Rangers legend admits what he told Sir Alex Ferguson as a 15-year-old was a 'stupid thing to say'
Yesterday at 06:32 AM
Rangers icon John ‘Bomber’ Brown has recalled the time he said something rather cheeky to Sir Alex Ferguson as a 15-year-old boy at St Mirren.
Boyhood Rangers fan Brown turned out for the club between 1988 and 1997 after signing from Dundee for a fee of around £350k.
He became a hit with supporters across his time at Ibrox as the defender collected eight Scottish top-flight trophies and six domestic cup honours to become one of the most decorated Rangers stars ever.
But before Brown’s legendary spell in Govan, he started his career as a young lad at St Mirren Boys Club in the late 1970s.
Alex Ferguson was the first-team manager of St Mirren at the time and happened to be watching Brown play a game for the boys club in a tournament in Glasgow.
Brown delivered an outstanding performance in midfield which of course impressed Ferguson standing on the sidelines.
But the night before, Brown signed a professional contract with Hamilton Academical and thus his future lay away from St Mirren.
And when Brown told Ferguson this after the game, the future Aberdeen and Manchester United manager wasn’t best pleased.
But it was what Rangers legend Brown said to Ferguson afterwards that may now go down as one of the most ironic statements in football history.
John Brown’s swipe at Sir Alex Ferguson
John Brown was speaking on the Let Me Be Frank Podcast with former Celtic striker Frank McAvennie and told the Sir Alex Ferguson tale as follows:
“I signed for St Mirren and on Thursday nights, we used to change in the away dressing room and go to the Abbotsinch pitches, great pitches.
“I picked up a cartilage operation at 15 and was out for four months. And then I came back for the Eastercraigs tournament with all the top English and Scottish (boys club) teams and St Mirren were in it.
“It was my first game back and John Hewitt was playing wide left for St Mirren and I’m centre-mid and I managed to score a hat-trick.
“And at the end of the game, Sir Alex said to our coach John Thomson, ‘get the boy (Brown) signed on an S-form’. And I heard it and said, ‘aw I’ve signed for Hamilton’ the night before.
“Fergie says, ‘the biggest mistake you’ll make, son’. And I said, ‘aye you’ll turn out to be a right good manager.’
“What a stupid thing for a 15-year-old to say! He always mentioned it over the years to me at different functions and stuff like that. But great memories.”
Brown on current Rangers affairs
The podcast conversation eventually moved to Brown delivering his opinion on Rangers in the present day.
And ahead of the club’s long-awaited return to Ibrox against Dundee on Saturday, the ex-defender reminded current boss Philippe Clement that it’s all about winning no matter what pitch you play on.
Brown said: "It's a good thing they're back at Ibrox, but as Graeme Souness and Walter Smith always said, the one thing you need to do at this football club is win. That's it.
“Being back at Ibrox is great but you've got to win the game. The Hampden pitch is perfect; get out there and win the game – it's as though you're trying to make excuses for the players.
"The bottom line at the Old Firm is you win games, you stay in a job, and if you lose games, you'll not be there for long. That's what we were told.
“My home debut for Rangers, a Hearts game, Graeme Souness named the eleven, and he pulled me aside and said, 'Bomber, there's 50,000 in these stands – see if you turn your back on the ball when you're under pressure, and not want to take the ball, I'll sell you'.
“That was after eight days, and that's the brutality of it, and you need a pair of balls. When we were winning in Glasgow, we owned the place and it's the best feeling you can have."
