Stramash! by Daniel Gray

Author:Daniel Gray [Gray, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: SPORTS & RECREATION / Football
Publisher: Luath Press Ltd
Published: 2012-04-06T04:00:00+00:00

Rovers’ early 1920s backline of Collier, Morris and Raeburn. Centre-half David Morris, rather than Alex James, is regarded by many as their greatest ever player. Morris won six Scotland caps and in 1924/25 captained his country to victories over Ireland, Wales and England.

The new policy came at the start of a charmed era at Stark’s Park. The team finished third in Division One a year later, and over the following seasons regularly inspired in hard-hit Langtonians a joy that once a fortnight transported them from Kirkcaldy’s economic woes to somewhere altogether different.

The architect of Stark’s Park escapism was little over five and a half feet and suffered from chronic rheumatism. Alex James swapped Lanarkshire’s coalfields for Fife’s in 1922, his appearance in gigantic shorts bemusing and amusing Rovers fans. Underneath those and unbeknownst to them, James also sported drawers in an effort to warm his icy joints. He was brought east by Raith director Robert Morrison, a father figure deeply proud of his wily acquisition. Morrison had been wise in trawling fertile Lanarkshire for talent, with James’ best friend at school the legendary Hughie Gallagher, with whom he’d later terrorise England at Wembley.

James made his Rovers debut at Parkhead in a 3–0 defeat against a Celtic side inspired by two other scintillating wee men, Willie Crilley and Patsy Gallagher. In the early days, his beguiling style frustrated Raith fans and management alike. As a match report in the Fife Free Press phrased it, ‘James tricked himself and his own side as often as he nonplussed his opponents.’ His talent was raw and not always useful to team play. After manager Jimmy Logan demanded that he track back when Rovers were not on the attack, James became incandescent. Quoted in John Harding’s outstanding Alex James: Life of a Football Legend, the precocious forward later explained:

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