Derby Day Memories – Andy Ritchie

Club icon Andy Ritchie picks out a fabulous free-kick that separated the sides at Cappielow in a Premier Division derby on 11 April 1979, and he encourages supporters to check out the goal on YouTube after it was recorded for posterity by television cameras.

Speaking yesterday after taking in a training session at Parklea, the Ton hall of famer recalled:

“We always had good games with St Mirren, at the old Love Street and Cappielow. We had many victories at that time, and I remember a specific game.

“It was a midweek game, was covered by the BBC down here, which was unusual in itself for a Renfrewshire derby – and I scored the goal.

“It was a very good goal, a very good free-kick from about 30 yards, that proved to be the winning goal that night. 

“Really, we should have won by four or five. We scored late on and the crowd were beginning to get a wee bit anxious with the whole thing because we weren’t winning the game.

“So it was a special goal – catch it on YouTube – and it pleased the supporters, the fact that we won the game, and that gave them a lot of gloating to do as well.”