BLETHER: Ancell might have been Dundee boss before legendary Shankly

I’ve always reckoned Bobby Ancell was never given the credit he deserved when he was in charge of Dundee in the 1960s.

He was the replacement for legendary boss Bob Shankly and he — or anyone else at that time — never could have got to the heady heights of the league title and European Cup semi-final spot that Shankly achieved.

After all, Ancell took over at Dens just as the Lisbon Lions steamroller was getting into gear, and would eventually win nine league titles in a row.

But he could have been at Dens as boss even before Shankly, according to a “die-hard” Dundee fan.

He reckons Ancell was offered the job as manager at Dens Park quite a number of years before he was appointed in the spring of 1965.

Ronnie Lamont said: “I’ve been a die-hard supporter of Dundee for over 80 years.

“However, just lately, I’ve not been able to get to many games at Dens Park.

“I enjoy reading Blether with Brown as it always brings back great memories when you recognise players and games that you feature.

“Although I was brought up and stayed in the Hillown area in Dundee, I worked in the building trade for many years through in the Lothians and the west coast.

“One of my workmates through there was a relative of Bobby Ancell, who, of course, managed Dundee in the mid-1960s.

“He always reckoned Ancell was actually offered the job at Dens much, much earlier.

“In fact, even before Bob Shankly!

“Do you have any information on this?”

After playing for St Mirren and Newcastle before World War 2, Ancell joined Dundee as a player in 1945.

He played full-back at Dens for three years and the then manager George Anderson offered him the position of assistant manager.

That is the only link I can find to Ronnie’s query.

Ancell declined the offer as he wanted full control or nothing!

Still as a player, he then had a brief spell at Aberdeen and another stint at Dens before accepting an offer to manage Berwick Rangers.

From there, he moved to East End Park to take up the reins with Dunfermline, and then to Motherwell, where he really made his name as a manager.

He produced some great players and earned the Fir Park club handsome cheques when they transferred Ian St John to Liverpool, Pat Quinn to Blackpool and Bobby Roberts to Leicester City.

Known as the “Ancell Babes”, he kept churnig out talented players at Fir Park such as Charlie Aitken, Willie Hunter and Andy Weir.

He was with the Steelmen for 10 years before taking up the reins at Dens Park, taking Dundee to a League Cup Final and to the semi-final of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

Further research reveals Ancell, who died aged 76 in 1987, was also prominent in other sports such as cricket and rugby, and played off a handicap of 3 at golf. He was capped twice for Scotland against Northern Ireland and Wales, with another ‘unofficial’ cap against England in 1939.