Inverness youth footballers had a ball in Augsburg 50 years ago

A group of talented teenagers from Inverness went on an unforgettable footballing adventure 50 years ago this month – where fun was the name of the game.

In June 1973, 14 youngsters represented the Highland capital at the 19th annual international youth tournament at the Rosenau Stadium in the Bavarian city of Augsburg, Germany.

They rubbed shoulders alongside such company as English club West Bromwich Albion, Dinamo Kiev from the USSR, and the Turkish international youth team.

The invitation came as a result of a town twinning partnership between Inverness and Augsburg and the entire trip was made by coach, with stops including Cambridge and Arnhem.

Eleven players involved in the under-19 competition were with Highland League sides and three had played for Scotland at school or youth level.

The Inverness select were in a four-team group with Holstein Kiel from northern Germany, FC Nuremberg and the Turkish national under-19 team.

West Brom, which included legendary England and Manchester United star Bryan Robson, was in the other section with French team FC Bourges and Dynamo Kiev.

The squad was: Dave Mackenzie, Ronnie Lumsden, Jeff MacDonald, Charlie Forbes, Alan Edwards, Eddie Jessiman, Dougie McIldowie, Robert Milne, Andy Kerr, Steve Webster, Dave Milroy, Billy Urquhart, Colin Cumming and Kenny Campbell.

The captain was Stuart Mackinnon, who lived in Kinlochleven and was already a first-team regular with Caledonian.

Inverness High School PE teacher Norrie McArthur, who played Highland League football for Clach and Elgin City, was the manager, while Eddie Hutcheon, an English teacher from Inverness Royal Academy brought along his coaching expertise.

Benefits of twinning with Augsburg

One of those elite young footballers on the trip went on to be a star of Highland League football. Dave Milroy played more than 900 games for Inverness Thistle in a career spanning 22 years.

The former centre-half, who at some stage throughout the decades played in every position and was never once suspended, described the feeling around the competition.

He said: “I was around 16 at the time and, as an Inverness Royal Academy pupil, we had just returned from a football trip in Holland.

“The likes of myself, Billy Urquhart, Kenny Campbell and Robert Milne were already quiet experienced continental travellers!

“It was still exciting for us and it was also one of the tangible benefits of the twin-town arrangement with Augsburg.

“The city of Augsburg took a team over here and played us again, but as far as I’m aware, nothing has happened since.”

Bearded Turkish team well backed

Healthy attendances and playing in baking heat was a challenge for the Scottish visitors and Milroy explained how challenging it was on the park.

He said: “There was a huge Turkish presence around Bavaria at the time and they supported their national team quite vigorously, which must have boosted the crowds to around 10,000-12,000, which was more than any of us had played in front of.

“There was also some doubt about the age of some of the Turkish players, many of whom had four-foot long beards. This was an under-19 tournament.

“There was a heatwave in Bavaria that summer and the games, which were scheduled to be 40-minutes per half, were halved to 20 minutes each as well as regular stops for water intake.

“As I recall, we played on three consecutive days. Coming from the Highlands and playing in such high temperatures was something we were not used to.

“The first game against Kiel, we lost narrowly, 2-0 or 2-1 perhaps. We managed to keep the Turkish team to a 3-0 defeat, although it was three going on 10.

“We drew with our last opponents then we won seventh/eighth-placed play-off (against FC Bourges) quite comfortably.”

Prizes for fine behaviour and singing

With the chances of progression gone after their first two defeats, a management move to shift their focus elsewhere took over.

Milroy said: “It became apparent we were not going to win it, so Norrie was quite fly – there was an award for the most sporting, or best behaved, team.

“It got to the stage, we were handing the ball back to our opponents at throw-ins and such like. He was keen we would come back with something. As far as I recall, we came back with something for our good behaviour.”

And Milroy revealed the squad, led from the front by their keeper, played a masterstroke at a surprise singing contest put on by the organisers.

He said: “The singing event was for the social side of the tournament. Davie MacKenzie, who played in goals, had his guitar with him.

“Our version of ‘The Rattling Bog’ went down well. Everyone knew the words and you could all sing it without having very good vocals. We won that, or they at least gave us something, because we had travelled so far.”

And the travelling seemed to go on for ever as their pit-stop in Cambridge on the way back failed to materialise, so – bar a few stops – they were on the road for 36 hours before they finally returned to Inverness.

Football is group’s focal point

This remarkable adventure has this month been recalled as part of the Inverness Football Memories project, which is a partnership between Caley Thistle’s community trust, Clachnacuddin and High Life Highland, whose history and culture website, Am Baile, is hosting the Memories website: ambaile.org.uk/inverness-football-memories/

Members of the community, some with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, meet once a month with football used as the focal point for sparking conversations and recollections.

And Milroy loves to see the reaction from the group, which led to the reliving of the Augsburg antics.

He added: “The benefits people are getting from Football Memories are terrific.

“People gain a lot from it and there are people from the Alzheimer’s Society and residents from nursing homes are planning to come along.

“We’re averaging 30-35 people attending each time and it’s great to see folk being engaged.

“Until we started looking for Football Memories material, I didn’t realise the trip was 50 years ago, which is amazing.”

Past glories can be relived in 2023

Meanwhile, Gordon Fyfe, co-ordinator of the Football Memories project, is keen to unearth other telling moments through time for the group

He said: “This is just one of the many fascinating stories that we are unearthing in our research of senior football in Inverness since the first teams were formed in 1885.

“We’d love to hear from anyone with a special memory, or perhaps a photograph from past glories.”

50 years ago today, a team of elite youth footballers from #Inverness were competing in a tournament in #Augsburg, Germany. One of the team, Dave Milroy, tells the story: https://t.co/WoyshgG0a9#InvernessFootballMemories @ICTFC_Community pic.twitter.com/RKEMN67CTX

— Am Baile – Highland History & Culture (@HighlandHistory) June 9, 2023