BIG FREEZE OF 1963 RECALLED

The postponement of games across Scotland for the third weekend in a row have brought concerns about what the rest of the winter has in store for us and has supporters of a certain vintage recalling the winter of 1962/63.

Saints were in the old Division Two at the time (and would go on to win the title when the season was finally completed in mid-May of that year) and although the early part of the winter left football relatively unaffected, the period from just before Christmas onwards was far from plain sailing.

Known as The Big Freeze of 1963, Britain was paralysed for many weeks and sporting fixtures across the country were decimated for weeks on end.

For St Johnstone, the match against Berwick Rangers three days before Christmas on 22nd December would prove to be the last piece of football action the team would enjoy until a Scottish Cup tie against Stenhousemuir on 7th March – a remarkable gap of ELEVEN weeks!

As you can imagine, the catch-up programme was hard-going for Bobby Brown’s side – they played NINE games in the month of April and six in May.

There was also a fairly long spell without games in 1981/1982 with Saints players idle between a win over Kilmarnock on 12 December 1981 and a game at Hamilton on 30 January. As the photo shows, such were the conditions, Perth boss Alex Rennie was able to indulge in some curling on the frozen trackside at Muirton Park!

Let’s hope the current wintry blast doesn’t extend to inaction of those proportions!