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| Welcome To Norway Mr. Lambie, Jackson & Co! |
by Jack Little
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ON, OFF AND ON AGAIN
On 12 April 1930 - the day of the Scottish Cup final against Rangers - the London Daily Chronicle reported rumours circulating that Arsenal would be touring Canada and the USA in the close season were false. There was “every likelihood” that Thistle, as Scottish Cup finalists, had cancelled their Norwegian tour in anticipation of an invitation to replace the London club.
Three days later the Dundee Courier also reported that Thistle were likely to cancel their proposed summer trip to Norway as they had been invited to tour Canada and the USA. Two weeks later the trip was back on – the tour to North America had fallen through because financial terms could not be agreed. Thistle (in their 55th season) were off to Norway (in its 25th year as an independent nation).
ANCHORS AWEIGH
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The club had promised the players a trip abroad if they won the cup. They didn’t win but the promise was honoured just the same and on 20 May 1930, thirty-four days since the defeat to Rangers in the Scottish Cup final replay (1-2) and with the bitter taste of defeat lingering, Thistle took to the high seas for a breath of fresh air. They left Newcastle on (most probably) the Bergen Steamship Company’s vessel “Venus” heading for Bergen.
With the exception of an FA cup-tie in London against Old Westminsters in January 1887, travelling to matches “abroad” for friendlies had previously only been concentrated to Ireland, NE, NW and the Midlands of England – the furthest south being Birmingham. A 6-match tour of Norway was a major departure for the club (no pun intended!) but someone had to show those pesky foreigners how to play football, so why not Thistle?
THE PARTY
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| ● Players from Partick Thistle arrived in the morning, ahead of Frigg’s game with the Scottish professionals at Ulllevaal tomorrow. With the Scots players on arrival, far left, is Frigg's chairman Birch Aune. (Tidens Tegn, 22 May 1930) |
The party of 18 comprised: Chairman Tom Reid, Director Jimmy Kinloch, Manager Donald Turner and Trainer Jimmy Kennedy. The playing party of 14 was Jackson, Calderwood, Rae, McLeod, Hunter, Lambie, Boardman, Fraser, Ness, Grove, Simpson, Jenkins, Ballantyne, and Torbet.
WHO’S WHO
In season 1929-30 just concluded, Thistle had played 49 matches using 24 players in the process. Of the ten players who were not travelling, Denis O’Hare, Alex Elliot and Willie Miller, with a combined total of 107 appearances that season, represented the bulk of experience. The remaining 7 had made just 33 appearances between them. Still, amongst those who did travel, there were some of the best players Thistle produced in the 1930s.
There was no goalkeeping cover in the party. JOHNNY JACKSON had missed just one match in the last 187 and must have been seen as indestructible - indeed he may have been. Only one hand is needed to count the number of appearances he missed in his career with Thistle covering 337 matches.
The 29-year-old right-back STEWART CALDERWOOD made 426 appearances as a JAG spending almost 12 years at Firhill, playing in 6 cup-finals and finally leaving in the summer of 1939 for a brief spell with Queen’s Park Rangers. As with many other players of his era WW2 cut across his career and he joined the RAF where he acted as coach to the RAF team. He played in all 6 matches on tour.
A relative newcomer to the club, JIMMY RAE was in his first season and he too played in all 6 fixtures at left-back. He would make 122 appearances for Thistle before being transferred to Plymouth Argyle (along with Johnny Simpson) spending almost 33 years with the Devon club as player, assistant manager and finally manager.
BOBBY GROVE was a versatile player. Season 1929-30 saw him playing 21 matches of his 35 appearances at inside-right, with the remainder at right-half, inside-left or centre-forward. He played 5 matches on the tour, all at right half. In his 10 years at the club he made 300 appearances scoring 65 goals and was a member of the “one club man” fraternity.
At 6ft 2 inches (1.9 metres) in an era when few players were even 6ft tall, ALEX LAMBIE was one of the tallest players in Scottish Football of that era and a stalwart centre-half. He remained at the club for a further half season before joining Swindon Town having clocked up 327 appearances.
Another “one club man”. 1929-30 the fourth of EDDIE McLEOD’s 14 seasons years with the club during which he became a permanent feature at left-half, making just short of 500 appearances.
DAVIE NESS signed for Thistle from Nithsdale Wanders in 1923 approaching his 21st birthday and stayed for 12 seasons making 432 appearances - all at outside right. He played in all 6 matches on tour.
WILLIAM FRASER spent 5 seasons at the club having been signed from Ashfield Juniors. He had 57 first team appearances but had only made one appearance during the season. Following the tour (where he played in all six matches) his spell with Thistle came to an end after just a further 10 appearances, taking his total to 73. His last appearance was in January 1931. There is no record of him signing for another club. He was primarily an inside-left.
JOHN SIMPSON made his debut aged 20 in May 1928. Initially played at outside-left, he quickly made the centre-forward slot his own and by the time he left the club in the Summer of 1932 he had scored an incredible 95 goals in 105 appearances. His record of scoring nine goals in a match against Royal Albert in January 1931 will never be beaten. The tour saw him score 14 goals in 5 matches. He left the club in the summer of 1932 moving to Plymouth Argyle.
JOHNNY BALLANTYNE signed for Thistle in June 1921 and played his last match in March 1935. He actually signed for the club twice having played in the USA 1924-1928. In terms of appearances the Norwegian tour was half-way through his Thistle career - 340 in total, scoring 95 goals in the process. The great majority of his appearances were at inside-left along with John Torbet on the wing. They played together over 150 times and formed a partnership that would have automatically run off the tongue of any Thistle fan of that era reciting common line-ups. As will be seen below the tour ended unfortunately for Johnny.
As mentioned above, JOHN TORBET was half of the left-wing partnership with Johnny Ballantyne. He made 274 appearances scoring 118 goals Thistle between 1924 and 1933 – all but five on the left wing. He played for several clubs in England then finally Ayr United. He was a qualified masseur and ran his own business in Edinburgh before being appointed trainer for Hearts where he remained for six years.
In modern terms, GEORGE BOARDMAN would be called a utility player. Befitting his versatility, he played in three matches on tour – at centre-half, inside-right and outside-left. Although his registered height was only 5’ 9½“ he made 40 appearances at centre-half, 37 at centre-forward and the remaining 53 covered every position except, in goal, right-back and outside-left. He scored 29 goals while at Firhill.
GEORGE HUNTER played in one match on tour. In his 4 seasons with the club the midfielder from Fife made a total of 39 appearances. Thirteen appearances came in season 1929-30 season and he was very much a fringe player. His inclusion may have been as cover for the players who were not in the party. He made a further 6 appearances the following season, the last being in March 1931.
Very much an unknown quantity, ROBERT JENKINS signed for Thistle just 2 months before the tour and made just 6 appearances in total – scoring four goals. He played in one match on tour and scored once. His inclusion in the party may have been an opportunity for manager Easton to run the rule over him but in any event he left the club at the end of the season.
And so, down to business. Extracts from local press report(s) below have been obtained using on-line translation – hence the fractured English – and may have been combined and/or edited…
FRIGG 1-6 PARTICK THISTLE
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Fri-23-May-1930, Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo.
JACKSON
CALDERWOOD, RAE
GROVE, LAMBIE, McLEOD
NESS, FRASER, SIMPSON, BALLANTYNE, TORBET
Torrential rain relented enough to allow the match to go ahead with 6,000 spectators watching in admiration and disappointment in equal measure. Thistle hit the ground running. Fraser hit the bar with a header early on. It was undoubtedly Johnny Simpson’s match however with four goals the first of which put Thistle ahead. Frigg were buoyed however when they equalised but it was a false dawn. Ness restored the lead then Frigg fired a penalty wide before half-time.
The second half saw a period of even play but naive defending by Frigg left gaps at the back and Simpson bagged three more – the second of which was clearly off-side according to the locals. There’s nothing new in football! Ballantyne rounded off the scoring with 8 minutes remaining.
The local press were effusive in their praise for Thistle’s performance, citing their ball control, fitness, speed and overall teamwork. If the on-line translation from the Norwegian can be believed they were “an excellently cohesive team”.
KVIK 2-4 PARTICK THISTLE
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Sun-25-May-1930, Halden Stadion.
JACKSON
CALDERWOOD, RAE
GROVE, LAMBIE, McLEOD
NESS, FRASER, JENKINS, BALLANTYNE, TORBET
Two days later Thistle travelled 75 miles South from Oslo to Halden. Contemporary coverage is minimal. The 26 May edition of the Aftenposten reported:
In a football match at Halden's stadium between the Scottish team Partick Thistle and Kvik Halden, the result was that the Scots won 4-2. Kvik put up very good opposition and delivered a rare good game. After the first half the result was 4-1 in the Scots' favour and thus Kvik got their second goal in the second half. The match was covered with great interest and several thousand spectators had turned up.
It was Thistle's first recorded match on a Sunday. Fraser, Jenkins, Ballantyne and Torbet got the goals.
DRAMMENS BK 2-7 PARTICK THISTLE
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Tue-27-May-1930, Marienlyst Stadion, Drammen.
JACKSON
CALDERWOOD RAE
GROVE LAMBIE HUNTER
NESS FRASER SIMPSON BALLANTYNE TORBET
Two days later and the tour continued in Drammen about 25 miles SW of Oslo. The 28 May edition of the Morgenavisen reported:
In the football match here yesterday between Partick Thistle and Drammens Ballklub the Scots won 7-2 after a very good and spirited match during which the ball club put up excellent resistance. 3,000 people watched the match.
Simpson (5), Fraser and Lambie got the goals for a more than comfortable win.
LYN 2-5 PARTICK THISTLE
Thu-29-May-1930, Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo.
JACKSON
CALDERWOOD, RAE
GROVE, BOARDMAN, McLEOD
NESS, FRASER, SIMPSON, BALLANTYNE, HUNTER
It was back to Oslo again for the fourth match of the tour. The Dagbladet 30 May provides an (over the top?) appreciation of the tour so far as well as the actual match:
It has been an educational week for Norwegian footballers. In Drammen the Scottish team played elegant football, in the match against Frigg at Ullevaal there was simply too much of the good stuff. And it really is the best football game we have seen.
For the Scottish players in the last week have entertained us with their dazzling display. It was not with the greatest of hopes that Lyn went out on to the field to try to keep the Scottish players at bay.
Partick Thistle took it quite calmly and played between them like the easiest thing in the world. The ball continued to flow from man to man, a slight twisting of the body, a short toe kick and the Norwegian players were completely out of position. But still, I think we can say that Lyn through the whole match came out of the affair quite well.
They were far from being so inferior that the players could not venture out with long balls to their opponents who were unemployed throughout the second half. It was a thoroughly entertaining match and due to the many dizzying goal situations, people constantly had the feeling that something could go wrong. The result was 5-2 and completely in order. Partick got a couple of easily bought goals in the very last minutes of the game, but it was due to such obvious mistakes in Lyn's defence that it could not turn out to be anything else.
The Scot's team was solid and strong. Best this time was the left-back as well as the inside-right who co-ordinated the attacks in an exemplary manner. We hope we can more often visit this Scottish team who so masterfully master all the finesse of the game of football. Above all they never let it be a game. The game is never characterised by a bad mood. It's the gentlemen on the football pitch in the purest sense and gives our footballers an under-display that they will certainly take advantage of. Welcome to Norway Mr Lambie, Jackson and co!”
Thistle again impressed the locals who were second best in speed and technique. The full scoring sequence is not known but they led 2-1 at half-time and there was a hat-trick by Ballantyne and a double by Simpson. Either Calderwood or Rae scored an og. Two late goals were down to defensive errors but Thistle were not flattered by the margin of victory.
VAALERENGENS 4-3 PARTICK THISTLE
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Sat-31-May-1930, Bislett Grusbane, Oslo.
JACKSON
CALDERWOOD, RAE
GROVE, LAMBIE, McLEOD
NESS, FRASER, SIMPSON, BOARDMAN, TORBET
Next it was off to the Bislett Grusbane in Oslo. This was the forerunner to the modern stadium which holds the famous Bislett Games athletic meetings. A couple of ringers, a grassless pitch, potential trouble with the SFA and 11 pairs of knees well wrapped up. Just a typical day in the life of PTFC. It must have been a shock for the players to see the playing surface. The clues are in the stadium name. “Grus” in Norwegian means “gravel”. “Grusbane” means “dirt track”. All eleven players had their knees well wrapped up to avoid the risk of “skint knees”.
There was a suggestion in the local paper that Thistle might be in a spot of bother with the SFA on return to Scotland. The SFA strictly controlled foreign tours. Scottish clubs were not allowed to play "National XIs" and it’s possible the ban extended to teams with players guesting from other clubs. There was doubt raised whether permission had been obtained to play against a team comprising players from more than one club. In any event, nothing seems to have come of this. Much-edited extracts from the Dagbladet and Afenposten reports of 2 June read:
Partick Thistle played against a composite Norwegian team on Saturday and lost 4-3. We do not believe that the Norwegian combination is any stronger than the Scots. The match was played on gravel and the professionals were tired. They didn't get their usual great game going and the Norwegian victory was extremely popular.
The Scots saw the essential handicap in the fact that the track was a danger to their legs. Each and every one of them had thus quite responsibly wrapped up their knees and all of them were exceedingly anxious to take on a tougher duel on this course with the following risk of falling overboard. The most significant handicap lies in the bounce of the ball and the fact that you do not get the passes to slide as well as on grass and that when dribbling it is more difficult to pass a man than on grass.
Valerengens fielded a couple of local players - Krupp and Johansen. In itself this reinforcement was not quantifiably large that it should play a major role but the fact was that Valerengens team had at least gained such a driving force in attack with Krupp's entry that in the first row can thank him for the victory. Krupp either scored the goals himself facilitated the attacks so drivingly and effectively that he also has the main credit of the others. In addition Krupp himself was extremely unlucky in the match. At quite a distance and with open goals he must have flung balls over or to the side and with a bit of real luck he could have increased the number of goals quite a bit.
The Scots struggled with the bounce of the ball. They prefer to receive the ball as it slides across the grass. In attack centre-forward SIMPSON played prominently who was only able to score late in the half but then also with a brilliant shot which was just under the bar. Henry Johansen was unable to do anything.
The start of the second half belonged to the Scots. Both the outer-right and the centre-forward had now increased to three and it was believed that the big score would follow. The visitors had finally found their way on the difficult course for them.
After close combat Trosterud hustled his way in with the first goal which by the way happened before the Scots scored in this half, and later Krupp went through brilliantly with No 2, so brilliantly that the audience suspected him of having used a hand very much to help. No. 3 inner defender Helmer Halvorsen could account for it and the jubilation knew no bounds when Krupp finally scored the winning goal.
We are not aware of whether the licence applied for in Scotland to play against a combined team on Saturday was granted. The Scots themselves said the opposite immediately before the game.
Simpson gave Thistle the lead (13) and they held it to half-time. Valerengens levelled 3 mins into the 2nd half but Torbet scored 2 mins later. Simpson got his second (55) but the local team hit back with 3 goals in the last 15 mins to win by the odd goal in seven. Thistle never really got to grips with the surface.
BRANN 0-2 PARTICK THISTLE
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Tue-03-Jun-1930, Brann Stadion, Bergen.
JACKSON
CALDERWOOD, RAE
FRASER, LAMBIE, McLEOD
NESS, BOARDMAN, SIMPSON, BALLANTYNE, TORBET
The tour finished in Bergen (handy for the boat!) against Brann. Back on grass, it was business as usual. The Bergens Aftenblad report is probably the most humorous of the tour:
BRILLIANT SCOTTISH SHORTPASSING GAME
The Scots contented themselves with putting two goals behind Hofstad. The man of the day at the stadium was the photographer who, in the second half, lined up behind the Scottish goal with his camera at the ready. He must be allowed to be called the world's greatest optimist. We are terribly afraid that should he have waited until Brann scored against Partick Thistle he must have probably stayed there for quite a long time! We are not saying this to spite Brann. No-one is waiting for a Norwegian amateur team to prove itself against a Scottish professional team on a grass pitch, mind you. But we mention it to illustrate the Scots, total mastery of the game. There was only one team - the eleven ball artists from Glasgow.
The ground wouldn't have had to use more than one half of the pitch, the one in which Brann's goal in each half was located. We could enjoy this brilliant display of perfect Scottish short-passing. It can be concluded that Partick Thistle's away game was thoroughly successful because these Scots played fair ball and because they saw their main goal in the exhibition game on the field, not in the greatest possible goal scoring.
Brann's defence should be given a fair share of the credit for the poor Scottish goal tally. They behaved like heroes and not least they gave Hofstad an excellent effort. Today he really got an opportunity to test his skills and he stood the test and saved Brann from a heavy sabering. The back pair also did their part, although Walde many times went into attack in vain on the more than usual quick outer runner on the Scots' right side. On the other hand, we were quite disappointed with the half row especially with Sander and Kjos, the former saw an extremely small part in this match and the runners had little chance to get a foothold and were then unable to break through the solid defence on the other side.
The Scottish team was above criticism. The goalkeeper was talked about a lot beforehand but unfortunately we didn't get to see what he was up to. The back pair was strong, solid and safe and the half row did an excellent job of support and followed up in attack so there was never anything open space at this point as we often see it in our home teams. The ones who were the funnest to watch were however the runners - there all played so outstandingly that it was pure joy to watch. The centering went quickly between man and man without major facts but with many small clever tricks and body movements which brought complete confusion to the defending party. Next to Jackson and Smith in Huddersfield we have probably never seen such perfect forward play here in the city. Incidentally, a man like inner-left Ballantyne doesn't give in to these much either.
The majority of the game took place in Brann's half throughout and did not once do what could be called a dangerous situation near Jackson's cage. The two goals divided the Scots with one in each half. In the first half it was Sander who provided the presentation to centre-runner SIMPSON who had no difficulty in putting in the goal. 23 minutes had then passed. Shortly before, the Scots had just been awarded a penalty kick as Walde stretched his legs under the outside-right but Hofstad saved this brilliantly and the new shot that followed was blocked by the post. BALLANTYNE scored the second goal after 70 minutes that one might have expected Hofstad to save but of course it was his only debit entry yesterday.
The match had not gathered more than 3,000 people - it was hardly wise to take 1.50 kroner for a place. It would certainly have worked out better to take 1 kroner and get several more spectators. Not because they got their money's worth, those who got to see Partick Thistle.
Thistle admitted this was their toughest match of the tour. The local keeper was outstanding and despite having virtually all the possession, he kept the score limited to goals by Simpson (23) and Ballantyne (70). He also saved a penalty (20) - taker unreported.
HALF-TIME DRAW WITH A DIFFERENCE
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At several of the tour matches half time entertainment was provided by the famous Norwegian athlete 28-year-old Charles Hoff. An interesting character, he excelled in the pole-vault, long-jump, triple-jump, sprints and middle-distance running setting several world records. His desire to tour the world and earn a living as a professional athlete had led to him being banned from strictly amateur sports 4 years earlier.
After hanging up his spikes he became involved in sports journalism and administration but his close association with the invading German administration from 1940 was not forgotten at the end of WW2 and he was sentenced to nine years forced labour by the Norwegian “National Treachery Settlement” in 1947. Sort of puts the crossbar challenge at Firhill in a different light!
BACK HOME
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The party arrived back in Scotland in time for the AGM. As this cutting from the Edinburgh Evening News of 7 June shows, it had been a profitable season, boosted greatly by the club’s share of the gate from the replayed final against Rangers. £10,000 in 1930 is roughly £540,000 today.
Athletic News on 2 June reported that Thistle’s share of the Hampden matches was £3,878 (£209,000). 211,163 saw the matches and at the time the replay attendance of 103,688 was a record for a mid-week march in the UK.
There was a suggestion in the Dundee Courier on 6 June that Thistle were returning from Norway with an 18-year-old inside-right who had impressed manager Donald Turner but nothing seems to have come of this.
ONE LEFT BEHIND
A party of eighteen had left for Norway but only seventeen returned. On 11 June the Falkirk Herald reported that Johnny Ballantyne was recovering from appendicitis and had stayed on until he was fit to travel.
The Edinburgh Evening News reported on 10 July that he had returned to Glasgow but had been advised by doctors not to play again until September at the earliest. With 340 appearances for Thistle he may well have “bust a gut” for the jersey on numerous occasions but he wasn’t taking any chances with his stitches! He didn’t play again until an 8-0 romp over Airdrie on 6 September.
PLAUDITS
On 2 June, Athletic News reported that Thistle “had set the Norwegians agog. Nothing like the football played during their present tour has ever been seen in Norway”.
“That was fun. Let’s do it again!” may have been the cry at the end of the tour. So much so, at least ten of these players went on a 4-match tour of Denmark the following close season.
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An original Thistle Archive publication, 21-Dec-2023. |
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Latest edit version 21-Dec-2023. |