Unannounced guests turning up at a party don’t usually get the VIP treatment.
But when it’s Sir Matt Busby and Sir Bobby Charlton arriving without prior notice, you roll out the red carpet.
St Johnstone owner, Geoff Brown, knew McDiarmid Park was going be graced by football royalty when Sir Alex Ferguson agreed to bring his Manchester United team to Scotland for the official opening of their new stadium.
But nobody had prepared him for the sight of Old Trafford legends, Busby and Charlton, making the trip north to be part of the historic occasion.
In 1989, Brown only had one club in mind when he turned his thoughts to who would be the best opposition for a glamour match against Alex Totten’s side following the summer switch from Muirton Park.
Given his playing connection with the Perth club and his personal relationship with Brown, Ferguson was delighted to accommodate the request to make the trip north 34 years ago this month.
However, Sir Alex forgot to mention that there would be two very special guests heading to the new purpose-built stadium on the outskirts of the Fair City.
“They didn’t tell us Bobby Charlton and Matt Busby were coming!” Brown recalled.
“It was only when they came walking through the front door that we found out. I was standing in the foyer.
“I’d arranged the game through Alex Ferguson.
“I knew Fergie from his time at Aberdeen.
“He accepted straight away.
“He held St Johnstone in high regard from his time as a player in the 60s.
“We paid Manchester United £10,000 and booked their team into a hotel at St Andrews so they could have a round of golf while they were up.
“Then the day comes and in walks Sir Matt Busby and Sir Bobby Charlton!”
Charlton’s pledge
With their understated class, the two United greats (Busby then club president and Charlton a director) added enduring stardust to a landmark occasion.
“It was a wonderful night for St Johnstone,” Brown told Courier Sport.
“To me at that time, any ambition I had in football was satisfied by meeting Sir Matt Busby.
“I viewed him with such high regard.
“He’d come through the Munich disaster and won the European Cup.
“Bobby Charlton was obviously an iconic figure as well.
“From speaking to him, the one thing that sticks in my mind was a conversation we had about Alex, who was taking a bit of flak at the time (United had only won two of their eight league games).
“It was the start of his third season in charge and he hadn’t won a trophy by that point.
“Bobby Charlton said: ‘Fergie is here for the long-term’.
“They were changing playing personnel but they knew they had a good manager and they stuck to their word.
“Boys like Pallister, Bruce, Ince, Hughes and Sharpe were in the team by then.
“Fergie won his first trophy that season, the FA Cup. Then a couple of years later they won the league.”
Floodlights and fireworks
Nearly 10,000 fans attended the game, won 1-0 by United, which was famously interrupted for 20 minutes by a floodlight failure.
“It was (director) Dougie McIntyre who took care of sorting that out,” said Brown. “I hadn’t seen the electrics tested myself but I was assured they had been!”
Jim Leighton narrowly avoiding being struck by a pre-match firework was another off-script moment.
Brown jokes that the question he is asked most about that night is: “What did Manchester United give you?”
And the answer is: “A pennant!”
Sir Matt, meanwhile, got one of his gifts hastily upgraded.
“The head of Tayside Regional Council was there,” Brown recalled.
“He made a presentation of a decanter to Sir Matt.
“Sir Matt said: ‘There’s not much point in giving me this if you’re not giving me something to put in it!’
“So needless to say a good bottle of whisky was found!”
Red and black golf clubs
Brown and Sir Bobby’s paths would cross again a few years later on the golf course.
“We played together in a celebrity am-am day at Carnoustie,” he said. “It was in the 90s.
“Rembrand (Builders Merchants) put a team in – it was Ron Brand, myself, Bobby Charlton and Lawrie Reilly.
“He had Manchester United clubs with red and black shafts!
“I can remember him saying that at that time the Manchester United club shop turned over £5 million on match days alone, which was a bit different to what I was used to.
“You wouldn’t say he was a conversationalist on the golf course. He didn’t really speak much at all.
“His wife, Norma, walked all the way round with him and she was very pleasant company. She did more of the talking.”
Conversation