Whatever happened to United heroes of 1987? Coaching, fishing and selling
the jerseys

BILLY THOMSON

Goalkeeper who took over the mantle at Tannadice from the revered Hamish
McAlpine. Like the mustachioed McAlpine, had his own distinguishing trait - an
insistence on wearing tracksuit bottoms. Played through most of the first match
with Gothenburg with a badly injured ear. Joined Motherwell after Tannadice,
where he had fallen out of favour after a re-signing dispute with Jim McLean.
Also played with Dundee and Rangers, where he is now goalkeeper coach.

JOHN HOLT

Dependable right-back and a native of Dundee. Proved a rock at the club he
joined straight from school, but enjoyed later spells with Dunfermline, Dundee
and Forfar. Apparently confided to Jim McInally on the morning after United had
won 2-1 at the Nou Camp - and where he had been outstanding - that he was
thinking of accepting an approach from Forfar, because he'd been offered a car.
Decided against a move to Station Park in order to help United reach the UEFA
Cup final, but got there eventually. Now works for Celtic's football in the
community department.

MAURICE MALPAS

Cultured left-back who had played in the World Cup finals the summer before.
Skippered the club to Scottish Cup glory in 1994 but finally left Tannadice with
some bitterness in 2003 when he was a member of the coaching staff sacked by
chairman Eddie Thompson. Now manager at Motherwell after taking over when Terry
Butcher left last summer.

JIM McINALLY

Artful midfielder signed from Coventry City after a spell with Nottingham
Forest. After losing the second leg, remembers waking up the next morning and
thinking: 'well, my playing career will go downhill from here'. Moved to Raith
Rovers, then Dundee. Now manager at Morton, who he led to the Second Division
title last month.

PAUL HEGARTY

Played in the first match, but replaced by Clark after straining a hamstring. On
the bench for the second leg, but came on for Holt in the second half. Said at
the time that, despite the loss, he "will be proud to say ten, 20 years from
now, 'I was there'." Well is he? "I am even more proud than I thought then," he
told The Scotsman. "If you look at what has happened since, a club like Dundee
United getting to the final was monumental." Now assistant to his old team-mate
Malpas at Motherwell.

DAVE NAREY

Reckoned by most observers to be the finest player ever produced by the city of
Dundee, and likened to Italian legend Franco Baresi by manager Jim McLean. Is
fourth in the list of all-time UEFA Cup appearances with 63, bookended by Enzo
Scifo and the other Baresi - Giuseppe of Inter Milan. Left United to join Raith
Rovers, and helped the Kirkcaldly club to a Coca Cola Cup win over Celtic in
1994. Still lives in Dundee, but still doggedly refuses to court publicity. His
son, Steven, was at Dundee briefly.

BILLY KIRKWOOD

His two spells with United sandwiched a short stint at Hibs. Also played with
Dunfermline Athletic and Dundee. Ineligible for the first leg against Barcelona
as he had recently returned to Tannadice from Hibs, but started both legs of the
final. Managed United after Ivan Golac, but sacked in 1996. Now Under-19 coach
at Rangers.

JOHN CLARK

Enjoyed the days of his life during this UEFA Cup campaign with United but later
walked out on the club to be a fisherman. Came back with tail between his legs,
but had earned the right to be forgiven after heading the opening goal against
Barcelona in the Nou Camp. Scored, again, in the second leg of the final against
Gothenburg. Weight issues dogged a career which continued at Falkirk and Stoke.
His last posting was as manager at Whitehill Welfare. Now out of the game and
living in Edinburgh.

DAVE BOWMAN

Fiercely competitive midfielder who started his career with Hearts. Found most
success at United, although he won only one of the six finals he appeared in -
the Scottish Cup final against Rangers in 1994. Nicknamed 'Psycho' and lived up
to the moniker when shown five red cards in the same game for Forfar Athletic
against Stranraer, for which he received a record 17-match ban. Now temporary
manager at Livingston.

PAUL STURROCK

The image of the striker with shirt outside his shorts and socks around his
ankles remains one of the most enduring in Scottish football. Set up Iain
Ferguson's winner in the Nou Camp, and ran Barcelona ragged. Managed St
Johnstone, Dundee United, Plymouth, Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday and Swindon
Town, who he could lead to promotion from League Two with a win over Walsall
this weekend. Still answers to the name of Luggy.

IAIN FERGUSON

Talented striker who began his career with Dundee, and also played with Rangers,
Hearts and Motherwell. Scored goals throughout his career but recently earned
headlines when charged with selling unofficial merchandise in Glasgow. Lives in
Spain, still selling football shirts.

EAMONN BANNON

Joined United in 1979 from Chelsea for a then Scottish record fee of £175,000.
Scored one of the best goals seen at Tannadice courtesy of a mazy run against
Borussia Moenengladbach in 1981/82. Left for Hearts, and also played with Hibs.
Now runs a guest house in Edinburgh and does matchday work for the Press
Association.

DAVE BEAUMONT

Made an appearance as subsitute in the first leg of the UEFA Cup final,
replacing Sturrock. Later moved to Luton Town, and Hibs. Now with Fife
Constabulary, and is manager of the Scottish Police FA team.

KEVIN GALLAGHER

Scored winner against Barcelona at Tannadice and enjoyed a successful career in
the Premiership with Blackburn and Newcastle. Authored a book about Scottish
football published last year and does commentary work for BBC Five Live.

IAN REDFORD

Began his career with Dundee but joined Dundee United from Rangers, where he had
spent five years. Scored in the UEFA Cup semi against Borussia Moenengladbach.
Managed Brechin for a short spell and also became a players' agent. Now owns a
stretch of fishing on the River Tay.

from The Scotsman Online 5 May 2007

Redford reveals torment over 'jealous' dressing-room jibes

HE WAS labelled a Little Lord Fauntelroy of Scottish football but Ian Redford
overcame more obstacles than anyone cared to imagine in the unforgiving
environment of the dressing-room. In any case, his privileged upbringing was
exaggerated. The jibes, some of them playful and others not so, suggested a
silver spoon in the mouth of someone who grew up on a farm in rural Perthshire.

In comparison with the inner-city backgrounds of many of his peers, these
circumstances might have been different. But Redford displayed a level of grit
and determination which challenges the assertion he was born lucky. Fortunate is
not what he felt when he accepted a second loser's medal in five days at
Tannadice Park 20 years ago, after a UEFA Cup final defeat against IFK
Gothenburg - 2-1 on aggregate - had followed a savage 1-0 reversal to St Mirren
in the Scottish Cup final. But these blows were easily placed in perspective,
as, too, was the knee injury sustained in the second leg of that European final
- the first game in Sweden that ended in a 1-0 defeat was 20 years ago tomorrow
- which robbed him of a one and only Scotland cap against Brazil.

 

Redford's father, also Ian, had died suddenly two years earlier, and so did
not live to see his son score in the extraordinary 2-0 semi-final win away to
Borussia Moenengladbach, or set-up John Clark's fabled equaliser in the Nou Camp
against Barcelona in the previous round, a match United went on to win 2-1.
Redford had already been exposed to devastating loss. He was just 12 when
leukaemia took the life of a younger brother, Douglas. It rendered talk of
gilded childhoods harder to accept, as did something else which makes a mockery
of claims he was somehow advantaged.

In actual fact Redford overcame what amounted to a handicap. Left deaf in an
ear after a childhood illness, he struggled with the banter which echoed around
the dressing room. Derek Johnstone, his old Rangers team-mate, labelled him
"Chicken George" - a reference to the poultry business his father had started
from scratch in the Carse of Gowrie. It wasn't always so playful. For a
midfielder who at times operated in the central area, his affected hearing also
presented an altogether more drastic problem. He acknowledges that no-one knew
the true extent of the damage, including his managers. Not even, he admits, Jim
McLean, a hard taskmaster at the best of times and someone not given to making
allowances.

That Redford flourished in the often harsh climate at Tannadice to become an
integral member of, perhaps, the last great native Scottish club side is a mark
of the man.

"I had some major hurdles to overcome," says Redford now. "I don't think my
battling qualities can be in question." They were, however, once queried. McLean
confessed to having doubts about signing Redford from Rangers, for whom he had
scored a winning goal against United in the 2-1 League Cup final of 1981. He
wondered about the level of desire burning in someone presumed already to have
financial stability. On the face of it, he epitomised what McLean once observed
was a typical east-coaster. He hadn't been hardened by the coarse properties of
life in the mean streets. In fact it was worse, given his family's supposed
wealth. In his tabloid column McLean once admitted that given a choice between a
player from the east coast and one of equal quality from the west coast he would
always plump for the latter. This, McLean argued, guaranteed the acquisition of
a winner.

But Redford proved himself. He graduated from Errol Rovers, a team which
played on one of his father's fields, to Dundee. From Dens he moved to Rangers,
and then, when McLean had been convinced of his mettle, to United.

"I arrived at Tannadice just after my father died," recalls Redford, now
based amid loamy fields outside Abernethy. "I was feeling pretty down about
things. I didn't feel fit. I went to McLean and said: 'Look, you tell me what I
need to get fit. You are the manager. I'll do whatever it takes'. I think he saw
then that this guy wanted to get on, that he wasn't content to sit on his
backside. That was a crucial conversation."

"I think there was a bit of what I perceived as jealousy," continues Redford,
recalling how isolated he sometimes felt in the dressing-room. "Footballers, at
that time, did not earn a lot of money, and because my father was a farmer it
was all blown out of proportion. He did OK for himself, but he wasn't
particularly wealthy. He started from nothing, with just a litter of pigs. I did
have to put up with quite a bit [of mickey-taking]. Often of it was
good-natured, but there was definitely an under-current of something more from
some."

This, though, was easier to handle than when the banter got more personal. "I
used to get stick about being deaf too," he says. "That was more difficult,
because I was deaf. I don't think people realised just how deaf I was, otherwise
they wouldn't have said what they said. That was quite an anxiety in my career.
On a football park you need to be aware of what is going on around you. If
someone was calling for the ball it was all about instinct for me, because I
didn't know where the noise was coming from.

"I used to try and cover it up. I didn't want people to know, because I
didn't want people to think I was stupid. [Rangers manager] Jock Wallace, for
example, used to call me a deaf so-and-so, but there was no malice. I just don't
think he realised how bad it was. I think I coped with it quite well. Now my
good ear has gone. I can only hear with a hearing aid. Without it, I am
completely deaf."

Redford was present at the dinner celebrating the tenth anniversary of
United's UEFA Cup march, but, apart from a stint as a players' agent, has
drifted away from the game. His son, also Ian, is a more-than promising golfer.
It continues a trend for Tannadice old boys to sire golf prodigies. Kevin
McAlpine, the son of the revered former goalkeeper Hamish, is a Walker Cup squad
member. More links Redford with his old team-mate. While both are based in the
area surrounding Dundee, neither he nor McAlpine are drawn now to Tannadice.
Redford prefers to watch fee-flowing Arsenal on television, but his eyes can't
help but light up at the memory of a UEFA Cup run which saw United play some
attractive football of their own.

Indeed, the very fact they were denied the chance to play with their usual
style in the first leg of the UEFA Cup final - a Bruce Springsteen concert had
rutted the Ullevi stadium pitch - hampered their bid to lift the trophy. "It was
a bit of an anti-climax, to be honest," recalls Redford. "The major
disappointment was the state of the park. We couldn't play our normal game, and
Gothenburg were a big, physical side."

from The Scotsman Online 5 May 2007