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History of the Queen's Park Football Club 1867 - 1917
Chapter LIV.—The Paid Secretary


On the initiative of Mr.A. Rowan, at the annual general meeting of 1882, three match secretaries were appointed, one for each eleven, as the engagements of the club were so numerous it was almost an impossibility for one person to look after the interests of three teams at once, and do the work well. The work of the club was almost exclusively done by three or four persons, and if some remedy were not found, there would in future be a difficulty in getting officebearers. The new match secretaries, who were also to be members of committee, would gain experience and knowledge of the way in which affairs were conducted, thereby constituting themselves efficient and worthy successors to those who had previously held office. Mr. C. Campbell, however, went further than Mr. Rowan, and carried a motion that paid assistance to the extent of £25 be obtained for the mechanical part of the work of the match secretary. The assistant was usually a clerk in the office of the match secretary for the time being. At this meeting the annual general meeting was changed from April to May, so that the officials would have a chance of giving complete reports to the meeting, and season tickets were reduced from 7s. 6d. to 5s., with the result that many more were issued in the following season. The price was raised again to 7s. 6d. at the annual general meeting in 1887.

All the affairs of the club up to 1894 had been performed in an honorary capacity, except that the match secretary had been given, as stated, paid assistance. However, the time came when it was thought desirable to obtain the services of a paid secretary, who would combine the offices and duties of secretary and match secretary, and relieve the honorary treasurers of some of their work by writing up their books.. Mr. D. C. Brown consequently drafted a new rule, and other rules bearing on the subject were altered. These had the sanction of the annual meeting, 29th May, 1894. Mr. C. B. Miller, a member of the club, was appointed secretary out of fifty-nine applicants, 18th June, 1894. Mr. Miller had been admitted a member of the Queen's Park, 16th March, 1891, and, of course, had to resign his membership while he held office, on the understanding that he be readmitted should he give up the secretaryship. He proved a most efficient official, competent in every respect for such a position. Energetic, and endowed with the old Queen's Park spirit, though a comparatively new member, he steered the club through many difficulties, and gained the confidence of the officials and players. Coming into office at a critical time in the history of the club, many questions arose which were solved to the best interests of the Queen's Park. A strong man, he did not calmly brook opposition, and it may in general be said, his methods were found, as a rule, to be the best, dictated as they were by the one absorbing idea—what is best in the interests of the Queen's Park. His was the work of helping to build up new Hampden Park, a huge undertaking, necessitating the closest attention to the intricacies of detail, constant supervision, and general knowledge of contracts and work performed, while his legal knowledge—a lawyer by profession—was of the greatest service to the club ; doubly so when the Queen's Park Football Club was turned into a limited liability company in 1903, warned by the terrible disaster at Ibrox Park of the serious consequences which might at any moment arise, plunging the club into great pecuniary responsibility and probable ruin. For over twenty years " C. B." was at the helm, ably seconded by his partner in business, Mr. James Strang, as joint secretary, on whose capable shoulders the whole of the work fell when Mr. Miller departed for the war, to fight for his country and the freedom of the world. At the annual general meeting, April, 1910, Mr. C. B. Miller, and his partner in business, were appointed joint secretaries to the club. This combination went on until 1915, when Mr. James Strang was elected sole secretary to the club on the resignation of Mr. Miller, and under his administration the Queen's Park prospered, and no more indefatigable worker could be desired, his ability, courtesy, and zeal— three valuable assets—rendering him an ideal secretary, and a conscientious official. His useful career was prematurely cut short in the spring of 1919. Falling into ill-health, he died rather suddenly, leaving a blank difficult to fill. His loss was deeply regretted by the club, as he gave a wholehearted service in promoting its interests, and his extreme anxiety during the war period may have helped to bring about his ultimate collapse. Mr. Hector M'Kenzie, an old player, was appointed in Mr. Strang's place, and he may be relied upon to maintain the traditions of the Queen's Park.


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