New book recaptures past rugby era

And, if you are a rugby person, then a new book may be of interest — which owes much to the Southern Reporter.

‘Dark Blue Blood: Scottish Rugby in the Black & White Era’, by Steve Finan, is an attempt to show what rugby was like when it was tougher, muddier – and better.

It aims to do this with photos which haven’t been seen for decades, or sometimes never, but have lain in dusty newspaper and magazine archives. And a few of them are from the Reporter’s archive.

Finan duly unearthed some gems and said: “I can’t thank the Southern Reporter enough. The staff were very kind. I spent a lot of time in a lot of places, looking at old rugby photos and film negatives, but one of my favourite photos is from he Reporter.

“It shows Andrew Kerr, Doddie Weir, Carl Hogg and Euan Simpson playing for Melrose v Selkirk in January 1993.

“They are standing in a line-out, soaked to the skin, caked in mud, and showing exactly what rugby played on a gluepot, in Scotland’s weather, in those days, should look like.

“It’s a very atmospheric photo. I’d imagine any rugby person whose memory goes back 30 years or more will nod their head and say, ‘Aye, that’s what it was like’. I can’t thank the Reporter guys enough for it.

“Doddie wrote an insightful and emotive foreword for the book. And there are a couple of great shots of him celebrating wins, and one engaging view of him from 1988, as a leggy young colt, bursting forward with the ball the way he used to do.”

The photos go back much more than 30 years, of course. Some of the shots are of the great days of Scottish rugby. Internationals from the 1950s, Scottish rugby grounds as they were in the old days, sports days.

And, of course, there are fantastic shots of the old heroes of the game.

“It is shamelessly nostalgic,” added Finan. “I wanted to show what the game used to be like at all levels. I have chapters on Scotland, Murrayfield as it was and the great encounters with the Auld Enemy, but also line-ups from long-forgotten club and district games. I took care to include photos of less successful teams and rarely-seen venues. Rugby is for everyone, not just those who were very good at it.

“There’s even a chapter, ‘Faces In The Crowd’, that shows what it was like to attend games in past days.”

Finan added: “I’m very proud of the book and get quite emotional about the heroes and the sights of old.

“My most treasured wish would be for some old rugby gent to leaf through it and find a photo of themselves, at a game, or playing. Or to find a picture of an old friend in the days when they were young, full of energy and raring to play the game they loved.”

Dark Blue Blood is available from all good book sources and also with free P&P from www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk