Down Memory Lane: Derry's Flyer worth place in Jags Hall of Fame

Local

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

By Malcolm Brodie

Partick Thistle or The Jags, irrespective of football allegiance as all Scots affectionately call the club, unveils its Hall of Fame at a ceremony in the historic Firhill Park Stadium on Friday.

And among the first to be honoured is ex-Scottish International Johnny Mackenzie, an icon of Derry City in its halcyon days who spent a glorious decade with Thistle.

Mackenzie, balding and barrel-chested, appealed to the fans with his superb skills, forceful runs on the right wing and those inviting crosses into the box.

Frank Curran, doyen of Derry football journalists and a long-time colleague, recalls: "There was no ballyhoo about the signing with four others but he became as big an idol as Jimmy Delaney."

When Mackenzie, known as the Firhill Flyer, left Thistle he joined Dumbarton for two years and then Derry City at the age of 37.

He was an instant success and certainly not, like so many other imports, a has-been.

"That was a brilliant period - one of the happiest of my life," said Mackenzie who now resides at Tiree in the Hebrides.

"I won every honour in the Irish League and it suited me perfectly for, to be honest, the pace was a little slower."

He became the penalty-kick king at the Brandywell where he helped one of the most accomplished Derry City teams of all time to win the Gold Cup, Irish Cup and, of course, the Irish League Championship in the mid-60's.

" My only regret was a knee injury restricting my appearances in the last season, " he said.

It was legendary manager Willie Ross who enticed Mackenzie to Derry but despite his age he proved that he could still deliver, that his career was far from finished.

Born in Dennistoun in Glasgow's east end in 1925 he played for Petershill Juniors before joining Partick in 1944 a few months before his Army call-up during which he made guest appearances with Bournemouth and QPR.

He first came to my attention in 1949 when he was in the Scotland squad sensationally defeated 2-0 by Belfast Celtic at Randall's Island New York - a month or so before Celtic's withdrawal from the Irish League leaving a void which was never replaced.

"That was a disaster - a totally bizarre day but we accepted the defeat in good spirit," he said.

Ironically it was two players from Derry who got the goals, Johnny Campbell and Lexie Moore.

And I also watched Mackenzie play in the 1954 World Cup series in Switzerland against Austria and Uruguay a constellation of stars including Carlos Borges scorer of three goals in the 7-1 victory, Juan Schiaffino and Jose Santamaria.

That year Mackenzie also played against Ferenc Puskas and his mighty Hungarians, ranking amongst the greatest sides in football history.

Mackenzie who loves the peace, tranquillity and bliss of Tiree won his Irish Cup medal in 1965 when Derry City defeated Glentoran 2-0 at Windsor Park.

The teams were:

Derry City: Mahon, Campbell, Cathcart, McGeough, Crossan, Wood, Mackenzie, Doherty, Coyle, Wilson, Seddon.

Glentoran: Finlay, Creighton, Borne, Byrne, McCullough, Bruce, Pavis, Curley, Thompson, Brannigan, Green.

Scorers: Derry: Wilson, Doherty

Incidentally, in 1928 to celebrate Firhill's transformation it was selected by the Scottish FA as the venue for the Scotland-Ireland International watched by 54,728, the grounds largest ever crowd.

Ireland won 1-0 with Liverpool goalkeeper Elisha Scott producing a world-class display.

Next day one of the Glasgow newspapers had the headline "Great Scott beats Scotland".

And for the record this was the Irish line-up: Scott (Liverpool), McCluggage (Burnley), Hamilton (Glasgow Rangers), Irving (Cardiff City), Moorehead (Linfield), Morgan (Nottingham Forest), Chambers (Bury), Irvine (Everton), Curran (Ferris), Mahood (All Belfast Celtic).