One of Dundee United’s most revered players from the team’s 1987 Uefa Cup run left an audience “in stitches” after returning to the city for a Q&A event.
Iain Ferguson hosted a hospitality event at Dundee North End FC where he enthralled attendees with anecdotes from his playing days.
Ferguson was at United during some of the club’s most successful seasons, playing 75 times in the late 1980s.
He was part of the Jim McLean side that pulled off one of the greatest victories ever achieved by a Scottish side in Europe en route to the 1987 Uefa Cup final.
Having won the first leg against Barcelona 1-0 at a sold-out Tannadice, the side travelled over to Spain where they won 2-1 thanks to a winner by Ferguson in the 89th minute.
Star for both Dundee clubs
Ferguson started his career at Dundee, signing aged 13 and making his debut at 16, before signing for Rangers and later joining up with McLean’s side prior to the club’s incredible achievements in Europe.
The striker also scored a memorable double for Dundee against Celtic in a famous 5-1 victory for the Dark Blues in 1980.
The event’s organiser Andy Pullar said: “Iain has some brilliant stories, from scoring in the Uefa Cup semi-final, meeting Saddam Hussein (on a pre-season trip to Kuwait with Rangers) to playing against George Best.
“It was household names he was coming up with, some of the stories were just amazing.
“It was a great laugh.”
Also attending the Saturday event, which saw a Dundee shirt and a United shirt auctioned off, were former Dundee players Ray Farningham, Bobby Glennie, Les Barr, and Ray Stephen.
Andy hopes to put on more similar events in Dundee in the coming months including an evening featuring Tam Cowan.
Side from 1987 narrowly missed out on glory
The 1987 United campaign started against French side Lens, who were beaten 2-1 on aggregate.
McLean’s side then crushed Universitatea Craiova and Hajduk Split to set up a quarter-final against giants Barcelona.
Having only lost the European Cup final on penalties the previous season, the Spanish superstars were expected to win comfortably against United.
But they were beaten in both games by a United side which cemented its place in the club’s folklore.
They narrowly missed out on bringing the cup home to Dundee however after losing 2-1 on aggregate to IFK Göteborg of Sweden.
Incredibly, United have a 100% record against the Catalan side having also beaten the side twice in the Fairs Cup back in 1966.
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