NOVEMBER 3, 1996: the date is etched on the mind of every self-respecting St Johnstone supporter. Having failed in 112 years of existence to win a national cup competition, the appearance before them of Stranraer in the Scottish League Challenge Cup final - candy from a baby by the club’s recent standards - was too good an opportunity to miss. That they somehow contrived to do so haunts them even now.
Perth’s finest are still without national silverware of the knockout variety. Five consecutive years of Premier League football, including a jaunt into Europe, failed to produce tangible reward. Now they are back in the First Division chasing an imme
diate return to the top flight and wondering whether, in this campaign, they can remove an embarrassing monkey from their backs in the process.
Hamilton Academical visit McDiarmid Park on Tuesday night for the first round of what is now known as the Bell’s Cup. Only two of the St Johnstone players who endured the trauma of that fateful day at Broadwood Stadium nearly six years ago will be there to remind the new breed of what can go wrong. Jim Weir, the captain, and goalkeeper Alan Main - both of whom will miss the match through injury - are unlikely to be short of advice on the sidelines.
Weir, in particular, recalls the humiliation of defeat by Second Division Stranraer in the final of a derided competition, the very existence of which offers relegated sides a sobering reminder of how far they have fallen. "I can remember waking up in the morning to pull back the curtains and see pouring rain and a howling gale," he says. "I knew then that it was an omen."
Fortune was not on St Johnstone’s side. Stranraer goalkeeper Barney Duffy played a blinder for the part-timers, who attributed their 1-0 win to the lucky set of socks that they had borrowed from Clyde.
"We gave them a hammering, but we just couldn’t break them down," Weir recalls. "They even needed Danny Griffin to score an own-goal for them. It was supposed to be a day the supporters would enjoy, taking their first cup back to Perth and celebrating at night. What a disappointment."
While not pretending that the Bell’s Cup is foremost in his sights, the experienced defender believes in the momentum that can be created by a run to the tournament’s later stages: St Johnstone went on to win promotion by 20 points after that setback six years ago. Neither does Weir believe that the opportunity to lift a trophy, however trivial, should be overlooked. He helped to win the Challenge Cup twice as a Hamilton player, the first time against Morton at Love Street.
"That was our first trophy, so the couple of nights after that were a bit special. That’s the whole point of the tournament. There are a lot of clubs outwith Celtic and Rangers who are never going to win a cup. Look at Stenhousemuir: they won it the year before Stranraer by beating Dundee United. It is a great day out for people like that."
Accies will head for Perth in fragile condition. After seeing manager Ally Dawson sacked and enduring the indignity of a players’ strike, they remain overshadowed by doubts about the club’s long-term future. Weir, who spent nearly seven years there before joining Hearts in 1994, will see a few familiar faces in the stand.
"I feel for them. I have known Scott Struthers [club secretary] for a long, long time, and Chris Hillcoat, who has taken over from Ally Dawson, was playing when we first won the trophy. The club still hold a huge place in my heart - I just hope they pass into the right hands. Everybody needs their wages at the end of the week."
The harsh realities of economics are not lost on St Johnstone, who have changed from being the lowest wage-earners in the Premier League to the highest-paid in the First Division. Chairman Geoff Brown has declared already that, with a huge loss expected in the season ahead, promotion is vital if the club are not to go part-time.
To that end, manager Billy Stark has agreed to an exodus of players, and introduced new blood from modest sources. Mark Reilly has joined from Airdrie, John Robertson from Ayr United, Ian Maxwell from Ross County and Ryan Stevenson from Chelsea. Midfielder Ryan McCann is on loan from Celtic at least until the new year, and Weir believes that the new complexion of the team, and indeed the competitions in which they play, could kick-start a revival, much as it did for Hibs in 1999.
"With me living in Perth, I meet a lot of the supporters, and I can tell you the attitude is quite positive. A lot of guys who haven’t been to a game for years are talking about coming back because we are not in the Premier League. Fans like to watch a winning team.
"If it takes a year out to get that back and get the crowd enjoying it again, then maybe relegation might not be such a bad thing."
