The fishing communities of Fraserburgh and Arbroath have much in common.
When their respective football teams were drawn to face each other in this weekend’s Scottish Cup tie, a few older residents of both towns will have recalled the tragic events which brought the clubs together 69 years ago.
On April 11, 1953, the sides met at Bellslea in a fund-raising match to support the families of the Broch’s John and Charles Kennedy lifeboat, which capsized in heavy seas when guiding fishing boats into Fraserburgh harbour two months earlier. Only one of the seven volunteer crew members survived.
Sadly, just six months later, Arbroath was to experience an eerily similar disaster when lifeboat the Robert Lindsay went under on approach to its home port after a fruitless search for a vessel in distress.
Again, there was just one survivor from the seven-strong crew.
I have a personal interest in the 1953 match as my dad lined up as centre-forward for Arbroath for that game, played in extremely windy conditions which made good football virtually impossible.
The Lichties were firm favourites to win, having finished seventh in Scotland’s B Division that season, while Fraserburgh placed 14th of 15 teams in the Highland League.
Hopes of an upset were raised, however, when Broch forward Brian O’Hara surprisingly put the home side ahead after his blocked shot soared into the air before being blown beyond the helpless Jimmy Dorward in the Arbroath goal.
The elements also played a part in Arbroath’s equaliser on the hour mark, Willie Box lobbing over goalkeeper Samuel Collie with a speculative effort from the touchline.
Shortly afterwards Willie Rennet popped home the winning goal for the visitors.
The Arbroath FC committee minutes perhaps harshly described the Lichties as having beaten “very poor opposition”. And, while I’ve no idea how my dad fared, the same minutes simply noted that he had “played hard”.
The Fraserburgh Herald was honest enough to admit that the final score flattered the home side, reporting: “It is doubtful if Arbroath stretched themselves to capacity at any time during the game, and if they had, the score might have been many more.”
Lichties’ cup replay success
Arbroath and Fraserburgh have clashed on only one previous occasion in the Scottish Cup.
That was in the 1999/2000 season when the Lichties won 3-1 in a replay at Bellslea after a 0-0 draw at Gayfield.
A healthy crowd of 1,967 watched the second game, with Colin McGlashan, Jim Mercer and Danny Devine on the mark for the visitors, while Fraserburgh’s counter came courtesy of an own goal from Arbroath’s Steve Florence.
This tie also marked Broch chairman Finlay Noble’s first match as official club secretary – a role he continues to fulfil today.
There haven’t been many other meetings, although Noble recalls the sides also played out a 0-0 draw in a friendly match at Gayfield in the mid 1980s, while the Lichties won a pre-season friendly 4-0 on their home patch in 2015.
The only other occasion the clubs have faced each other was in 1938, when Arbroath ended their First Division campaign by going on a “Highland tour”, which started with a 4-2 win at Bellslea.
More than 1,200 fans turned up for the fixture which came on the same day as Fraserburgh surprisingly celebrated winning the Highland League thanks to local rivals Peterhead, who defeated title favourites Clachnacuddin 2-1 at Inverness in the final game of the season.
It was the Blue Toon’s only away win of the campaign and Clach’s first defeat in six months. The result saw Fraserburgh unexpectedly remain top the table, one point ahead of the Invernessians.
Long-serving Broch right-back James Bell was honoured before the 1938 game when he was presented with a gold wristlet watch in recognition of his services to the club prior to emigrating to work on a sugar plantation in what is now Guyana.
His brother George scored one of Fraserburgh’s goals, the other coming from John Duthie, who converted a late penalty. John Devlin (2), John Lowe and Aberdonian Alex Brand were the Lichties’ marksmen.
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