The Edinburgh Clubs

08 Apr 2015

Through our access to the Herald archive, we have begun digitising images which originally appeared in the Edinburgh based bulletin newspaper. 112 new images of Hibernian and Hearts will soon be available online, including photographs of the successful Hibernian and Hearts teams of the 1940s and 50s. There are photographs of the Famous Five and Terrible Trio in training and a delighted Dave MacKay after a League Cup win. There are also images of the 2 sides from the 1960s and 70s, during which period the sides continued to contest silverware. We will also be adding images of St Johnstone and Aberdeen very soon.

The senior game in Scotland

15 Mar 2015

We have begun digitising senior football images, targeting important moments in club histories. In addition to images of players in profile, action shots and training sequences, photographs will be available of the 1957 Falkirk cup winning side, the 1959 St Mirren cup winning side and the 1965 league winning Kilmarnock side, including celebrations and action shots of the important games. Also in addition to the Queen’s Park team photographs held at the Scottish Football Museum, we will also be adding images of Queen’s Park games.

Junior Football Images Added!

14 Jan 2015

We have now digitised close to 1,000 images of junior football, shortly to be made available to participants of the Football Memories project. We now have access to many images of Junior Cup Finals, held in front of vast Hampden crowds and the celebrations of the winning sides. A great number forgotten of senior professionals also began their careers as young players for junior clubs and are photographed at this stage of their careers, and indeed family members of very recent professionals are also identifiable. In time we hope that this image collection can draw attention to the great moments in the history of local town football, and stimulate memories of the great players and cult heroes.

The Herald Newspaper Photographic Archive

22 Aug 2014

We are pleased to announce an extension to available resources for the Football Memories project. Through the Mitchell Library, we have been granted access to the Herald’s vast sport image archive. In the weeks to come we will be digitising images from junior and senior football and making these available online. We expect to add material from 1948 to 1978, highlighting some of the more familiar faces and moments in the history of football clubs, along with some forgotten moments which of interest to dedicated followers of particular teams.

The McBain Collection

25 Jul 2013

The Scottish Football Archive now boasts over 2,000 images taken by Charlie McBain during the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

Charlie McBain was a native of Blantyre and an ardent Motherwell follower and many of his photographs were taken in the Lanarkshire area. After he completed his national service with the Royal Air Force in the early 1950s, McBain began working as a photographer for the Hamilton Advertiser, covering games within Lanarkshire. He then began work with Scottish Universal Newspapers, becoming their chief photographer, and winning the Scottish Sports Photograph of the Year in 1976 for a picture of Gregor Stevens tussling with Graham Shaw. This photo appears in our collection along with many other impressive action shots representing over 30 Scottish Clubs, the Scottish national team and the referees of the day.

The collection also includes team group photos and players photographed in profile.

Charlie McBain sadly passed away in June of 2013 and we feel especially privileged to possess his photographs, and proud to share such images, many of which will not have been seen before. The images not only capture the footballers, but periods in time. Sections of stadiums which have now been replaced, supporters in contemporary dress and the advertisements of the day often appear within the shots.

These images may not only capture memories, but provoke discussion amongst anyone who has followed football.