Blether with Brown: Arthur and Bobby are known as Mighty Midgets at United

Former colleague Stan Gardiner has many of his uncle’s football medals, contracts and such like, and he wants to share them with other football fans.

Stan’s uncle is former Dundee United star Bobby Gardiner — a player revered by old-time Tannadice supporters.

Bobby, along with Arthur Milne, were nicknamed The Mighty Midgets by United fans due to the fact they stood under 5ft 6in in their socks.

Stan worked in the stereo department in DC Thomson’s Bank Street offices for many years before setting up business as a golf equipment wholesaler.

He said: “Uncle Bobby seems to have been some player in his time.

“The more and more I look into his career, the more plaudits he seems to get, and surprises keep cropping up.

“In addition to United, he also played for Bristol Rovers and Hibs, among others.

“He also went abroad, and I reckon he was the first player to leave Dundee United to go to play abroad when he joined Valenciennes (France) in 1946.

“What I have also come across is that he also worked as a baker in Raglan Street when he was playing in Scotland.

“Indeed, I have several of his cheques from his time at Clyde and others — and they are all uncashed.

“The amounts total around £70, which was a fair bit of money in the 1930s/40s.

“I did ask him about these several years ago but he just replied: ‘Och, I didn’t have a bank account!”

Coincidentally, Tom Cairns then got in touch to invite me up to Tannadice to have a look at the new Dundee United Museum. Tom, along with Peter McBride is a ‘curator’ of the museum at Tannadice and they have done very well to set up a very interesting floor of Dundee United memorabilia spanning 107 years.

“We thought about starting a museum after being told that many United mementoes and such like were just lying about in bags,” said Tom, a lifelong fan of the Tangerines.

“I also heard you were doing something about Bobby Gardiner, so I thought you might like come along to see the section of the museum which is dedicated to Bobby — one of the Mighty Midgets.”

After explaining the other ‘Mighty Midget’ was Arthur Milne, Tom proceeded to give some more information on Bobby, continuing: “Bobby was a Broughty Ex-Service Club inside-forward when he played a trial for United.

“It was a league game against Arbroath in December 1933 and he scored two goals.

“He was signed a short time later on January 3, 1934.

“He was nicknamed the ‘Mighty Atom’ at that time and played at Tannadice for two years before joining Dartford and then Bristol Rovers.

“Bobby returned to Tannadice a few years later and was in the United side who were beaten in the War Cup Final in 1940 (see medal).

“In 1943, he returned to Bristol Rovers.

“Bobby, who played almost 200 games for United, scoring 70 goals, ended his senior career at Arbroath.

“He also had stints in the juniors.”

Right — Bobby Gardiner’s War Cup Final runners-up medal.