If one thing is getting me through the trials and tribulations of this pandemic, it is the multitude of podcasts out there about football.
One such show is The Brazilian Shirt Name podcast, hosted by Dotun Adebayo and Tim Vickery.
The show is a spin-off of the World Football Phone-In, also hosted by Adebayo and Vickery.
It focuses on a particular football match and what is going on around it off the field, with discussions on news, politics and music in particular.
One standout episode focused on an infamous FA Cup defeat for Leeds United against Colchester United in 1971
In this episode, the renowned expert on South American football Tim Vickery tells the story of ‘the zebra’.
This Brazilian term originated in the now-outlawed game of Jogo do Bicho, but entered the football lexicon in 1964 when Portuguesa manager Gentil Cardoso was asked if his side could defeat heavyweights Vasco da Gama.
Cardoso said that victory for his side against Vasco would be like drawing a Zebra in Jogo do Bicho, and the term stuck. You can see below how possible that would be.
With that cleared up, it’s time to talk about why we’re here, one of the most significant “zebras” in Scottish Football history, one lost to the sands of time to most — unless you live in the Aberdeenshire fishing village of Fraserburgh.
The date was January 31st, 1959. and Fraserburgh had been drawn at home to Dundee. A challenging prospect for the Highland League side, who were having a good season that particular year.
But ‘The Dee’ were a completely different proposition to even their last opponents in the Scottish Cup in Queen’s Park.
Although not quite the pioneer team they once were, Queen’s handily defeated Fraserburgh 7–2 at Hampden Park.
Dark Blues fanatics rightly revered Dundee's side of the late ’50s and early ’60s, and the team that took to the Bellslea Park pitch that day was packed with talent from front to back.
Goalkeeper Bill Brown had played at the 1958 World Cup for Scotland and joined Tottenham Hotspur soon after this match for £16,500 (almost £320,000 in today’s money). He went on to win the double with Spurs in the 1960/61 season.
Alex Hamilton won 24 caps for Scotland, all while playing for Dundee. He made 261 appearances for the Dens Park club between 1957 and 1966, his Scotland caps coming between 1961 and 1965.
Bobby Cox was a Dundee lifer, spending his entire career with the Dark Blues. Amassing over 300 appearances, he captained his side to the title in 1962.’
He was desperately unlucky to never be capped for Scotland, playing in the same position as Eric Caldow of Rangers.
Bert Henderson had a storied career as both a player and manager, winning the 1952 League Cup Final with Dundee and beating Kilmarnock.
He spent 18 years as Arbroath manager after retiring as a player, during which he led them to the Scottish top flight.
Jimmy Gabriel was a young man of just 18 years old; he would eventually leave Dundee a year later for Everton. He won the league and the FA Cup in his time at Everton and won two Scotland caps.
Doug Cowie was an excellent defender for his time; the Left Half played in Dundee’s successive League Cup wins of 1951 and 1952 and was in Scotland’s 1954 and 1958 World Cup squads.
He played 20 times for his country between 1953 and 1958.
Dave Curlett had scored in two Scottish Cup finals for Kilmarnock. An equaliser followed a goal in their draw against Falkirk in their replay, which Falkirk went on to win 2–1
Jimmy Bonthrone was a prolific goalscorer, firstly for the East Fife side who dazzled in the 1950s before moving to Dundee in 1957 where he then hit 15 goals in 30 matches.
He left Dundee for Stirling Albion, where he scored 21 in 43 and then to Queen of the South.
After retiring he had a notable tenure at Aberdeen, serving as Eddie Turnbull’s assistant when they won the 1970 Scottish Cup and giving legendary defender Willie Miller his Dons debut.
Alan Cousin, known as “The King of the Double Shuffle” for his stepover techniques that confounded defenders, was an excellent goalscorer, finishing as top-scorer for The Dee in each of the seasons between 1958 and 1960.
He also scored on his Dundee debut in 1955 as they beat Manchester United 5–1, a game in which Bobby Charlton made his United debut. Cousin was 18 at the time.
Davie Sneddon would play for Preston North End and Kilmarnock after leaving Dundee, scoring the decisive goal at Tynecastle in 1965 as Killie secured their only Scottish title.
Made an MBE for his Services to Football, Sneddon also had a street named after him adjacent to Killie’s Rugby Park ground.
Last but not least was Hugh Robertson. Like Cox, Hamilton and Cousin, he would be a part of the Dundee side that achieved immortality with their 1962 league title win.
He was also part of the Dunfermline side who won the 1968 Scottish Cup and earned one Scotland cap.
But the minnows had an advantage of sorts. Bobby Cox had told Danny Mowatt about Dundee’s tendency to get somewhat unsettled the longer games went without them scoring.
Cox and Mowatt knew one another from National Service, both being P.E. teachers.
Mowatt played out of his skin for the hosts, and he had a chance to prove just how prophetic Cox’s words would be when, on the verge of the half-time whistle, Fraserburgh took an unthinkable lead.
Johnny Strachan was the man who got the goal, heading in from a corner taken by George Brander.
Naturally, Dundee came out in the second half with great urgency; their ears no doubt ringing from Willie Thornton’s anger and embarrassment.
After all, Thornton was a man accustomed to success as a player. His career at Rangers was laden with league titles and Scottish Cups, and under Bill Struth, in 1948/49 he scored the first-ever domestic treble.
Inspired, Mowatt was at his best to deny Sneddon three times in the second half as The Dee frantically scratched and clawed to stave off the humiliation.
Bonthrone and Sneddon's further attempts were repelled by the excellent Mowatt, who spent the last minutes of the match in agony after a collision with Dundee’s Alan Cousin left him with an ankle injury.
The victory was the season’s high point for Fraserburgh. After losing 4–3 at home so Stirling Albion in the next round of the Scottish Cup, they ended the season tied for first place with Rothes.
The tie for first meant that a playoff was required to decide the title's destination, which Rothes won by a goal to nil.
Dundee finished fourth in the Scottish First Division.
He left the club at the end of the 1958–59 season. However, his excellent reputation and connections meant he was swiftly back in the game, succeeding Davie Meiklejohn in August of 1959 at Partick Thistle after his fellow Rangers icon’s tragic death from a heart attack.
He was replaced by Bob Shankly, who took The Dee to their first [and so far only] Scottish championship in 1962 and the European Cup semi-finals the following year, before leaving in 1965.
Given his totemic performance on the day, it perhaps fits that Danny Mowatt was the last surviving member of the victorious Fraserburgh side.
He passed away in November 2020 aged 86.
Not many of the Dundee side survive from the most infamous day in their history, but Jimmy Gabriel and Doug Cowie do.
Dundee never had it better in that period, and if the embarrassment felt on that January at Fraserburgh was the catalyst, many Dark Blues may well wish for it again. Even if only under their breath.
And one final thought, if this article made you consider listening to The Brazilian Shirt Name Podcast, please do so, it’s a great show.
