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Inducted
into the Hall of Fame in 1987. Born on 15th
July 1937 in Falkirk Scotland, ‘Red’ Imrie began playing ice hockey in
his hometown at twelve years of age and by the time he had reached his
teens, had broken through into the senior Falkirk Lions team in the
Scottish National League. Originally
a forward, he settled on defence and in the initial season of the
British National League in 1954/55 totaled 51 points made up of 18 goals
and 33 assists. When the Lions dropped out of hockey, ‘Red’ joined
the Edinburgh Royals and they went on to win the North British League in
the 57/58 season. Imrie also appeared in a Paisley Pirates shirt before
being posted to Colchester during the course of his national service.
While in the south, he had an outstanding season playing for Streatham,
winning both Autumn Cup and British League honours in 1959/60. When
Streatham too opted out of hockey, Imrie moved onto the south coast
joining the Brighton Tigers where he was firstly team captain and then
player/coach of the famous club. When the Brighton rink closed,
‘Red’ moved to London joining the Wembley Lions until their demise
in 1969. When
Streatham returned on the scene in the seventies, Imrie became involved
and as coach took the Redskins to Wembley in his final season behind the
bench, 1985. He continued to work with the second team, the Bruins and
became a ‘colour’ commentator for BBC television. He
was described by fans and critics of his era as being “a keen
competitor and fine stick handler, whose visits to the penalty box were
rare enough to cause raised eyebrows.” Thomas
‘Red’ Imrie appeared in three World Championship tournaments for
Great Britain, in ’61, ’62 and ’66 in Yugoslavia, where he was
voted the outstanding defenceman of Pool B. Compiled with research, provided by
Martin C.Harris – 1987. |
