Aberdeen’s Scottish Cup hero Brian Irvine is the first former Dons player to take on our weekly Press and Journal Starting XI feature.
Irvine scored the winning penalty in the shoot-out when the Dons last won the Scottish Cup in 1990.
With Scottish Cup fever gripping the country for this weekend’s fourth round ties, there are several David vs Goliath ties to savour.
One of them is at Borough Briggs – where Elgin City, who Irvine managed in 2006, host Jimmy Thelin’s Dons.
What do you remember about your senior debut?
It was against Morton for Falkirk in 1984. I played in three of the final four games at the end of the 1983-84 season and the first one was against Morton, who had Willie Pettigrew, who was a former Scotland international.
I was lucky enough to be given a start at Brockville and Morton, who were First Division champions that season, won 1-0.
I then featured against Ayr and Partick in two of the remaining three games.
What is your career highlight?
Do I really need to say? That should be obvious – scoring the winning penalty in the shootout of the Scottish Cup final against Celtic in 1990.
I think the uniqueness of it being the first final to go to penalties, and to then score when I hadn’t even considered I’d be taking one, makes it so special – It’s incredible that we’re still talking about it 35 years later, too.
A close second would have been representing Scotland, as that’s the ultimate goal for any footballer.
Who is the best player you played with?
Alex McLeish – I played with him for about 10 years, so I learned a lot with him by being alongside him, and he was a good help in training.
He had a way of using his experience and there are so many things he would pass on to you, not only when you played the game, but also how to approach the game.
He was such a help to me in my career.
And who is your toughest opponent?
Roberto Baggio, who I faced with Scotland in a World Cup qualifier in 1993 when we were beaten 3-1 in Italy – I just couldn’t get near him.
Normally as a defender, we try to anticipate things, but we just didn’t have any time to react.
We couldn’t get there the first time, and he made you feel like you were always chasing after him, rather than anticipating and getting there first.
I had the worst feeling about what was coming given the start to the game when we were 2-0 down after the opening 15 minutes and how good he’d been.
He was an unbelievable player.
Dressing room threads – who has the worst fashion sense in the dressing room?
Apart from myself, you mean… I probably was the worst – I did take a wee bit of stick about it.
I didn’t wear any latest fashion; it’s just I was probably out of date and wearing what was in fashion about 10 years before.
How would your team-mates describe you?
Serious, committed, but I could still enjoy a laugh. I loved the banter in the dressing room, even though I didn’t really contribute to it.
I was one of the guys that liked to listen rather than contribute, but certainly on the park I was very serious and 100% committed to what I was doing.
What is the best advice you have been given?
Never give in.
Thinking back to when Sir Alex Ferguson was at Pittodrie, he always used to say that. He drummed it into everyone.
His philosophy was never give up, never give in – and I followed that mantra my entire career.
What is your favourite away ground and why?
I played in a few over the years, but you can’t really beat Hampden, can you?
It’s not really an away ground, given it’s a neutral venue, but it was always a big occasion when you went there, whether it was a cup semi-final, a final or an international.
Ibrox was always an enjoyable place to play, too. I didn’t really get the benefit of Parkhead, because they were rebuilding it during my career.
It was a pretty impressive stadium back then, but I only got to play there as it looks today at the end of my career when I was at Dundee, so I never really sampled the atmosphere regularly.
But Hampden was always special.
What is your favourite goal scored by you or a team-mate?
The one against Celtic in a league game near the end of the 1994-95 season where we were trying to avoid relegation.
I didn’t think I was going to play that day, but I got a last-minute call-in to the team, so I was quite relaxed.
It all clicked that day – I had a good cross in from Joe Miller and I took it with the outside of the right foot.
It was Messi-like!
That’s maybe a wee exaggeration, but it was certainly my favourite goal.
If you were stranded on a desert island and had to bring one current or former team-mate for help, who would it be and why?
I don’t know if it would be for help, but for a laugh, it would have to be Bobby Connor. He has an amazing sense of humour, really.
I used to laugh at a lot of the banter in the dressing room, but “Roger” used to crack me up.
He’d certainly keep me entertained, hopefully until help arrived.
How did you relax away from football?
I never really got into golf, so it was family for me. I got married and we had children young, so my time away from football was spent with my family.
As my career got more serious, the less quality time I had, but it’s only after your career you think back to the things you missed.
Things like Christmas were never normal for a player in Scotland, so I always made it my goal to spend as much time with my family as I could.
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