Ed Hodge
Published: 2015-05-17
Total Pages: 256
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'No matter what I do, if I was to go and win the Champions League with another club, it won't eclipse winning the Scottish Cup with St Johnstone. It couldn't, not for raw emotion and what it meant to people' - Tommy Wright, St Johnstone manager 17 May, 2014: the greatest date in St Johnstone Football Club's history. The day the small, well-run, Perthshire club saw 130 years of waiting to lift a major trophy come to a glorious end. Having so often come up short as a club in the latter stages of cup competitions, manager Tommy Wright and his team entered the history books after winning the Scottish Cup, the world's oldest trophy, thanks to a 2-0 win over Tayside rivals Dundee United in their first appearance in the final. Roared on by 15,000 fans, their largest ever support, Saints achieved glory on an unforgettable afternoon at Celtic Park in Glasgow, capping a remarkable season for one of the game's perennial underdogs. With Stevie May, the club's talisman striker and semi-final hero, wearing the No 17 shirt, the day appeared destined for Saints, before two other Stevens - Anderson and MacLean - emerged as the matchwinners.In Wright's first full season in charge, it was a victory that summed up his team; organised, resolute, flashes of flair and a collective will to win. For the emotional Brown family in particular, club owner Geoff and chairman Steve, it was their proudest day.