The Dutch Masters Visit Paisley (1983)

(first published in the match programme for St. Mirren v Kilmarnock, 14^th September 2024)

Aberdeen's capture of the European Cup Winners Cup in 1983 opened up a fifth European spot for Scottish Clubs and, due to St. Mirren's fifth placed finish in the Scottish Premier Division in the previous season, they gained entry to the UEFA Cup competition for the second time.

Long before the expansion of the European tournaments to their present size, with an end-of-June start and up to four qualifying rounds to negotiate before the real action takes place, the 1983/84 UEFA Cup First Round ties were scheduled for September.

St. Mirren were drawn against Dutch side Feyenoord, who already had European Cup and UEFA Cup wins behind them from the 1970s and their side featured Johan Cruyff and an up-and-coming Ruud Gullit.

The programme for the first leg match at Love Street was St. Mirren's usual fare for the season, consisting of 20 glossy pages and priced at 40p. The striking red cover with black and white stripes and a colour image in the corner would win the "Best Cover" category in "Programme Monthly" magazine's Scottish Programme of the Year awards at the end of the season. Unfortunately, in the instance of the Feyenoord issue, there was a glaring typo in the match details, which referenced the EEFA Cup!

Following an inside cover page listing Saints' officials and honours, "Ricky Spot" presented Manager McFarlane's views on the forthcoming match. He urged the players to keep their heads and not to chase the game blindly, given that Feyenoord were a team who could punish the slightest error. He also pleaded with the fans to keep behind the team for the whole ninety minutes, stating that encouragement from the terraces would lead to composure on the park.

John Byrne's "In the Past" feature looked back at St. Mirren's first UEFA Cup experiences against Swedish side Elfsborg and St. Etienne of France in 1980. He also reminded the reader of a Saints' triumph in Europe, when they defeated Barcelona in 1922 at the opening of the home club's Les Corts stadium.

"Paisley Past", sponsored by Cowans Manshops, looked back at Saints' 1950/51 season in which they survived relegation in the last fixture of the season. This piece preceded Alex Bell's "European Special" 10-question quiz.

Andy Mitchell provided an article on Feyenoord's History, backed up by club facts and their full European record. This was followed by a centre page spread with details of their squad and a team photo.

"The Dutch Master" was a respectful piece on Johan Cruyff, who had only recently joined Feyenoord at the twilight of an illustrious career spanning twenty years in which he had played at Ajax, Barcelona and in the USA.

"Buddie's Talk" featured a number of conversation pieces, not least of which was that the Feyenoord match would see Billy Thomson make his 250^th appearance for St. Mirren. This was followed by a two-page interview and look back on the popular goalkeeper's career.

The two pools of players and a team photo of the 1983/84 "Euro Saints" brought the issue to a close. It is still a readily obtainable programme, costing around the £4 mark.

Saints approached the match with injuries hindering Manager Ricky McFarlane's plans. Out were regulars Tom Wilson and Alan Logan, whilst Frank McDougall could only make the bench. A boost was that Tony Fitzpatrick could start and there was to be a competitive debut for Rowan Alexander, signed in the close season from Queen of the South.

Contrary to the manager's request in the programme, Saints set off at a pace against their Dutch opponents and the crowd of 10,211 saw them create and miss some early chances. However, the crowd were stunned in the 29^th minute when the visitors took the lead. Ruud Gullit broke inside Phil McAveety to shoot for goal from 18 yards, the ball deflecting off Saints' Mark Fulton and into the net. The centre-half made amends five minutes before the interval when he cleared a Peter Houtman shot off the line.

Within ten minutes at the start of the second period, the home side created chances through Ian Scanlon, John McCormack and Gardner Spiers. However, the experienced Dutch side always carried a threat and on the hour mark, Cruyff set up Gullit with a tremendous pass, only for Thomson to deny the winger a second goal with a brilliant save.

Saints weren't out of it yet, and Speirs almost equalised when he went on a tremendous run past three defenders, but his final shot cleared the bar and the match ended in a 0-1 defeat.

In the return leg two weeks later in Rotterdam, Feyenoord prevailed 2-0 for a 3-0 aggregate win. However, it was no shame, as the Dutch side went on to complete a domestic League and Cup double that season and Saints gained some more European experience.