St Mirren legend Frank McGarvey holds no grudges against Sir Alex Ferguson for the thrown glasses that used to smash above him and his teammates’ heads.
But the former Buddies striker admits the fact he left the club for Aberdeen without saying goodbye still stings the 66-year-old to this day.
McGarvey makes no bones about the fact the pair had a love-hate relationship during their time at Love Street.
While they were incredibly successful on the park, helping each other to lift their first silverware as a player and manager respectively back in 1977, in the dressing room and behind the scenes the pair didn’t always see eye to eye.
Ex-Celtic striker McGarvey insists the Manchester United icon forged him into the clinical striker he was, but says the way he left the Buddies for the Dons back in 1978 without saying farewell to him remains a bone of contention.
Don't miss the latest headlines from around Renfrewshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
Speaking exclusively to Express Sport, he said: "Alex is one of the greatest managers ever in Scotland.
“He needed a bit of persuading to get me in at St Mirren and was only just starting out in management. He was trying things for the first time.
“He trained us incredibly hard, and all of a sudden we were up in the First Division.
“I remember right at the end of the season when we won the First Division, we were away at Dens Park playing Dundee and we had to win to win the league.
“Before the game in the dressing room he asked me if I could score in important games. He asked me to go and get one for him.
“We ended up beating them 4-0 and I scored a hat trick. It was magic.
“He absolutely hated players drinking alcohol, but after the game he took me straight to a hotel bar and bought me a pint of lager. That said everything from him, he didn’t need to say anything else.
“It was a first trophy for me and for him. He realised the significance of it.
“But we definitely had a love-hate relationship. He used to throw glasses at us if he was unhappy, but he always used to aim a bit above your head so you didn’t get hurt.
“I used to hate getting it in my hair and I remember once a bit was stuck in there and I went for a header and ended up with a cut. He asked what the hell was going on, and I just, ‘Well, you threw the glass!’”
McGarvey continued: “At the end of the day, he was a winner. He taught me a lot. As a former striker himself, he taught me how to use my elbows properly.
“It sounds so simple, but using them properly helped me beat defenders to the ball.
“I got sent off a couple of times early in my career, and he took me in and told me he needed me on the park to score the goals.
“All of these lessons mattered. He taught me discipline and he taught me to deal with the game.
“My biggest disappointment was when Fergie went to Aberdeen. He never told me he was going.
“He was the person I depended on most to develop as a footballer, so it was the worst news I could get at that time.
“For three weeks after he left, I could hardly kick a ball.”
While Ferguson went on to become one of the greatest managers of all time after trophy-laden spells with Aberdeen and Manchester United, McGarvey enjoyed a hugely successful career on the pitch himself.
As well as winning the First Division title in 1977 with Saints, he helped fire St Mirren and Celtic to three Scottish Cup successes – as well as winning two Premier Division titles and enjoying a Scottish League Cup success with the Hoops.
McGarvey insists that team spirit underpinned every successful squad he played in, recalling an important end of season trip to the Caribbean which helped build strong bonds with his Buddies back in 1976.
He said: “When I look back at that St Mirren team back in the 1970s, all of our squad gave 100 per cent all of the time.
“I look at the modern game now and sometimes it looks like some players can’t even be bothered.
“I remember the chairman taking us to Barbados, French Guiana and Surinam for a tour for about two and a half weeks.
“I’d hardly ever left the country before. It was absolutely magic. We played together against a few different teams and we gelled as a team ourselves.
“We worked so hard for each other and we brought that team ethic back with us. I tried to carry that on wherever I went and every successful team absolutely needs it. Players need to work hard for each other or they’ll never be successful on the pitch.”
Despite the incredible number of winners’ medals McGarvey built up over his 23-year playing career, it was a surprising late league title that the free-scoring striker holds as one of his most cherished achievements.
He explained: “I really enjoyed my career and I think I made the most of it.
“The late 70s with St Mirren is definitely one of the best periods I had because the fans were loving us and we played really great football.
“Coming back and winning the Scottish Cup with them in 1987 was also special, because people had said my trophy-winning days were over when I left Celtic.
“People might be surprised, but winning Division Two with Clyde was massive for me because it meant I’d won Division 2, Division 1, the Prem, the Scottish Cup and the League Cup.
“That’s one of my proudest achievements in the game.”
