It was a very small cutting which heralded a future Scottish football icon’s entry into the senior game in Scotland.
From December 1, 1978, it read:
St Johnstone have beaten Rangers and Motherwell for the signature on full forms of 16-year-old Allister McCoist (note the spelling of first name).
He hails from East Kilbride.
This will be particularly galling news for Well fans, since the player was actually a member of their own Fir Park Boys Club.
McCoist, who also plays for the Hunter High School side, was said yesterday by Muirton Park manager Alex Stuart to have “outstanding potential”.
He will almost certainly put him straight into the reserve side and his debut could well be against Dundee United in Wednesdays Second XI Cup tie at Tannadice.
There is not enough room on these pages to fully highlight ‘Alistair’ McCoist’s career.
He soon made his first-team debut for Saints and his goal tally saw Sunderland snap him up in 1981.
It’s fair to say his goals tally at Roker Park was not great, and Rangers brought him to Ibrox in 1983. His career took off in Govan and, apart from spells as a substitute early into Graeme Souness’ tenure at the club, he was a regular starter for around 14 seasons. He ended his playing career with Kilmarnock.
In 2007, he became assistant manager to Walter Smith at Rangers before succeeding him as No. 1 in 2011.
When the club suffered serious financial difficulties in 2012 and were placed in the fourth tier of Scottish league football, he helped them win successive promotions to the second tier before being dismissed.
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