On the 1st September 1928 our own Tom Vallance and member of the Vale of Leven team whom he’d faced back in 1877 met for one of their regular reunions at the Rowerdennan Hotel.
Incredibly this event was caught on camera which my colleague Gordon managed to locate three years ago.
The series of games that was the 1877 Scottish Cup Final not only created a fierce rivalry between Rangers and Vale of Leven it also cemented great friendships that would last for over 50 years.
As late as the 1930’s the surviving team members including our own Tom Vallance would often take a sail up Loch Lomond from Balloch and stop off for lunch and a few drinks at a Hotel.
On the journey back down the Loch the boats engines would be stalled opposite Tarbet and speeches were made, on one occasion on Saturday 1st September 1928 after visiting the Rowerdennan Hotel 72 year old Tom Vallance had this to say.
‘’The decade that I spent playing with the Rangers were the best years of my life, I mentioned this to my wife the other day and she commented that I should still be playing.
I wasn’t sure if that was sarcasm or not but with this in mind I went to the manager of Rangers and asked if he could find me a place in his team. There was laughter as Vallance admitted Bill Struth had asked him for a fortnight to consider his request and that several months on he was still waiting on his reply’’.
Incredibly this very event at Rowerdennan was captured on a home movie.
The story of the home movie can be seen here -
https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/single-post/2017/08/28/Home-Movie-of-Gallant-Pioneer-Tom-Vallance