It is striking how quickly Ward White can recall names and games from his extraordinary footballing past.

It seems as if a script is to hand as he rattles off tale after tale of years gone by.

However, this 67-year-old is no ordinary ex-Junior player and manager wallowing in memories.

He came preciously close to reaching the very summit of the game in Scotland as part of Celtic's renowned Quality Street Gang back in the late 1960s, but ill fortune denied him the opportunity to make the same impression that team-mates such as Kenny Dalglish , Danny McGrain and Lou Macari grasped with both hands.

Ward was reared in Ayr and began playing football with his local Boys' Brigade before initially joining Ayr Albion under-16s prior to stepping up to amateur football with Dalmellington Red Star.

He said: "I played a trial game for Craigmark without making any great impression however not long afterwards Sam Galloway snapped me up for Whitletts Vics.

"While still a signed player with them I turned out as a trialist for Auchinleck Talbot - who back then were not the force they are nowadays - in an end-of-season derby game against Cumnock which finished 1-1.

"It all came about because I was going out with a girl from Auchinleck whose father was involved with Talbot. He talked me into playing despite knowing full well I was a ringer but apparently Cumnock had a couple of their own in the game.

"I went back to Whitletts where I attracted interest from Irvine Meadow and Beith whose match secretary, George Anderson, persuaded me to sign up at Bellsdale when I was 21.

"Beith were crammed with top Juniors in Dougie Blackwood, Charlie Gibson and Archie Robertson who had been reinstated from West Ham and our team won the North Ayrshire League without losing a single game.

"I'd say Charlie is probably the best player I came across at Junior level and both he and I represented Junior Scotland that season."

Ward's displays with Beith caught the eye of Celtic's Ayrshire scout John Murray and following a successful trial match he signed with the Parkhead club's reserves.

Ward said: "Vic Davidson and Paul Wilson were also outstanding players in that team and such was the conveyor belt of talent that the three ground staff were none other than Tommy Burns, Andy Ritchie and Brian McLaughlin.

"Jock Stein insisted on playing me as an out-and-out front player which was not to my liking, so 18 months into my contract I took the bold step of asking the great man to play me in my preferred position of inside forward. To his credit he accommodated my wishes.

"I never actually played a first-team game in my four years at Celtic but my big opportunity had come and gone without me knowing it in an end-of-season game in 1971.

"It was all because Jimmy Quinn had fallen out with the manager at a time when Celtic were down to just 24 available players.

"Jimmy did a walk-out so Sean Fallon asked me to fill in at left-back for the reserves which I duly did only to discover afterwards that the original plan had been for me to play in the first team against Motherwell in order to rest up Lou Macari who was due to play for Scotland in midweek."

Ward left Celtic at the age of 27 and joined Clydebank where he played alongside Sam Henderson, John Gilmour, Billy McColl and Mike Larnach for two seasons before signing for Irvine Meadow.

A two-year stay at Medda Park was anything but trophy-laden, so Ward moved on to Darvel before hanging up his boots.

An electrician to trade, Ward took to working for Hyster in Irvine where he was the natural candidate to be the new side's manager. He blossomed in the role, leading them to three promotions as well as a West of Scotland Amateur Cup.

His next move was to take the Hyster team en bloc to Hurlford United when he took up the reins, however he only stayed a season before moving to Maybole for close on 10 years.

Ward's next stop was to an Irvine Meadow side relegated to the Second Division, with him returning them up a tier. But Medda struggled to make an impression at First Division level and Ward found himself replaced at the helm by another player he signed - Robert Reilly.

He said: "Maybole were struggling so I went back to help and I actually played against Lugar Boswell when I was 50.

"I dropped out of the game at the end of that and might have stayed away but for getting involved with Hurlford United."