The sad news in May that former Lochee United, East Fife and Forfar Athletic striker Jim Finlayson passed away brought back many memories.
As a young teenager, I used to watch Jim banging in the goals for Lochee United in those wonderful night games the Dundee junior sides used to host late in the season in the 1960s.
A few years later, I would be his team-mate at East Fife, travelling to and from Dundee to Methil with him to training and matches.
Jim was an all-round great guy and was lethal in front of goal with a rocket left-foot — but was very unassuming regarding his achievements.
I’ve told this story before but it’s worth repeating.
His goalscoring had alerted several clubs and one, Crystal Palace, wanted him down on trial.
Jim agreed to go, and had booked flights after a home game.
However, as luck would have it, he never made the trip as he suffered a bad leg injury that afternoon.
Sadly, he wasn’t to get another opportunity.
Jim went on to play for Forfar Athletic and scouted for Dundee, in addition to running a Broughty boys team for a spell.
The photos show Jim in action (above) for East Fife and with me at an East Fife reunion a couple of years ago at Bayview.
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