NOT FOURTEEN YEARS OLD

Chronicle (Levin), 6 August 1946, Page 6

NOT FOURTEEN YEARS OLD

WHEN FIRST PLAYED SENIOR ! FOOTBALL i I 1 ; A former well-known Wairarapa : - footballer, who was, through pres- j ; sure of business, unable to be pres- ] ent at the recent Wairarapa Rugby ; . jubilee, was Hec. Nicolson, resident; manager of "The Chronicle," Otaki, ] says the Wairarapa Times-Age. Fpr ; ; many years he piayed for the Car- ; * terton seniors and also for the ] Greytown Rivals — a combination of ' 1 , Carterton and Greytown players, j j ancl gained representative honours. ] He was one of the f astest three- ' quarters ever seen on a football ' j neld in the Wellington province. { "Hec." Nicolson was not 14 years of age when he played for the Car- . terton seniors — in the days of big ■ 1 men and often bewiskered players ; — and that Wairarapa record still stands, having been established • some o9 years ago. A clever and . tricky player he was as slippery as ' an eel on the football field, and with a straight run and a aecep- , 1 tive swerve that left opponents'1 stancling like stuffed monkeys, he registered many a try for Carter- ■ ton.

He played in the days of the 1 Masterton Oriental team, the . White Stars of Masterton, the . Greytown Hard pases, Featherston | Frotlxers (they had some extraordinary names for clubs in those , days ) , the Carterton Royal Stars (Which he captamed), the Greytown Rivals and the Carterton Rivals. > Morry Wood, who was present at the jubilee celebrations at the week-end, was captain of the Greytown Hard Cases, ancl Bert Gardiner, "Berg" Braggins and Arthur .Bennett were associaued with the White Stars. Te Ore Ore rari seniof and junior teams in those days under the guiaance of tne late George EUers and the late Walter Remini. "Hec." was in the Carter- • ton team when the late Bill Me- 1 Kenzie ("Oifside Mac") was cap- i tain, which is some 50 years ago. , : In later years he became a very '. able hockey coach. He was one of the old stalwarts wno helped to j i clear the Carterton reserve and the I Carrington Park for football and I hockey. Wairarapa football to-day icould well do with a few Hector, iNicolsons. — "Blue and Gold." )