The Highland Dark Blues had a Very Special Guest at their March meeting in the form of Brian Irvine. Brian, of course, now plays for local side Ross County - under the experienced coaching of a certain Alex Smith!

His career started with Falkirk before moving to Aberdeen in 1985 where Alex Ferguson was the manager. He was in his second season there and starting to play regularly for the first team when AF moved to Man Utd. He had 12 years at Aberdeen before moving on to Dundee.

He had good words to say about Alex Smith and Jocky Scott during his time at Aberdeen. Jocky set the routines and the tempo, and there was always an encouraging word in the ear for the youngsters. He was, of course, to play under Jocky again at Dundee. He recalls with pride and fondness his time at Dundee. The players and fans supported each other, he says, and recalls 2 wins over United during that first season back in the SPL, with THAT goal from James Grady! What made it all the more pleasing was that they were still being paid 1st Div wages against the SPL wages of the united players! During the summer prior to moving up to the SPL he recalls a summer trip to Magalluf and a certain Hearts player boasting about getting 12 points from Dundee next season. Of course, we all know it worked out the other way round!

Brian was asked to name some of the highlights of his career. His 9 internationals, 7 full caps take pride of place, and he played opposite Klinsman, Gullit and Baggio. Perhaps these players will recall in their memoirs that they 'once played against Brian Irvine.....!' The 1990 Scottish Cup Final is a close second, with Brian scoring the winning goal against Celtic - a sudden death penalty kick! A certain Cup-tie against Dundee FC a couple of seasons ago may not have been quite so glamorous, but he recalls warm applause from the Dundee fans as he scored for Ross County against his old club!

He spoke fondly of characters from his time at Dundee, naming Ian Anderson and Dave Rogers as two 'characters', of praise for Gavin Rae who worked hard when Ivano and Dario didn't seem interested, and of being sent off as last man against Ayr Utd when he brought down....... James Grady! And then, of course, there was Javier Artero, and the encouragement he was able to give when he was tragically diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. He touched on his own MS, when, in 1995/6 he started having problems. He was playing up to 44 games a season at that time. He seems to have controlled the disease with strict dieting and being strict with his body.

There is a gallery at Brian's home, with Scotland Caps, Scottish Cup Winners' Medals and photographs of that penalty winner against Celtic - taken from different angles!!
He has fond memories of a long and successful career and we were privileged to hear his recollections. And what struck us most was that during a career with some downs as well as ups, he didn't have a bad word to say about anybody in the game. Brian Irvine, a true gentleman of the sport.

Grahame Couttie