Former Aberdeen and Scotland Under-23 goalkeeper
Born: 05 July, 1939;
Died: 16 August, 2017
JOHN Kessack Ogston, known universally as “Tubby”, who has died aged 78 after a short illness, was a great Aberdeen goalkeeper. He carried that “Tubby” nickname from his early school days, but, at just over 12 stones and over six feet two inches tall, it certainly did not match the outline, and he was a very agile shot-stopper.
A native Aberdonian, he was in a Scottish Cup-winning Under-12 team, but he really came to prominence as the teenaged goalkeeper of the Banks o' Dee team, coached by former Scotland inside-forward George Mutch, which won the Scottish Junior Cup in 1957 and, at the end of that season, in May 1957, he signed up to become third-choice goalkeeper at Pittodrie, behind full Scotland cap Fred Martin and Under-23 internationalist Reggie Morrison.
He was a part-timer, completing his apprenticeship in the Granholm Mill in the Granite City, but injuries to Martin and Morrison saw him thrown in at the deep end, against Rangers, at Pittodrie, in December, 1958. Goals from Max Murray, Ralph Brand and Alex Scott gave Rangers a 3-1 win, but the young debutant goalkeeper emerged with credit from his baptism of fire.
His apprenticeship over, he was called up for national service in late 1959, just when he was starting to get regular games for the Dons. This limited his availability to the club, but, once he got into the team again at the start of the 1961-62 season, he embarked on a remarkable run of 164 consecutive games, before the young Bobby Clark displaced him in August, 1965.
He did not hang around in the Reserves, as Aberdeen accepted an offer of £12,000 from Liverpool for his services, ending an eight-year spell at Pittodrie in which he played 230 first-team games. Sadly, at Anfield, he was unable to displace “The Flying Pig”, Dailly-born Tommy Lawrence.
In fact, in three years on Merseyside, Ogston had a near-perfect record as the Reds' last-line: played one, won one – a 3-1 win over Newcastle United in April, 1967. All he had needed for his record to be perfect was a clean sheet.
He then moved on, to Doncaster Rovers, where he won a Division Three Championship under the management of another goalkeeper, Lawrie McMenemy.
When McMenemy was sacked, Ogston was granted a free transfer, and returned to the North East, to a job as a porter on the Aberdeen fish dock and part-time football in the Highland League with Buckie Thistle, Huntly, Fraserburgh and Deveronvale, prior to hanging up his gloves in 1974 aged 35.
He quit the fish market to become a hospital porter, latterly at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and, after retiring, bowling at the Woodend club in the city and at Aberdeen Indoor Bowling Club became his sporting passion.
He was also a life-long Dons' fan and enjoyed returning to watch his old club, attending games at Pittodrie until shortly before his death.
Although he never fulfilled his ambition of winning a full Scotland cap, Ogston represented the Under-23 team on three occasions, most notably on his debut, at Middlesbrough's Ayresome Park, when he kept a clean sheet as Scotland beat England for the first time at that level – the goal being scored by another Aberdonian, Denis Law.
That match was a star-studded affair, the Scottish half-back line was Pat Crerand, Billy McNeill and Ian Ure, while the three inside-forwards were Law, John Hughes of Celtic and Alan Gilzean, with another future internationalist, Hibs' Johnny McLeod on the left wing. The beaten England side included three of the heroes of 1966 – Gordon Banks, George Cohen and Bobby Moore.
Ogston also represented the British Army and was an unused reserve in several Scotland squads. In the last 60 years or so, Aberdeen goalkeepers Fred Martin, Bobby Clark, Ernie McGarr and Jim Leighton have all played for Scotland, but older Dons fans will tell you that “Tubby” was just as good as any of these goalkeeping greats.
He was pre-deceased by his wife Jennifer and is survived by his daughter Linsay, son David and two grand-daughters.
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