Hammar horror show still haunts Miller 40 years on
Alex Miller is chuffed to see St Mirren on the brink of a European berth – even though it brings back the horrors of Hammarby!
When one of the most infamous capitulations in Scottish football unfolded in November 1985, there were no TV cameras present.
Yet that’s never been of any consolation to ex-Buddies boss Miller who has the agonies ingrained in his reel of career lows.
Fans who witnessed the incredible 2-1 home loss to the Swedes won’t fancy a walk down memory lane either, if Stephen Robinson’s men clinch fifth place and a Europa Conference League spot.
Full of confidence after eliminating Slavia Prague in the first round, a Brian Gallagher hattrick secured a 3-3 first leg result in Stockholm.
Saints were sitting comfortably at 1-0 in the return at Love Street thanks to Frank McGarvey’s goal. But they failed to close out the game and leaked two goals in the last three minutes. Amazingly, Hammarby had another disallowed for offside in between their strikes.
Miller admitted his substitution blunder played a key role in the collapse. McGarvey was taken off to preserve his energy for upcoming domestic duties.
Miller lamented: “That result was a travesty. I made a mistake and I learned from it early in my managerial career.
“At 1-0 up, I felt Frank had run himself into the ground for us. We had a hard game coming up on the Saturday, so I thought I’d take him off.
“But he was brilliant that night. Then they equalised. In injury time, one our players should just have held the ball at the corner flag. But he crossed it in, their goalkeeper took the ball, hit it up the park and they ran through and scored a second.
“I couldn’t believe it. We didn’t deserve to go out, we were the better team. It still annoys me. We could’ve been in the third round and trying to get to the quarters.
“I used to get my teams to practice those last few minutes a lot – getting behind the ball, playing it to the corner, knocking it out for a throw-in to get organised again.
“I still can’t understand it now when I watch teams going down the park and crossing the ball in when they just don’t need to risk trying to score another goal!”
The Buddies qualified for four Euro campaigns in the 80s, including the club’s last sojourn in 1987-88 and Robinson’s team can make Paisley proud again in the weeks to come.
Miller said: “The main thing in football is being organised and Stephen’s certainly got that. He’s doing a fantastic job.”