Matchday Memories: On This Pre-Season Day 1997 – Pars’ Blunder Gifts Game To Strachan’s Sky Blues!

On this day (July 26th) in 1997 the Sky Blues manager Gordon Strachan, starting out on his first full season in control at Highfield Road, had taken his team to his Scottish homeland to start his pre-season preparations for the upcoming Premier League campaign. A couple of days previously Ayr United had been seen off 2-0 (see earlier post on the 24th) and today’s game was at Dunfermline Athletic before finishing off the mini Scottish tour in Edinburgh at Hibernian in two days time.  There was a fair crowd at East End Park to watch proceedings.

John in the Sky Blue

By all accounts the pre-season friendly was pretty unmemorable except for a monumental blunder by Pars’ keeper Ian Westwater who gifted the the Sky Blues their win with a bizarre blunder just a quarter an hour from the final whistle. A cross from (now CCFPA member) John Salako had looked as though it was going safely into the ‘keeper’s hands but he somehow he managed to catch it and then throw it in his own net!

Strachan’s Sky Blues lined up as follows (CCFPA members underlined):-

Gordon the Gaffer

Magnus Hedman, Richard Shaw, Marcus Hall, Paul Williams (Willie Boland -67), Martin Johansen, Kevin Richardson, Paul Telfer, Michael O’Neill (David Burrows -67), Dion Dublin (Trond Egil Soltvedt -46), Gary McAllister (c) (Kyle Lightbourne -46) and John Salako   Unused sub.:- Steve Ogrizovic (gk).

Bert Paton put out the following Pars’ side:-

Ian Westwater, Ivo Den Bieman (Colin Miller -46), Raymond Sharp (Greg Shields -46), Andy Tod, Dave Barnett, Craig Ireland, Hamish French (Andy Smith -60), Scott Young (Harry Curran -46), David Bingham, Derek Fleming and Scott McCulloch  Unused subs.:-  John Fraser, Chris Templeman and Hay (gk)

Though he didn’t play, young Sky Blue player Craig Faulconbridge was loaned to the Pars this season. CCFPA member and former Sky Blue seventies captain Roy Barry has been a leading light in our sister organisation, the Pars FPA for several years.

City continued their pre season with an excellent 2-0 win at Hibs before conceding their first two goals in a 2-0 defeat at Stoke City at the end of the month, their only pre-season defeat. On August 1st normal service was restored with a 4-1 win at Torquay United and, in City’s only home game before the season started, top Dutch team Feyenoord (from Rotterdam) were overcome 2-1 at Highfield Road (see detailed post here when that day comes round again this year). 

CCFC 1997-98

As far as the 1997-98 Premier League campaign went things were reasonably satisfactory with an eleventh placed finish well clear of relegation and Gordon stayed in charge right up to the Sky Blues departure from the top flight in 2000-01.

Thanks to CCFPA’s Mike Young for sourcing the images.