Jim and Susan Weir used to be known as Mr and Mrs St Johnstone but there will be divided loyalties in their household when Saints and Brechin City clash in Saturday’s Scottish Cup quarter-final.
The Glebe Park boss gave the Perth side the best years of his playing career, during which time he was awarded a testimonial season. Wife Susan is still employed at McDiarmid Park as a sales manager and has clocked up 10 years of service herself. Throw into the mix a St Johnstone-mad son and you can see why the last-eight encounter has a real family flavour to it.
Jim said, “We were driving up the road to Brechin to watch the quarter-final draw at the chairman’s house and I said to Susan ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if we drew St Johnstone?’ because we knew people would be wanting to talk about the two of us.
“St Johnstone have been my team. I had a testimonial season and was assistant manager and Susan has worked at the club for 10 years now. So when the draw came out there was real excitement about it.
“It had to happen at some point that I would come up against my old club. For it to be in a Scottish Cup quarter-final at our ground in front of a big crowd for Brechin’s first quarter-final in their history makes it even more special for me.
“I made a lot of good friends while I was at Saints and I brought my son, Sam, up to support his local team. He’s a massive St Johnstone fan so it’s a big one for him as well. It will be a real family day.
“I think he’ll always support his dad first but it’s one of those where he can’t really lose. He’ll have a semi-final to look forward to whichever way it goes.”
Susan added, “Our chairman (Geoff Brown) hasn’t actually mentioned it to me but vice-chairman Steve Brown has been enjoying the banter. Derek (McInnes) has told me ‘no spying’ a few times but, to be honest, I wouldn’t know what I’m looking for!
“I get the guys in our lounges on matchdays speaking to me about it all the time. I’m just glad the match is at Brechin. It will be a great day out.
“I’ve got to sit on the fence. I’m in a no-win situation but also a win-win situation.”
Susan continued, “Jim wasn’t the best at taking defeats as a player but he’s even worse as a manager. He goes really quiet after a Brechin match if they lose but he’s usually fine by the Sunday. It might take until the Monday if they lose this one though!”
Continued…
“What’s nice is a lot of Saints fans are also Jim Weir fans. They’ll be there to support their own team but by taking up hospitality they’ll be supporting Jim and Brechin as well.”
Some Weirs may have to wrestle with their emotions, but the Brechin manager won’t be one.
He pointed out, “There will be no doubt about where my loyalties lie. I’ll be doing all I can to make sure we do ourselves justice and give ourselves a chance to win the game.
“It would probably take a few days for it to sink in if we got to the semi-finals. It’s an opportunity that doesn’t come around for a club like Brechin too often. History shows that it could be another 100-odd years.”
The match has caught the imagination of the St Johnstone old boys network, with a group flocking to Brechin for the day.
Weir explained, “There will be a lot of former Saints players at the match and at a function in the Northern Hotel afterwards Kerny (Alan Kernaghan), Biscuits (Allan Preston), Roddy (Grant), Kano (Paul Kane), and even Nick Dasovic who is over from Canada on a coaching course. My family are all coming as well so it should be a really exciting day.
“There are lots of St Johnstone connections at Brechin, with Neil Janczyk, Kevin McGowne, Charlie King and Craig Nelson all having played for them, which adds more spice.
“There’s no doubt we’ve got a realistic chance of winning but Saints will be massive favourites. I’ve seen them a few times this season. They’ve got really good players and look very strong just now, particularly at the back.
“I was always a big fan of Steven Anderson when I was a coach at Saints. We’re going to have to play really well to cause them problems. Hopefully that’s what we’ll do and they’ll have an off day.”
“What’s nice is a lot of Saints fans are also Jim Weir fans. They’ll be there to support their own team but by taking up hospitality they’ll be supporting Jim and Brechin as well.”
Some Weirs may have to wrestle with their emotions, but the Brechin manager won’t be one.
He pointed out, “There will be no doubt about where my loyalties lie. I’ll be doing all I can to make sure we do ourselves justice and give ourselves a chance to win the game.
“It would probably take a few days for it to sink in if we got to the semi-finals. It’s an opportunity that doesn’t come around for a club like Brechin too often. History shows that it could be another 100-odd years.”
The match has caught the imagination of the St Johnstone old boys network, with a group flocking to Brechin for the day.
Weir explained, “There will be a lot of former Saints players at the match and at a function in the Northern Hotel afterwards Kerny (Alan Kernaghan), Biscuits (Allan Preston), Roddy (Grant), Kano (Paul Kane), and even Nick Dasovic who is over from Canada on a coaching course. My family are all coming as well so it should be a really exciting day.
“There are lots of St Johnstone connections at Brechin, with Neil Janczyk, Kevin McGowne, Charlie King and Craig Nelson all having played for them, which adds more spice.
“There’s no doubt we’ve got a realistic chance of winning but Saints will be massive favourites. I’ve seen them a few times this season. They’ve got really good players and look very strong just now, particularly at the back.
“I was always a big fan of Steven Anderson when I was a coach at Saints. We’re going to have to play really well to cause them problems. Hopefully that’s what we’ll do and they’ll have an off day.”