OBITUARY -JOHN BURKE

One of the oldest surviving Shire players, John Burke, has died at the age of 91.

Although his career with the club was a short one, John played his part in helping the club re-emerge from the wilderness after the Second World War.

He was one of a group of players signed at short notice by Shire secretary, Alex McLuckie, in the summer of 1945 after the club made good its commitment to start operations once the war was over.

Shire had not played a match since 1939 but decided to enter a team in the newly-formed Scottish Eastern League.

John had the distinction of making his debut in Shire's first competitive game at Firs Park for six years, on 8th September 1945 when visitors Montrose won 4-1.

Incidentally, the Shire scorer was Ian Crawford, who would later become the club's manager in the 1960's and chairman in the 1970's.

After his playing career with Shire was over, John continued to follow the club's fortunes and attended matches well into his later years before moving to Oxford to be close to his family.

The club extends its condolences to his family at this time.