30/09/1987

30/09/1987 – Tromsø (A)

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UEFA CUP WINNERS CUP 1st Round, 2nd Leg
30th September 1987
Alfheim Stadion, Tromsø

Tromsø 0-0 St. Mirren

ATT: 5,114

Referee: Kurt Horsted (Denmark)

  • Saints travel well over 1,000 miles to the Arctic Circle to face the Norwegians in what was the most northerly football ground ever to be used in European football at the time.
  • The crowd of 5,114 was a record attendance at the stadium for several years, which had only opened in the summer of 1987.
  • Alex Smith decides to tactically contain the part time side, protecting the slender lead gained a fortnight earlier, primarily by using Billy Abercromby and Ian Ferguson as midfield enforcers, a complete change for Ferguson who had been used predominantly as an attacking player by Smith up until now.
  • If the main aim of Smith was progression though, the tactics worked perfectly as the Norwegians had no threat whatsoever during the match, and Saints comfortably although narrowly made the next round.
  • Unfortunately for Abercromby, the Scottish Cup winning captain was stretchered off after only 16 minutes to be replaced by club captain Tony Fitzpatrick, who had handed in a transfer request at the start of the month after not featuring much this campaign, but the Saints legend left any resentment behind to put in a man of the match performance.
  • Abercromby on the other hand would be out for over a year, and sadly never played for St Mirren again.
  • Saints drew Mechelen of Belgium in the last 16, and an opportunity to reach the Quarter Finals of European competition awaited.

TEAM LINEUPS

TROMSØNoST. MIRREN
FLEM Bjarte1MONEY Campbell
PEDERSEN Tor2WILSON Tommy
SOLSTAD Nils3WINNIE David
ALBERTSEN Trond4ABERCROMBY Billy 16
NILSEN Tore5GODFREY Peter
ESPEJORD Lars6COOPER Neil
RISMO Tore 687LAMBERT Paul
JOHANSEN Bjorn8McDOWALL Kenny 76
FORFANG Sigmund 779FERGUSON Ian
JOHANSEN Trond10WALKER Keith
HOGMO Per-Mathias11CAMERON Ian
ANDREASSEN Elvind 6812FITZPATRICK Tony 16
OLSEN Kjetil 7713CHALMERS Paul 76
KRAEMER Morten14DAWSON Robert
BENDIKSEN15GALLACHER Brian
HANSEN Per (GK)16FRIDGE Les (GK)

THE MATCH

THE TRIP

Stadium: Alfheim Stadion, Tromsø, Norway
1987 Capacity: 6,859
Record Attendance: 10,225 (1990)
1987 City Population: 48,838
Distance From Paisley (air): 1,192 miles – 3 hour flight
Distance From Paisley (road): 2,541 miles – 49.5 hours drive
Times Played at Stadium: 1 (1 draw)

THE STADIUM

Match Poster – Click on Image to purchase

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