Dave Durie

FessParker

FessParker

Well-known member
Underrated inside forward of the 50s and 60s who refused to play on Xmas Day , Good Friday or Easter Monday as he was a lay
preacher with the Methodist Church. I presume if games had been played on Sundays during his time he wouldn't have played in
those either.

Times were different then of course , Sunday was a more distinctive day , few shops open , no supermarkets , many more people
going to church. As an OA it was the one day I didn't have to drag myself to school but I did go ( firmly encouraged by my mother)
to Sunday School until I was 14.

The Durie situation was a thing of its time , quite remarkable really. Anyone know of any others?
 
I remember Peter Knowles Wolves and England U- 23 forward packing in football altogether when he became a Jehova's Witness in his mid 20's.Telling his team mates to stop swearing in his prescence didn't go down at all well according to a tv documentary a few tears back.
 
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FessParker said:
Underrated inside forward of the 50s and 60s who refused to play on Xmas Day , Good Friday or Easter Monday as he was a lay
preacher with the Methodist Church. I presume if games had been played on Sundays during his time he wouldn't have played in
those either.

Times were different then of course , Sunday was a more distinctive day , few shops open , no supermarkets , many more people
going to church. As an OA it was the one day I didn't have to drag myself to school but I did go ( firmly encouraged by my mother)
to Sunday School until I was 14.

The Durie situation was a thing of its time , quite remarkable really. Anyone know of any others?
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Also as I remember on retirement Dave Durie was given an award by the FL for never being booked or cautioned by a referee in his entire career.
 
Same Class as my Dad at Revoe. We used to visit him from time to time, if I remember correctly Squires Gate Way (but I may be wrong) a real gentleman.
 
FessParker said:
Underrated inside forward of the 50s and 60s who refused to play on Xmas Day , Good Friday or Easter Monday as he was a lay
preacher with the Methodist Church. I presume if games had been played on Sundays during his time he wouldn't have played in
those either.

Times were different then of course , Sunday was a more distinctive day , few shops open , no supermarkets , many more people
going to church. As an OA it was the one day I didn't have to drag myself to school but I did go ( firmly encouraged by my mother)
to Sunday School until I was 14.

The Durie situation was a thing of its time , quite remarkable really. Anyone know of any others?
Click to expand...
Taught me at Knowle from 84-89 (he may have retired during the spell).

Had Tony Green during that spell too.

Thing is, as a 1st generation Seasider, I had absolutely no understanding of their greatness as footballers, which is a real shame.

Lovely, both of them.

Back to the OP, Johnathan Edwards refused to jump/training a Sunday for a long period of his career didn't he? I knew his sister Rachel for a while whilst at Uni

His two jumps in the World Championship where he smashed the WR and became the first man in history to jump 17m, then extended it, remains a personal sporting highlight. Astonishing stuff to look at on YouTube.
 
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Good PE Teacher as well as a good player wasn’t he the 13th man in the cup final?
 
My PE teacher at Palatine 76 to 81. He also never missed a Blackpool match and always stood in the South Paddock near the players tunnel.

It is incredible to imagine a former player that only played top flight football for so long and then had to get a job after his playing career and also had to pay to go to the match.
 
FessParker said:
Underrated inside forward of the 50s and 60s who refused to play on Xmas Day , Good Friday or Easter Monday as he was a lay
preacher with the Methodist Church. I presume if games had been played on Sundays during his time he wouldn't have played in
those either.

Times were different then of course , Sunday was a more distinctive day , few shops open , no supermarkets , many more people
going to church. As an OA it was the one day I didn't have to drag myself to school but I did go ( firmly encouraged by my mother)
to Sunday School until I was 14.

The Durie situation was a thing of its time , quite remarkable really. Anyone know of any others?
Click to expand...
You're right, Fess, Dave Durie always missed Good Friday fixtures. Fond memories of those days.
 
FessParker said:
Underrated inside forward of the 50s and 60s who refused to play on Xmas Day , Good Friday or Easter Monday as he was a lay
preacher with the Methodist Church. I presume if games had been played on Sundays during his time he wouldn't have played in
those either.

Times were different then of course , Sunday was a more distinctive day , few shops open , no supermarkets , many more people
going to church. As an OA it was the one day I didn't have to drag myself to school but I did go ( firmly encouraged by my mother)
to Sunday School until I was 14.

The Durie situation was a thing of its time , quite remarkable really. Anyone know of any others?
Click to expand...
He used to come to our boarding house in Dickson Road to take our order for his family's wholesale grocery business. He was a really nice chap.
 
He was my PE teacher at Palatine school in the mid 70s. He was in his late 40s then but could still run rings round the rest of us at football. He used to take football lessons in his faded, thick cotton Blackpool FC tracksuit, and came to school on a battered blue shopper bike from St. Anne's! 😂 I remember asking him once about him not playing on certain Christian religious dates, as an article had appeared in the Gazette the previous night. He was a very mild-mannered man but got really angry with me, and called the article 'complete rubbish!' 😚😳😂. I believe that 'legs divine' was the last amateur footballer to be capped by England, or have I got that wrong? 🤔 RIP Mr Durie sir.. 😔
 
Satsuma said:
He was my PE teacher at Palatine school in the mid 70s. He was in his late 40s then but could still run rings round the rest of us at football. He used to take football lessons in his faded, thick cotton Blackpool FC tracksuit, and came to school on a battered blue shopper bike from St. Anne's! 😂 I remember asking him once about him not playing on certain Christian religious dates, as an article had appeared in the Gazette the previous night. He was a very mild-mannered man but got really angry with me, and called the article 'complete rubbish!' 😚😳😂. I believe that 'legs divine' was the last amateur footballer to be capped by England, or have I got that wrong? 🤔 RIP Mr Durie sir.. 😔
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No he never played for England. Good servant for the Pool and later played for Chester before retiring in 1967.
 
He taught me at Palatine too. Didn't realise at the time just how good a footballer he had been. He would wear his Blackpool Umbro tracksuit (all tangerine) for games and was still very fast and had a mean left foot and would always try to pop one in from the halfway line. Easily the best pro footballer the town has ever produced.

He once said to me "if you had a bit of pace I'd send you down to Squires Gate first thing" probably joking? 😀
 
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He was good but I think Blackpool born and raised midfielder and England international George Eastham is the best so far from the town.
 
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