William MacNeil

At a general meeting of enthusiastic football sportsmen, early May. 1924, in the Orange Hall, Dunvegan, the playing of football in Glengarry was formally organized. Dunvegan, Maxville and Greenfield formed the west division, while Kirk Hill, Laggan,. McCrimmon and Alexandria made up the east group.

Based on the experience of playing post-war exhibition games, Laggan fielded a strong team, winning the eastern championship. Oldtimers have recorded that much of Laggan’s goal scoring success was due to the play of Willie MacNeil.

At this time, Willie was 24-year-old farm boy in scoring skills from his inside right position. During an interesting weekend interview with Willie MacNeil, now 87, in his bachelor parental home, we turned back the pages of time 63 years.

That was 1924, when Laggan played Greenfield on the Alexandria Fairgrounds for the Glengarry championship. (Dunvegan’s win had seen disputed.)

Midway through the game, still no score, Greenfield’s full back, Allan (Archie John) MacDonald, had a leg fractured accidentally. It was game over. Willie recalled that was the first accident in Glengarry’s newly organized football league.

Willie MacNeil was a luminary with Laggan football teams for the next 18 years. His remarks about retiring were, “When you are in your 40s you become a step slower and a bit heavier.”

We asked Willie if he could recall the Laggan champions by name. He pondered for a moment and then recited the lineup as if it was yesterday. “We had two goalies, Henry Weber and Kenzie MacDonald. The fullbacks, half line and forwards were John Rory MacNeil, Gregor MacMaster, Alex and Duncan MacCuaig, Donald John MacMaster, Angus Urquhart, Donald Duncan, Willie MacNeil, John Thomas MacDonald, Harry and Alex Franklin, Dick and Eddy Brydson.”

As a result of playing football all those years, displaying skill and sportsmanship on and off the field, Willie MacNeil in 1940 was presented by president J. Alex Macdonell with the Glengarry Football League Testimonial Award.