A footballer who scored a record-breaking six goals in one match is still banging them in – aged 77.
Montrose FC legend Brian Third is preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his spectacular double hat-trick against Stranraer on September 23, 1972. The feat is largely forgotten, despite never having been bettered in the old Second Division and possibly at any level.
The Sunday Mail can reveal the striker is still playing two games of walking football a week in his home town of Fraserburgh in the north-east.
Brian said: “I can’t remember the goals but I can remember getting to the match against Stranraer. I had to get up at 6am to get to Links Park in Montrose on the bus, then catch the team bus. The journey to Stair Park then took hours but we got there eventually.
“They had started the season by losing all but one of their games and we were playing well, so we were confident about giving them a hiding. I scored all six of our goals and should have got more, two were with my head and that was not my strong point.
“The Stranraer centre-half that day was called John Heap – I left him in a heap and the game finished 6-0. By the time we arrived back at Montrose, it was too late for the bus so the club paid for a taxi back to Fraserburgh and I arrived home at 2am on Sunday.
“Later that day I went to the local paper shop and everybody was talking about me. I was all over the Sunday papers and that fame lasted about a week until normal service resumed.”
Brian was at Links Park from 1971 to 1974, having signed from Peterhead for £2000. He had started off his career as a defender but scored 33 goals for Montrose in one season after being given a chance to play up front.
He went on to sign for St Mirren for £15,000 and was there for two years – when he played under Sir Alex Ferguson – before returning to Peterhead in the Highland League. In 1969 he was named the Sunday Mail’s Highland Player of the Year while at Peterhead.
His professional career was finally ended by a back injury but Brian – who worked as a painter and decorator after retiring – has never given up the game completely. Fraserburgh photographer Billy Watson has been campaigning for Brian’s achievements to be given official recognition.
He said: “Apart from a few headlines at the time, Brian’s achievement has largely been forgotten. He has never received a trophy or certificate for his record-breaking feat and it would be nice if something could be done because he is a true legend. It is great that he can’t even be described as an ex-footballer because he is still playing and scoring goals in walking football games every Monday and Friday.”
Former first minister Alex Salmond added: “Even 50 years on, six goals in a single game in senior football is some achievement and the fact Brian is still knocking in the goals in the Broch walking football shows great strikers never die nor do they fade away. My only personal regret is that back in the 1970s Hearts didn’t have the gumption to sign Brian.”
Brian added: “I started off at my home town club Fraserburgh and played centre-forward but didn’t get on well with everybody there at the time and after half a season I moved to local Junior club Invercairn United. After that Deveronvale, of the Highland League, offered me a trial and signed me as a full-back.
"Elgin City then came in and I played for them as a full-back but I didn’t enjoy it, although we won the league and the FA Qualifying Cup. I then had another short spell at Deveronvale before signing for Peterhead again, still as a full-back.
“They were short of a centre-forward one week and I said I’d give it a go. First game was against Fraserburgh and I scored four. The next game was also against Fraserburgh and I scored another three. That was it – I was then a centre-forward. Montrose and manager Alex Stuart came in and paid £2000 so off I went to Links Park and enjoyed every minute of it there.
“By far the best times I had were at Montrose, where in one season I scored 33 league and cup goals at a time when the whole team were scoring goals for fun – and it was fun.”
Ten years ago the Sunday Mail’s sister paper the Daily Record stepped in to help find Brian after he disappeared while on holiday in Benidorm. His partner Margaret had been scouring the streets of the Spanish town but, after her appeal was published, reports of sightings in his native north-east emerged.
He was later found with locals in Bailey’s Bar, Peterhead, watching Scotland lose a World Cup tie.
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