Mention the village of Glenbuck to many football fans and instantly, Bill Shankly's name would come to light, as Shankly was born there, but the Glenbuck connection with Preston North End can be traced way back to 1894.
The tiny, remote village lays in the hills of East Ayrshire, at the source of the River Ayr, 55 degrees 32 minutes North and three degrees 59 minutes West, just three miles east of Muirkirk and four miles from Glespin. Bill Shankly once compared Glenbuck's location to that of Outer Mongolia! Its winters were very bleak, bitter and cold.
It was a typical small Scottish mining community with very little choice available for recreation. One had to make their own entertainment, the most common amongst the male villagers being football.
Five-a-side competitions proved to be very popular in and around the surrounding villages, hence Shankly's love for the 5-a-side kickabouts in his managerial days. The village had a very well-organised side for over 30 years in the form of the Glenbuck Cherrypickers. Many a football scout would attend their games in hope of spotting 'an unpolished gem' of the future.
The lads knew that it was an escape from going down the mines. For a mining village the size of Glenbuck, no other community in the UK could boast of its production of footballers, like Glenbuck could. No less than 50 players from the village, or the Cherrypickers team, progressed to play professional football. Seven of them went on to represent Scotland at full international level.
The first known PNE connection with Glenbuck was Robert 'Bob' Blyth who signed for us back in 1894. He was nicknamed 'Reindeer' as he was very fast, reported to have been able to run 100 yards in 11 seconds. Bob played for five seasons at Deepdale, initially as a winger before dropping back to wing-half.
He was then transferred to Portsmouth for whom he managed after playing. He then progressed to director and finally, chairman of the Club. His younger brother, William Blyth, also had a spell at Deepdale before joining Carlisle United. He, like his brother, became chairman of the Club he had played for.
As a matter of fact William Blyth was chairman of Carlisle when Bill Shankly left Scotland, and the village, to try his luck in England as a footballer with the 'Cumbrians.' It just happened that chairman Blyth was Shankly's uncle, as his sister was Shanks' mother.
On the subject of family connections, Shanks' sister married the brother of Bobby Crawford who was a former Captain of Preston North End. Who did we sign Bobby Crawford from? Yes, you have guessed it, it was the Cherrypickers. Bobby proved to be a very talented, consistent player, popular and extremely dependable. He went on to play over 400 games for Preston North End, from 1922 - 1932.
Seven of those afore mentioned players, connected with either the Glenbuck village or the Cherrypickers and represented Preston North End are as listed:
Robert Blyth…….. 124 league & cup games eight goals
Alexander Tait…… 79 league & cup games
Peter McIntyre…… 93 league & cup games five goals
Alexander Brown… 67 league & cup games 29 goals
William Blyth…….. one league game
Robert Crawford… 407 league & cup games 18 goals
William Shankly 340 league & cup games 16 goals
- Quite a contribution from the proud Glenbuck village.
- Alex Brown and Bill Shankly represented Scotland.
- Brown and 'Sandy' Tait won the FA cup in 1901 with Tottenham Hotspur, and Shankly won the FA cup in 1938 with Preston North End.
- The Cherrypickers team folded in 1931 following the tragic closure of the local coal-pit and villagers had to move away from the area in search of employment.
Ian Rigby
