Strathmore Cricket Union: the first 90 years a history 1928-2018

11 CHAPTER TWO THE BRILLIANCE OF BRECHIN The Union was all set for its grand opening on 27th April 1929. Arbroath were due to meet Strathmore, and Brechin would have gone to Union Park, Montrose - but for an unseasonal, but by no means unprecedented, fall of snow. Apart from that, the weather was good in 1929, at least for the first part of the season and very few problems were encountered in playing the games. Matches which had been postponed were allowed to be played at a later date by agreement with all concerned. Brechin swept everyone aside beating them home and away and finishing with 20 points. At this stage the points systemwas like that of football, with 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw – a system, incidentally, which has the benefit of simplicity and other things going for it as well. Meigle came second. In some ways the fixture list of 1929 did not really look all that different from previous years. The teams would have played each other anyway, and the only change was that they now did so under Strathmore Union auspices. It probably meant little to the average supporter that there was now a League. The important thing was to win games. It was hardly surprising that Brechin did so well, for they had so many fine players at this time. Their professional was Joe Awty, although he was never referred to in the Press by his Christian name. He was a professional and therefore had to be called simply “Awty”. This did not stop journalists making weak jokes about “naughty Awty” and the like, but, although he was a fine cricketer, he was still a professional and had to be kept in his place! But Joseph James Awty was a man of great pedigree. He hailed originally from Staffordshire, and since he came to Scotland in 1923, he had already been the professional at Kilmarnock, Penicuik and Kirkcaldy. But there were also great amateur players at Guthrie Park. There was Davie Chapman, (who did little to minimise the happy coincidence that he shared a surname with England’s captain Percy Chapman, or to scotch the baseless rumours that they were brothers, or at least cousins) Willie Eddie and captain Bob Laing, and they quite simply were too good for the other sides. Such was the strength of the side, and the self-confidence of the Brechin club that it even (unusual for the times) allowed Lady Members to join their club at the cost of 5 shillings per annum, reckoning that all women now had the vote (since 1928) and that Ladies had done a great job