Iain Jamieson (with Bobby Gould) celebrating City staying up in May 1984.
Iain Jamieson, who
recently died in Scotland aged, 84, juggled careers in football and business,
achieving great success in both fields. He is unique in having been a Coventry
City player as well as a director and, for one momentous year, chairman of the
club. Simultaneously he rose through the ranks of textile company Courtaulds to
become one of its managing directors.
The Dumbarton-born
son of a Glasgow shipyard electrician, his talents on the pitch were first evident
at Dumbarton Academy where he also excelled in the classroom. In 1946 Iain won
a place at Aberdeen University to read modern languages and had ambitions of
becoming a school-teacher. He was approached by Aberdeen FC and agreed to play
as a part-time professional to help fund his studies. He played just one
first-team game for the Dons before he received his National Service call-up
papers and was whisked off to Dover to do his Army ‘square-bashing’.
It was during his
time in the services that he flourished as a footballer, playing in Army teams
with stars of the age such as Ivor Allchurch, Bobby Johnstone and Harold
Hassall. During that period he witnessed a horrifying incident when two of his
fellow players were killed in a lightning strike.
The tragedy, in
April 1948, happened during a re-play of the Army Cup Final at the military
barracks at Aldershot. Reports at the time described all the players being
thrown to the ground by the force and witnesses speculated that the lightning
bolt had hit the referee’s whistle.
Having been posted
to Uttoxeter his performances for the Army XI attracted the attention of
several league clubs and Coventry City’s manager Harry Storer was impressed by
the young Jamieson. When Iain’s National Service was completed he decided to
take up Storer’s offer of a full-time contract.
Many years later he
said: ‘I really liked the atmosphere of the Midlands, especially Coventry which
to me was a lively go-ahead industrial area and a good stopping off place when
my football career ended’.
As it transpired
Iain made the right choice. He quickly settled down in Coventry and soon became
established as a firm crowd favourite. His debut was against Leeds United at
Highfield Road on 15 January 1949 and Iain, playing at inside-right, scored in
a 4-1 victory. Over the next five seasons Iain, whilst a regular for the
reserves, was unable to become a first-team regular and played only 37 first
team games. After switching position to wing half in 1953 he became a regular
in the first team and played alongside some famous City players of that era
including Reg Matthews, Roy Kirk, Peter Taylor and Peter Hill and later George
Curtis. On a number of occasions he captained the side
One of his playing
colleagues of that time, Lol Harvey, remembers Iain well: ‘He was a talented
player, good on the ball and very fast. He was a clever man and the banter in
the dressing room between him and his good friend Eddy Brown was amusing to us
working-class boys. Iain was a great help to me and the younger boys at the
club and nothing was ever too much trouble to him.’
Iain was determined
however to secure a future beyond football, and he decided to further his
academic studies and attended Coventry College whilst pursuing his career on
the pitch. In 1955, the same year that he married Harry Storer’s daughter Ann,
he joined Courtaulds as a sales executive while still playing for Coventry.
In 1958 his
professional football career ended when he left City after 184 appearances and
6 goals, although he went on to spend a spell as player-manager, on a part-time
basis, for Southern League side Rugby Town. In his business career he was
quickly on the promotion ladder rising swiftly through the ranks to become the
general manager of Courtaulds commercial division,
In 1973, following
the retirement of Derrick Robins, Iain was invited to join the board at
Coventry City and served alongside Joe Mercer and Jimmy Hill. After Hill’s
departure in 1983, he was appointed club chairman. It was a difficult time for
the club with severe financial problems following the introduction of the
all-seater stadium in 1981 and losses from the investments in the NASL at
Detroit and Washington and virtually the whole first team squad out of
contract. Iain’s first job was to sack Dave Sexton as manager and recruit Cov
kid Bobby Gould as his replacement.
Bobby remembers Iain
with great affection: ‘At the time he illegally tapped me up to become City’s
manager – something he was very uncomfortable about. I was manager at Bristol
Rovers at the time and we had a clandestine meeting in a field near Banbury at
which we agreed terms. We only worked together for a year until John Poynton
bought the club, but he was incredibly supportive to me. I had watched him play from the Highfield
Road terraces and admired his elegance as a footballer. He understood football,
something rare in football boardrooms and he was very kind to me in a stressful
year at Coventry. There was never any histrionics from Iain and he was a true
gentleman who was a great representative of Coventry City Football Club.’
In his year as
chairman he is credited with re-establishing strong links with the fans and the
people of Coventry after a period during which many believed that those links
had been severely stretched. He left the City board in 1984 and continued his
career in the textile industry until retiring in 1989. He ended his working
life as managing director of Sperrin Group, sports clothing.
His job had taken
him across Europe, to Australia and the United States and travel remained a key
interest for him in retirement when he visited family in Canada and
Australia. A Rotarian and keen follower of current affairs, his lifetime love
of sport was undimmed and also extended to golf which, at one time, he played
off a handicap of six.
Married three times,
to Ann Storer, Ann Hansen and Jane Shaw, he spent his last few years in
Dumfries and Galloway, latterly in Kirkcudbright, where he is remembered as a
good humoured and engaging conversationalist.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment