We’re not going to win do. And then Rangers EXCLUSIVE
CELTIC V AIRDRIEONIANS Holders away from home a big challenge
IT may have taken him a lifetime, but Martin Ferguson finally, with his appointment as chairman at Airdrieonians last month, achieved something in football his famous elder sibling has not.
Sir Alex might have enjoyed the more successful playing career and might have fared a tad better as a manager over the years, but being made the chairman of a club? It isn’t an honour that has, to date at least, been bestowed upon him.
Not that wee brother is interested in scoring points. “I hadn’t thought about that,” he said. “I suppose that’s me one up on him. I’ll be mentioning that. ‘By the way you, mind who you’re speaking to, I’m the chairman’.”
Sir Alex became accustomed to taking his team to some of the great stadiums in Europe, and more often than not returning triumphant, during his decades in the dugout at Aberdeen and Manchester United.
But this evening it will be Martin who will head for Parkhead hoping that Airdrie can give a decent account of themselves, and their fans something to cheer, in their William Hill Scottish Cup fourth-round tie against Celtic.
It is an occasion that he, like every supporter of the parttime Ladbrokes League One outfit, is looking forward to. He has flown back from Canada, where he has been following a family bereavement, to attend the game with his daughter and grandson.
“We’re not expecting anything special,” said Ferguson. “We’re not going to win 5-0. Just 3-0 would do! Then Rangers in the next round! Seriously, though, I hope the boys put up a good show.
“The players should relish it. They will learn from it too. One thing’s for sure, we will go and have a try. We’re hoping the draw is good financially for us as well.”
Ferguson, who succeeded his close friend Bobby Watson, the former Rangers and Motherwell defender and Airdrie manager, as chairman, has been on the board at the North Lanarkshire club for the past year, initially as vice-chairman, and has enjoyed being involved.
“Bobby and I are neighbours in Bearsden and pals,” he said. “Bobby introduced me to Paul Hetherington [the Airdrie managing director] and he invited me on to the board. It was a good opportunity for me. At the time, I was just sitting watching Sportscene on a Saturday afternoon. I was happy to take the challenge. It keeps me in the game.”
Despite being an inside forward with, among others, Partick Thistle, Morton, Barnsley and Doncaster, a coach at Hibernian, the manager of Waterford, East Stirling and Albion Rovers and the chief scout with Manchester United in his time, Ferguson has found the experience to be eye-opening.
“It’s been interesting,” he