This is the companion to the coloured version which we featured as our Card of the Day for the 6th of October 2025.
As to why, well time is very important to a referee, which is why many of them have two watches, one which they run the match with, and one which keeps an eye on the actual time. According to a reader, time stoppages come into play during substitutions, whilst players are being checked out after injuries, when players cannot play on due to injury and must be removed from the pitch, whilst the referee "gives discipline" to a certain player or team, or if he thinks that players or teams are wasting time unnecessarily.
Our man would have known of all these, but he would have been blissfully unaware that one day the referee would also have to compensate for the time taken to collaborate with a Video Assistant Referee (or VAR), who watches the footage on video from an assortment of angles before deciding which player needs the penalty and why - and also for the time that the player argues the fact thereafter.
Peter Craigmyle is regarded as one of the greatest referees ever, and yet his choice of career was only due to the fact that he broke both his legs in an industrial accident in 1916, and was unable to play football thereafter. In fact we can thank jimmy Phillips, the first ever manager of Aberdeen F.C., for the nudge, for he suggested that our man could become a referee and be just as involved with the game. The club was also kindly, they welcomed him to train with the players, and they would have liked him to become a director, but he never did, he always said he did not have time, for he also owned a sports shop, on King Street, which supplied all the kit to the team
He was born with the year, on the 1st of January 1894, and he lived until 1979, during which time he became the first referee to have a regular weekly radio programme, the first referee to officiate at a game inside a prison, the first to travel to a game by airplane, and only the second to ever publish an autobiography, "A Lifetime of Soccer" in 1949. And he did not retire until he was fifty-six years old.
This set appears in our original British Trade Index, but not until part four. They are part of a larger group, including other coloured cards which we featured as our Card of the Day for the 6th of October 2025.
Our section of the listing reads :
- The Sunday MAIL
Scottish Sunday newspaper. Cards issued about 1950.
Scottish Footballers (A). 142 x 90. Two styles, captions as facsimile signatures. Club names do not appear on the cards but are added in parentheses in the listings ... SURR-1
- 1. Inscribed in panel at base "Sunday Mail Junior Sports Club", see Fig.SURR-1.1. 40 known
A. Picture in black and white, words "Copyright" and "Photograph" in capitals
B. Picture in colour, words "Copyright" and "Photograph" in upper and lower case letters
1. B. - George Aitken (Third Lanark)
2. A. - Archie Baird (Aberdeen)
3. B. - Bobbie Brown (Rangers)
4. A. B. - Jim Cowan (Greenock Morton)
5. A. B. - Sammy Cox (Rangers)
6. A. - Peter Craigmyle (Referee)
7. A. - Johnny Deakin (St Mirren)
8. A. - Jimmy Duncanson (Rangers)
9. B. - Bobby Evans (Celtic)
10. A. - Torry Gillick (Rangers)
11 .A - John Govan (Hibernian)
12. A. - Billy Honliston (Queen of the South)13. A - Wilson Humphries (Motherwell)14. A - Jimmy Inglis (Falkirk)
15. B. - R. Johnstone (Hibernian)16. A. - Jacky Law (Queen of the South)17. A. - David Letham (Queens Park)18. A. - Alex Linwood (Clyde) - Fig. SURR-1.119. A. - Hugh Long (Clyde)20. A. B. - Ian McCall (Rangers)21. A. - Ian McMillan (Airdrieonians)22. A. - John McPhail (Celtic)23. A. - Jimmy Mallan (Celtic)24. B. - Jas Mason (Third Lanark) - as No.9 in (2)
25. A. - Willie Paton (Rangers)26. A. - Tommy Pearson (Aberdeen)27. A. - W. Penman (Raith Rovers)28. A. B. - Willie Redpath (Motherwell)29. A. - Laurie Reilly (Hibernian) - different picture to below
B. - Laurie Reilly (Hibernian) - different picture to above30. A. - Archie Shaw (Motherwell)31. A. - Davie Shaw (Hibernian)
32 B. - Gordon Smith (Hibernian) - as No.11 in (2)33. A. - Billy Steel (Greenock Morton)
B. - Billy Steel (Dundee)34. A. B. - Willie Thornton (Rangers)35. A. - Charlie Tully (Celtic) - different picture to below
B. - Charlie Tully (Celtic)- different picture to above
36. B. - Eddie Turnbull (Hibernian)37. A. B. - Willie Waddell (Rangers)38. B. - Jimmy Walker (Partick Thistle)B. - Geo. Young (Rangers) - different picture to above
39. A. B. - Willie Woodburn (Rangers)
40. A. - Geo. Young (Rangers) - different picture to below
- 2. Without the inscription "Sunday Mail Junior"... See Fig. SURR-1.2
The cards are anonymous with plain backs. 22 known :
1, Bobby Baxter (Hearts)
2. Gordon Bremner (Motherwell)
3. Bobby Brown (Rangers)
4. Hugh Brown (Partick Thistle)
5. Jimmy Brown (Hearts)
6. Billy Campbell (Greenock Morton)
7. Booby Morton (Falkirk) Fig Surr-1.2
8. Pat Daley (Hamilton, Morton & Clyde)
9. Jerry Dawson (Falkirk)
10. William Findlay (Rangers)
11. Bobby Flavell (Airdrieonians)
12. George Hamilton (Aberdeen)
13. Ian G Harnett (Queen`s Park)
14. Jackie Husband (Partick Thistle)
15. Sammy Kean (Hibernian)
16. Johnny Kelly (Third Lanark)
17. Willia Kilmarnock (Motherwell)
18. Jas Mason (Third Lanark)
19. Willie Miller (Celtic)
20. Jackie Oakes (Queen of the South)
21. John Shaw (Rangers)
22. Gordon Smith (Hibernian)
There are probably lots of errors above, as they were taken from the signatures, which are never easy to translate. I already know that "Honliston" is wrong for card 12, the player`s name was Houliston
In our updated British Trade Index it is slightly different, and they appear as :
- SUNDAY MAIL JUNIOR SPORTS CLUB. 142 x 90. Captions appear on picture as facsimile autograph, or in roughly printed capitals. Two printings. Unnd. (89 known). Plain back. See HS-110 ... SUN-250
1. B&W, words "Copyright" and "Photograph" in capitals.
And some time I will get round to tapping in that list too.