I catch him when he's strayin' like any brother would, man turns his back on his family well he just aint no good

So today is my brother’s birthday. As Elton says he is ‘older than me’. I guess whether you are 10, 20 or 50+ your big brother is always your big brother and someone you look up to.

Growing up in Ayr in the 60s I was fortunate to have two older brothers that ticked all the boxes. They wore cool clothes, they had cool haircuts, they listened to cool music, but most importantly they had cool girlfriends

Also they were seldom embarrassed (or they hid it well) to have their little brother tagging along and hanging on their every word.

My eldest brother went over to the dark side for a while and started supporting Kilmarnock but my other brother was an Ayr United fan like myself and would often drive to away games with his pals and would take me with him.

Since rugby was the sport of choice at Ayr Academy and we had arrived in Ayr after a spell in South Africa my brother was christened ‘Springer’ by his mates. His close friends were not so fortunate. Fraser, who I still see at Ayr games, broke his leg and walked with a limp for a while. He was labelled with ‘Chester’ after the rather hapless character in Gunsmoke, who seemed to spend most of his time saying “I’m a-comin’ Mr Dillon” and Alan who had somewhat large feet  was known as ‘Froggy’. I remember seeing him years later when we were both with our families and I could not remember his real name but could not bring myself to call a 40 year old man ‘Froggy’ in front of his wife and children

Anyway I recall on one of our away days to see Ayr against the mighty East Stirling our left winger (in those days we had left wingers) Arthur Patterson had an altercation with a fan. Whilst taking a throw-in Athur was manhandled from behind by a fan and took exception to this. This was particularly out of character for Arthur who was such a gentleman you wouldn’t have been surprised if he wore a tie over his strip. He even had his own song as the fans would sing (to the tune of Flipper)…”they call him Arthur, Arthur, faster than lightning………..”. This incident and a great 2-0 victory gave us plenty to talk about on our way home (or in my case listen to and add the odd grunt of agreement from time to time)

My brother always kept a watchful eye over me. I recall one time he noticed something I had written on a billboard not far from our home and politely suggested that I remove it before my father happened to see it. As was the norm I took his advice and acted swiftly to erase my misdemeanour

I  remember one time when I was about 14 or 15 and I was having a party at my house. It was one of those parties where there were the exact same number of girls and boys invited. Well, two of the girls didn’t turn up and obviously one of them was supposed to be my partner for the evening. My brother took me in my dad’s car and drove round half of Ayr till we found them (sounds a bit creepy and sad now). There had been some misunderstanding (or a better offer) and they were only too pleased to be driven to the party in a car with my brother. I would like to say that was the start of a long relationship but alas even my cool brother could not swing that one for me

In 1977 I enjoyed my finest ever night at a football match when accompanied by my brothers and the aforementioned Fraser we witnessed Scotland beat Wales 2-0 in Liverpool and had a rare old celebration afterwards. By that time I was in my twenties but like my sons today, my brothers and I always had a great time when we got together

We also saw Scotland draw 1-1 with Wales in Cardiff in 1985 but the news of the death of Jock Stein that night meant there were no celebrations on that occasion

Wales have been drawn in the same section as Scotland in the Qualifying Groups for the next World Cup. Maybe we will have another chance to enjoy a trip down there once again before we all get too old for it

Given that my brother’s birthday is on the 13^th I leave you this week with a Top 13 Songs which remind me of growing up in Ayr and listening to his musical choices

1. Return To Sender……………………….Elvis Presley
2. I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten……Dusty Springfield
3. Another Saturday Night…………………..Sam Cooke
4. It’s All Over Now……………………….The Rolling Stones
5. If I Fell…………………………………...The Beatles
6. It’s Over…………………………………..Roy Orbison
7. Halfway To Paradise………………………Billy Fury
8. Everyday…………………………………..Buddy Holly
9. Out Of Time………………………………Chris Farlowe
10. As Usual…………………………………..Brenda Lee
11. Walkin’ Back To Happiness………………Helen Shapiro
12. Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye……Leonard Cohen
13. Pourquoi Cet Amour………………………Johnny Hallyday

Most of these artists have gone on to also be favourites of mine, with perhaps the exception of Monsieur Hallyday, whose Gallic charm somewhat escapes me but then I have never been as keen a Francophile as my brother. Notwithstanding I do always cheer them on against England (actually I cheer almost anyone on against England) and Zinedine Zidane is the finest footballer I have ever seen live

Anyway Bon Anniversaire mon frere. Meilleurs voeux! A Bientot!

ps I was sad to read of the death of Joe Frazier this week. I have never been a great fan of boxing but back in the days of Ali, Smokin' Joe, Norton and Foreman being Heavyweight Champion of the world had a certain aura to it and they commanded a respect which is sadly lacking in the fighters of today