Scottish Communities League Cup final: Ian Ferguson desperate for St Mirren to end their long cup famine

Ferguson went on to enjoy a fertile career at Rangers, but things have never got better for the Buddies, who hope to end their long trophy famine with victory over Hearts in Sunday’s Scottish Communities League Cup final.

“I can’t believe how quickly has time has passed. It’s been 26 years but I remember it as if it was yesterday,” said Ferguson. “I always remember my dad telling me to enjoy my time in football because it would be gone in the blink of an eye. That’s what it feels like. It’s amazing and yet, when I look back on that game, it was one of the worst I played for St Mirren.

“It wasn’t until Jimmy Bone [Saints’ assistant manager] gave me the kick up the backside that I needed that I sprang into action for extra time. There is now an opportunity for someone else to put their name in the history books.

“No one looks back at 1987 and says how disappointingly I played – they always talk about the goal. I hope one of the St Mirren lads takes that chance to go down in history because it has been a long time since the club won a trophy. I would love to see them do it.”

Ferguson is one who believes that the final will be a release for the contenders, rather than an extension of their toils in the SPL. "It looks like two teams who are struggling at the wrong end of the table but I have seen both play some decent football this season. It’s going to be an exciting final and a hard one to call.

“Other than Rangers and Celtic, you don’t see that much of Scottish football in Australia but I watched the Edinburgh derby on Sunday, when Leigh Griffiths had the goal chalked off, and I’ve also seen St Mirren a couple of times. I still try and keep an eye on the results of my old teams and I like to see them doing well so I was pleased to see St Mirren make the final.

“There is no use beating Celtic in the semis and then throwing it away in the final. I’m sure all the boys at St Mirren will be well aware of that. They’ll know everyone has to play to their best.”

Jimmy Sandison, meanwhile, has his own unique entry, not in the record books, but on the fiction shelves, where the former Hearts man found his name rejigged to provide the character of Sandy Jamieson in Irvine Welsh’s Marabou Stork Nightmares. If Sandison had been running a book on the likely outcomes of Sunday’s contest he would – until Gary Locke took over as interim manager after the departure of John McGlynn – have made St Mirren the favourites.

“The worry is they played St Mirren two or three weeks ago and it wasn't the best Hearts performance in the world. There will be comparisons on Sunday to that game but at the moment Hearts are in a better place,” said Sandison, whose combative style made him a Tynecastle favourite.

“Before the derby on Sunday I was aware it might not be a good thing to be going to Easter Road but the guys have hit a wee bit of form recently and I'm really, really pleased.

“They've gone back to a 4-4-2, which the fans were craving over the course of the season. Against Motherwell, after five straight defeats, the fans stood and clapped the players off. That showed you they were impressed and the players backed it up on the Tuesday night with a good performance against St Johnstone.

"With the upheaval of managers coming and going and the financial turmoil affecting the club, to get to another major cup final is absolutely massive and if they can win on Sunday it would just be quite scary.”

Whoever emerges with the silverware, they should be advised that hero worship has its limits, even for the scorer of a winning cup final goal, if he turns up again in another team’s colours.

“The last time I was back in Paisley I got booed – but that’s just Scottish football for you,” said Ferguson. “Even in Australia, I still meet St Mirren fans who want to talk about the cup final. It’s such a long time ago, but it still gives me goosebumps when I speak about it.”

Taken from telegraph.co.uk