Football is Academical
Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.
Scottish First Division 1977/78
In 1976 the Scottish Football League decided that the new format 10-14-14 had been a success in the first season , however the 26 game format for First and Second Divisions was too short and the Spring Cup a failure.
It was decided to move to a 39 game season with each team playing each other 3 times and although it meant some teams having one more home game than away , that this was a minor issue in the cirecumstances.
The Scottish First Division comprised 10 teams from the previous season –
Airdrie, Arbroath, Dumbarton, Dundee, East Fife, Hamilton , Montrose, Morton, Queen of the South & St Johnstone. They were joined by the two teams relegated from the Premier Division – Hearts & Kilmarnock along with the two promoted clubs from the Second Division – Alloa Athletic & Stirling Albion.
Scottish League Cup
The League Cup moved to knockouts with the First Round played in August featuring 6 randomly drawn two legged ties where Airdrie lost to Aberdeen , and East Fife lost to Stranraer. Dundee beat Montrose in an all First Division tie, while Queens of the South produced the shock of the round beating Premier League Hibernian 2-1 at Easter Road before a scoreless second leg in Dumfries.
SCOTTISH FIRST DIVISION LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
August 1977
Morton , Stirling Albion and St Johnstone opened with three wins while East Fife lost all three games in August.
September 1977
Morton led the league at the end of September with a 0-0 draw at home to Dumbarton the only blemish, winning 7 of their opening 8 games.
Hearts were in 2nd place despite winning all 4 homes games they had drawn their first 3 away games 2-2 at Dumbarton , 1-1 at Kilmarnock and 3-3 at Queen of the South before winning 4-2 at Stirling.
Dundee in 3rd had won 5 games , while Stirling Albion were surprisingly in 4th.
Kilmarnock opened with 4 defeats in their first 5 games but recovered to 11th.
Airdrie were 12th with only one win , 3-2 at East Fife in the opening 8 games , while Alloa and East Fife filled the bottom two places on 4pts.
In the League Cup Second Round – Arbroath, Dundee, Queen of the South, Morton, Hearts and Stirling Albion all made it through. Dumbarton beat Hamilton 4-1 at Boghead but were stunned as Accies came back to win the second leg 6-0 to win the all First Division tie,
October 1977
Morton remained top despite a blip where they lost two consecutive home games 1-0 to Queen of the South and 2-0 to Kilmarnock.
Hearts lost their first home game of the season losing 2-0 to Hamilton Accies , a remarkable event at the time and even more as nearly 50 years on Accies have not won at Tynecastle since. A 5-3 lose away to Morton and 3-1 defeat at Montrose saw the Edinburgh side drop to 3rd place.
Dundee dropped to 4th place after a 3-2 home lose to Arbroath and a 3-0 defeat at Airdrie before drawing 1-1 with Hearts at Dens Park.
Dumbarton move dup to 2nd place with 4 wins out of 6 in the month , their only loss 2-1 at Tynecastle.
Alloa with 7 consecutive defeats and winless so far were bottom behind East Fife who had secured 2 wins from 14 games while Kilmarnock were 12th having only 1 win behind Airdrie who had picked up towards the end of October with wins over Dundee 3-0 at home , Montrose 2-1 away and 2-1 at home to East Fife.
In the League Cup Hearts beat Morton 3-2 on aggregate , Queen of the South beat Dundee 6-0 at home after a goalless draw at Dens Park. Rangers beat Aberdeen 6-1 at home before losing the second leg 3-1 but qualified for the Quarter Finals along with fellow Premier League sides Celtic, Dundee Utd and St Mirren. Dunfermline and Forfar also qualified from the Second Division.
November 1977
Morton continued to lead the league ahead of Dundee who had a strong month with home wins over Stirling Albion 2-0 , St Johnstone 5-3 and Hamilton 3-0.
Hearts briefly dropped to 5th after defeats to Kilmarnock 2-1 at home and 2-0 at East Fife but recovered to 3rd place after a 1-0 away win at St Johnstone and 2-0 home win over Stirling Albion.
Stirling Albion and St Johnstone had a bad month losing all four games, Stirling without scoring.
Hamilton’s home wins over Airdrie 4-0 and Montrose 4-1 saw them move up to 3rd before dropping back to 5th place after their defeat at Dens Park.
At the bottom East Fife were bottom despite their win over Hearts their only point in an 8 game spell , while Alloa’s 3-2 win over the Fifers saw them leapfrog to 13th in a month where they also beat St Johnstone and Stirling Albion both 1-0 at home.
Airdrie sat 12th despite a run of four consecutive wins from October into November.
In the League Cup Celtic beat St Mirren 3-1 at Love Street and 2-0 at home while Rangers also made it to the semi finals beating Dunfermline 3-1 in both legs.
Second Division Forfar knocked out Queen of the South. The teams had drawn 3-3 at Palmerston before Forfar won the home leg 1-0.
Hearts lost 3-1 to Dundee Utd at Tannadice but won the second leg 2-0 at home before winning 4-2 on penalties.
December 1977
Morton dropped to second winning only one game in December as they beat Montrose at home 2-1 on the final day of the year after defeats to Arbroath 2-1 at home and Dundee 3-1 away.
Dundee moved top 3pts ahead after winning their final 4 games of the year with Hearts in 3rd place (1 point behind Morton), having won 5 of their final 6 games of 1977 including a 7-0 win at Arbroath.
Montrose dropped to 12th losing all 5 games in December while Alloa stayed in 13th ahead of East Fife, who drew 3 of 5 games in December to sit only 2pts behind East Fife and 4pts behind Montrose.
January 1978
Dundee remained top after a 6-0 home win over Alloa, while Morton took maximum points to remain in 2nd ahead of Hearts.
East Fife stayed bottom losing all 3 games while Alloa drew 0-0 with Stirling Albion.
February 1978
Dundee’s 2-0 home win over East Fife was their only league game in the month and allowed Morton to move top after a 3-2 win at Airdrie.
Hearts were 3rd after home wins over Hamilton 1-0 and Airdrie 3-0.
The positions at the bottom were unchanged.
In the League Cup semi final Rangers were taken to extra time before beating Forfar 5-2
March 1978
Dundee won 5 games and drew 2 to move back to the top on 50pts from 34 games , with Hearts moving into 2nd place on 47pts from 33 games after 3 wins and 3 draws in March.
Morton dropped out of the promotions places into 3rd on 45pts having lost 1-0 at home to Hearts and draws 0-0 at Hamilton and 1-1 at home to Queen of the South. Morton crucially had only played 31 games.
Dundee and Morton still had to meet twice including on the final day at Cappielow.
Montrose ended March in 12th place on 24pts following back to back draws with Hearts while Alloa were 13th on 20pts after a 3-3 at home to Airdrie.
East Fife remained bottom on 16pts.
In the League Cup Celtic beat Hearts 2-0 in the semi final before losing to Rangers 2-1 after extra time in the Final
April 1978
Hamilton Accies played home games on successive days Saturday 1st April and Sunday 2nd April. Accies beat Montrose 2-1 on the Saturday before losing to Hearts 2-0 on the Sunday as the Edinburgh side moved within 1 point of league leaders Dundee.
Morton cut the gap to 3pts with a 4-1 midweek home win over St Johnstone.
Dundee and Morton drew 1-1 at Dens Park , as Hearts moved level on points at the top with Dundee following a 3-2 home win over Arbroath.
Morton were 3pts behind the leaders but with 2 games in hand.
Dundee’s midweek 2-1 defeat at Dumbarton would prove crucial as Morton moved to within 1 point of Dundee with a 5-0 win over East Fife.
Hearts moved to the top of the table after a 2-0 win at St Johnstone.
Hearts moved to 54pts following a 1-1 away to Queen of the South with 2 games left. Dundee won 5-1 at Alloa to go to 53pts while Morton beat Hamilton 3-0. Morton were in 3rd place on 52pts but had two games in hand.
A midweek 1-0 win for Morton in Perth against St Johnstone moved them level on points with Hearts but ahead on goal difference, 1 point ahead of Dundee.
Morton still had a game in hand over their two rivals but still had to play Dundee on the final day.
Morton won 2-1 at Stirling to stay ahead on 56pts with two games to play, while Hearts beat Alloa 2-1 at home to stay ahead of Dundee by 1 point with 1 game left as Dundee beat Queen of the South 3-0.
Morton virtually won the league with a midweek 3-1 home win over Airdrie to move to 58pts.
Dundee beat Morton on the final day 3-2 at Cappielow to move on to 57pts and leave Hearts a nervous final day where they had to win at Arbroath.
Hearts won 1-0 to clinch the second promotion place.
Alloa and East Fife were relegated.
SCOTTISH CUP
Third Round
Kilmarnock won 2-1 away to St Mirren and Stirling Albion beat Clydebank 3-0 to knock out the two clubs promoted at the end of the previous season.
Morton won 1-0 at Albion Rovers, while St Johnstone beat Brechin City 1-0 at home.
Arbroath lost 4-0 at home to Motherwell and East Fife lost by the same score at Hobernian.
Dundee suffered 7-1 defeat at Celtic, while Hamilton lost 4-1 at home to Dundee Utd. Rangers won 4-2 at Berwick.
In an all First Division tie Hearts won 3-2 at Airdrie.
In the other two all First Division clashes it took replays for Dumbarton to beat Alloa 2-1 after a 2-2 draw at Recreation Park and Queen of the South after drawing 2-2 at home , beat Montrose 3-1 at Links Park.
Fourth Round
The shock of the round was Celtic’s 1-0 defeat at Kilmarnock in a replay after the teams drew 1-1 in Glasgow, with a goal from Derrick McDicken.
Another shock was at Fir Park where Motherwell lost 3-1 to Second Division Queens Park, while Rangers beat Stirling Albion 1-0 at Ibrox with a goal from Derek Johnstone.
St Johnstone lost 3-0 at Aberdeen while Queen of the South also lost 3-0 against Dundee Utd at Tannadice. Morton also won 3-0 at home to Meadowbank.
Partick Thistle beat Hibs 2-1 after a 0-0 draw at Easter Road, while Hearts were also knocked out in a replay 1-0 by Dumbarton at Tynecastle after a 1-1 draw at Boghead.
Quarter Final
There were home wins for Dundee Utd 2-0 over Queens Park, Partick Thistle 2-1 over Dumbarton and Rangers 4-1 against Kilmarnock.
Aberdeen looked to have booked a place in the semi final at Pittodrie when Drew Jarvie added to Vic Davidson first half goal , with only 5mins remaining against Morton. Andy Ritchie however brought the First Division side back into the match and Jon Goldthorp equalised in the final minute to set up a replay at Cappielow. Aberdeen however won the replay 2-1.
Semi Finals
Rangers beat Dundee Utd 2-0 with Aberdeen and Partick Thistle producing an entertaining game with the Dons running out 4-2 winners. Ian Fleming had put Aberdeen into a 2-0 half time lead scoring twice before a double from Jim Melrose brought Thsitle level halfway through the second half, Joe Harper netted from the penalty spot before Fleming completed his hat-trick.
Final
Rangers Alex McDonald gave them a first half lead before Derek Johnstone put them 2-0 ahead against Aberdeen. Aberdeen scored a late consolation through Steve Ritchie as Rangers lifted the cup 2-1.
FIRST DIVISION NOTABLE PLAYERS BY TEAM
1 MORTON
Neil Orr – youngster at Morton 1975 – 1982 before a successful time West Ham 1982-1987 and then on to Hibs and St Mirren.
Andy Ritchie – came to Morton from Celtic and became a club legend scoring 100 gaols in 213 games 1976-1983.
2 HEARTS
Eamonn Bannon – A youngster who went on to Chelsea and then Dundee Utd and Scotland in the 1980s.
Drew Busby – Began his career with Third Lanark before their demise after 93 games with Airdrie 1970- 1973 where he scored 43 goals, he would spend 6 years at Tynecastle playing 178 games scoring 56 goals.
3 DUNDEE
Eric Sinclair – Striker who played 238 games or Dundee from 1974-1984
Billy Pirie – Dundee legendary goalscorer 1976 – 1980 scored 93 goals in 112 games after spells at Arbroath and Aberdeen.
4 DUMBARTON
Murdo McLeod – went on to great success with Celtic playing 281 games before a move to Borussia Dortmund where he played 103 games, returned to Dumbarton at end of his career. He gained 20 Scotland caps including playing at 1990 World Cup where he suffered concussion after being hit by a Brazilian free kick.
Pat McCluskey- played for 115 games for Celtic 1969-1977 before moving to Dumbarton 1977-1980 playing 112 games. Scotland u-23 1973-1975. A midfield player who came through at Celtic and helped Dumbarton with his experince.
Pat was on International with u-23s, went on a night out that went wrong with Billy Bremner, Arthur Graham, Joe Harper and Willie Young that led to all five being banned by the SFA.
5 STIRLING ALBION
John Kennedy – centre half and captain played for 6 years and chosen for Scotland semi pro team in 1980.
Matt McPhee – record appearance holder 505 games scoring 115 goals for Stirling 1967 – 1981
6 KILMARNOCK
Paul Clarke – brother of former Scotland manager Steve, played 362 games 1974-1986
Davie Provan played 120 games 1974-1978 before moving to Celtic where he became a fans favourite. A winger who played 10 times for Scotland.
7 HAMILTON ACCIES
Bobby Graham – former Liverpool striker came to Accies from Motherwell in 1977 after a prolific partnership at Fir Park with Willie Pettigrew , was a big influence on the young players at Douglas Park playing 118 games and scoring 42 goals from 1977- 1981.
Mick McManus – a winger and crowd pleaser came from Motherwell and served Accies well from 1977-1981 playing 118 games and scoring 19 goals before moving to Montrose.
8 ST JOHNSTONE
Doug Houston – Began his career at Queens Park 1960-62 , before playing 235 games for Dundee 1962-1973, joined Dundee Utd after a brief spell at Rangers from 1973-1977. Played 1977-1979 as a senior player with St Johnstone.
John Brogan – A Hamilton native began his career with Albion Rovers 1972-1977 scoring 32 goals in 124 games. He then moved to St Johnstone where he enjoyed great success scoring 114 goals in 244 games 1977-1984, winning the First Division in 1983. A season in the Premier League with St Johnstone was followed by a move to Premier Division Hibs which was cut short with a loan to Ayr. John then moved to Hamilton Accies from 1984 -1987 where he won the First Division in 1986 as top scorer. He then moved to Stirling Albion from 1987-1993 before a successful managerial career with many clubs particularly in Junior football.
9 ARBROATH
Derek Rylance – Played 275 league games for Arbroath 1971-1981.
Albert Kidd – After a season with Brechin played for Arbroath 1977-1979 played 96 games scoring 19 goals , went on to Motherwell and Dundee where he famously scored the two goals which denied Hearts the Premier League title in 1986.
10 AIRDRIE
Sandy Clark – Striker who scored 92 goals for the club between 1974 and 1982 before moves to West Ham and Rangers followed by successful managerial career
Kevin McCann – Winger played 144 games 1972-1979 before moving to Queen of the South 1979-1983 before a final season at Stenhousemuir.
11 MONTROSE
Les Barr – the hero of Montrose League Cup run – scored the winning goal in Quarter Final against Hobs and scored the penalty that gave Montrose the half time lead against Rangers in the Semi Final
Dennis D’Arcy – formidable Centre Half for Montrose 1970-1979
12 QUEEN OF THE SOUTH
Allan Ball – goalkeeper played 579 games for Queens his only club between 1963 & 1982.
Harry Hood – Celtic legend ended his career at Palmerston 1977-78
Billy McLaren – strong midfielder who would go on to manage Hamilton Accies, worked full time with Inland Revenue.
13 ALLOA ATHLETIC
Hugh McCann – played for and managed Alloa
14 EAST FIFE
Quinton Young – 1976-1980 after spells at Ayr Utd and Coventry City was best known for his time with Rangers 1973 – 1976 where he scored against Ajax in European Super Cup.
Kevin Hegarty – brother of Dundee Utd’s Paul played for East Fife 1971-1978
Dave Clarke – Record appearance holder played 627 games for East Fife , went on to manage the club in two spells
Aberdeen in Europe 1978-1986
Aberdeen’s European exploits under Alex Ferguson became legendary in the club’s history this is a look back at the European games played by Aberdeen under his management.
1978/79 – European Cup Winners Cup
First Round
13/9/78 Marek Dimitrov 3 Aberdeen 2
Drew Jarvie put Aberdeen ahead early in the game but in the second half the Bulgarians scored twice before Joe Harper levelled. The home side scored a winner in the final minute.
27/9/78 Aberdeen 3 Marek Dimitrov 0
Second half goals by Gordon Strachan, Drew Jarvie & Joe Harper saw the Dons progress
Second Round
18/10/78 Fortuna Dusseldorf 3 Aberdeen 0
The Germans took a first half lead , then added a second after an hour. A third goal in the last 10mins gave Aberdeen an uphill task at Pittodrie
1/11/78 Aberdeen 2 Fortuna Dusseldorf 0
Chic McLelland and Joe Harper scored early in the second half but the Germans held on to qualify
Aberdeen lost 3-2 on aggregate to the German Cup holders
1979/80 UEFA CUP
First Round
19/9/79 Aberdeen 1 Eintracht Frankfurt 1
Eintracht took an early at Pittodrie before Joe Harper equalised early in the second half
3/10/79 Eintracht Frankfurt 1 Aberdeen 0
German International Holzenbein’s goal for the Eintracht after 50 mins knocked Aberdeen out
1980/81 EUROPEAN CUP
First Round
17/9/80 Aberdeen 1 Austria Vienna 0
Mark McGhee’s goal after 31mins gave Aberdeen the advantage going to Austria
1/10/80 Austria Vienna 0 Aberdeen 0
A clean sheet in Vienna gave Aberdeen their first win in the European Cup
An excellent defensive performance saw Aberdeen through 1-0 on aggregate
Second Round
22/10/80 Aberdeen 0 Liverpool 1
A goal after 5mins by Liverpool’s Terry McDermott silenced Pittodrie
5/11/80 Liverpool 4 Aberdeen 0
Liverpool raced into a 2-0 half time lead when Willie Miller scored an own goal before Phil Neal added a second. Kenny Dalglish and Alan Hansen added to the scoreline in the second half
1981/82 UEFA CUP
First Round
16/9/81 Ipswich Town 1 Aberdeen 1
John Hewitt’s second half equaliser gave Aberdeen great encouragement ahead of the second leg
30/9/81 Aberdeen 3 Ipswich Town 1
Gordon Strachan’s early penalty was cancelled out by John Wark before half time. A superb second half display saw Peter Weir score twice to seal a deserved victory
A coming of age for the Aberdeen team of the 1980s eliminating the UEFA Cup holders Ipswich Town before losing to Hamburg the 1980 European Cup winners
Second Round
21/10/81 Aberdeen 3 Arges Pitestie 0
The Romanians were blown away by three first half goal from Gordon Strachan, Peter Weir and John Hewitt
4/11/81 Arges Pitestie 2 Aberdeen 2
The game was turned on it’s head by two goals in the first half for the hosts and it took a Gordon Strachan penalty early in the second half to give the Dons breathing space before John Hewitt netted late in the game
Third Round
25/11/81 Aberdeen 3 Hamburg 2
Eric Black gave Aberdeen an early lead but Horst Hrubesch equalised early in second half before goals by Andy Watson and John Hewitt put Aberdeen 3-1 in side the final ten minutes. A 25 yard spectacular goal by Hrubesch gave the Germans a way back into the tie.
9/12/81 Hamburg 3 Aberdeen 1
Hamburg went 3-0 ahead and virtually killed off the tie despite Mark McGhee’s late goal reducing the deficit.
1982/83 EUROPEAN CUP WINNERS CUP
Preliminary Round
18/8/82 Aberdeen 7 Sion 0
Aberdeen were unfortunate to have to play an extra tie as there were an uneven number of teams in the competition. Eric Black opened the scoring after 2mins and a quickfire double half way through the first half by Gordon Strachan and John Hewitt put the Dons on easy street before Neil Simpson added a fourth before half time. Second half goals from Mark McGhee and Stewart Kennedy added to an own early at the start of the second half.
1/9/82 Sion 1 Aberdeen 4
John Hewitt’s opener was soon cancelled out before Willie Miller restored the Aberdeen lead in the second half before a Mark McGhee double ended the scoring.
First Round
15/9/82 Aberdeen 1 Dinamo Tirana 0
John Hewitt’s first half goal provided a first leg lead to take to Albania
29/9/82 Dinamo Tirana 0 Aberdeen 0
A solid defensive performance from Miller , McLeish and Rougvie saw Aberdeen progress
Second Round
20/10/82 Aberdeen 2 Lech Poznan 0
Mark McGhee scored early in the second half and soon after Peter Weir added a second
3/11/82 Lech Poznan 0 Aberdeen 1
A goal on the hour mark from Dougie Bell set up a Quarter Final place
Quarter Final
2/3/83 Bayern Munich 0 Aberdeen 0
Aberdeen produced a strong defensive performance with Dougie Bell as a holding midfield player in place of Gordon Strachan , in front of Miller and McLeish nullified the German favourites.
16/3/83 Aberdeen 3 Bayern Munich 2
The famous Pittodrie evening began badly as Klaus Augenthaler smashed a long range effort into the top corner to give the Germans the lead after 10mins. Neil Simpson brought the Dons level by half time.
The second half started like the first as Pflugler volleyed Bayern 2-1 in front after 61mins.
Aberdeen responded , a dummy free kick routine led to the German defence being flat footed as Gordon Strachan clipped the ball perfectly on to the head of Alex McLeish to power home the equaliser.
Sixty seconds later Pittodrie erupted as John McMaster found the head of Eric Black and when the German goalkeeper Muller produced a superb save , John Hewitt pounced to net the rebound and send Aberdeen into the Semi Finals.
Semi Final
6/4/83 Aberdeen 5 Waterschei 1
An electric start to the game saw Eric Black and Neil Simpson score inside the first 5mins and set up an incredible evening at Pittodrie.
Mark McGhee and Peter Weir scored in quick succession to give Aberdeen a seemingly tie winning 4-0 lead mid way through the second half.
A goal for the Belgians was a mere consolation with McGhee restoring the four goal advantage before full time
20/4/83 Waterschei 1 Aberdeen 0
A late goal conceded was irrelevant as Aberdeen made it safely to the Final
Final – Gothenburg, Sweden
11/5/83 Aberdeen 2 Real Madrid 1
The final in Gothenburg was played in a rain storm and after Eric Black’s early opening goal Alex McLeish was short with a passback , Jim Leighton conceded a penalty and Real Madrid equalised.
Extra time saw Mark McGhee run down the left wing and cross for sub John Hewitt to net the winner as he had done against Bayern Munich
1983/84 EUROPEAN CUP WINNERS CUP
First Round
14/9/83 Akranes 1 Aberdeen 2
Aberdeen fell behind but Mark McGhee immediately equalised before netting a late winner
28/9/83 Aberdeen 1 Akranes 1
A Gordon Strachan second half penalty secured a second round place although a late penalty for the Icelandic team made a nervy finale to the evening
Second Round
19/10/83 Beveren 0 Aberdeen 0
A solid defensive performance in Belgium
2/11/83 Aberdeen 4 Beveren 1
A Gordon Strachan penalty and Neil Simpson goal on the stroke of half time were added to by Strachan and Peter Weir before a late consolation for the visitors
Quarter Final
7/3/84 Ujpest Doza 2 Aberdeen 0
Aberdeen conceded early in the second half and a late second made this a very tricky tie
21/3/84 Aberdeen 3 Ujpest Doza 0
A Mark McGhee first half goal pulled Aberdeen within striking distance of the Hungarians and just as it seemed the Dons were going out be popped up with a late leveller. The striker completed his hat trick 3mins into extra time
Semi Final
11/4/84 Porto 1 Aberdeen 0
An early goal by Gomes for the hosts was a set-back for Aberdeen but with the home leg to come the fans were confident of a second successive ECWC Final place
25/4/84 Aberdeen 0 Porto 1
On a foggy night at Pittodrie Aberdeen could not break down a stubborn Portuguese defence and with 15 mins remaining the visitors scored effectively end the tie and Aberdeen’s two year run in the ECWC.
Aberdeen also beat Hamburg 2-0 at home after a 0-0 draw in Germany to lift the European Super Cup.
1984-85 EUROPEAN CUP
First Round
19/9/84 Aberdeen 2 Dinamo Berlin 1
A goal in either half by Eric Black gave Aberdeen a good start to their European Cup campaign but a late goal by the Germans , made the second leg a tricky assignment
3/10/84 Dinamo Berlin 2 Aberdeen 1
Andreas Thom who would go on to have a successful spell in Scotland with Celtic levelled the scoreline putting Dinamo ahead on away goals early in the second half. Ian Angus scored with 20mins left to put the Dons in pole position. Dinamo however levelled the tie with 5mins remaining and after extra time saw no more scoring the match went to penalties.
Aberdeen led 3-2 and 4-3 in the shootout after a Jim Leighton save however Willie Miller missed a penalty to win the tie. Eric Black missed to allow the Germans to win 5-4 on pens.
1985/86 EUROPEAN CUP
First Round
18/9/85 Akranes 1 Aberdeen 3
Another trip to Iceland and when the hosts scored a penalty to lead at half time , things were not looking good for Dons. A great second half however produced goals by Eric Black , John Hewitt and Billy Stark.
2/10/85 Aberdeen 4 Akranes 1
An early goal by Neil Simpson was equalised before half time by the visitors. Aberdeen ran out comfortable winners with 3 goals in 5mins from John Hewitt, Steve Gray and Willie Falconer
Second Round
23/10/85 Servette 0 Aberdeen 0
Another solid scoreless away European draw.
6/11/85 Aberdeen 1 Servette 0
A first half goal by Frank McDougall saw Aberdeen progress to the Quarter Final
Quarter Final
5/3/86 Aberdeen 2 Gothenburg 2
Willie Miller opening the scoring but the Swedes equalised by half time.
The second half saw Aberdeen re-take the lead through John Hewitt with 10mims remaining. Gothenburg scored an 89th min equaliser that damaged Aberdeen’s hopes of a European Cup semi final appearance
19/3/86 Gothenburg 0 Aberdeen 0
Aberdeen’s longest run in the European Cup ironically ended on away goals in Gothenburg the venue of their triumph in 1983, after they failed to break down the home side
1986/87 EUROPEAN CUP WINNERS CUP
First Round
17/9/86 Aberdeen 2 Sion 1
Aberdeen came from behind to score through a Jim Bett penalty and Paul Wright to take a lead to Switzerland
1/10/86 Sion 3 Aberdeen 0
Alex Ferguson’s final European tie saw them knocked out by Sion the Swiss team who their journey to victory in Gothenburg began, Jim Bett picked up two first half bookings to leave Aberdeen an uphill task
FA CUP 1974/75
The 1974/75 season in England was unusual as it saw Manchester Utd in the Second Division while Carlisle Utd had made it to the First Division.
The First Division at the time featured Burnley , Middlesborough, Stoke City and Birmingham City. Derby County would become Champions with Chelsea among those relegated.
Manchester Utd would win the Second Division gaining promotion with Aston Villa and Norwich City.
FA Cup holders were Liverpool, and Leeds Utd the 1974 League Champions.
The FA Cup of 1974/75 saw many cup upsets in a era when TV coverage was only in highlights form with BBC showing three games in the main and ITV regions covering one featured match.
Two years on from Second Division Sunderland’s FA Cup triumph, it would be another Second Division side Fulham led England legends Bobby Moore and Alan Mullery who would be the story of the 1975 FA Cup.
Derby County would go on to win the league in 1975.
The early rounds saw non League Stafford Rangers knock out league sides Stockport County and Halifax Town , while fellow non league teams – Wycombe , Wimbledon, Altrincham and Leatherhead made it to the Third Round.
Third Round
The 3rd round was played on Saturday 4th January 1975.
Stafford Rangers became the first non league team to knock out three league clubs in the one season since Peterborough in 1960 , when they beat 2-0 Rotherham 2-0 in a replay after drawing 0-0 at home.
The biggest shock of the round was at Burnley when the then top flight title contenders featuring experienced Peter Noble and Ray Hankin alongside Welsh internationals Bryan Flynn and Leighton James were beaten 1-0 at home by Southern League Wimbledon. Mickey Mahon scored the only goal of the game early in the second half , but it was goalkeeper Dickie Guy who was the hero with a string of superb saves.
Cup holders Liverpool’s 2-0 home win over fellow First Division club Stole City was featured by BBC along with West Ham’s 2-1 win at Southampton.
Orient’s 2-2 draw with Derby was also shown on BBC with Derby’s 2-1 replay win shown across the ITV Regions
Leatherhead’s shock 1-0 win at Brighton was shown in Southern Region.
ITV in London showed non league Wycombe’s 0-0 draw with Middlesborough which the non league side lost 1-0 in the replay.
Manchester City’s 2-0 home defeat by Newcastle , Wolves 2-1 home defeat by Ipswich , Southend’s 2-2 draw with QPR, Leeds 4-1 home win over Cardiff were all featured in ITV various regions.
Nottingham Forest draw 1-1 at home to Tottenham before winning the replay 1-0 at White Hart Lane.
Everton drew 1-1 at home to Altrincham before winning 2-0 in the replay.
Fulham drew 1-1 at home to Hull before the replay ended 2-2 , it took a second replay at Leicester before Fulham won 1-0.
Manchester Utd who were in the Second Division drew 0-0 at home to Walsall and lost the replay 3-2 in hard days for the Old Trafford club.
Arsenal drew 1-1 with York City but won the replay in York 3-1.
Fourth Round
The 4th Round was played on Saturday 25th January.
Yorkshire TV , covered the game at Elland Road between League Champions Leeds Utd and Southern League minnows Wimbledon.
Wimbledon goalkeeper Dickie Guy was once again the star of the show as he saved a Peter Lorimer penalty at Elland Road as Wimbledon drew 0-0 with Leeds Utd. Leeds won the replay 1-0 at Plough Lane with an own goal from Dave Bassett who would go on to manage Wimbledon to success with promotion up the leagues before they would win the FA Cup in 1988.
BBC main game was between Leatherhead and Leicester City where the non league team had switched the game to Filbert Street and were soon in dreamland as they took a 2-0 lead before losing 3-2.
Plymouth’s 3-1 home defeat by Everton and Middlesborough’s 3-1 home win over 1973 cup winners Sunderland were also shown by BBC.
ITV Anglia and Granada showed Ipswich 1-0 home win over cup holders Liverpool , while London region saw West Ham’s 1-1 with Swindon. West Ham won the replay at Swindon 2-1.
ITV in Midlands showed Coventry’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal and the replay At Highbury was shown on BBC as Arsenal won 3-0.
Walsall continued their FA cup heroics beating Newcastle 1-0 at home, while Birmingham City won 1-0 at Chelsea.
In an incredible series of matches Fulham began with a 0-0 home drew with Nottingham Forest before another draw this time 1-1 in the City Ground replay. The teams returned to Craven Cottage and again drew 1-1 before a third replay was played at the City Ground with Fulham winning 2-1.
Fifth Round
The 5th Round was played on Saturday 15th February 1975.
BBC featured Mansfield’s 1-0 home loss to Carlisle and Peterborough’s 1-1 draw with Middlesborough. Middlesborough won the replay 2-0.
BBC also showed Arsenal’s 0-0 draw with Leicester City.
Leicester drew 1-1 in the replay at Filbert Street with Arsenal and then played again at the same venue 5 days later after Leicester won the toss for the second replay venue. Arsenal ran out 1-0 winners, in a match shown across the country on ITV.
ITV regions covered West Ham beating QPR 2-1, in London, while Granada showed Everton’s 2-1 home defeat by second division Fulham.
Ipswich 3-2 win over Aston Villa, Leeds Utd’s 1-0 win at Derby and Birmingham’s 2-1 win over local rivals Walsall were also covered in ITV regions.
Sixth Round
The 6th round was played on Saturday 8th March with BBC and ITV covering two games each.
BBC featured Arsenal’s 2-0 home defeat to West Ham where young Alan Taylor scored both goals, three months after joining from Rochdale for £40,000.
BBC’s other game saw Bob Hatton score the only goal as Birmingham beat Middlesborough 1-0 at St Andrews.
ITV covered Fulham’s trip to Carlisle where Les Barrett scored the only goal of the game to give the London side a 1-0 away win.
The tie of the round was between Leeds and Ipswich and ended 0-0 at Portman Road.
The replay at Elland Road ended 1-1 after a last minute goal by Leeds Duncan McKenzie.
A second replay at Filbert Street again ended 0-0 before a third replay at the same venue two days later gave Ipswich a 3-2 win.
Semi Finals
On Grand National Day 5th April 1975, both semi finals ended in draws
BBC covered the semi final at Villa Park where Ipswich Town and West Ham drew 0-0 before in the replay at Stamford Bridge.
Alan Taylor again netted a double either side of a Billy Jennings own goal to give the Hammers a 2-1 win.
ITV featured the semi final from Hillsborough where Fulham striker John Mitchell opened the scoring for Fulham before Birmingham central defender Joe Gallagher equalised to take the game to a replay at Maine Road.
Fulham would make the Wembley final a Cockney affair when a goal in the final minute of extra time by John Mitchell sent them to Wembley and Bobby Moore a reunion with his former club.
FA CUP FINAL 1975
FULHAM v WEST HAM
Billy Bonds captained West Ham on 3rd May 1975 against West Ham where their captain Alan Mullery played alongside Bobby Moore in his final game at Wembley.
The hero of the day was once again young West Ham striker Alan Taylor who scored twice in the second half to give West Ham the FA cup with a 2-0 win.
Scottish First Division 1976/77
In 1976 the Scottish Football League decided that the new format 10-14-14 had been a success in the first season , however the 26 game format for First and Second Divisions was too short and the Spring Cup a failure.
It was decided to move to a 39 game season with each team playing each other 3 times and although it meant some teams having one more home game than away , that this was a minor issue in the cirecumstances.
The Scottish First Division comprised 10 teams from the previous season –
Airdrie, Arbroath, Dumbarton, East Fife , Falkirk, Hamilton , Montrose, Morton, Queen of the South & St Mirren. They were joined by the two teams relegated from the Premier Division – Dundee & St Johnstone along with the two promoted clubs from the Second Division – Clydebank & Raith Rovers.
The season began with League Cup sections.
Scottish League Cup
Group 1
Hearts opened with a 2-0 win over Dundee and had qualified by the time of their 3-2 defeat at Dens Park in the final game. Partick finished ahead of Motherwell who only managed 2 draws from their 6 games.
Group 2
Aberdeen beat Kilmarnock 2-0 at home in the opening game , with Kilmarnock finishing ahead of their local rivals Ayr Utd. St Mirren finished at the bottom with a home win over Kilmarnock and draws with both Ayrshire teams.
Group 3
Celtic proved too strong after an opening 1-0 away to Dundee Utd and despite a 3-3 draw at Dumbarton, comfortably won the group ahead of Dundee Utd, Dumbarton & Arbroath.
Group 4
Rangers opened with a 5-0 win over St Johnstone and would win every game except a 1-1 draw with Hibs at Easter Road who would finish second despite an incredible 9-2 win over St Johnstone. Saints would finish bottom behind Montrose who beat the Perth side 5-1.
Group 5
Airdrie would open with a 3-1 win over Queens Park which would see them win the group ahead of the Hampden side , with Clyde and Raith sharing the minor places.
Group 6
In a very tight group , Falkirk opened with a 1-0 win over Hamilton at Brockville before losing 5-0 at Stranraer. Accies then beat East Fife 5-0 and Stranraer 6-1 at home before drawing 1-1 at Stranraer and 3-3 at East Fife. Falkirk had back to back 5-1 wins at home to Stranraer and at East Fife to set up a winner take all match against Accies at Douglas Park. Falkirk ran out 2-1 victors to win the group.
Group 7
Morton won 1-0 at home to Stirling in the opening game and despite a 7-1 win over Cowdenbeath suffered home and away 1-1 draws with East Stirling and a 0-0 at Cowdenbeath. Stirling won 1-0 at Cowdenbeath , 6-0 at East Stirling to set up a decider at home to Morton. Stirling emerged with a 2-1 win to top the group.
Group 8
Clydebank’s opening day 1-0 defeat proved to be a blip as they won the other 5 games to top the group ahead of Alloa, Queen of the South and Dunfermline.
Group 9
This group featured the bottom 6 clubs from the 1974/75 season, the winners then faced a playoff with a randomly drawn Group winner for a Quarter Final place. The six teams played each team once so only played 5 games.
Albion Rovers were undefeated as they finished ahead of Brechin City. Meadowbank in third were also unbeaten having won and drawn 4 and were ahead of Stenhousemuir , Berwick Rangers and Forfar.
Playoff
Albion Rovers were drawn against local rivals Airdrie and performed well at Broomfield losing 3-2. In a major shock the Second Division side beat Airdrie 3-1 with a hat trick from John Brogan to reach the Quarter Finals.
Quarter Finals
Celtic won 1-0 at Cliftonhill and eased past Albion Rovers with a 5-0 home leg victory.
Hearts beat Falkirk 4-1 at home and qualified for the semi finals despite a 4-3 second leg loss.
Aberdeen’s 1-0 home win over Stirling Albion was matched by their opponents in the second leg with Stirling winning 1-0. Aberdeen were then taken to a replay at Dens Park which they won 2-0.
Rangers drew 3-3 with Clydebank at Ibrox in the first leg , before a 1-1 at Kilbowie forced a replay. The replay at Ibrox on Monday 18th October was drawn 0-0 , a game which saw Alex Miller miss a penalty for Rangers. The teams played again the following evening at Firhill where Rangers won 2-1.
These matches are remembered for the performances of Davie Cooper who would move from Clydebank to Rangers the following summer.
Semi Finals
Celtic beat Hearts 2-1 in the League Cup semi final, while in the other semi final Aberdeen beat Rangers 5-1.
Final
Aberdeen beat Celtic 2-1after extra time as Ally McLeod won his only trophy with the Dons.
SCOTTISH FIRST DIVISION LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
September 1976
Dundee opened the season as title favourites and despite three draws in the opening six games were in second place before two big wins 6-1 at Falkirk and 5-1 at home to Hamilton, moved them top by the end of September.
Newly promoted Clydebank were the early pacesetters winning four of the their first five games, their only blip being a 1-1 draw at Airdrie.
They would however end in the month in 2nd after a 2-2 draw at Montrose.
Airdie were also unbeaten through the month to lie 3rd after draws with in their opening two games at Queen of the South 2-2 and the draw with Clydebank. Airdrie also drew 2-2 at home to leaders Dundee.
At the bottom Falkirk lost 5 of their first 7 games with their only victory a 2-0 home win over St Mirren. Raith also only won one game in the month 1-0 at home to Arbroath while Arbroath only victory was 1-0 at home to Dumbarton.
October 1976
Clydebank had an amazing month which included 3 cup ties against Rangers and in 7 league games drew 0-0 at Morton and St Mirren , won 4 games and their only defeat was a 3-2 loss at Douglas Park against Hamilton Accies and they ended in month in top spot.
St Mirren after an opening day 1-1 draw to East Fife followed by a 2-0 defeat at Falkirk went on an unbeaten run that saw them climb to 2nd place by end of October.
Dundee dropped to 3rd after defeats at St Mirren 0-4, Hamilton 2-4 and Clydebank 1-2. Airdrie lost 4 of their opening 5 games in the month but ended with 2 wind to lie 4th.
East Fife sat bottom after only 1 point in the month below Raith who had picked up 2 draws in the month and Falkirk who has won 2-1 at Hamilton and a 1-0 home win over Airdrie.
November 1976
Clydebank after opening November with 2 wins , drew 0-0 at St Johnstone before suffering a 2-1 home defeat to Montrose to drop to 2nd place. St Mirren under Alex Ferguson after opening with a 3-3 draw at East Fife recorded three consecutive games with conceding a goal to move top of the table.
Dundee were in 3rd after three draws to open the month before beating Falkirk 2-0 at home while Airdrie sat in 4th. Queen of the South’s 9 match unbeaten run took them to 5th.
Raith were in 12th while Falkirk dropped to 13th after losing all 4 games in the month , were still ahead of bottom placed East Fife, who had drawn 1-1 at home to Hamilton as well as their drawn with St Mirren.
December 1976
The weather saw very few games played in December but the highlight was the Christmas Day meeting of the top two at Kilbowie , still the last professional football match to be played in the UK to date on 25th December.
In front of 7,675 fans , Mike Larnach gave Clydebank the half time lead before Billy McColl made it 2-0 early in the second half. St Mirren however fought back to draw 2-2 with goals by Bobby Torrance and Billy Stark.
St Mirren stayed top having also beaten Queen of the South 2-1 at home the previous week, while Clydebank’s only other December fixture saw them win 6-0 at East Fife.
East Fife’s 1-0 home win over Montrose saw them leapfrog Falkirk before they played out a 1-1 draw at Brockville to leave the Bairns bottom going into 1977.
January 1977
St Mirren opened the New Year with an incredible 6-3 win in the Renfrewshire Derby against Morton at Cappielow as they maintained their place at the top of the league throughout the month.
Clydebank kept up their promotion challenge including a remarkable 8-1 home win over Arbroath where Davie Cooper scored a hat trick but was outdone by teammate Joe McCallan who scored four. Dundee kept up the pressure with an 8-0 win over Falkirk.
The poor weather meant few fixtures during the month
February 1977
St Mirren won all three league games played in the month , extending their unbeaten run to 25 games from the second game of the season at Falkirk.
Clydebank kept up the pressure also winning all 4 fixtures in the month while Dundee lost away at both leaders as well as at home to Queen of the South to fall off the pace despite staying 3rd. Morton climbed to 4th place with 4 wins and 2 draws as Airdrie slipped to 6th after a poor run of 3 draws and 3 defeats in the month.
Falkirk remained bottom despite a 1-0 home win over Arbroath with St Johnstone dropping to 13th after a 6-0 defeat at Hamilton. Raith were 12th after 2 draws and 3 defeats while East Fife moved to 11th after 2-1 wins at Hamilton and at home to Airdrie.
March 1977
St Mirren opened March with a 3-1 win over title rivals Clydebank and their 7 game winning streak ended with a 1-1 home draw against St Johnstone.
St Mirren’s 28 game unbeaten run came to an end with a shock 3-0 derby defeat to Morton at Cappielow.
A late goal gave St Mirren a controversial 1-0 home win over Hamilton. The PA at Love Street announced that Clydebank game had finished as a draw while the St Mirren v Accies game was 0-0 late in the game. St Mirren then proceeded to score a late winner.
The teams drew 0-0 at Douglas Park the following week.
Clydebank stayed 2nd with Dundee in 3rd after home wins over Dumbarton 4-0 and Arbroath 5-2. Morton were gaining a head of steam following the win over St Mirren they had back to back 1-0 wins over Falkirk to end the month in 4th.
At the bottom , Falkirk stayed bottom despite a 1-0 home win over Hamilton while St Johnstone stayed 13th behind East Fife and Raith as the battle to avoid relegation tightened.
April 1977
St Mirren comfortably won promotion beating Airdrie 3-0 at home before winning 4-0 against Dundee at Dens Park while Clydebank claimed the other promotion spot.
Falkirk finished bottom taking only 1 point from their final 6 games.
St Johnstone ended the season with 3 wind and 2 draws to jump to 11th place and safety after a final day 4-1 win at Queen of the South.
Raith’s 2-1 home win over Clydebank put them on 27pts with 2 games to play as East Fife drew 2-2 at Dundee to move on to 28pts. East Fife then lost at home to Dundee 2-0 but Raith Rovers couldn’t take advantage losing 2-0 at Clydebank.
The final day saw East Fife draw 3-3 at Dumbarton to ensure their safety as Raith lost 4-3 at home to Morton and were relegated.
SCOTTISH CUP
Third Round
The highlight was St Mirren’s 4-1 demolition of Dundee Utd, while Clydebank needed a replay after a 0-0 draw at Hamilton before winning 3-0 at Kilbowie.
Rangers beat Falkirk 4-1 at home while Celtic needed a replay to see off Airdrie 5-0 after a 1-1 draw at Broomfield
Fourth Round
Motherwell beat Alex Ferguson’s St Mirren 2-1 in front of a massive crowd of 26,709.
Celtic again needed a replay after drawing 1-1 at home with Ayr , they won 3-1 at Somerset Park. Rangers beat Highland League Elgin City 3-0 at home.
Hibs drew 1-1 at Arbroath but were stunned at Easter Road in the replay losing 2-1, as Aberdeen also lost in a replay 2-1 at home to Dundee after a 0-0 draw at Dens Park.
Quarter Final
Dundee inspired by opening goalscorer Gordon Strachan won 3-1 at Arbroath while Celtic beat Queen of the South 5-1 at home, with Ronnie Glavin netting two penalties in his hat trick.
Rangers beat Motherwell 2-0 at home , as Hearts struggled to a 0-0 home draw with East Fife. Hearts had to come from the early setback of conceding the first goal and ended up winning 3-2 with a late winning goal in the replay at Bayview.
Semi Finals
Rangers beat Motherwell 2-0 in the first semi final at Hampden before two late goals gave Celtic the same 2-0 score against Dundee the following week.
Final
Celtic beat Rangers 1-0 through an Andy Lynch penalty
FIRST DIVISION NOTABLE PLAYERS BY TEAM
1 ST MIRREN
Alex Ferguson – manager began his managerial career at Love Street in 1974, and became a legend at Aberdeen and Manchester Utd.
Tony Fitzpatrick – made captain of St Mirren at age 19 by Alex Ferguson played 160 games for St Mirren before moving to Bristol City before returning and playing another 191 games for the Paisley club. He had a 6 year spell as CEO from 2016.
Frank McGarvey – his scoring exploits at St Mirren led to an ill-fated move to Liverpool. He had great success at Celtic lifting 5 major honours between 1980 and 1985 before returning to St Mirren and helping them lift the Scottish Cup in 1987.
Billy Stark – played 255 games for St Mirren before success with Aberdeen and Celtic before brief spells at Kilmarnock and Hamilton Accies. He went on to a long coaching career beginning as assistant to Tommy Burns at Celtic and worked at SFA as Scotland u-21 manager.
2 CLYDEBANK
Davie Cooper – the star of the team in his last season before moving to Rangers
Mick Larnach – great goalscorer for Clydebank between 1972 and 1977 before moving to Newcastle , Motherwell, Ayr and Stenhousemuir before returning to the Bankies 1984 -1986
Tommy Callaghan – a great servant with Dunfermline then Celtic he played for Clydebank in the later stages of his career.
3 DUNDEE
Gordon Strachan – a future Scotland star who played for Aberdeen as they won many trophies before a big money move to Manchester Utd
Bobby Robinson – elegant midfield player for Dundee 1972 – 1978 was capped by Scotland 4 times.
Eric Sinclair – Striker who played 238 games or Dundee from 1974-1984
Billy Pirie – Dundee legendary goalscorer 1976 – 1980 scored 93 goals in 112 games after spells at Arbroath and Aberdeen.
4 MORTON
Davie Hayes – full back played 465 games for Morton 1969-1984
Mark McGhee – goalscorer at Morton 1975-1977 before moving to Newcastle.
He was part of Aberdeen team which won ECWC and then went on to Celtic before a long managerial career.
Neil Orr – youngster at Morton 1975 – 1982 before a successful time West Ham 1982-1987 and then on to Hibs and St Mirren.
Andy Ritchie – came to Morton from Celtic and became a club legend scoring 100 gaols in 213 games 1976-1983.
5 MONTROSE
Les Barr – the hero of Montrose League Cup run – scored the winning goal in Quarter Final against Hobs and scored the penalty that gave Montrose the half time lead against Rangers in the Semi Final
Dennis D’Arcy – formidable Centre Half for Montrose 1970-1979
Ian Stewart experienced striker for Montrose 1974 -1978 after Forfar 1967-1974 following short spells at Arbroath and Dundee Utd
6 AIRDRIE
Derek Whiteford – played over 300 games in a ten year spell with Airdrie from 1967.
John Lapsley – left back from 1973-1980 and played in 1975 Scottish Cup Final v Celtic
Sandy Clark – Striker who scored 92 goals for the club between 1974 and 1982 before moves to West Ham and Rangers followed by successful managerial career
7 DUMBARTON
Graeme Sinclair – full back played 203 games 1976-1982 , went to to play for Celtic 1982-1985 where he won the league and was credited with marking Johan Cruyff when Celtic beat Ajax in European Cup in 1982
Walter Smith – Bought from Dundee Utd to add experience to defence went on to legendary status as a manager with Rangers and Scotland
John Bourke – joint top league scorer with 17 goals , went on to have a successful career at Dundee Utd & Kilmarnock before returning to both Dumbarton and Kilmarnock either side of a spell at Brechin City.
8 ARBROATH
Gordon Marshall -Veteran Goalkeeper played 142 games for Arbroath 1972-1978 , began his career playing 193 games for Hearts 1956-1963 before moving to Newcastle playing 177 games 1963-1968. Also played for Nottingham Forest before returning to Scotland Hibs , Celtic and Aberdeen.
Joe Carson – young defender 1973-1979 who would go on to star for Motherwell 1979-1984
Jimmy Bone – scored for Partick in 1971 League Cup Final win and played for Norwich and Sheffield Utd before moving to Gayfield before winning the Anglo Scottish Cup under Alex Ferguson at St Mirren.
Derek Rylance played 275 games for Arbroath 1971-1981.
9 QUEEN OF THE SOUTH
Allan Ball – goalkeeper played 579 games for Queens his only club between 1963 & 1982.
Chris Balderstone – former Huddersfield, Carlisle and Doncaster player was with Queens 1976-1978 and also a professional cricketer including 2 test matches for England.
Billy McLaren – strong midfielder who would go on to manage Hamilton Accies, worked full time with Inland Revenue.
10 HAMILTON ACCIES
Rikki Ferguson – goalkeeper played a club record 452 games for Accies 1974-1988, also capped by Scotland at u-21 level , a real hero to Accies fans.
Jim Frew – right back who played 363 games for Accies 1971-1981
Arthur McMillan left back played 221 games for Accies 1969- 1977 , winning Accies Player of the Year award in 1971, 1973 & 1976.
Jamie Fairlie – many Accies fans of the era’s favourite player , played 291 games for Accies scoring 74 goals 1974-1983 , sadly broke his leg at Falkirk on the eve of a big money move to Aberdeen in 1981. He went on to play for Airdrie, where he scored the winner against Dumbarton , which handed the 1986 First Division to Accies. Following spells with Clydebank and Motherwell. He returned to Accies 1987-1989 winning the First Division in 1988 playing a further 41 games and scoring 7 goals.
Gary McDowall – a midfielder who could play in defence and attack , ended up in Australia, where he played 16 games for Australia , his brother Kenny played for Partick Thistle and St Mirren before coaching with Rangers
Joe McGrogan – A fans favourite on the wring 1974-1982 and scorer of many goals.
11 ST JOHNSTONE
Walter Borthwick – experienced attacking midfielder after spells at East Fife and St Mirren would go on to be coach at Hearts during 1980’s
Micky Lawson – goalscorer signed from Stirling Albion would go to serve Raith Rovers, Berwick Rangers and Meadowbank Thistle.
Bobby Thomson – striker 1973-1978 became famous for Morton 1978-1981 and Hibs 1982-1985 after a spell with Blackpool, won promotion with Hamilton Accies in 1987-88. He was infamously given a six month ban after punching a linesman while at Hibs , in a career where he was sent off 10 times.
12 EAST FIFE
Quinton Young – 1976-1980 after spells at Ayr Utd and Coventry City was best known for his time with Rangers 1973 – 1976 where he scored against Ajax in European Super Cup.
Kevin Hegarty – brother of Dundee Utd’s Paul played for East Fife 1971-1978
13 RAITH ROVERS
Murray McDermott – goalkeeper who played for Raith from 1970 -1981
Andy Harrow – goalscorer 1976 – 1981 who went on to play for Motherwell 1982-1986.
Gordon Wallace experienced former who came back to Kirkcaldy after spells with Dundee , Dundee Utd and American side Seattle Sounders
Donald Urquuart – played 498 games for Raith between 1971 & 1985.
14 FALKIRK
Donald Ford – former Hearts player 1964-1976 who was in Scotland 1974 World Cup squad, played for Falkirk in his final season in football 1976-77.
George Watson – Goalkeeper with Falkirk played 1975-1986
TEXACO CUP 1970/71 & 1971/72
The Texaco Cup ran over 5 seasons from 1970/71 to 1974/75 and following the withdrawal of the sponsorship it changed to the Anglo Scottish Cup.
This is the story of the first two seasons where clubs who had not qualified for Europe competed.
There were 6 teams from England , 6 from Scotland , 2 from N Ireland and 2 from Rep of Ireland.
The games were all played as two legged knockout games.
1970/71
The first round saw Derry City beat Limerick and Shamrock Rovers beat Ards as the Northern Irish sides played teams from south of the border.
This left 6 Anglo Scottish games where 4 Scottish sides were successful
Airdrie beat Nottingham Forest, on penalties after a pair of 2-2 draws.
Motherwell also won penalties after beating Stoke 1-0 at home and losing 2-1 away.
Hearts lost 3-1 at Burnley but turned it round winning 4-1 at Tynecastle.
Morton saw off West Brom 3-1 on aggregate, winning both legs.
The English teams who won through to the Quarter Finals were Wolves who won 2-1 and Dundee before a scoreless second leg and Tottenham who beat Dunfermline 7-0 on aggregate.
QUARTER FINALS
Derry City beat Shamrock Rovers 4-0 and completed the victory despite aan away 3-1 defeat
The big shock came at Fir Park where Motherwell having lost 3-2 in London came back from a goal down to beat Tottenham 5-4 on aggregate.
Hearts 5-0 win at Airdrie guaranteed a semi final place despite losing the home leg 3-2.
The semi final line up was completed by Wolves who beat Morton 3-0 at Cappielow and although they lost 2-1 at home , were comfortably through.
SEMI FINALS
Wolves won 1-0 away to Derry City before a 4-0 home win sealed their place in the final against Hearts
Hearts had drawn 1-1 at home to Motherwell and when they went behind at Fir Park , they looked out. A 90th minute equaliser by George Fleming took the game to extra time where Donald Ford scored the winner for the away side.
FINAL
Hearts took the lead in the 7th minute through Donald Ford at Tynecastle in the first leg but Wolves fought back to win 3-1 and seemingly end any hopes Hearts had of lifting the trophy.
The second leg in Wolverhampton turned nervy for the English side when George Fleming scored for Hearts after 25mins.
Wolves held on for a 3-2 aggregate win and lift the first Texaco Cup
1971/72
Balleymena Utd beat Waterford 3-2 at home before drawing 3-3 to progress to the Quarter Finals while Shamrock Rovers comfortably won both legs against Coleraine.
There was only one Scottish team who made the Quarter Finals, Airdrie who beat an under strength Manchester City who were fined and banned from the competition for two years. Airdrie won 2-0 at Broomfield after a 2-2 draw in Manchetser.
Coventry beat Falkirk coming from 1-0 down at Brockville to win 3-1 on aggregate while Derby County thrashed Dundee Utd 6-2 , qualifying with an aggregate win 8-5.
Hearts lost on penalties to Newcastle , Huddersfield beat Morton and Stoke City beat Motherwell
QUARTER FINALS
Balleymena Utd beat Shamrock Rovers 4-1 at home before a draw in the second leg gave them a semi final place.
Airdrie won 2-1 away to Huddersfield before a 5-1 win at Broomfield kept alive Scottish interest.
Newcastle demolished Coventry 5-1 after a 1-1 draw away , while Brian Clough’s Derby County prevailed 4-3 on aggregate against Stoke City.
SEMI FINALS
Airdrie after a 3-0 away win completed the victory over Ballymena with a 4-3 win at Broomfield.
Derby beat Newcastle 1-0 in the home leg before Newcastle forced extra time at St James Park. It would however be Derby County who would go on to win by an aggregate score of 4-2.
FINAL
Airdrie and Derby played out a 0-0 draw at Broomfield and despite Airdrie scoring through Derek Whiteford , Derby won 2-1 with a controversial penalty winner.
ASTON VILLA
Third Division to European Champions
In season 1969/70 Aston Villa were relegated to the Third Division for the first time in their history. A change of ownership in December 1968 had seen Doug Ellis appointed Chairman and his first managerial appointment , Tommy Docherty was replaced after 13 months by Vic Crowe.
1970/71
Villa although finishing 4th in the Third Division , managed to go on an incredible run in the League Cup where after wins over Notts County , Burnley, Northampton and Carlisle, they beat Bristol Rovers in a Quarter Final replay to reach a two legged semi final against Manchester Utd.
Old Trafford saw a 1-1 draw and when Villa returned to Villa Park they won 2-1 to qualify for the final which they lost to Tottenham 2-0, but was a major achievement for a club in Third Division.
1971/72
This season would see Aston Villa crowned Third Division champions and promoted along with Brighton.
1972/73
The first year in Division Two saw Aston Villa miss out on promotion finishing third behind the two promoted clubs Burnley & QPR
1973/74
A 14th place finish in the Second Division has seen Vic Crowe replaced as manager by Ron Saunders, in August 1974.
1974/75
This season was a major turning point in Villa’s history, after winning the League Cup at Wembley with a 1-0 win over Norwich, through a Ray Graydon goal after his penalty was saved , he netted the rebound.
Aston Villa and Norwich were both promoted from the Second Division behind Champions Manchester Utd, with Villa’s Brian Little being the Division’s top scorer.
1975/76
Aston Villa signed striker Andy Gray from Dundee Utd as they finished 16th in the First Division.
1976/77
The link up between Brian Little and Andy Gray led Aston Villa to finish 4th in the First Division and win the League Cup beating Everton in a classic match.
The first game at Wembley ended 0-0 and then a replay at Hillsborough ended 1-1 after extra time. It took a second replay at Old Trafford before Aston Villa won 3-2.
Andy Gray won the unique double as the first player to win the PFA Player of the Year award and the PFA Young Player of the Year award at the age of 20.
1977/78
Aston Villa competed in the UEFA cup and after beating Fenerbache 6-0 on aggregate they beat Górnik Zabrze 2-0 at home before a 1-1 draw away booked their place in round three.
Athletic Bilbao were similarly despatched 2-0 and 1-1 for a 3-1 aggregate to set up a Quarter Final with Barcelona.
The tie looked over when Barcelona scored in the 80th min at Villa Park to lead 2-0 but Ken McNaught and John Deehan levelled at 2-2 before the second leg in the Nou Camp.
Brian Little would put Villa into the lead shortly before the hour mark in Spain, but Barcelona came back to win 2-1 on the night and 4-3 overall.
Aston Villa finished the league in 8th place.
1978/79
Aston Villa missed out on Europe again finishing 8th.
1979/80
A 7th place finish was still not good enough for a European place, as Andy Gray was sold to Wolves
1980/81
Aston Villa had brought in striker Peter Withe to partner young Gary Shaw as the club embarked on an epic title tussle with Ipswich Town.
The clubs were drawn against each other in the Third Round of the FA Cup with Ipswich winning 1-0 at Portman Road.
It was perhaps this defeat which boosted Villa’s chances of winning the league as Ipswich went on to the FA Cup semi final and competed in Europe , in the end winning the UEFA Cup.
Aston Villa with only the league to consider would run out Champions.
1981/82
As League Champions , Aston Villa competed in the European Cup.
The First Round saw Villa drawn against Iceland’s Valur with a 5-0 win at Villa Park followed by two Gary Shaw goals to complete a 7-0 aggregate win.
Aston Villa travelled to Berlin and beat Dinamo Berlin 2-1 with two goals from Tony Morley and although the second leg was lost 1-0 at home , Villa progressed on the away goals rule in a very tricky tie.
In February 1982 Aston Villa manager Ron Saunders resigned and it was left to his assistant Tony Barton to complete what would become a memorable season.
Dynamo Kiev were the opponents in the Quarter Final and after a 0-0 draw in Kiev and early Gary Shaw goal settled the nerves of the Villa Park faithful in the return leg. Ken McNaught competed the 2-0 win before half time.
A Tony Morley goal at Villa Park in the semi final against Anderlecht was enough to send Aston Villa into the 1982 European Cup Final as they would see out the second leg 0-0 in Belgium.
The final against Bayern Munich in Rotterdam would have a strange beginning with goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer going off injured after only 9 minutes to be replaced by young Nigel Spink.
The heroics of Spink on the night were matched by the wing play of Tony Morley who crossed for Peter Withe to score the only goal of the game.
TEN YEARS AFTER WINNING THE THIRD DIVISION – ASTON VILLA WERE CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE
FA CUP 3RD/4TH PLACE PLAYOFFS
The FA decided to give the losing FA cup semi finalists a further game as consolation for losing the semi finals in 1970 with a weekend of football.
The 3rd /4th play playoff was played on the Friday night before the FA Cup Final.
1970
The first year saw Manchester Utd who had lost to Leeds Utd 1-0 in a replay at Bolton’s Burden Park after a 0-0 draw at Hillsborough, play Watford who had lost their semi final 5-1 to Chelsea at White Hart Lane.
This led to the infamous FA Cup final between Chelsea and Leeds which ended 2-2 after extra time at Wembley before another period of extra time was required in the Old Trafford replay before Chelsea won 2-1.
Watford were in the Second Division and had knocked Liverpool out in the Quarter Final 1-0 at Vicarage Road.
The 3rd / 4th play play off was played on Friday 10th April 1970 saw Manchester Utd defeat Watford 2-0 at Highbury in front of 15, 105 fans. Brian Kidd was the scorer of both Manchester Utd goals.
1971
The semi final at Old Trafford saw Liverpool beat Everton 2-1 while at Hillsborough, Arsenal and Stoke City drew 2-2. Arsenal won the replay 2-0 at Villa Park.
Arsenal would win the FA Cup beating Liverpool 2-1 after extra time.
The 3rd/4th playoff took place on Friday 7th May at Selhurst Park in front of only 5.031 fans. In an entertaining game Stoke won 3-2 including a double by Stoke’s John Ritchie.
1972
The 1972 version was changed from an eve of Cup Final match to a pre season fixture , with one of the participants being at home.
The semi finals saw Arsenal play Stoke once more and again after a draw this time 1-1 at Villa Park , Arsenal prevailed 2-1 in the Goodison Park replay.
The other semi final saw Leeds Utd who would go on to lift the FA Cup beat Birmingham City 3-0.
Leeds beat Arsenal 1-0 in the final.
The 3rd/4th place game was played on 5th August at Birmingham City’s St Andrews ground. A crowd of 25.841 witnessed a 0-0 draw before the home side defeat Stoke City 4-3 on penalties.
1973
Arsenal were thwarted in their efforts to reach a third successive FA Cup Final when they lost 2-1 to Sunderland in the semi final at Hillsborough.
Leeds would make their way to Wembley and lose 1-0 to Sunderland in a massive FA Cup Final shock after defeating Wolves 1-0 in their semi-final at Maine Road , Manchester with a goal from their captain Billy Bremner.
This led to the 3rd/4th place playoff at Highbury on 18th August where 21,038 saw Arsenal lose 3-1 to Wolves.
1974
Newcastle Utd beat Burnley in the FA Cup semi final at Hillsborough with two goals by Malcolm McDonald.
The other semi final saw Leicester City and Liverpool fight out a goalless draw at Old Trafford before a replay at Villa Park saw Liverpool win 3-1.
In what would be Bill Shanley’s final game in charge of Liverpool , they beat Newcastle 3-0 in the final on 4 May 1974.
After pressure from the FA the 3rd/ 4th place play off took place at Filbert Street , Leicester , 5 days later where Burnley won 1-0. Ray Hankin scored the only goal of the game in front of only 4,432 fans.
The FA they dispensed with the FA Cup 3rd/4th place playoff after 5 years , but it left it’s own little piece of football history.
SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP – 1979/80
The League Cup of 1979/80 season was played for by the 38 league clubs and began in August 1979 with every round up to the semi finals being played over two legs. This was similar to the system used in England at the time.
The draw was random throughout and the First Round saw 12 teams drawn into 6 ties to eliminate 5 teams to get to 32 teams in the Second Round.
FIRST ROUND
Aberdeen were the only big team drawn in the first round and they saw off Arbroath 4-0 at home and although they lost the second leg 2-1 advanced comfortably.
Albion Rovers beat East Stirling 4-1 at home after a drawn first leg, St Johnstone beat Dumbarton 3-2 at home after another first leg was drawn.
There were extra time wins for Forfar over Berwick and Kilmarnock over Alloa.
The biggest upset saw drew at home with Dunfermline before winning after extra time at East End Park 4-2.
SECOND ROUND
The Second Round saw comfortable aggregate wins for Aberdeen 7-2 over Meadowbank, Stirling 4-1 over Brechin , Celtic 6-2 over Falkirk, Dundee 7-2 over Cowdenbeath, Raith 3-0 over East Fife , Kilmarnock 3-1 against Forfar, Morton 5-0 over Queen of the South , Rangers 6-1 against Clyde.
There was a goal fest as St Mirren beat Stenhousemuir 4-1 away and 4-2 at Love Street to win 8-3 on aggregate. At the other end of the scale Hamilton Accies beat Clydebank by a 1-0 aggregate.
Hearts after drawing 2-2 at Ayr , lost at Tynecastle 1-0 , while Edinburgh rivals Hibs beat Montrose 2-1 at home before just going through after a 1-1 draw at Links Park.
St Johnstone after winning 3-1 at home were held to a 3-3 draw in the return but went through 6-4 on aggregate.
Partick Thistle had a tough tie with Albion Rovers where they won the second leg 1-0 away after being held to a 2-2 draw at Firhill.
Dundee Utd suffered a 2-1 first leg defeat at Airdrie before turning it around with a 2-0 win at Tannadice.
Motherwell were stunned losing 4-1 at home to Queens Park and despite going to Hampden and winning 2-0 they were a shock casualty.
THIRD ROUND
The tie of the round was a repeat of the previous season’s final with Aberdeen playing Rangers. The first leg at Pittodrie saw Aberdeen win 3-1 and both teams seemed to have a chance of progression going into the second leg in Glasgow. This was however a statement victory for Alex Ferguson as the Dons won 2-0 to complete a 5-1 aggregate win.
Dundee Utd and Morton also had 5-1 aggregate wins over Queens Park and Partick Thistle respectively.
Celtic beat Stirling Albion 4-1 on aggregate, while Dundee won both legs to defeat Ayr Utd 3-1 on aggregate.
Kilmarnock beat Hibs and Raith Rovers beat St Johnstone both games ending in 4-2 aggregate wins.
St Mirren beat Hamilton Accies 3-1 at Douglas Park and seemed set for the Quarter Finals , however two goals by Accies veteran striker Bobby Graham took the game to extra time. Accies went down to ten men due to injuries but still prevailed 4-2 on penalties.
QUARTER FINALS
The First legs were played on Wednesday 31st October and saw a great game at Pittodrie as Aberdeen beat Celtic 3-2 with the game at Cappielow also saw the home team win 3-2 as Morton beat Kilmarnock.
It was an unhappy night for the Tayside rivals as Dundee Utd were held at Tannadice 0-0 by Raith Rovers and Dundee were beaten 3-1 at Douglas Park by Hamilton Accies in one of my most memorable games. Accies early lead was wiped out before a spectacular strike by Jamie Fairlie gave Accies a two goal lead going to Dens Park.
The second legs were due to be played on 14th November but a blanket of snow across the West of Scotland led to the cancellation of the games at Celtic and Kilmarnock.
Dundee Utd managed to win 1-0 at Starks Park to claim a semi final spot but Dundee although they also won 1-0 in their second leg were knocked out by Hamilton Accies on aggregate , a major shock at the time.
This in 1979 was Hamilton Accies first League Cup semi final since 1961 an achievement they not managed since
Saturday 24th November was the original Semi Final date and was used to play the two outstanding Quarter Final second legs.
Celtic were shocked to lose 1-0 (4-2 on agg) to Aberdeen while Kilmarnock matched the first leg beating Morton 3-2 to level the aggregate 5-5. It was Morton who would reach the semi finals with a penalty shoot win.
SEMI FINALS
The draw saw Dundee Utd drawn with Hamilton Accies so the game went ahead on the original date 24th November alongside the two Quarter Final second legs. This was also the day George Best made his debut for Hibs at Love Street against St Mirren.
Accies took the biggest support in modern history to East End Park in Dunfermline where the game was played on wet , muddy surface that played into the hands of the full time Dundee Utd players.
Willie Pettigrew gave Dundee Utd an early lead , before Denis McQuade equalised for Accies after 18mins.
It only took two minutes for Billy Kirkwood to put Utd back in front to give Dundee Utd a 2-1 half time lead.
Two goals early in the second half by Paul Sturrock and Billy Kirkwood put United on easy street before Denis McQuade’s second goal of the afternoon brought Accies back to a 4-2 deficit going into the closing stages.
Former Accies player Paul Hegarty scored Dundee Utd’s fifth and a minute later Paul Sturrock ended the scoring as Jim McLean’s team won 6-2.
The other semi final was played at Hampden the following week in front of only 11,896 and saw Aberdeen lead through Mark McGhee before Gordon Strachan’s first half penalty effectively won the game. A late Andy Ritchie penalty was only a consolation for Morton as Aberdeen won 2-1.
THE FINAL
Aberdeen managed by Alex Ferguson returned to Hampden a week later to face Jim McLean’s Dundee Utd. The two central defensive partnerships, Aberdeen’s Miller and McLeish against Dundee Utd’s Hegarty and Narey were outstanding in front of 27,193 and it was really no surprise the game ended in a 0-0 stalemate.
The replay was played 4 days later at Dens Park , Dundee in front of 28,933 fans and after an early goal by Dundee Utd’s Willie Pettigrew , they took control and into the second half he doubled the lead before Paul Sturrock sealed a 3-0 win and brought Dundee Utd their first major trophy.
WORLD CUP 2026 – FINAL
FINAL PREVIEW WITH UK KICK-OFF TIME
Sunday 18th July – New York – 8pm
Spain v Argentina
Spain have slowly built into the tournament as Yamine Lamal and Neco Williams have recovered from injury so not had the impact they had on Euro 2024.
Spain scored late winners against Portugal and Belgium before their best performance of the World Cup where their possession based game frustrated France and nullified the great attacking French threat.
Argentina have shown resilience in beating Cape Verde and Switzerland as well as injury time winners when coming from behind against Egypt and England.
The countries have only met once at a World Cup and that was 60 years ago in 1966, at Villa Park.
The question is can Spain repeat their semi final performance against a team with such resilience.
I think Spain can and will in the end lift the World Cup.
WORLD CUP 2026 – SEMI FINALS
SEMI FINALS PREVIEW WITH UK KICK-OFF TIMES
1 Tuesday 14th July – New York – 8pm
France v Spain
France go into the semi final in confident mood after a straightforward 2-0 win over Morocco despite Mbappe’s penalty miss. Spain just did enough to see off Belgium and still look like a team trying to find cohesion with their star players not fully fit.
France seem to have strength in depth and gears still to go through if needed and should make it through to the final.
2 Wednesday 15th July – Miami – 8pm
England v Argentina
England just did enough to see off Norway but struggled for long spells as Norway passed the ball around. Bellingham was the difference with two goals particularly his first goal which showed great touch and composure. Kane has been influential and good at winning free kicks in dangerous areas and penalties.
Argentina look a class act with their will to win keeping them going through many tough times in this World Cup. They also have good strength in the forward areas, with Messi , Alvarez and Martinez all scoring.
Argentina with their know how and attacking threat, may be too much for England especially if they allow the opposition to dominate possession again as the did against Norway.
