Goody bags which drove him KP nuts

WHEN it comes to the crunch Aberdeen beating Real Madrid in the 1983 European Cup Winners’ Cup Final remains the greatest moment in the Dons history.

But Mark McGhee insists the night Sir Alex Ferguson went nuts over his players’ KP goody bags after a 4-0 European Cup loss to Liverpool two years earlier gave them a taste of what was to come.

McGhee recalls a sombre mood in the Dons camp as they traipsed into their hotel armed with the sponsors’ handouts in a plastic bag – only to bump into the flamboyant Liverpool skipper Graeme Souness typically dressed to the nines.

The presence of the Scotland skipper couldn’t stop Ferguson getting his chocolate dippers in a twist though.

In Fergie: Under The Hairdryer, McGhee reveals: “He came into the Anfield dressing room after the final whistle and absolutely slaughtered us.

“The match was sponsored by KP, the snack foods company. They had put out a plastic bag on everybody’s hook in the changing room containing all these various nuts and cheesy crackers.

“After the manager came in and had his go at us we were all looking down and then we got quietly changed and climbed on to the bus with our KP bags.

“Gordon Strachan broke the silence on the coach by asking if anyone would swap their chocolate dippers for salt and vinegar crisps.

“Alex wasn’t amused and warned that if he heard anyone laugh then, or for the rest of the night, they would be fined a week’s wages.

“So we had to try to suppress any laughter.

“We left Anfield for the city centre and entered the hotel in our tracksuits, with all the other bits and pieces you take to a match – plus our KP bags.

“Suddenly Graeme Souness, who had been in the Liverpool team that evening, arrived with his wife and another woman, probably his sister-in-law.

“He was wearing a long, light coloured raincoat with a fur collar draped over his shoulders. Souness had the style, swagger and two glamorous women – and we had our KP bags!”

McGhee laid on the cross for John Hewitt’s famous winner against Madrid in Gothenburg and recalled: “As soon as the final whistle went Alex slipped over in a puddle and got trampled on by Archie Knox as he tried to reach the players, which gave us all a chuckle.”