Geoff Brown he never allowed his heart to rule his head when he was in charge at St Johnstone.
However, the former long-serving chairman says emotion did get the better of him at Celtic Park as Saints won the Scottish Cup on Saturday and again 24 hours later as the people of Perth turned out in their thousands to give a heroes’ welcome to the team and management as they paraded the famous old trophy through the city.
He was also moved by the many congratulatory messages he received, including one from Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne, who had also previously provided a case of champagne to toast the success courtesy of an “agent’s fee” for helping bring former Saints boss Derek McInnes to Pittodrie.
Brown said: “It was good that I was wearing glasses on Saturday, because the tears didn’t show quite as much. I’ve been involved in football for a long time but I’ve never, ever been at this level before, experienced anything like that and it was fantastic to see the way the people turned out.
“When I took over, the objective was just to survive, first and foremost. I’ve always been a believer that you should never set your sights higher than you can reach. That has been the case all the way through.
“I wanted to give something back to the community and the turnout proved they got it. You will never, ever make a profit with a provincial club so you can just try and run a business and, if you’re seen as relatively successful, you roll the money on and do your best to improve the players and facilities. That’s what we have done.
“I have never put a penny into St Johnstone. When I took over in 1986 we did a rights issue and that was the only money I put in. I’ve never put a penny into St Johnstone it’s all been traded.
“I don’t see it as being different from what you would describe as a normal business. You’ve got a product and you need to sell and return and do the same over and again. Football is no different.
“The difference in football is that we tend to get ruled by our heart rather than our head and it’s important to try to keep the head on.
“Clubs are accused of lacking ambition when they don’t spend but, if people had a look at the accounts and saw there was no money to spend, then they’d maybe be more realistic.”
He added: “I’ve had a lot of touching messages from people who have lost those who were close to them, telling us what it would have meant to them.
“Football is a village, and Stewart Milne was the first to be in touch. When Aberdeen won the League Cup, I told Stewart that I was acting as agent for Derek McInnes and said it was time he paid his agent.
“The following day, a case of champagne arrived in my office with a note from Stewart saying: ‘Enjoy the champagne. You’re certainly not getting paid!’
“On Saturday night, I texted him back saying: ‘Well, I know where to get the champagne ”
Over the years, other clubs have failed to live by the St Johnstone mantra of living within their means and paid the price, suffering financial Armageddon.
When asked if it had been difficult to see sides such as Gretna and Livingston poaching players from Saints in the past, Brown replied: “Well, I go back to having guys who were substitutes in the St Johnstone team and they went to Livingston for more than three or four times what we paid, which was absolutely crazy.
“And, at the end of the day, they bit the dust.”
While St Johnstone had 15,000 fans at Celtic Park, the club have had well-publicised problems filling McDiarmid on a regular basis.
Brown hopes the Scottish Cup triumph will change that after being overwhelmed by the turnout at the final and for the parade.
He said: “I don’t know if Perth will ever be a football city but this will give it a boost. If you consider that the last game of this season was to win the Scottish Cup, the first game of the new season will be a European game and I would like to think it would be all-ticket and a sell-out.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=7CeBMb2otAs%3Frel%3D0
“I don’t think the city has ever witnessed scenes like Sunday. I can’t recollect anything like it in my lifetime and it’s overwhelming. The number of people was just enormous.
“When we were at the ground, getting on the bus, I thought we’d maybe see two or three hundred people and that was it.
“But we went through Letham, down at Muirton, saw more people and then when we arrived at the High Street, it was unbelievable. I’ve never seen it before and we just hope to live to see it again.
“People of Perth are proud to stay in Perth. It comes back to beliefs. Obviously if we can make them believe that football can become part of their lives on a regular basis, we’ll be doing our job.”
While he hopes there will be more supporters coming through the turnstiles, Brown is no fan of the trend at some clubs to be run by committee.
He said: “The one thing I don’t appreciate is the way certain clubs are going by trying to bring in supporters’ groups and all the rest of it.
“I don’t know a successful business that is run by committee and I don’t believe a football club can be run by committee.
“When you look at the state of Rangers right now, you don’t know who the boss is and who is going to be answerable. I firmly believe, quite strongly, that it needs somebody to hold the rudder.”
The Scottish Cup success means that Saints will be back in Europe for the third season in succession.
After costly trips to Turkey, Norway and Belarus, Brown is hoping for a draw closer to home this time.
He said: “I fancy an Irish team. The sad thing about Scottish sides is we’re into Europe so early that we’re competing with holiday companies for planes. The planes are very, very expensive, so it makes it hard to make any money.
“Last year we had Rosenborg and then Belarus, really expensive trips. It would be nice to get a round or two and then go in, maybe take on some English side.”