Obituary: Jackie Neilson; former St Mirren player and 1959 Cup winner Born: Newtongrange, Midlothian, 1 April, 1929. Died: Edinburgh, 22 June, 2012, aged 83. JACKIE Neilson was one of the icons of football in Newtongrange and a Scottish Cup winner with St Mirren in 1959. Leaving Newbattle School, aged 14, at the height of the Second World War, Neilson played briefly for Newtongrange Bluebell in the juvenile leagues, and in his mid-teens turned out for Newtongrange Star. His promise was clear, indeed, while doing his National Service in post-war Italy, his performances for the British Army in Italy's football team persuaded US Trietina, then one of the leading Serie A clubs, to offer him the then massive sum of £3,500 to play for them. But the Italian sun couldn't compare with football back in "Nitton," where his Star team mates were true stars in the making. Neilson's name was on the same junior team lines as those of Bobby Johnstone, in his pre-Famous Five days, plus those of two future Tynecastle legends - Freddie Glidden and "King" Willie Bauld. Neilson, at that time a full-back, was competing for a place in his final year with Star with another future Scottish internationalist, Mike Haughney, later of Celtic. St Mirren manager Bobby Rankin came, liked what he saw and, in 1949, Neilson swapped Newtongrange for Paisley - although, he continued to live and work in Midlothian. Every Saturday he would bus into Edinburgh, then take a train to Glasgow, where he would meet up with the other Saints" players in St Enoch's Square, or, if the match was at Love Street, take a bus to Paisley and walk to the ground. Saints in the 1950s, just like today, were a mid-table top league side. They had a few stars, but several, such as Neilson, were very good, though arguably not "great." That might be unfair to Neilson who won four Scottish League "caps" - the 1950s equivalent of today's Scotland caps earned in meaningless "challenge games." He also, in 1956, won a Scotland B cap in the 2-2 Dens Park draw with England. This in a time when there were a lot of good wing halves around. In the 1955-6 season, he was a member of the St Mirren team, beaten by Aberdeen in the League Cup final. However, in 1959, Neilson would have his revenge when, in what is still considered one of the classic Scottish Cup finals, he and his team mates produced a wonderful display for the 109,000 fans, to beat Aberdeen 3-1 to take the trophy to Paisley for the first time in more than 30 years. Neilson was immensely proud of his medal and the wristwatch, which the Buddies" directors presented to each of the players. The watch kept perfect time up to his death. Neilson played on into the 1960s, pulling on the famous black-and-white stripes on nearly 400 occasions. He had offers to move to Newcastle and Preston, but Paisley was as far from "Nitton" as he was prepared to travel to kick a ball. A knee injury forced premature retirement, when he was 31. He retreated to Newtongrange, to live out his life, with plenty of good memories of his footballing days. One of his most-cherished ones was of one of his five St Mirren goals. This came on 30 August, 1958, when he beat Frank Haffey with what he described as a "Barnes Wallis" goal - the ball bounced over the Celtic keeper - in a 6-3 St Mirren win. He was predeceased by wife Isa and is survived by son Stephen, daughter Jacqueline, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Matt Vallance