Laurie Cumming

Laurie Cumming

Personal information
Full name	Laurence Stanley Slater Cumming
Date of birth	(1905-04-10)10 April 1905
Place of birth	Derry, Ireland
Date of death	19 November 1980(1980-11-19) (aged 75)
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position	Inside-forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
	Alloa Athletic
1927–1929	Huddersfield Town	19	(6)
1929–1930	Oldham Athletic
1930–1931	Southampton	20	(4)
1931–1933	Alloa Athletic
1933–1938	Queen of the South
	St Mirren
National team
1929	Ireland	3	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Laurence Stanley Slater "Laurie" Cumming (10 April 1905 – 19 November 1980) was a professional footballer and journalist, born in Derry, Ireland. Cumming played for Alloa Athletic, Huddersfield Town, Oldham Athletic, Southampton, Queen of the South and St Mirren. All of his international appearances were at inside-left, though at club level he was capable of switching between the number eight and ten shirts.

5 foot 11 and 12 stone 4,^[1] Laurie Cumming's sand dancing, clever ball control and finishing ability made him a great attraction wherever he played. To quote one newspaper report: "His pirouetting, Charlie Chaplin swagger and complete control of the ball.... left us longing to see ten of his kind."^[2]

Huddersfield Town

Cumming joined Huddersfield in March 1927.

In season 1928-29 Cumming was equal fourth top scorer for Huddersfield with six goals along with Bob Kelly. Those who scored more were George Brown, Alex Jackson and Johnny Dent. These were Cumming's only goals for the club in his 19 appearances.^[3]

It was while at Huddersfield that he gained his first two full international caps.

Oldham Athletic

It was at Oldham that Cumming gained his third and final cap.

Southampton

Cumming was transferred to Southampton in June 1930 for £500,^[4] making his Saints debut in a 5–0 defeat by Preston North End on the opening day of the season, followed by a spell of four goals in nine games, including a brace in an away win over Plymouth Argyle.^[5] As winter set in and the pitches grew heavier his form dried up, and he never once found the net again in the Football League. He was dropped in February 1931, losing his place to Peter Dougall.^[5] At the end of the season, Cumming was placed on the transfer list at his own request.^[4]

Alloa Athletic (Second spell)

Cumming returned to Scotland with Alloa in 1931 on a non-contract basis.

Queen of the South

Cumming joined Dumfries side Queen of the South in the Autumn of 1933 in the club's debut season in Scottish Football's top division. Queens had been promoted as runners up to Hibernian the season before.^[6]

As a player Cumming was part of two landmark events in the history of Queen of the South:-^[6]

• Queens highly successful first season in the top division finishing 4th - their highest finish to date. Queens also made it to the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup for the first time (a feat the club now counts into double figures).^[6]

• He was part of the 16 player squad for the 11 game 1936 overseas tour and the Algiers invitational tournament. Queens returned with the trophy after beating Racing de Santander in the final. Queens were managed by George McLachlan at the time of this adventure.^[7] Cumming was the tour's top scorer.

Other players at the club during this time included Willie Savage, Willie Culbert, Willie Ferguson and Joe Tulip.^[6]

On 30 January 1937 with Cumming playing, Queen of the South condemned Rangers to a 1 - 0 first round Scottish Cup exit.^[8]

Cumming was at Queens until March 1937 making 105 appearances and scoring 55 goals. Queens stayed in the top division throughout Cumming's stay at the club (as they would excluding war time interruption for most of the next 3 decades).^[6]

International career

Cumming was capped three times for Ireland. In the second of these Hughie Gallacher hit four for Scotland. Gallacher had been at Queen of the South prior to Cumming but by this time had gone on to be a championship winning captain at Newcastle United.

#	Date	Opponent	Result
1	2 February 1929	Wales	Wales 2 – 2 Ireland
2	23 February 1929	Scotland	Ireland 3 – 7 Scotland
3	19 October 1929	England	England 3 – 0 Ireland

Journalist

After hanging up his boots Cumming worked as a newspaper reporter. He wrote for the Daily Express, Scottish edition for many years. Cumming was a founder member of Scottish Football Writers' Association (SFWA).

To quote:-

"the names of the members who formed the first committee: Willie Allison (Sunday Mail), Laurie Cumming (Daily Express), Bill Heeps (Evening Dispatch), Tommy Muirhead (Daily Express), Andrew Wallace (Daily Mail) and Norman MacDonald (Press & Journal). Cyril Horne (Glasgow Herald) and James Aitken (Evening Citizen) assumed the roles of treasurer and secretary respectively."^[9]

Laurie Cumming died in 1980.

References