Saints legend Danny Griffin has no regrets about not moving south... and has some memorable tops to show success for both club and country

T hat Danny Griffin can’t instantly recall how many times he played against Germany for Northern Ireland speaks volumes about the height his career reached and the downto-earth nature of the man.

So too the fact that a few nights ago when he dug out one of the famous white shirts he swapped at the end of a game against the four-times world champions for a kickabout with pals, he didn’t know on whose back it had originally hung.

If you wanted to find the antithesis of the modern-day footballer with tunnel vision for a life-changing transfer on the back of an inflated profile, Griffin is it.

How many 17-year-olds would turn down such a move when the world and his wife were shouting, ‘take it, take it’? Premier Leaguebound Derby County, with their £1 million, were the suitors in 1996 but it was at First Division St Johnstone that the Belfast boy chose to stay.

“It’s the first question people ask,” said Griffin. “But it’s not something I ever think about. It never bothered me then and it doesn’t now. I’ve got no regrets about my career – I wouldn’t change anything.

“It was my decision and nobody was going to make it for me.

“The way I looked at it, I had the best coaching staff here at St Johnstone – Paul Sturrock and John Blackley. And I was playing alongside really good experienced pros at the back like Jim Weir, John Mcquillan and Alan Kernaghan. I was being shown how to do things the right way.

“I was 17 and hadn’t even had a full season in the first team. I’d just made my debut for my country against Germany.

“It comes down to what you want out of the game. I weighed up the pluses and the minuses and it wasn’t the right move for me at that time. I still think the same. I could have sat in the reserves at Derby and my career could have finished.

“I stayed at Saints, worked hard and had a career for 18 years, playing for my country 29 times. And the club ended up getting 600 grand from Dundee United.

“Here was my happiest time – by far. I made my debut here, scored my first goal here, got my first cap from here. This was my platform. When they won the Scottish Cup in 2014 I had my own Saints top on.”

Ah yes, football tops. Back to that Germany one.

“I play on a Monday night with some Saints fans,” he explains. “You have to wear either a white strip or a dark strip. I climbed into my mother-in-law’s loft and went into the box of all my strips that she’s kept to pull out a white strip the other night.

“The first one that came out was a Germany one. It was a long-sleeved one, which wasn’t ideal in this weather.

“We played them three or four times. Shirts didn’t have names on the back then so I couldn’t tell you who the big left-winger was for that game.

“I do know who I was up against for my first cap, mind you. You don’t forget that one. It was Stefan Kuntz. It’s framed on my wee man’s bedroom wall.

“Making my debut against Germany after they had just won Euro ’96 was great. George O’boyle scored in a 1-1 draw and they missed two penalties. They must have been feeling sorry for us.

“Another one on the wall is Del Piero’s. We lost to Italy 2-0 in a friendly and the gaffer (Tommy Wright) played in that game. He won’t be happy I mentioned that. We played them in Sicily. The first half they had Casiraghi and Zola up front and then they brought on Del Piero and Ravanelli.”

As Saints in the Community club and community development officer, Griffin has a busy summer ahead, with youngsters signing up for the various camps and courses on offer at Mcdiarmid Park and across Perthshire.

If any stars-in-the-making want to learn about