This weekend Dundee travel to Fir Park to take on Motherwell and so we highlight a player popular at both clubs Iain Ferguson. Ferguson is one of six players to have had a hat-trick of spells with The Dee and in his first spell finished as top goal scorer every year from 1982 to 1984 and with Motherwell he was part of their 1991 Scottish Cup winning side, scoring in the final against Dundee United
Born in Newarthill, North Lanarkshire, Ferguson joined Dundee as a 16 year old when they stole him from under the noses of Motherwell in 1978 from Fir Park Boys Club and just a year later he made his debut for The Dee when he scored in a 3-1 home win over Kilmarnock on December 15th 1979.
Deputising for the injured Ian Redford, the Scottish Youth Internationalist made an immediate impression in the Premier Division with his level of skill and powerful shooting. By the end of the season he had made 13 appearances, scoring five times and he had endeared himself to the Dundee support when two of those goals came against title chasing Celtic in April 1980 in an astonishing 5-1 win.
Fighting against relegation Dundee met league leaders Celtic at Dens with three games to go and within five minutes the game went to form when Roy Aitken gave the Parkhead side the lead. However on 16 minutes Dundee were back on level terms thanks to Ferguson and ten minutes later he gave Dundee the lead with a penalty before Ian Fleming made it 3-1 before the interval.
After the break goals from Eric Sinclair and Peter Mackie made it 5-1 to Dundee before a missed Celtic penalty set the seal on a famous Dark Blue win.
It wasn’t enough however to save Dundee from going down to the First Division a fortnight later but 12 months on Dundee recovered from a very poor start being bottom after eight games to storm back into the promotion race and clinch the second spot on the last game of the season.
‘Fergie’ played his part in the promotion campaign as a squad player bit once back in the Premier Division, he established himself in the starting line up and finished as top scorer with 14 goals. Dundee retained their top flight status on the last game of the season with a 1-0 win over Airdrieonians and Fergie capped an excellent personal with the winning goal to make Dundee safe.
Season 1982/83 saw Ferguson start in the same goal scoring form with a double in the first two League Cup games away at Aberdeen (3-3) and at home to Dumbarton (3-2) and he forced his way into the Scotland Under-21 side, being called up by Jock Stein to play against East Germany in an Under-21 Euro qualifier.
Up front Ferguson was partnered by either experienced Eric Sinclair or fellow youngster Ray Stephen and by the end of the season he was top scorer again for the second year in a row, bettering his previous year’s total by two.
He made it three years in a row as top marksman, netting 20 times in 1984/85 and in the Scottish Cup he turned in two terrific displays against Rangers in the quarter-final. In the first match at Dens, Fergie cheekily lobbed Nicky Walker in the Rangers goal in a thrilling 2-2 draw and in the replay in Glasgow scored twice in a 3-2 win. With just three minutes to go, Ferguson got the winner when he crashed the ball high into the Ibrox net to send the travelling fans wild and give Dundee their fifth win over Rangers since promotion.
In that time Ferguson scored eight times against The Light Blues and so it was perhaps no surprise when Rangers manager Jock Wallace tabled a bid of £400,000 for both Ferguson and Cammy Fraser. Dundee manager Archie Knox, who had only been in charge for six months, was desperate to keep the pair and build his side around them but despite being offered Dundee’s best ever personal terms , they both left for Govan with a tribunal ordering Rangers to pay £200,000 for Ferguson.
At Ibrox Fergie scored the winning goal in the 1984 League Cup Final win over Dundee United but when Graeme Souness took over as manager in 1986, his large use of the cheque book meant Ferguson became surplus to requirements.
Jocky Scott took over form Archie Knox at Dens in the summer of 1986 and in a surprise move he secured Ferguson on loan from Rangers until the end of the season. Straight away he was the darling of the Dens Park faithful again when he netted in each of Dundee’s opening wins against St Mirren and Hibs but it simply alerted others to his flair for scoring goals which was never in doubt at Dens.
Across the road Dundee United cast envious glances in Ferguson’s direction and in an unprecedented move, they approached Rangers for his transfer. Initially the striker had no wish to go to Tannadice but with Souness keen to sell, he was recalled to Glasgow before Rangers accepted a £140,000 bid from The Arabs. Dundee themselves offered a six figure sum but they couldn’t match their neighbour’s offer and it was a serious disappointment to see their hero line up in tangerine in a league match at Dens a few weeks later.
After two years at Tannadice and then another two at Hearts where he scored the winner against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup in 1989, Ferguson joined Motherwell in December 1990 after loan spells at Bristol City and Charlton Athletic.
Ferguson quickly became a hero at Fir Park as he helped The Steelmen to their first trophy since the Fifties, the 1991 Scottish Cup. He scored the opening goal as Motherwell defeated his old side Dundee United 4–3 after extra time in a thrilling showpiece, bringing a smile to Dark Blue faces once again.
After spells with Airdrie and Portadown in Northern Ireland, Ferguson returned to First Division Dundee for a third spell at the age of 34 when he was signed by manager Jim Duffy who had himself played for Dundee three times.
Upon returning to Dens Park in 1996 Ferguson told the press that “Ten years ago I wanted to make my loan spell from Rangers permanent and I twice knocked United back. It wasn’t to be then but I am pleased to be back now.”
Although past his best it was great to see Fergie back in a Dundee shirt for another season and the undoubted highlight was the League Cup third round win over Premier Division Dundee United at Tannadice. With the scores tied at two each Ferguson came off the bench in the last minute of extra time with a view to taking a penalty and he coolly slotted home Dundee’s fourth before Billy Thomson saved from Owen Coyle to win the shoot-out 4-2.
It was a memorable evening for the Dundee support, which was celebrated long into the night and for many a Dee it was pay back for the time in which they ‘stole’ Fergie whose goals will always be remembered with fondness at Dens Park.
Honours at Dundee:
Scottish League First Division runners-up: 1980/81
Scotland Under-21 caps: 3
Appearances, Goals:
League: 115 + 22 subs, 43 goals
Scottish Cup: 10, 6 goals
League Cup: 15 + 3 subs, 10 goals
SFL Challenge Cup: 2 subs
Totals: 167, 59 goals
