Here we go....
The Chairmen listened intently to the figures being given out by the young economist from the Royal Bank of Scotland. Salmond put his plan forward with vigour, stating that it could, in the long run potentially lead to a Scottish game that was richer than that of England. Initially, they couldn’t believe the figures. Somehow they couldn’t, wouldn’t stack up, but yet they did. Wallace Mercer entered the discussion at this point. He had been contacted by the young man with the idea a fortnight previously. Initially, he had the same element of disbelief as the others, but yet he had now been turned around and with the zeal of a convert was now enthusiastically behind the plan.
The plan in itself was simple. The average crowd in the Scottish Premier Division in season 1982-83 was 14,311. For every ticket sold in Premier Division games, 50 pence would be put into a Scottish Football League fund, alongside 5p for First Division games and 2p in the Second Division. This fund, it was hoped would raise upwards of £1,300,000 over the coming season. This money would be managed by a new investment group, who would invest the money in the stock market. 50% of any profit would be given back to the clubs, shared out equally by division, and the rest reinvested. 85% would be given to the Premier Division clubs, 10% to the First Division and 5% to the Second.
The idea would lead to higher gate prices, but the belief that this was in the good interests of the game saw it persevere. With only three clubs voting against (Stranraer, Clydebank and St. Mirren), the plan quickly became a reality.
It would be introduced from the following season. And thus, the seed from which the strength of the modern Scottish game was sown.
1983-84.
Aberdeen kicked off the season as favourites for the league title, having won the European Cup Winners Cup the previous season, but Dundee United under the astute tutelage of Jim McLean could not easily be discounted. If you added the Celtic team who were looking to the future under new manager David Hay and no-one could under-estimate Rangers, who would always be there or thereabouts under the inimitable Jock Wallace.
If anyone doubted it would be a strange season, they were to be disavowed of this notion early on when on the opening day, St. Mirren defeated Rangers 3-0 at Ibrox in front of a disappointing crowd of just 18,000. It would set the store for a bad opening few games for the Govan side, who went onto lose their next two games in a tricky double header, where they went to Pittodrie, losing 2-0 to Aberdeen and in the next fixture at home to Dundee United, losing 1-0 to a well placed Paul Sturrock drive from the edge of the area.
It was their New Firm rivals, Aberdeen who were to draw the first silverware of the season however, securing the European Super Cup, with Alex Fergusons men defeating the reigning European Champions Hamburg 2-0 over two legs with John Hewitt scoring a double at Pittodrie to see the Reds through to their second European trophy in two years.
Rangers went on to show they were still a team with aspirations in November, when an Ally McCoist hat-trick saw them defeat their rivals Celtic in a close match in front of 74,393 at Hampden. This performance however disguised how far both clubs were off the top of the league, with Aberdeen leading Dundee United by a point, six clear of third placed Celtic as the teams went into the new year.
For the Dundee club, this was to be a special season. In Europe, as the season drew on, they continued to do well in Europe, defeating the champions of Malta, Belgium and then Austria in a run which saw them play Roma in the European Cup semi-final. In the first leg at Tannadice, they defeated the Italian team 2-0, with new signing Mo Johnston from Partick Thistle scoring what was the pick of the goals. As they awaited the return in Rome, news filtered through that the referee had contacted FIFA amidst a scandal that Roma had attempted to bribe him with $50,000.
This news led to an international scandal, but it was agreed that whilst the investigation was ongoing about the conduct of Roma, the game would go ahead, but with a different referee. The pressure of the situation clearly told on the Roma players, whose club, if found guilty would not only be banned from Europe for a season, but in a move by the Italian league, relegated to Serie B.
In the end, United held their nerve, when despite going a goal down from Pruzzo, they doggedly defended their lead until a break sent Davie Dodds through with four minutes to go to seal the tie. Dundee United had reached their first European Cup Final, Scotland’s first since Celtic lost to Feyenoord in 1970. They were to face Liverpool. Aberdeen’s season was going almost as well in Europe, reaching the semi-finals of the Cup Winners Cup, only to fall 3--0 on aggregate to Porto.
Domestically, from January onwards, there was no stopping Alex Fergusons Aberdeen side. From a point they almost looked invincible, in two incredible matches in March, defeating Rangers 3-0 and Celtic 4-1, both away from home. This dominance was not to go unrewarded when with three games to go they defeated St. Mirren at a packed Pittodrie to lift the title for the second time in three years. At the other end of the table St. Johnstone and Motherwell were relegated, with Dundee United finishing second, Celtic third and Rangers fourth.
The Scottish Cup was far more unpredictable, when at the semi-final stage, the shock team in the tournament, Clydebank defeated a strong Celtic team for the right to play Hearts, who defeated Aberdeen on penalties in the other semi. Despite putting up a strong show, Clydebank were outclassed by the team from the capital as a young John Robertson scored an overhead kick to see off the threat of the Bankies.
The season was to climax not in Scotland however, but in the Olympic Stadium in Rome, where Dundee United had gone through just weeks earlier against the Italian Champions. Liverpool lined up Grobelaar, Neal, Kennedy, Lawrenson, Whelan, Hanson, Dalglish, Lee, Rush, Johnston, Souness. Dundee United for their part had a first eleven of McAlpine, Stark, Malpas, Gough, Hegarty, Narey, Bannon, Milne, Kirkwood, Sturrock, Dodds.
It has been asked by many how in a match dominated by such an extent by Liverpool that United ended up taking the trophy back to Scotland, but it is not a question which can be easily answered. The very fact that Hamish McAlpine was man of the match stated more about the game than anything else. In the end, it was a late winner from the super-sub Mo Johnston, who had been brought on for Ralph Milne which won United the European Cup for the first time. This led to more battering by Liverpool, but United’s defence held firm. Scotland had its third European trophy in three years. Dundee United were the champions of Europe.
