Charlie Duncan

Born in Kinross in 1893, Charlie began his career with Kelty Rovers, joining Dunfermline Athletic in 1912.

A move to England arose in 1913, when Birmingham City, who were in the Second Division, signed him. Although a fringe player in the first team, he scored fifty two goals for the reserves.

When football was suspended in England, at the start of WW1, Charlie returned to Scotland and joined East Fife. During the war years he also played for Glasgow Rangers, Third Lanark and St Mirren.

In 1919 he signed for Clyde, where he stayed until 1923. During this time he was selected by the Scottish League for a match against the Irish League. This took part on 26^th October 1921, and Charlie scored the third goal in a 3-0 win. The Scottish line-up also featured Dundee F.C.’s star player Alec Troup.

A move to Dens Park was concluded on 12^th September 1923, negotiations were had been ongoing for some time. He made  his debut at Dens Park five days later in Scottish Alliance match, when Dundee “A” played St Mirren “A”. The match ended 3-3, but Duncan gave a good account of himself.

After a run of games in the “A” team he soon broke into the first team, and made a name for himself with the goals he was scoring.

In June 1924, he was part of the Dundee F.C. squad that headed to Spain for a summer tour, with matches against Barcelona, Real Madrid & Deportivo La Coruna. Charlie scored the second goal in a 2-1 win over Barcelona, and the first goal in a 2-1 win over Real Madrid. He would have had a “full house”, but a last minute goal against Deportivo was disallowed. Davie McLean reported, “to the surprise of everyone the referee gave him offside”, and the game ended 3-3.

Charlie was part of the team that played against Celtic in the Scottish Cup final on 11^th April 1925. Dundee lost the match 2-1 , but gave a fine account of themselves.

After a successful three years, he joined Arbroath on 13th July 1926. Johnny Bell, also a former Dundee F.C. player signed on the same day.

After retiring at the end of the 1926-27 season, Charlie became a school caretaker at Brown Street School. He retired from the role after twenty one years in 1948.

He was a long time member of the Lochee and District Pigeon Club.

Charlie died on 9^th March 1949, aged 55.