Bobby Hodge Player Profile

Biography

Injury to Clydebank goalkeeper Dick Madden resulted in various Trialists appearing between the sticks for The Bankies. Bobby Hodge was to have a debut he would never forget. Hodge was a Scottish Junior internationalist who played for Whitburn. He lost his way travelling from Edinburgh to Fife and only arrived at Bayview 10 minutes before the match started. This was only the beginning of his troubles and things were to go from bad to worse. The referee, the eccentric and inconsistent Mr J R P Gordon of Newport on Tay, ordered off three Clydebank players, Stan King and Tony Moy in the first half and Dennis Ruddy in the second half. He also awarded a penalty to East Fife in the first half which they converted to go 2-0 up. Four further goals in the second half saw East Fife run out winners by 6-0. Bobby Hodge’s night of misery was complete when he was taken off injured and replaced by John Baxter.

Clydebank had to wait a long time, but eight years later on 4 December 1976, they returned to a snowbound Bayview and got their revenge on East Fife winning unbelievably by the same margin 6-0, and the referee that afternoon, none other than Mr J R P Gordon. The eccentric and inconsistent Mr Gordon allowed this game to go ahead when almost every other game in Scotland was off that Saturday. As for Bobby Hodge, as far is known he made it back home to Whitburn.