An Unforgettable European Night at Love Street (1985)

(first published in the match programme for St. Mirren v Hibernian, 14^th May 2025)

St. Mirren qualified for their third UEFA Cup tournament by virtue of a final day League victory against Hearts in May 1985, when their 5-2 victory over the Jambos edged out Dundee for a fifth-placed League finish.

They were drawn in the First Round against Czechoslovakian side Slavia Prague. The Czech side had little more European experience than Saints, having previously competed once in the European Cup Winners Cup, twice in the UEFA Cup and twice in its predecessor, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup but, on only one occasion did they progress from the opening round.

In the First Leg in Prague, St. Mirren took to the field in an unfamiliar all-blue strip to avoid a colour clash with Slavia's red and white halved shirts. In a tight match, the home side scored with only fourteen minutes remaining to bring a slender 1-0 lead with them to Paisley for the return.

The programme for the Second Leg on 2^nd October 1985 was Issue No. 6 of St. Mirren's standard programme for the season. It was a twenty-page issue, printed black on white glossy paper with red highlights on the outside cover pages and one inside page. The cover and several of the inside pages carried photos of the home League clash with Motherwell in mid-September.

The team lineups were listed on page three, each side showing one change between the printed and actual starting elevens. For Saints, Neil Cooper replaced Peter Mackie at No. 8, whilst for Slavia, Bohas Viger took the field at No. 11 instead of the listed Miroslav Kouril.

Manager Alex Miller and Coach Drew Jarvie used their respective pieces to express pleasure with the team's performance in Prague and stated that only their best would be acceptable if they were to achieve the aim of a two goal victory. Miller warned players and fans alike that the main quality needed on the night would be patience, as Slavia were expected to play on the break. It was hoped that a positive contribution from the fans throughout the match would encourage the players towards the desired result.

John Byrne provided a piece on St. Mirren's only other Eastern European opponents thus far, Legia Warsaw, who visited Paisley for a friendly in 1976. This was followed by the story of Scot Johnny Madden, who was reckoned to have been one of the finest coaches in Czechoslovakian football. The page was rounded off by a recollection of the games against Feyenoord, St. Mirren's last European opponents in the UEFA Cup of 1983/84.

After a page of that season's European results in all competitions, the centre pages displayed pictures of the Slavia Prague players and coach and listed their European results to date.

"Profile" on page thirteen focussed on Tony Fitzpatrick, who was currently Saints' top goalscorer with nine goals in the season thus far.

Kevin McCarra provided an interesting analysis of Scots v Czech clubs in European competition, recalling early travelling difficulties and on-field issues. To date, the Czechs had won five of the nine ties played, but encouragement was to be gained by the fact that no Scottish club had ever lost its home leg in any of the ties (no pressure on Saints then!).

A page on Slavia Prague's history was followed by a look at some of the players likely to be on show that evening. This sat opposite an action photo of Frank McGarvey from the First Leg, resplendent in the hastily-acquired blue change strip.

The remainder of the programme contained Alex Bell's regular quiz and Mark Scott's Spot, in which he compared experiences of attending Scottish and French International matches.

A marvellous crowd of 11,768 turned out in pouring rain to give the requested support and encouragement. Slavia's Arsenal-style away kit appeared to avoid any colour clash and Saints turned out in their usual colours. The team heeded the Manager's call for patience as the first half progressed and, three minutes from the interval, they got their reward. A shot from Gardner Spiers was parried by goalkeeper Hruska and Lubos Kurik, in attempting to clear the ball, could only rebound it off Brian Gallagher and into the net. It was St. Mirren's first ever home European goal and levelled the tie at 1-1.

Despite both sides having chances in the second half, it remained all-square on aggregate after ninety minutes and so extra time was required.

The extra period belonged to Frank McGarvey. After 102 minutes, his shot from around fifteen yards went in off defender Jiri Jeslinek to put St. Mirren 2-1 up on aggregate. Five minutes later McGarvey put the tie beyond doubt when he scored with a quite magnificent flick past the 'keeper.

It was a night that no Saints fan in attendance will ever forget.