Largs couple celebrate 60 years of wedded bliss

Well-kent Largs Thistle committee man Tommy Scoullar and his wife Betty are celebrating their diamond wedding after being married in Possilpark Parish Church in Glasgow way back in 1959.

Tommy says his keen interest in football keeps him young and he is ably assisted by Betty, who attends many of the club's functions.

Tommy, 84, was a slater to trade before doing his army service for two years.

He then went back to slating before getting a job with high street chain House of Fraser, doing maintenance work at all of their stores in Scotland and north of England.

In his last ten years of employment, Tommy was a heating engineer at Fraser's base in Buchanan Street, Glasgow.

Betty, 79, worked in the Askit factory in Possil before becoming a staff member at Woolworths in Sauchiehall Street.

She became a friend of the celebrities whom she served at the STV canteen in Glasgow and also knew Largs Euromillionaire-to-be Colin Weir, who was an STV production cameraman.

They had twins, a boys and girl, now 59, and another son Tommy, who lives in Glasgow, and are proud grandparents to four children.

Asked for the secret of their long marriage, Tommy said: "It is just making every day work for ourselves and pushing on through."

"It is remarkable to think it is 60 years - it goes in quicker as you get older."

Tommy was also a successful junior footballer with Greenock, Maryhill and Saltcoats Vics, but his love of the junior has always been second to that of his lovely wife.

The game led to him become kitman for Largs Thistle, a position held for many years, even sitting with the management and subs in the dug-out during the Scottish Junior Cup final in 2010.

He said: "It was one of the best things that ever happened to me in my footballing career."

The couple live happily in Woodcroft Avenue in Largs and went to Scotts restaurant in the town on Wednesday to celebrate their big anniversary before heading to Glasgow for a weekend of family celebrations.