being the Scottish champion, RC Duncan, West of Scotland Harrier, and LJ de E Reed, South London Harriers, the latter of whom was strongly fancied for the Final.    However a surprise came with some strong running by JC Cockburn, Gala Harriers, who won in a time of 22 2-5th sec from WS Stewart.   Duncan was half a yard behind the winner while Reedfound the task too much for him.”            

Harry_Gissing_1911

Henry Gissing wearing the ‘winged fist’ singlet of the Irish American AC

The report on the meeting of 7th August, 1911, read as follows:

“Rangers FC continued their sports last night at Ibrox Park in fine weather and in front of 5000 spectators.   The feature of the meeting was the splendid running of HE Gissing, New York and D McNicol of Polytechnic Harriers, in the Thousand Yards Flat Handicap.   Thirty three started but interest centred on the scratch men.   Entering the last lap McNicol led Gissing by about a yard and this lead he maintained until entering the straight.   The American then made his effort and, going in magnificent style, caught McNicol about 25 yards from the finish, and then caught WF Taylor, Bellahouston Harriers, off 60 yards, a few inches from the tape.   Gissing’s time was 2 min 16 3-5th sec, thus creating a new Scottish all-comers’ record, beating George Butterfield’s time of August 1906, by one fifth of a second.   McNicol who finished third deserves all praise for the pace he set, had the satisfaction of setting a new native record  his time being 2 min 17.0 sec, which is four fifths of a second better than A Turnbull’s record set in August 1909.    Another fine finish was witnessed in the 120 yards flat handicap in which HJ Christie, West of Scotland Harriers, off three and a half yards, beat RF Duncan, from scratch, on the post.”

Gissing and McNicol had both run on the Saturday where Gissing had beaten J Soutter in the invitation half mile in 1:56.2 and McNicol had been second in that race before winning heat and final of the open half-mile.   Another Monday night supplementary meeting, two more Scottish records.

Hannes-Kolehmainen-1989

Hannes Kolehmainen

There were foreign stars present at the 1912 sports – H Braun of Germany was out in the half-mile and Hannes Kolehmainen in the Two Miles – as well as the by-now-normal presence of several of the best of English runners as a challenge to the Scots.   Braun had won silver (relay) and bronze (880 yards) at the 1908 Olympics and silver in the quarter-mile at the 1912 Olympic Games, so he was a class act to have in Glasgow.   Class he may have had but he was unable to catch Sam S Watt of Clydesdale Harriers (45 yards) or E Owen of Broughton Harriers who was second from a mark of 20 yards.   Kolehmainen had won three gold and a silver at the 1912 Olympics (5000m, 10000m, individual cross-country + silver for the team cross-country) and would win the marathon in 1920.   Another outstanding talent.   He could only finish fourth in the Two Miles invitation handicap which was won by A Craig off a mark of 160 yards.  Owen,who finished third, had fallen with two laps to go, got up again, and ran on to defeat the Finnish runner who was times at 9:51 against the record of 9:03.6 set by Shrubb in 1904    It was nevertheless a very good meeting on a cold and wet Monday evening before a crowd of 6000 paying customers.

H Baker

On August 3rd, 1914, there were even more top drawer athletes on the programme including Homer Baker, the American Olympian, AG Hill the Olympic middle distance runner and WR Applegarth, the superb English sprinter, but they failed to draw the crowds as only 200 spectators graced the terraces of Ibrox on a night of ‘unfavourable’ weather.   Results:

100 yards handicap:   1.   J Cattanach (EUAC – 10y);   2.   JM Harper (Shettleston – 10y)   9.9 sec.   [Applegarth beaten in the first heat].

220 yards handicap:   1.   Applegarth (Polytechnic – scr);   2.   J Rooney (Polytechnic – 4y)   22.8

1000 yards invitation:   1.   H Baker (NYAC – scr);   2.   SS Watt (Clydesdale – 30y);    2 min 16 2-5th sec, new Scottish all-comers’ record.

One Mile handicap:   1.   AG Hill (Polytechnic – 10y);   2.   D McPhee (West of Scotland)  4:23 3-5th.

5-a-side:   Clyde beat Rangers by 2 goals and 1 corner, to 2 goals.

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Charlie Forbes

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Charlie F

I first met Charlie in 1986 or 1987 when there was a TSB Schools of Sport week at Inverness.   I had invited Gerry Barnes up from Blackburn since he was the North of England staff coach for 5000/10000m and Charlie came along to give us a hand.   He knew all the athletes, filled us in on their backgrounds and helped with the coaching and administration.   Our respect for him grew over the week and has continued to grow over the years since then.   I have known several of the athletes and coaches that he has worked with and they all speak highly of him.    He has worked at local, district, Scottish and British national levels as administrator and coach, he has been a very good club man representing the club in many events on the track as well as on the roads, he has worked with all age groups – indeed his current Power of Ten profile has him coaching athletes from Under 15 to veteran, male and female.   I asked him how he got involved in the sport and his response is below.

“I suppose sport always figured in our family as my twin brother Gordon and I used to be encouraged to race each other at every opportunity.   Also our older sister Sandra was no slouch and was North Schools 220yards winner to her credit.   Egging us on was my late father who was a top sprinter up here in the North and clocked 10 1/5secs for the 100yards on grass tracks with no specific training.   His claim to fame was he competed against Iain Young who was Scottish Champion and Olympian at the time and held him off in the old North District 100yds Championships at Forres over a 1 yard handicap.   He also had other trophies and medals that that we goggled at as young boys for swimming and football where he had a spell with Inverness Clachnacuddin.

As Gordon and I went through school, sports days became a place to shine for me rather than the classroom, although Gordon was slightly faster than me in primary I emerged as the better sportsman in secondary school and competed in many school events under the guidance of my PE teacher – the well known North District and Scottish Athletics  official Colin Baillie.   Colin who later team managed Inverness Harriers in the Scottish Leagues was very passionate about pupils in schools taking part in sport especially rugby and athletics and I did my first formal athletics training under Colin at Millburn Secondary School in Inverness.   In first year I remember coming second in an Inverness Area Schools cross country event which I think I could and should have won had Colin not told me to sprint through the finish a lap too early.   When I think back to the sessions we did especially the 300 and 400 reps and the recovery we got between each might be an indicator why my 800 time only hit about 2.11.   Colin who is a good friend still and we talk quite a lot about school days.   Although I did quite a bit of athletics in school my first love was football and as a 14 year old I must have shown a bit of promise and was totally elated to receive a letter from Desmond White who was then secretary of Celtic Football Club to say they were watching me.   At sixteen I had Hearts knocking on the door and keeping tabs and at 17 had a two week trial with Aberdeen FC. It was about then I started to understand about more about speed (or maybe the lack of it in my case) as I played a couple of bounce games for Aberdeen reserves of which one was against the first team.   I was centre half and given the job of marking Scotlands top scorer and Internationalist over the last 2 years Joe Harper.   When I watched him on the telly he always looked a bit squat and dumpy and during the game I was totally mesmerised how a wee guy like this could move so fast. He was a great guy though and was very encouraging to myself and another couple of lads on trial. I played Highland League with Nairn County for a while but I suppose I was an amateur at heart as the treasurer was always chasing me for my national insurance number so they could pay me which incidentally was £3 appearance, £3.50 draw and £4 for a win.   I was not really interested in getting payed as playing for the team was more important and when players that took me through to training in their cars would try fiddle expenses claiming false passengers I moved on to play in another league and saw my football out there.   I always did running through these times and always kept myself fairly fit during close season at football.

In 1977 I married Liz and we now have 3 children (who all have 2 children each so 6 grandchildren keeps us both on our toes).   During the period they were growing up I got the running bug during the boom of the early 80s and when Neil our oldest was about 10 I took him down to Inverness Harriers and in 1985 I joined the coaching staff.   It was quite a baptism of fire and I was thrust into things that were taking me out of my comfort zone and had to learn quickly about thinking ahead especially with about 40 kids in your charge.   I also quickly realised that all these years playing football that it did not teach you much about how your body works and adapts to specific things, why we warm up etc. etc.   I can honestly say that my first 6 months athletic coaching taught me more than all the years I was involved with football.

CF Inverness Group

Charlie (fourth from the left, front) with some clubmates including Charles Bannerman in the dark blue on his right

I still managed to run the odd race and 10ks and ½ marathons were family days out. My modest bests for these were about 37.30 and 83mins although the half was about 400/500m short I believe. I also competed in Highland Games then and enjoyed the spirit in which they were run and competed in. My last couple of races were in 2004/5 and could still keep the youngsters at bay in the 100yds handicap. One of these was at the Newtonmore Games and as we were lining up on the start Andy Young  (Victoria Park and now coach to Laura Muir) who was recently crowned Scottish Senior Champion at 800m that year happened to be up in the area that weekend and entered the games. When he saw me lining up in the 100yds he thought going scratch would be still not pose a problem. He thought wrong as another oldie Trevor Madigan from Aberdeen and myself saw him off. I ran 11.4 secs off 12yds handicap.”

One of these was at the Newtonmore Games and as we were lining up on the start Andy Young  (Victoria Park and now coach to Laura Muir) who was recently crowned Scottish Senior Champion at 800m that year happened to be up in the area that weekend and entered the games. When he saw me lining up in the 100yds he thought going scratch would be still not pose a problem. He thought wrong as another oldie Trevor Madigan from Aberdeen and I saw him off. I ran 11.4secs off 12yds handicap.”

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 Charlie at the Games

Another athlete I was managing to hold off at the games was up and coming star 14 year old Jamie Bowie whom I had under my wing for a few years in his early running career. Jamie went on to become Inverness Harriers most successful ever athlete competing in the 400mtrs picking up medals at World and European Championships as a Junior and Senior member of the Great Britain 4 x 400mtr squads.

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     Jamie Bowie

He mentions Andy Young who  was one of the first athletes in a Scottish Team that he worked with when he was asked to be a Team Manager with the then Scottish Athletics Junior Commission in 1994.   Other coaches and officials he was involved with over the years included Walter Bisset, Rodger Harkins, Hugh Murray and Anne Scott.    Athletes such as Lee McConnell and Darren Ritchie were also part of the Squad then and under the guidance of Isabel Robertson who did such a fantastic job for Scottish Athletics for so long.   Charlie adds that

Getting invited to be a National Team Manager of this commission in 1994 was a great honour and the start of a 15 year journey of managing and coaching with Scottish Teams. From the humble beginnings of Celtic Games Teams where your character is fully tested looking after the young stars to the Senior Teams where I witnessed and worked with some great athletes, managers and coaches along the way. (Too many to mention) In 2000 I was selected along with Pat Rollo to be the Team Managers for the first Commonwealth Youth Games which were held in Edinburgh.   Following on from this I was selected to be male Senior Team Manager for Great Britain in the GB v USA v Russia International in Glasgow.    This was great experience for me especially the GB Match as there were all the International Stars on show including Paula Radcliffe, Jonathan Edwards and Bob Weir who is an absolute gentleman.

However the greatest honour for me will always be getting to manage or coach with Scotland`s Teams. Throughout that period of involvement I travelled far and wide and trips to Cyprus, Greece, Belgium, France and all over Ireland and numerous trips to the Loughborough International each May.   The only place I never got a trip to was Wales funnily enough. In Scotland after finishing team management I was asked to be one of the Regional Coaches and did that for 2 years while the project lasted and covered the Outer Hebrides which offers a great place to train for any athlete but especially endurance with some great dunes on the West coast.   I also covered Shetland and Orkney it was here I got to know Piotric Haczek who had just taken up the role of National Sprints and Hurdles Manager for Scottish Athletics.   Piotric was a Polish athlete who mainly competed in the 400 metres.   An outdoor and indoor world champion in the 4 x 400 metres relay, his success came mainly in relay, his best individual performance being a gold medal at the 1999 European Under 23 Championships.   I learnt a good bit from him as I still had Jamie Bowie under my wing and when Jamie went to University in Edinburgh I managed to get him fixed up with Piotric and the rest shall we say is history.

Going away with teams was a great learning experience and sitting chatting in the bar in the evenings was better that any coaching conference where discussions went on well over time.   Hugh Murray, Mike Johnstone and Brian Whittle always were good for getting things going.

I always managed to take something that I had learnt back home to my groups and hopefully (at least I like to think I did) make them better athletes because of it. I think back to the first athletes I coached Grant McDowall and Stephen Hendry  in 1986 and wonder what if they were about now with all that I have learned since these early days. But I am sure we all as coaches say “If I knew then what I know now”…… Both Grant and Stephen were very good U17 800mtr runners and they would knock lumps out of each other in training. Stephen did 1.55.60 (club record for that time) and Grant 1.56.20. It was not until 2012 before that record was broken by Sean Chalmers who I picked up from a schools competition a couple of years before and he took it down to 1.54.79 when he finished 4th in the Under 17 AAAs Final at Bedford. Sean has since gained a scholarship in Lamar University, Texas and I am pleased to see his running is going from strength to strength. Around that time Mhairi MacLennan was breaking through on the cross country scenes picking up National vests and still is under the expert supervision of John Lees another coach I met on National duties.

Of the group from that period and currently the one that is making a big breakthrough in such a short space of time is Stephen Mackay and now can claim to be a hot prospect for the future. He has now lowered his 800m time to 1.50.39 and in all my time coaching I have never met a more committed athlete. All he has achieved has been done locally without any financial support as he has travelled long distances to get the right competition out of his own pocket. He will deserve any success he gets.

Stephen

 Stephen Mackay (no 14)

Sandwiched in between are many junior and seniors I have coached with many making National Junior teams as sadly for me we have not had the luxury of a University in Inverness (until 2015) and all athletes have I have had to move on to other coaches as I believe you cannot coach at a distance, some may disagree but I feel it`s not fair on the athlete that needs on hand support. Seniors are different.

The most successful XC Inverness Harriers had was in Dundee in 1993? when we had an individual winner with Under 15 boys race with Stuart MacKay who also led the team to gold which was followed up with bronze medals for the under 17 men and under 20 men`s teams that year.

Others to mention would be Simon McIntyre who as an Under 20 finished the year top Scot for 1500m and 9th in the UK rankings with 3.51.86. He picked up track and field Internationals as well as Cross-Country vests and proudly boasts to be the only Inverness Harrier to beat a young Mo Farrah in a Cross-Country meeting.

I have also coached an Olympian although she was part of the GB 2012 Modern Pentathlon Team, Mhairi Spence was also selected for a Celtic Games Cross-Country in Ireland when we had a good going group in that period and others then making national teams were Jennifer Main and DJ McAuley.

Disability Athletes have also been under my wing lately as part of my work is to identify and find coaches for them. Jason MacLean was part of the 2014 Scottish Commonwealth Games Team and finished 5th in the final of the T37 100mtrs. Paul Davidson a T20 400 runner is now making his breakthrough and has just been selected for the British Athletics Futures Squad 2015/16 and has his target set for Rio 2016 Paralympics. With both these athletes again travelling to other countries has been part of the journey with Jason competing in Dubai and Paul in Italy.

I still see quite a lot of former athletes and its special when they keep in touch when they have been away for some time.”

Charlie is now doing a lot of work in Disability Sport and holds the title of Highlands & Islands Regional Manager – Disability Sport at High Life Highland.   In recognition of the work he has been doing this year, at the Inverness Harriers club social night this year (2015) he received an award.   I quote:

“Scottish Disability Sport is delighted to congratulate Highlands & Islands Regional Manager Charlie Forbes on deservedly receiving sportscotland’s Regional Coach Award. Inverness Harriers volunteer coach Charlie Forbes was surprised on Saturday night when at the Harriers Christmas night out he received the Highland Disability Coach of the Year award. Charlie was nominated for the award in recognition of his service to Disability Sport Coaching. Charlie has worked with many athletes throughout his coaching career which spans an incredible 30 years of coaching.  This award recognises Charlie’s commitment and time dedicated to his athletes outwith his full time employment in disability sport with High Life Highland. This award is a partnership approach with High Life Highland and sportscotland, recognising the outstanding contribution and significant impact of local coaches in enabling quality sport and physical activity opportunities to happen in communities across the Highlands. After a very impressive speech by Inverness sports legend Colin Bailey, Charlie was presented with his award by Commonwealth Games para athlete Jason Maclean and para athlete Paul Davidson.”

Chas Award

Receiving the Award

Recently he picked up another 2 awards one for The Highlands and Islands Regional Disability Coach and was honoured to receive the Inverness Area Sports Council award for Coach of the Year.

This does not mean of course that he has given up working with other athletes.   Charlie is currently the club coaching convener and is a UKA Level 3 Performance Coach for sprints/800m/1500m/long distance and steeplechase, although as a capable and experienced field events athlete himself he does some work in that area as well.   A look at Power of 10 – which is not a comprehensive survey – indicates that he has nine athletes under his supervision ranging form an Under 17 high jumper to a V35 half marathon runner.   In addition as a good club man as well as a talented sportsman, Charlie has competed in several events for the club in the track league although his recent events have included mixed terrain races and parkruns.    Speaking of which he is also a time keeper at these events and his contribution has been noted – “This week’s fabulous volunteers were Billy Skinner (course set-up), Charlie Forbes (timekeeper), Willie Ross (back-up timekeeper) …”  

As an administrator Charlie has worked at club, district and national level.   A former club president at Inverness, when the Scottish Athletic Federation came into being in 1995, Charlie was the North Area Representative on the council and sat as Chairman for the North District Cross-Country Committee as well as secretary over a period of years between 1995 to 2014. He officiated at the 2003 European Cross-Country Championships and 2008 World XC Championships when they were held in Edinburgh and last year was a Technical Official at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

 In this connection he has been involved in lobbying and supporting local politicians on behalf of the sport: when Inverness was selected by sport Scotland as a possible site of sporting excellence, he stepped up in support and was quoted as follows: “Support for the hub came from Inverness Harriers coach Charlie Forbes, also Regional Manager for Highlands & Islands Disability Sport.   He believes that in indoor centre with a running track is much needed and would lead to more athletes competing at a higher level.   Inverness Harriers have four athletes of Commonwealth Games standard and there could have been more if we had a big indoor centre,” he said.   “It can be pretty difficult at times for our athletes.   They often scrape the snow off the track which is not ideal for health and safety reasons and in winter there is often no training facilities available , unlike in the central belt.” 

Coaches, officials and administrators often have to fight their corner and in a place as remote from the levers of power as Inverness this is even more the case.   Athletes in the north are lucky to have men like Charlie Forbes to go into bat for them.

Tommy Callaghan

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TBP 64 The start of the Edinburgh to Glasgow in 1964: Tom is second from right in the back row – behind Alex Brown of Motherwell.

This profile was written by Tom’s clubmate, Joe Small.   Tom is the personification of the really good athletic club member – the man who always did what his club needed him to do, and then went a bit further.   He was a runner, a club official, an administrator, a coach to several Scottish and British international athletes.  Tom also ran a sports shop along with one of his protégés, Ron McDonald for a time.  He was also the man on the wrong end of a very poor decision by the governing body of cross-country in Scotland which Joe refers to in the following narrative.   

Tom Callaghan came from Airdrie, but was involved with Coatbridge’s Monkland Harriers and latterly Clyde Valley A.A.C. for over 30 years as a runner, official, coach & organiser.

He joined Monkland in 1958, competing in cross-country & road running as a boy & youth. Among his club contemporaries at the time were top class runners like Jim Finn, who won the Youths National in 1960 and 1961, Jim. Grant, 2nd in the Boys National in 1959, Jimmy Johnstone, 2nd in the Youths National also in 1959. 1959 seemed to be a good year for Monkland, with Tom picking up a silver medal as the Boys team finished second in the National, only 3 points behind George Heriot’s School. In the 1961 Midland District race he was in the bronze medal winning Youths team along with race winner Jim Finn & J. Grant. Teams involving Finn, Grant, Tom & Tommy Gallagher won many other relay & team prizes around this time.

Moving up to the Junior/Senior ranks, the likes of Finn & Grant fell away, as is so often the case with talented boys champions. Tom, now training with Jimmy Johnstone ran on road, in cross-country & highland games events, winning the handicap mile at Kirkintilloch with a time of 4.08 in 1964. He competed in the Edinburgh – Glasgow on eight occasions, for both Monkland & Clyde Valley. In 1980 he picked up a team bronze medal when Clyde Valley finished 3rd. in the West District cross-country championships that year.

It was early in his senior career that he became involved in the organisational side of things. In the mid-sixties, Monkland were stuck in a rut. Tom, along with a few others including Jimmy Johnstone, Willie Drysdale & Willie McBrinn replaced the long running club secretary & proceeded to introduce a number of initiatives to reinvigorate the club. The launch of a series of cross country races involving local schools resulted in a good number of new young runners joining the club. The best known of these would be Ronnie MacDonald. Others included Frank Gribben, Peter Preston, Danny Nee, Jim Burns, Kenny Ashwood, etc. quite a conveyor belt of talent.

It was with the emergence of Ronnie MacDonald that Tom first became involved with coaching. He guided Ronnie to the level of performance and results that can be seen in his profile elsewhere on this site. When Jim Brown joined the club in 1970, he also advised him for a number of years, again the results can be seen on Jim’s profile. The other big name to join Monkland in the early ‘70s was Ian Gilmour. This came about after Ian finished 3rd. in the National Junior cross country championship (behind MacDonald & Brown). Tom approached Ian after the race & asked if he’d be interested in the joining the same club as the two guys who had just beaten him. Ian agreed & competed very successfully for Monkland & Clyde Valley for a number of years.

Back to the organisational side of things. Tom, through his contacts in Coatbridge Town Council, was instrumental in turning Coatbridge into the focal point of cross country, road running, later track & field for a good number years.

The National Cross Country championships first came to Drumpellier Park in 1973 (Jim Brown winning the Junior race & the Junior team also finishing first for good measure!) and returned to the same venue for a further three years. Other events held were the District & County cross country championships & relays, Schools cross country championships, Women’s international cross country race, Schools Home Countries international & Boys Brigade National championships, all sponsored by the council. On the road, the first running of the Coatbridge 5 mile race, initially as part of a town festival, saw the introduction of lucrative prizes, the winner receiving a portable tv, quite a step up from the usual cutlery sets etc. being handed out. Top class athletes from south of the border were enticed to compete. The first race in 1973 was won by Ian Stewart, his first race back since taking a year out of the sport following the 1972 Olympics. Again, Tom was the driving force behind most of these events, although he would always say that he had a lot of help from club members & other local organizations.

Through the success of these events & the local club, the council was persuaded to proceed with the building a new athletics stadium, opened in 1975, complete with an international standard 8 lane all-weather track & accommodating 8000 spectators, costing £410,000 (£3m in today’s money). The first meeting held on the track was organized by Monkland Harriers, after which they were not involved, the Council taking over running of events. Later, international meetings, national, district & local championships all came to the town.

One of the goals of the council (and Tom), was to attract the World Cross Country Championships to the town. Scotland was due to host this prestigious event in 1978. Following a special General Meeting of the Scottish Cross Country Union in 1976, the race was awarded to Glasgow. This decision saw the end of the local council’s involvement. The story behind this decision deserves an article of its own, one which Tom is working on at present. It will make interesting reading when complete!

The International Cross Country decision previously mentioned also saw the end of Tom’s direct involvement in the sport.

Tom was also one of the instigators in the formation of Clyde Valley AAC, this being an amalgamation of five Lanarkshire clubs, to try & form a `super club’ to compete on the same level as the large Edinburgh & Glasgow clubs of the time. A look through the results of the period will show how successful they were for a number of years. Probably the most high profile athlete to be produced was Tom McKean.

For a number of years the club secretary was none other than Tom Callaghan.

Just to give a quick idea of how busy Tom was, he was involved in all of the above, together with training & competing, bringing up a family, holding down a full-time job and then opening a number of sports shops in partnership with Ronnie MacDonald. Some of you no-doubt purchased shoes, track suits or vests from the aforementioned Monkland Sports! As the saying goes, “If you want something done, ask a busy man”

Nowadays, he’s retired, still out walking everyday, but still taking a keen interest in most sports, particularly Aberdeen F.C and the Tour De France, both formed in the same year, 1903, coincidentally!

The Scottish Hill Runner

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Scottish hill runners are a breed apart.   The dedicated hill runners, who run hills races 100% of the time, or even those who run road races for 10% of the time leaving the other 90% of racing time to the sunlit uplands, are not really like the rest of us.   One of their number, when asked to run in a road relay, said to me, “I know I’m fast.   I don’t need to prove it to anybody. ”   Their sense of humour is often quite different too, and they always seemed to me to be fonder of a pint than most other runners.   Given that after stewarding two of the Arrochar Alps races, a friend and myself once went over basically the same trail for a three day walk, and after seeing another friend who was a very good hill runner hurtling diretissima down one of the said Alps, I have nothing but respect for the breed.     Mel Edwards gave me copies of  ‘The Scottish Hill Runner’ magazine a while ago and the contents have been perused and information filtered down in many cases to other articles.    Since there seems to be an interest in actual running memorabilia I decided to put the covers of these magazine which cover 1988 and 1989 up on the site.   They are below, and then I will put the content of the first one on a linked page.   If the interest is there, I will put up the contents of the others.   The first one is for January 1988.

SHR Jan 88

Link to the content

SHR June 88

Link to the content SHR Oct 88

Link to Content

SHR Feb 89

SHR May 89

SHR Aug 89

SHR Dec 89

There is a definite improvement in the finished product in terms of presentation, content and layout of themagazine but the attitudes and values expressed don’t change from one edition to the next!