In the annals of Scotland football history, Largs has been well known in the past for hosting the Scotland national team but how many readers know about when the national team were reported to the police for playing football on the promenade?
The strange episode was highlighted in an edition of the Largs and Millport News in 1953 when the team were preparing for a qualifier against Wales at Hampden for the Switzerland World Cup.
An old Largs and Millport News paper file reveals all, with the correspondent even having extremely close proximity to the Scotland stars of the day as the article testifies.
We reported: “The Scotland National Football team took no chances when they arrived on Largs on Monday for their customary pre-match get together. Last time the players ‘skipped’ going to Barrfields Park for training, and had some ball practice in front of the Marine Hotel. Someone telephoned to the police that the bye-laws were being broken by ‘the boys’ playing football on the foreshores. It transpired later that the caller gave the name and the address of a man who died 11 years before.
“Trainer Alex Dowdalls made sure on Monday that neither ‘ghost’ or other complainer would have cause to telephone the police. The SFA bus left for Barrfields Park within half an hour of the player’s arrival.
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