THE winter of 1962-63 was the coldest in this country for more than 200 years - so cold, in fact, that the sea froze in places. It brought blizzards, snow drifts and blocks of ice, and temperatures lower than -20 °C, recounts the Met Office.

“That was the coldest night yet!” ran the splash headline in the Evening Times on the morning of January 12.

Sports fixtures, not surprisingly, succumbed to the bitter weather. By the time the 25th of January came around, no senior football game had been played in Glasgow for 20 days. The postponed Scottish Cup first-round tie between Partick Thistle and Clyde had only a fifty-fifty chance of taking place the following day, the 26th, said Thistle manager, Willie Thornton. “We only hope there is no overnight frost to upset things.”

Acetylene burners thawed out the Firhill pitch, followed by club employees (pictured) using brushes and buckets to remove the surface water.

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Herald Diary

On the other hand, the pitch at Stark’s Park, Kirkcaldy, was said to be in such good condition that Raith Rovers players had trained on it every day that week. In the event, a thaw came too late to save the Thistle-Morton tie, which was again postponed, while some second-round matches went ahead.

Interestingly, calls now began to be made for summer football, so as to avoid a repeat of such widespread - and costly - winter disruption.