Freddie Glidden

Freddie Glidden (1927 – 2019) and some others:

Freddie Glidden was born in Bonkle, Lanarkshire. When very young the family moved to Stoneyburn and Freddie was a pupil at Bathgate Academy. On leaving school he worked as a water engineer with West Lothian Water Board at Wellpark, Marjoribanks Street. Tom Aitken was the chief engineer. Freddie was an excellent footballer and he became captain of the very fine Hearts team of the 1950s. My father knew him, and Freddie was kind enough to get autographs for us. My autograph book has the Hearts team of 1953 – 54. Here are the signatures as they appear on the page:

Alf Conn; Jimmy Watters; Freddie Glidden; Bobby Parker; John Cumming; David Laing; W. Bauld; Johnny Urquhart; Jimmy Wardhaugh; Tommy MacKenzie; Jim Souness.

My younger brother’s autograph book has this later undated (1957?) team:

Ian Crawford; J. McFadzean; Wilson Brown; Bobby Parker; John Cumming; Freddie Glidden; Bobby Kirk; D. Mackay; Tommy MacKenzie; J. Murray; Alex Young; George Thomson; Willie Bauld.

Freddie’s cousin, Jim Glidden, came to Bathgate from Wishaw. He was a year ahead of me at Bathgate Academy. Jim was a very good cricketer (We both played for the Atlas Steel Works Cricket Club in Armadale.) and he was the East of Scotland boys school badminton champion. Miss Smart coached our badminton players. She had won the Scottish Ladies’ Doubles in 1954 with Miss J. S. Vallence. Jim’s father worked in Easton Colliery and he took Jim, Harry Cockburn and myself down the pit to see it in operation. At this time Mr. Munro was the Mine Manager.

Others:

Tommy Farr from Cochrane Street played for Bradford Park Avenue from 1934 to 1950. My Granny was often visited by a lady called Katie Farr. Katie was, I think, Tommy’s sister.

Wilf Sharp played for Sheffield Wednesday from 1934 to 1936. He was in the team that won the F.A. Cup in 1935.

Tommy Gibb played for Partick Thistle from 1963 to 1968 and for Newcastle from 1968 to 1975. He was part of the Newcastle team that won the Fairs Cup in 1969.

I saw Billy Ritchie playing for Bathgate Thistle. He went on to be Rangers goalkeeper. I remember him giving the ball to one of our outfield players and shouting, “Go on, Jimmy Mann.” I think that Joe Dignam was also in that team.

Tommy Gibb played in Torphichen for Wallhouse Rose. Many of their players entered the senior ranks – e.g., Willie Polland, Boyd Calder, James MacIntyre. One of their best players was Miff McMillan. He went to Sheffield Wednesday but, when he was only nineteen, lost a leg when the team-bus crashed on Boxing Day, 1960.

Tommy Walker was in my mother’s class in the Big Public. Tommy played for Hearts and Chelsea and won his first cap for Scotland at the age of nineteen. He was manager of Hearts in their glory days of the 1950s and early 1960s.

Joe Hogan from Armadale was a pupil at Bathgate Academy. He played for Partick Thistle, mostly at right-back from 1955 till 1967. If I remember corrected he was also the team captain.