Scottish Cup 1977 - Willie Mcleans Butchers

[underboyleheating]

I was only 13 at the time but it's still the most fans I've witnessed at Fir Park. I was wedged in behind the goals in the South terracing and at times struggled to stay upright. Attendance figures v the Old Firm may show bigger crowds but for me this felt much more crammed. Anybody got a link to the match highlights? I would love to see them again.

[iw1955]

The attendance was unbelievable but the st mirren views on things are a bit deluded. Yes they were running away with the first division that year and had gubbed united in the earlier round and had a bunch of players who were mainly young and quite good.

 

They had a young striker called Torrance who had looked really good against united and i think it would be fair to say that the tackle Stewart McLaren put in on him after 5 seconds was a corker.

 

However, what the St Mirren lot fail to mention was that the crudest, dirtiest player on the park that day was the St Mirren right back called Beckett who was even worse than Miller and McLaren.

 

They also fail to mention that class will always show in the end and Willie Pettigrew and Vic Davidson proved that to win the game, the end result actually flattered St Mirren in the end.

[thewhitepele]

All i can is after 30 plus years , dry your eyes ya bunch of needle sharing wingebags.

[TheLip69]

I canny say i bother too much with the likes of stmirren, hamilton, falkirk etc. I wouldnt say motherwell have a 50:50 rivalry with any team these days. Airdrie are so far out the picture its hard to say that theres much left between both teams. I think, for me though, airdrie would be the closest we have to any sort of balanced rivalry.

 

The bitterness on that stmirren thread towards us is unbelievable. I have read p&b before and there does seem to be a love in between them and falkirk, but I dont think many well fans take notice of this.

 

 

The thing is that St Mirren and Motherwell have a fair bit in common. Both towns are a fairly similar distance away from the bigots in Glasgow, one to the east the other to the west, both towns empty on a saturday with punters going to see the bigots, and both teams have a similar fan base. With all these similarities it must be galling for St Mirren to look across at us and see us doing so much better than they are. They see us playing in Cup finals and semi-finals, playing in Europe, and beiing roundly applauded for our attacking entertaining football, all things they can only aspire to. Let's face it they must be sweating cobs over there as they are due another wee sojourn in the First Division, only Gretna's inadequacies last year and the appalling start by ICT this year has given them a prolonged stay in the SPL. If history tells us anything it's that St Mirren will, sooner or later, fall through the trapdoor.

So let's not get ripped into the St Mirren fans, let's give them some sympathy, show them some pity. That'll make them even madder.

[TheLip69]

I find it a wee bit ludicrous St Mirren fans complaining about "dirty" Motherwell players. Did Billy Abercrombie not receive THREE RED CARDS in one match against us?

[weeyin]

I was at that game, and he did. However, in his defence, it wasn't particularly dirty. Him and Stevie Kirk had a wee stramash with Kirky headbutting him as I recall.

 

Kirky walked straight off, but Abercrombie didn't want to leave the field. So the ref sent him off again. And again. We didn't realise he had been given 3 red cards until after the match. He was banned for about 14 weeks after that.

[thewhitepele]

Have you seen some of the rantings on p+b ,giving that lot anything ,would stick in my throat.The sooner they are relegated and are back in division 1 where they belong the better.trying to be smart and playing up to them ,in that we understand them, sorry that would go straight over their heads ,too many years of drug abuse does that to you.Mabye they are jealous of how much success we have had recently,thats all the more reason to rip the pi@@ right of them now when we have the chance.because we all know it can change and if and when it does ,do you you think they will be in that same generous frame of mnd,,, erm that would be a no. junkie bas@@@@@ When we beat them on saturday.

[Guest 'Flow]

[cheap plug]

 

Check out the special edition Scottish Cup Steelmen Matchday Magazine this Saturday for an alternate look at that famous day in 1977.....

 

http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/index.php?op...&Itemid=136

 

[/cheap plug]

[Special aka]

I remember walking along Manse Road and seeing bus after bus after bus go up Airbles Road. If the crowd that day was the 27,000 officialy recorded then St Mirren must have brought 12,000. However, I'll be a monkey's uncle if there were only 27,000 inside Fir Park that day. My father was at the Rangers cup tie of 51/52 and at the St Mirren game and he reckoned more was at the latter. Given the Main Stand was bigger and the terraces had been concreted I'd take his word for it ............ so we're talking around 37,000.

 

I was in the shed close to the fence and I've never been so packed in in my life. My feet left the ground time after time as we swayed too and fro. When both goals went in it was utter bedlam.

 

Best bit tho was .................. FERGIE, FERGIE, SHUT YER MOUTH

[steelman1991]

Yep Pie my dad said the same thing to me after the game - he wanted a quick getaway after the game and wanted us to stand together, sorry but my place was in the 'choir' right next to the fence. We didn't get home to Harthill till about 6.30 - normally 5.30 after a normal game. It was chaotic to say the least.

 

Oh happy days.

[PettyWulliegrew]

I know cos I was there, as a chap famous around the time of the match once said.

 

Max Boyce !

 

Was in the "Junior choir" that day , was like being in The Kop !

 

FERGIE FERGIE SHUT YER MOUTH !!!!!

[Rory Bellows]

Yep Pie my dad said the same thing to me after the game - he wanted a quick getaway after the game and wanted us to stand together, sorry but my place was in the 'choir' right next to the fence. We didn't get home to Harthill till about 6.30 - normally 5.30 after a normal game. It was chaotic to say the least.

 

Oh happy days.

 

Yeah, I was there (travelled from Shotts) and was also in the Covered Terracing. Never forget the huge queues outside (we were totally shocked when we turned up) and the fact that loads of people didn't get in

 

 

 

Great atmosphere, totally packed (obviously) and St Mirren did bring a MASSIVE support, although I recall the support being split about 50/50

 

Any clips anywhere>>>>>>?????

[grumpy]

I was in the home end for the first half and couldn't see a thing, went out at half time, along the front of the main stand where loads of people were demanding their money back (They had no joy, somethings never change ) and went in the gate at the away end, in those days they opened the gates at half time, and stood on the side of the ash slope where the rest of the main stand should have gone. I could see about a third of the pitch but could at least see Pettigrew's penalty hit the net. Sheer bedlam and as most of us oldies have said the "ahem - official" crowd of 26,000 was at least 5,000 low if not more. By far the biggest crowd I have ever been in at Fir Park.

[daver]

I was at that game, and he did. However, in his defence, it wasn't particularly dirty. Him and Stevie Kirk had a wee stramash with Kirky headbutting him as I recall.

 

Kirky walked straight off, but Abercrombie didn't want to leave the field. So the ref sent him off again. And again. We didn't realise he had been given 3 red cards until after the match. He was banned for about 14 weeks after that.

 

It was up at the home end bye-line so it wasn't very clear but one of them was supposed to have spat on the other who retaliated with a head-butt - none of it very gentlemanly! I actually think it was Kirk who started it but as you say Abercrombie didn't accept the decision and was shown the red card several times.

 

I may have been at the Fergie game everyone's referring to but I was too young for me to remember.

[Special aka]

seeing tv pics would be great, damn sure it was feature game that night on BBC.

[casey]

seeing tv pics would be great, damn sure it was feature game that night on BBC.

 

Highlights are definately on a St Mirren video. Can mind watching said video about 15 years ago when I lived in that area.

 

Maybe somebody will upload them.

[El Grew]

A lot of fairy stories - the originator's name should be Grimm.

 

We had one of the most skilful teams in the SPL at that time and had been in the semi-final of the cup for the previous two seasons:

 

Rennie

Willie Watson Gregor Stevens Willie McVie Joe Wark

Vic Davidson Peter Millar Stuart MacLaren Peter Marinello

Bobby Graham Willie Pettigrew

 

At that time St Mirren had been farting around the First Division for a long time and I for one always regarded them as a lower league team and still do. They have spent as much time in the lower leagues as they did in the top league.

 

Yes they had a good young team that day but a very naive one. We played them off the park with Marinello, Davidson, Graham and Pettigrew running them ragged. It finished 2-1 but it could have been 4 or 5.

 

Peter Millar and Stuart MacLaren did what all good ball winning midfield players do. They went in hard but fair, won the ball and gave it to the aforementioned guys to strut there stuff. St Mirren couldn't get the ball in the midfield and so couldn't really play and it was this that got up Fergie's beak. He had to find some excuse for his team getting beat - and still does. So he perpetuated one of the greatest lies ever that Motherwell kicked his St Mirren off the park that day.

 

I'm old enough to have seen him play and he was no shrinking violet and made up for his lack of skill and pace by kicking his opponents.

[grizzlyg]

Was looking recently for highlights of this.  Was just before I went to my first ever Well game.  My Dad was at it and reminisced about it many a time.   On link below  1.35 to 3.20 just shows goals 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lMNt7FKcqs&t=203s

[GazzyB]

Willie Pettigrew and Michael Higdon with the same celebration I see.

[weeyin]

I believe the technical term for that type of football is "of its time".

Great game to be at, though.

[pretzel]

The game was well before my time tbh but was this fixture not the catalyst for Alex Ferguson having a real destain for us? I'm sure he didn't take the loss well, I think it even got a brief mention in his autobiography.

[Winning by Name]

6 minutes ago, pretzel said:

The game was well before my time tbh but was this fixture not the catalyst for Alex Ferguson having a real destain for us? I'm sure he didn't take the loss well, I think it even got a brief mention in his autobiography.

It certainly was! But as others have said his team were outplayed completely.

[Kmcalpin]

30 minutes ago, pretzel said:

The game was well before my time tbh but was this fixture not the catalyst for Alex Ferguson having a real destain for us? I'm sure he didn't take the loss well, I think it even got a brief mention in his autobiography.

I wasn't aware that he had.

However until that game I was somewhat naive believing that football was all about 2 teams going hammer and tongs at each other fairly and the best team won. However Alex Ferguson's antics soon dispelled that myth and I've never had any time for him since.

[weeyin]

Fergie's League and Euro winning Aberdeen team was pretty impressive. His St Mirren team, not so much.