A new occasional series from Ian White

EARLY DAYS / FAMOUS CAMELON JUNIORS KEEPERS

Just seven years after they were formed in 1920, Camelon Juniors had become a force to be reckoned with and were competing on level terms with the well established Dunipace Juniors and Denny Hibs, who were not only top sides in Stirlingshire but at a national level.  Already nicknamed the Mariners they had already become regular winners of local cups and had centre forward Dennison capped for Junior Scotland, but in 1926 were part of a major overhaul of the Junior game.  

On 19 March 1926, 62 clubs, including Camelon Juniors, formed the Scottish Intermediate Football Association and were immediately outlawed by the Scottish Football Association. In June 1926, the powerful Glasgow Junior Football League (GJL) dissolved itself at its AGM and made way for the formation of the breakaway Scottish Intermediate League while in Ayrshire the Western Junior Football League reformed as the Western Intermediate Football League. The clubs and their players were outlawed, but over the next four years only a handful left the organisation, mainly for geographical reasons. Just one club – Baillieston Juniors – scabbed purely for financial gain.

Without players going senior the standard of football played by the Intermediates rose dramatically, while the standard of senior football fell. In their first season Camelon reached the final of the 1927 Scottish Intermediate Cup, (which because of the calibre of the teams involved many considered to be a vastly superior competition to the Scottish Junior Cup) but suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to league runners-up Ashfield in front of a 10,000 crowd at Bridgeton Waverly’s ground, Barrowfield Park, which had been opened that season.  Camelon resigned from the Intermediate League halfway through the 1929/30 season while Port Glasgow Athletic and Dumbarton Harp did likewise three quarters through the season. All three clubs moved to the Scottish Junior League and remaining points were allocated to their opponents. The cause of the rebel clubs was morally, as well as legally, right. In 1931 the dispute was settled, largely on the Intermediates’ terms.

The standard transfer fee for a professional Junior player was set at £75, and the terms for provisional contracts were tightened up so that players were rarely taken while their clubs were still involved in the Scottish Junior Cup. The Scottish Intermediate FA became the West of Scotland JFA, and its main cup competition, the Scottish Intermediate Cup, became the West of Scotland Junior Cup.

Now for the ‘keepers:

JERRY DAWSON

Camelon’s resignation from the outlawed Intermediate League paved the way for the mighty Glasgow Rangers to sign Camelon Juniors goalkeeper 20 year old Jerry Dawson in November 1929 and he would go on to reach legendary status at both Ibrox and as a Scotland Internationalist.  Although he was christened James he was nicknamed Jerry after the famous English goalkeeper Jerry Dawson who made more than 700 appearances for Burnley from 1907 to 1928. Camelon’s Jerry Dawson would also enjoy a long career. He would spend the next 16 years with the Ibrox side, winning the Scottish league five times and the Scottish Cup twice. He made 236 league appearances for Rangers and was capped 14 times by Scotland between 1934 and 1939. He also appeared 11 times for the Scottish League XI. Dawson moved to home-town club Falkirk in 1945 and retired at the end of the 1948–49 season. After a spell as a journalist with the Daily Record, he moved into coaching when appointed East Fife’s manager in July 1953. He guided his new side to the League Cup within months of his appointment but eventually left the Fifers in July 1958, after they suffered relegation to the Second Division. Dawson’s contribution to Scottish football has been recognised by former club Rangers and he was posthumously elected to their Hall of Fame. Dawson was nicknamed “The Prince in the Yellow Jersey” because Rangers traditionally had a yellow goalkeeper jersey. James “Jerry” Dawson died in January 1977 age 68.

JAMES CULLEY

Another lesser known Camelon Juniors’ keeper in the shape of James Culley, played for the other half of the Old Firm when he was signed by Celtic for the 1941/42 season. Culley was born in Condorrat in 1915 and joined Camelon Juniors in 1933 from where he was signed by Scottish League Hibernian in 1934. He made his Scottish League debut at Falkirk in April 1935 and made 34 appearances in his four seasons at Easter Road. In the summer of 1938 he was signed by Third Division (North) Lincoln City as understudy to Dan McPhail and he made his Football League debut against Chester in September 1938 playing 5 times for The Imps that month before losing his place after a 6-0 defeat at Crewe Alexandra. He returned to Scotland after a single season at Sincil Bank to join Alloa Athletic in the summer of 1939. The Second World War brought a premature end to his professional football career apart from that season at Celtic where he was first choice keeper from December 1941 to August 1942. During that time in all probability we had the scenario of two former Camelon Juniors’ keepers facing each other in an Old Firm derby with Jerry Dawson in goal for Rangers.

STEWART KENNEDY

Yet another Camelon keeper went on to play for Rangers and Scotland in the shape of Stewart Kennedy. Born in Stiring in August 1949, Kennedy joined Camelon Juniors from Airth Castle Rovers and was signed by Dunfermline Athletic as an 18-year-old in 1967 before returning to junior football in 1969 with Linlithgow Rose. Two years later he returned to the senior game, signing for Stenhousemuir. It was from here, after another two-year stint, he was signed by Rangers for £10,000. He mainly served as back-up for their established goalkeeper Peter McCloy. A number of goalkeepers came and left Rangers during McCloy’s long career as number one, but Kennedy was the most successful, amassing 131 appearances and 45 clean sheets. Standing 6ft 1 tall and weighing 11st 5lb, he made a major contribution to Rangers 1975 league win, their first in eleven years, playing in every match. From then until 1978 Kennedy and McCloy exchanged the position, both playing regularly. He was capped five times by Scotland in the 1974–75 season, his last appearance coming in a 5–1 defeat to England at Wembley. Kennedy received two league championship winner’s medals, in 1975 and 1978, and two for the League Cup, in 1976 and 1978. He left Ibrox in 1980, moving to Forfar on a free transfer. He continued playing there until the age of 40, and had a testimonial match against Rangers in 1985. He then came out of retirement to play one match for St Johnstone in the 1991–92 season, when the club suffered an injury crisis.