Season 1921-22
Centre forward Dunky Walker who had signed at the end of the previous season, was to make an immediate impact on the team at the start of 1921/22.
Top scorer in 1920-21 was George Love, with eight goals. Walker was to equal that total in the first two matches of 1921-22! Two 5-0 victories over Queens Park and Hamilton saw Dunky hit four in each match.
He went on to claim 45 league goals which remains the club record and made him the top scorer in Europe.
He also scored eleven times in five Scottish Cup ties for a total of 56 goals which went a long way to erase the memories of the previous season as Saints finished eighth in the league and reached the quarter final of the Cup.
At the end of the season they were invited to Spain at the request of Barcelona, to help officially open their new stadium at Les Cortes.
To make the trip worthwhile, seeing as there was no jet-liner to speed their journey, they arranged some friendly matches. The first of these was supposed to be in Paris, but when they arrived there they were informed that the match had been cancelled and so they continued onto Barcelona and played a couple of matches against Barcelona/Catalan select teams, losing 1-2 and 0-1.
The third match of the tour was on 25th May 1922 against Notts County and was the official match to open the new ground. In sweltering conditions, they fought out a close first half which ended goalless
During the interval, County sought the sanctuary of the cool dressing room while Saints decided to remain on the pitch. This had a double effect of keeping the players acclimatised and also won over the Spanish crowd who got behind the team for the second half. Their support was rewarded when Dunky Walker put Saints in front ten minutes into the half and they were almost on time when County equalised to take the match to extra time. Towards the end of extra time Saints got the winner, scored by, who else, Dunky Walker!
The team were presented with a magnificent trophy for this match. Officially called the Landome Cup, it will always be known to Saints fans as the Barcelona Cup.
The team then moved on to Santander and played two Matches against a North Spain Select team winning 3-2 and drawing 2-2 . The second match gave Saints a taste of some bizarre refereeing! Leading 2-1 going into the final part of the match, Saints conceded a penalty. Keeper Jock Bradford became a hero when he saved the kick to maintain the advantage. The referee then began to give some strange decisions the way of the Spaniards, before the match went into injury time. In the tenth minute of injury time the Select team were awarded another ‘soft’ penalty. Once again Bradford saved the kick, but the referee awarded a re-take and this time it was converted. The final whistle went immediately afterwards. After this Saints travelled to Gijon and played a match in which Dunky Walker claimed six in a 7-2 victory. The following day however Gijon won a second match 4-1, but it could not dampen the satisfaction of an excellent tour and a much improved season!
