The Thistle Archive

Harold joined Thistle after a stellar 8-year career at Ibrox during which they won First Division titles four times, the League Cup twice and the Scottish Cup once. He also played in the first Scottish side to reach a major European Final. In a July 2018 article in the (Glasgow) Herald, Harold outlined his sadness at the end of his Rangers career, but admitted: “at that time I was beginning to lose my edge. I depended a lot on my physical strength and, at 31, I was starting to lose that a bit.” The right half, nicknamed “The Iron Man”, joined Thistle. He played his first senior matches in the Summer Cup, at the end of the 1963-64 season, including a memorable 7-2 trouncing of Third Lanark. The League Cup of the 1964-65 season saw Thistle drawn in a very difficult section, with Hearts, Kilmarnock and Celtic. Kilmarnock became Scottish champions later that 1964-65 season, with Hearts in second place. They won on goal average, which was used at that time. Celtic, the other team in the group, went on to win the Scottish Cup that season, so Thistle could consider themselves a tad unlucky to end up with that lot. The Jags were unbeaten after the first 3 matches, drawing 0-0 with both Celtic and Kilmarnock, and beating Hearts 2-1 at Firhill. Sadly the good streak ended there, although they did end up 3rd in the group, with Hearts in the bottom position.

In the same article Harold went on to say “After I finished playing (on leaving Thistle in 1964) I went into coaching and took charge of Queen’s Park for three years. They would have to be the most enjoyable days of my football life.” He left Queen’s Park to join Davie White at Ibrox, but left after 5 months when Willie Waddell took over. After a stint managing Queen of the South in 1970-71, he again joined White at Dundee, and after 3 years he left football to move to Wester Ross to run the Craigmore Hotel. He ran the hotel for the next 14 years till his retirement.

Harold was born in Cupar in Fife in 1933. His father, a sugar beet factory worker, had 3 fingers blown off while handling an explosive device while serving with the Home Guard in World War 2. The family moved to Perth to run the Palace pub in George Street, but his father died in 1947 aged 39. His mother continued to run the pub. He joined East Fife, where Scot Symon was manager, and Symon would have a strong influence in his later career. In 1951 Harold was called up for his National Service, and elected to join the Black Watch. This was during the Korean War, and Harold was sent to the peninsula, after rejecting options to stay out of the conflict. The 1st Battalion Black Watch were sent to positions near the Samichon River known as “The Hook”. Harold served in the Battalion’s “C” company. Unfortunately for him, he was wounded in the foot and stomach in May 1953, while running between gun pits. He was evacuated to Japan, and was unconscious for a 10-day period. He was then transferred to London for abdominal surgery. Harold expanded on this time in an extensive interview with the West Highland Free Press (WHFP) on 5 July 2018, when the player released his autobiography “Tougher than Bullets”. He explained how the bullets that hit him caught him on the ankle and stomach. On returning to the UK the medical team were a touch picturesque in how they rated his chances of a return to football: “One doctor at the military hospital in London told me that my only hope was that my bowels were in such a state, defenders were likely to slip on what would come out! It didn’t look very encouraging.” After a year in hospital, the player was sent to Bridge of Earn hospital, where he would spend a further year. Davie Kinnear was a former Rangers player who became a physiotherapist and he helped Harold with his recovery. He rejoined East Fife and, in 1956, Scot Symon took him to Ibrox.

Harold enjoyed his retirement in the Highlands, and had one more brush with death when he broke his neck in a serious road accident in 1998. Harold passed away in Aultbea in June 2018, aged 85.