I used to get annoyed at my dad giving me advice but now I realise he may know a thing or two...
RAITH STAR BRAD SPENCER HAPPY TO BE GUIDED BY SCOTLAND CAP JOHN
It is said that with age comes wisdom. Brad Spencer is convinced he is a better footballer now he has shaken off the stubbornness of youth. The Raith Rovers midfielder confesses he was too quick to dismiss the counsel he received from his father. Dad John knows a thing or two about the beautiful game after a career that kicked off at Rangers and continued with Chelsea, Motherwell and Scotland, but Brad thought he knew best.
He now accepts his dad’s advice may have contained a nugget or two, however. He aims to turn those tips and pointers into silverware in this evening’s SPFL Trust Trophy final against Hamilton Accies.
‘I think that I have now started to appreciate Dad’s advice the older I have got,’ he said. ‘When I was young we used to have arguments about things and my poor mum was stuck in the middle.
‘He would moan at me and I wouldn’t take it well and get annoyed with him trying to give me advice, but that’s like any son and dad.
‘But he loves me and wants me to do well and that’s why he tries to give me advice. In the last few years I have taken what he says on board and my career has been better. Dad played at the top level and knows what it takes to get there, so I’d be silly not to listen to him.
‘I know how good a career he had and he has played at higher levels than me but hopefully one day I can get to the level he did.’
Spencer senior earned an FA Cup runners-up medal from Chelsea’s chastening 4-0 defeat to Manchester United in 1994. But the younger version is today aiming for a third successive Challenge Cup triumph, and is still hoping for a change of luck.
Last season, when Raith lifted the trophy with a 3-1 victory over Queen of the South, the former Kilmarnock player never saw action as he remained an unused substitute on his return from injury. In the previous edition of the competition, the much-delayed final was eventually called off because of the coronavirus pandemic, which also necessitated a gap year.
‘I have won this trophy twice but never actually played,’ he added. ‘In my first year,
Covid stopped it and we shared it with Inverness, and last year I was on the bench. I was disappointed not to get on.
‘I had been injured and was just coming back at the time, so John McGlynn stuck with the same team that had been playing. ‘I couldn’t complain too much but I was hoping to get a wee cameo at some point late in the game when we were 3-1 up.
‘So I am hoping for third time lucky. I want to play well and make it three wins from three in this competition — that’s if the gaffer picks me.
‘Whether I play the full game, or a small part, I will give my best and hopefully bring the trophy back to Kirkcaldy.’
Hamilton will have something to say about Raith’s attempts to rack up a hat-trick and manager John Rankin is hoping silverware will bring some light relief to Accies after admitting they have visited some ‘dark places’ this season.
The Lanarkshire men have brushed aside a difficult league campaign so far to give themselves a shot at glory against Raith. It is a welcome break from the threat of relegation that has hung over them since day one in the Championship.
They remain bottom of the league with just eight matches remaining this term. But, with just two defeats from their last eight league outings, Rankin is eyeing the perfect pick-me-up for players and supporters.
‘There is a lot at stake in this game,’ said the 39-year-old, who lost two finals with Dundee United and one with Ross County as a player. ‘Our fans have had a lot of difficult times and now is the time for everyone to pay them back. We want to give the fans a day to remember.
‘Allan Maitland, the chairman, it is his first cup final in senior football and I would like to give people like him a day to be proud of. Winning would mean everything. I would love to win that trophy.
‘But for my players to have been through what they have this season, and been in the dark places we’ve been in, and to come out with an element of success… that would mean more to me having seen how difficult a period they’ve come through.
‘And they’ve come through it as men. There have been tough times, dark Saturday nights. But ultimately we’ve grown together, got ourselves into a situation where we’re in control of a lot of things and in this final we have to take charge and be in control of our destiny.’