St Mirren in Europe

05/11/1980 – St. Etienne (A)

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UEFA CUP 2nd Round, 2nd Leg
5th November 1980
Stade Geoffrey-Guichard, St. Etienne, France

St. Etienne 2-0 St. Mirren

Larios13
Larios 60

ATT: 17,870

Referee: M da Silva (Portugal)

  • Saints find the task of overcoming the French side too great, however, put on an impressive performance in the chilly eastern city, where it intermittently snows throughout the evening.
  • The French side make an early breakthrough when Larios fires past Thomson from the edge of the box after 13 minutes, following a break down Saints right hand side.
  • Frank McDougall then has Saints best chance after 20 minutes when he is put clear by Billy Abercromby, but the Scottish record signing delays the shot and French international full back Patrick Battiston eventually blocks his effort.
  • Doug Somner is then convinced Saints should have a penalty later in the first half when he is shoved to the floor when McCormack crosses towards him on the half hour, however the Portuguese referee waves play on.
  • The French seal the match on the hour mark, when Platini plays a short free kick to Larios who hits a long range shot that is deflected massively beyond Thomson.
  • The French side would eventually be knocked out in the Quarter Finals by Borussia Monchengladbach, who would go onto win the tournament.

TEAM LINEUPS

ST. ETIENNENOST. MIRREN
CASTENADA Jean1THOMSON Billy
LOPEZ Christian2YOUNG John
GARDON Bernard 3BECKETT Alex
BATTISTON Patrick4COPLAND Jackie
JANVION Gerard5DUNLOP Andy 61
ELIE Jean-Marie6WEIR Peter
LARIOS Jean-Francois7STARK Billy
PLATINI Michel8McDOUGALL Frank
ROUSSEY Laurent9SOMNER Doug
ZIMAKO Jacques10McCORMACK John
REP Johnny11ABERCROMBY Billy
ZIMAKO Jacques12RICHARDSON Lex  61
CURKOVIC Yvan (GK)13LOGAN Alan
ELIE Jean-Marie14CURRAN Jeff
LESTAGE Patrice15WALKER David
PAGANELLI Laurent16MONEY Campbell (GK)

THE MATCH

THE TRIP

Stadium: Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, St. Etienne, France
1980 Capacity: 47,000
Record Attendance: 47,000 (1985)
1980 Metropolitan City Population: 412,000
Distance From Paisley (air): 814miles – 2.2 hour flight
Distance From Paisley (road): 1,017 miles – 18 hours drive
Times Played at Stadium: 1 (1 loss)

THE STADIUM

HIGHLIGHTS

Match Poster – Click on Image to purchase

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22/10/1980 – ST. ETIENNE (H)

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UEFA CUP 1st Round, 2nd Leg
22nd October 1980
St. Mirren Park, Paisley

St. Mirren 0-0 St. Etienne

ATT: 11,471

Referee: H Forensen (Denmark)

  • Saints produce a fine battling performance to secure a draw against the French giants during monsoon like conditions in Paisley.
  • Despite missing Michel Platini through injury, the French side is packed with quality. Of the 12 players used during the match, 6 are current French internationalists and one a Dutch great, Johnny Rep. Of the five players that aren’t capped at that time, 3 would play for France within 2 seasons. On the flip side, only Billy Thomson and Peter Weir had been capped by Scotland a few months earlier.
  • The best chances of the match fall to exactly the person Saints would want, Doug Somner, but his second half headeris expertly turned over by Jean Castenda from a Weir corner, and as Saints increased the pressure, the big forward wriggled clear but his placed shot is tipped wide by the French international keeper.
  • John McCormack has one last chance for Saints from a corner, but heads straight at the St. Etienne number one who was then booked for time-wasting, underlining Saints good performance.

TEAM LINEUPS

ST. MIRRENNoST. ETIENNE
THOMSON Billy1CASTENADA Jean
YOUNG John2GARDON Bernard
BECKETT Alex3LOPEZ Christian
RICHARDSON Lex4JANVION Gerard
McCORMACK John5PAGANELLI Laurent 73
COPLAND Jackie6BATTISTON Patrick
McDOUGALL Frank7OLEKSIAK Thierry
STARK Billy8LARIOS Jean-Francois
SOMNER Doug9ZANON Jean-Louis
WEIR Peter10ROUSSEY Laurent
ABERCROMBY Billy11REP Johnny
CURRAN Jeff12ZIMAKO Jacques 73
DUNLOP Andy13CURKOVIC Yvan (GK)
FULTON Mark14ELIE Jean-Marie
LOGAN Alan15LESTAGE Patrice
MONEY Campbell (GK)16COLLEU Yves

THE MATCH

HIGHLIGHTS

01/10/1980 – ELFSBORG (H)

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UEFA CUP 1st Round, 2nd Leg
1st October 1980
St. Mirren Park, Paisley

St. Mirren 0-0 Elfsborg

ATT: 8,326

Referee: G Haraldsson (Iceland)

  • Saints negotiate the tie overall, but disappoint an expectant home support by only drawing with the part-time Swedish outfit.
  • The disappointment is further compounded by Saints failure to score against a 10 man Swedish side with no recognised goalkeeper for a portion of the match, after a series of injuries left the visitors with no choice but to use left back Lennart Johansson in goal for the last 20 minutes.
  • Perhaps the talking down of the opposition by Jim Clunie had a negative impact on the attendance, with the turnout of 8,326 some 2,000 less than the average of the previous season.
  • However, the success of qualification for round 2 gives Saints a glamour tie, although extremely tough one, when they were paired with the then most successful team in France, St.-Etienne, captained by world class superstar, Michel Platini.

TEAM LINEUPS

ST. MIRRENNOIF ELFSBORG
THOMSON Billy1SVENSSON Roger
YOUNG John2GUSTAVSSON Leif
BECKETT Alex3JOHANSSON Lennart
RICHARDSON Lex 324AHLSTROM Goran 69
McCORMACK John5MALBERG Leif
COPLAND Jackie6QVIST Christer
McDOUGALL Frank7NILSSON Lennart
STARK Billy8LARSSON Stefan
SOMNER Doug9HANSSON Morgan 46
WEIR Peter10JOHANSSON Thomas
ABERCROMBY Billy 11ANDERSEN Christer
DUNLOP Andy12SVENSSON Thomas 69
LOGAN Alan 3213KLARSTROM Frank 46
FULTON Mark14HELLQVIST Christer
CURRAN Jeff15–
MONEY Campbell (GKPR)16–

THE MATCH

17/09/1980 – Elfsborg (A)

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UEFA CUP 1st Round, 1st Leg
17th September 1980
Ryavallen, Borås, Sweden

Elfsborg 1-2 St. Mirren

Nilsson15
SOMNER 43
ABERCROMBY 72

ATT: 3,776 (300 Saints fans)

Referee: Mauri Laakso (Finland)

  • Saints record a vital win in their first ever European match, played in the town of Borås, eastern Sweden. As of 2024, it remains the only away match won in Europe by the club.
  • The first ever European opponents are IL Elfsborg, a part time team using a communal stadium within the town, that they would eventually vacate in 2004 for a modern ground specifically designed for football.
  • Although not a professional club in 1980, this was normal in Scandinavia until the 1990’s, and the Swedes could boast 4 international players in their squad.
  • Despite falling behind to an early Nilsson goal, Doug Somner has the honour of scoring the first official European goal for the club just before half-time after good play from McCormack and McDougall. This is the prolific Somner’s 12th goal of the season, despite it being only mid September.
  • As the match draws towards a conclusion, Billy Abercromby nets the winner with 18 minutes remaining as the Elfsborg defence fails to clear a Stark cross, justifying Saints attacking approach throughout the match.
  • The 300 travelling Saints fans take delight in the win, predicted beforehand by a bullish Jim Clunie who believed the Paisley side to be a class above the Swedes.

TEAM LINEUPS

IF ELFSBORGNOST. MIRREN
SVENSSON Roger1THOMSON Billy
MALBERG Leif 2YOUNG John
JOHANSSON Lennart3BECKETT Alex
SVENSSON Ingemar4RICHARDSON Lex
QVIST Christer 5McCORMACK John
ANDERSEN Christer 6COPLAND Jackie
AHLSTROM Goran  7 ABERCROMBY Billy
JOHANSSON Thomas8STARK Billy
KLARSTROM Frank 67 9McDOUGALL Frank 
GUSTAVSSON Hans-Olof 70 10 SOMNER Doug
NILSSON Lennart 11WEIR Peter
HELLQVIST Christer 67 12DUNLOP Andy
SVENSSON Thomas 70 13LOGAN Alan
–14FULTON Mark
 –15CURRAN Jeff
 –16(GKPR) MONEY Campbell

THE MATCH

THE TRIP

Stadium: Ryavallen, Borås, Sweden
1980 Capacity: 16,000
Record Attendance: 22,654 (1961)
1980 Town Population: 100,000
Distance From Paisley (air): 669 miles – 3 hour flight
Distance From Paisley (road): 1,355 miles – 25 hours drive
Times Played at Stadium: 1 (1 win)

THE STADIUM

Match Poster – Click on Image to purchase

All donations and purchases are used towards the research or cost of running the website.