Jump to content

93-?? Kilmarnock top flight run - a history.


Recommended Posts

18 hours ago, Tartantony said:

Would Killie start getting crowds of around 10k again if the chairman fucked off? Or is it too late?

Think 10k was a once in generation season or two but we are certainly capable of getting 5,000-6,000 home fans every week. I've lost count of the number of mates who've stopped going due to the chairman. Some of whom sponsored the club upwards of five figures each season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, Hammer Jag said:

So all that's stopping Killie from pulling in crowds of 7k is Michael Johnston?

Do you honestly believe that?

No but he's by far the biggest factor in the drop in our crowds. 

It wouldn't go up overnight but a club with the harmony it once had would certainly stop the tide and help us get fans back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Radford said:

No Killie tales from 94/95 as Saints were back in the First Division. We did enjoy a memorable Coca-Cola Cup win at Tynecastle though. The Jambos raced into a two-goal lead but lost Stevie Frail to a red card before half-time after he handled a netbound attempt from John O'Neil. When George O'Boyle saw his subsequent penalty saved by Nicky Walker it didn't look like it would be Saints' night but O'Neil headed a lifeline moments after the break before Colin Miller drove in the second. O'Boyle made amends for his penalty miss with 10 minutes remaining and Davie Irons nodded in a fourth. That stunning second-half showing set up a last eight clash with eventual winners Raith Rovers.

In the league, the team won only one of their first eight games, although the real low point came in February, when Stenhousemuir dismantled Saints 4-0 in a Scottish Cup third round replay. Despite that, Geoff Brown would stick by Paul Sturrock, which brought it's rewards down the line.

3

That was a magnificent evening.  Tynecastle was in middle of getting redeveloped so we were in the Main Stand, right next to the Hearts dugout where Tommy McLean was looking none too amused at proceedings.  Quarter final with Raith was terrible, one of those oh so typical missed opportunity type games (Raith played Airdrie in semi final) that Saints used to specialise in.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1995/96 - He's Blue, He's White, He's f........

Alex Totten started his second season in charge of Killie with a lot of his hopes for the teams progression pinned on the shoulders of the club record (standing to this day) signing of Paul Wright from St Johnstone who had came in at the end of the previous season. Wright had gotten off to a slow start in a Kilmarnock shirt but that would change as the season progressed. Another new signing Gary Holt would go on to have a huge impact with the club.

It turned into another relatively solid season for us but we weren't really pulling up any trees, the teams who finished in the bottom two had dreadful seasons. Raith had replaced Dundee Utd after they had the first of their multiple relegations since Kilmarnock had moved up to the top tier. The unfortunate teams who couldn't survive in 95/96 were Falkirk (bottom) and Partick Thistle who lost a playoff at the end of the year.

I still don't really remember being at many games during this season but I remember watching the goals on Scotsport every weekend and, for Kilmarnock, a few games spring to mind.

Firstly our 3-2 over Hibs from memory about February time. Darren Dods was sent off in his first game back from a previous red as we fought back from 2-0 down at halftime to win the game. Wright scored a good goal I believe and he had a great record against the Hibees.



I was at the crazy game where we beat Raith Rovers 5-1 and big Drajoe took one of his mad turns. Gus keeping his usual clean sheet when called upon.



In the Premier Division Rangers continued their dominance by spending fortunes that it seemed to every other team was impossible for anyone to do without putting themselves at significant financial risk. Celtic under Burns mounted the closest challenge but couldn't catch the Gazza inspired Gers. Aberdeen slipped back into the top half of the league with a respectable 3rd position finish although almost 30 points behind Rangers at the end of the year which was a huge gap.

There was a major shock during the year when our future manager Alan "Magic" Johnston scored a hat trick in a 3-0 for the Jambos at Ibrox. I really thought Hearts, with John Colghoun (??) and I think Colin Cameron that year had a great side building. It wasn't to be at the end of the year with a devastating 5-1 Scottish Cup final defeat to a rampant Rangers.

Aberdeen took the League Cup with a 2-0 over Dundee.

In Europe The Gers began to pay back the rest of Scottish football with their (almost) annual Champions League lol-fest for our amusement. This time topped off by a total 8-1 defeat to Juventus over 2 games in the group stages.

In other news Ayr United finished 6th in Div 2. No laughing at the back now.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The intense rivalry between Killie and Saints was put on hold again in 1995/96, with Saints still suffering from Rangers playing Mark Hateley at centre back.

After an underwhelming 94/95, Paul Sturrock needed a good start to a season that had seen the return of Roddy Grant to the club and the signing of John McQuillan from Dundee, a team who along with Dunfermline and champions Raith Rovers, had been streets ahead of Saints the previous year. What Sturrock didn't need was a Coca-Cola Cup exit at home to Third Division Livingston, their first game since changing their name from Meadowbank Thistle. To also lose the league opener at home to Dundee, then at home to newly-promoted Morton on matchday three, must've put him under pressure.

The defeats continued including one at Tannadice in October but it was during this game that Sturrock collapsed on the touchline with a suspected heart attack. An enforced absence followed, which gave Sturrock time to think. He wanted to work the players harder and implemented what he called a nine-to-five routine, although how much that was true, I'm not sure. Players who didn't fancy the harder schedule were jettisoned and signings had to buy into his new idea.

GL104676.jpg

Results began to improve but it was the introduction of two new signings, Premiership winger Leigh Jenkinson from Coventry and Austrian midfielder Atilla Sekerlioglu that really transformed the fortunes. They made their debut in a December 0-0 draw with United; Saints were in sixth place and 11 points off the pace set by Dunfermline. The team would win 13 of their next 16 games, dragging themselves back into what was a four-way battle for the title involving Saints, the Arabs, the Pars and Morton. That a Dundee side that had reached the Coca-Cola Cup final and included the likes of McCann and Hamilton were off the pace, shows how strong a league it was that season.

Victories in pivotal games against Morton (6-1, making up for a 4-0 reverse the week after Sturrock's collapse) and United, in front of a packed McDiarmid, were vital but Saints couldn't get the better of Dunfermline, losing 3-2 in a clash at East End Park that everybody remembers for a John Clark shot that myth would have it took Alan Main into the net with it, and only managing a 2-2 draw in Perth thanks to a late Leigh Jenkinson free kick. 

QfgI7N.gif

In the end, Saints had left themselves too much to do and defeat at Cappielow on the third last weekend ended our hopes. Morton themselves played United on the final day, knowing a win would take them into the play-offs but United got the draw they needed to secure a meeting with Thistle.

At the bottom of the league, Dumbarton finished with just 11 points, nine of which were picked up in the first round of fixtures; they lost 26 of their final 28 games!

The stong end to the season from Saints raised hopes for 1996/97 though...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

95/96 for me was at that point the best Celtic team I'd seen and the first time I really started to believe we could win the League.

Over the entire season only 2 teams would beat us. Rangers beat us once in the league (the only league game we would lose) and also knocked us out of both cups. The only other team to beat us that season was the eventual champions of the cup winners cup, PSG who beat us home and away. We finished 2nd after too many draws which was our highest league finish since winning it in 88.

I think this season was also the season where we came from 1-0 down in the Scottish cup at home to Dundee Utd to score two goals in the last 2 minutes, a header from Van Hooijdonk and a cracker from Andy Thom. I remember going absolutely mental for that.

It was also the season of my favourite old firm match of all time. 3-3 draw at Ibrox in what was an unbelievable match with the flying pig, Goram, as usual the difference between the two sides. Will always remember Andy Thom firing in a 30 yard screamer early doors.

We would sign a certain Jorge Cadete at the start of 1996 which lead to the infamous Jim Farry situation. He would eventually make his debut, coming off the bench against the Dons and scoring in a 5-0 route late in the season.

Other highlights for me include the already mentioned 3-0 Hearts/ Allan Johnston win at Ibrox as it was such a shock.

Was this also the season that Hearts got 4 players sent off at Ibrox and had to play with 7 men? That was mental. Might have been the next season.

All in it was the best season I'd seen us have at that stage in my life and to lose only 1 league game and not win the league was gutting but it wouldn't be long until we would reach the top again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1996/97 - Legends are born


My first ever season ticket season and what an absolutely crazy season to follow. Full of ups and downs with an amazing day to cap it off, 96-97 was the year that Kilmarnock really hit the big time.

I was talking to my girlfriend about an old football game yesterday (Juventus losing to Dortmund in the 97 CL Final - she was intrigued obviously) and telling her that I remembered watching this game quite vividly. She couldn't really believe this as it was 20 years ago but football memories just stick and really from this season onwards it's incredible the detail you can remember.

The season did not start well with a 1-0 home defeat against Ayr with Robert Connor scoring an early goal which we just couldn't recover from. Alex Totten was kicking off his third season in charge but early results were not looking good. We led against both the OF at home only in the first quarter of the season only to falter badly in the second half and lose both games heavily. One of these games saw the debut of Paulo Di Canio for Celtic who just tore us to shreds. Not sure if anyone else remembers it but the Celtic fans complained after the game that the new away end at Rugby Park didn't appear to be too secure with reports of the stand "moving" when the goals were celebrated. Celtic fans have kindly tested the structural strength of our stand each year since by ensuring the seats could still be broken very easily.......

Also, in the early part of the season, we played Hibs in a Friday night live game. It seemed like a big deal for this game to be on TV and it turned into a superb night with Kilmarnock winning 4-2, that man Wright scoring another screamer against the Hibees. I remember the game for another reason too - there was a raffle prize to win a car for ticket holders. Unfortunately not won by me but the guy who did win it got so excited that he fell/rolled down the steps of the East stand on his way onto the pitch at halftime. The rest of the ground was of course very sympathetic to his plight.



I'm not 100% sure of timelines but Alex Totten was sacked towards the end of 96, I believe following a 4-2 home defeat by Motherwell. I remember their fourth goal coming from our throw in about 40 yards from goal, the ball was thrown to our captain Monty who let it squirm between his legs and.....I'm guessing here as he always seemed to score against us.....Dougie Arnott most likely took advantage.

Totten was replaced, temporarily at first, by Bobby Williamson. I'm not sure if Williamson had retired fully at this stage but he was looking after our reserve team at the time. Results picked up slightly but we were still stuck in a battle with Raith Rovers to avoid relegation. I remember us losing a game to Raith around February time when Danny Lennon scored from about 45 yards out with a free kick which was just tossed into the box but somehow made it all the way through.

Williamson had introduced two young players to our team in Alex Burke and David Bagan. These boys played on either wing and soon began to show great form for us. Burke especially. This was capped off by a great home win against Celtic towards the latter part of the season with their new Italian defender Enrico Annoni being soundly embarrassed all evening by Burke. Burke would eventually win Scottish Young Player of the Year. We followed that up with a win at Ibrox which really helped our survival chances and a last day home draw to Aberdeen secured our safety for another year with Raith being relegated . The yearly relegation battles would, with a couple of exceptions, not be much of a concern for the next decade.

The main glory of the season was reserved for the Scottish Cup. We started our campaign off with an easy, but uninspiring, 2-0 win over East Stirling at home. We then beat Clyde 1-0 away in what was viewed by many as a potential banana skin after Wright won and scored a controversial penalty. The QF saw another tough tie away to Morton. We started off like a house on fire and we were 3-0 up at half time. Morton fought back to 3-2 but we pushed on and eventually came away 5-2 winners in what was an amazing away day for me as an 11 year old.



The semi finals brought a tie against Dundee Utd who were in the midst of a fantastic run of form that season. I think they lost maybe one game in 20 or something daft and were the clear favourites, especially with big Kjell Olafsson upfront. I believe that was his name but I could be wrong. A tight 0-0 led to a replay in which Jim McIntyre struck right at the end of 90 mins to secure our Cup final place against Falkirk. Kilmarnock won the Scottish Cup after a 1-0 win over the Bairns, managed by Alex Totten.




In other news Rangers won another league title to match Celtics 9 in a row record. Tommy Burns was sacked following the Cup semi final defeat by Falkirk and he just couldn't overcome Walter Smith or Andy Goram who made some great saves in OF games to deny Celtic wins. Rangers also won the League Cup after a classic final, coming away victorious after a 4-3 win over Hearts.

In another famous game earlier in the season Hearts had 4 players sent off against Rangers at Ibrox in a game that was just crazy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another great recap by Dindeleux. I remember three days after Falkirk knocked Celtic out in the semi-final, Saints won 4-1 at Brockville!

Saints still hadn't been able to undo the damage done by Killie and Mark Hateley in 1994 as they went into a third season in the First Division. Things were looking rosy though, with a strong finish to the previous season and a batch of young players progressing all the time. Fresh from a BP Youth Cup final appearance and a spell captaining the side, the close season saw Saints accept an offer of £1 million from Derby County for Danny Griffin. The player rejected the move though and would stay with Saints; for their part, Derby instead signed Christian Dailly from Dundee United for significantly less money.

Saints made it seven successive seasons without an opening day win when newly-relegated Falkirk took a point from Perth but things soon clicked into gear and by early November, Saints were out in front, a position they wouldn't relinquish. Boosted by the arrival of Canadian international Nick Dasovic, the final 25 games of the season saw just a single defeat, 15 clean sheets and 55 goals scored. The league would be won by 20 points from Airdrie - who lost 5-2 on aggregate to Hibs in what would be the final play-off for over 15 years - whilst East Fife only just managed to better Dumbarton's 11 point haul from 95/96 with a final day win over Clydebank. A run of 15 consecutive defeats from late autumn really sealed their fate in what remains their only second tier season in the last 29 years.

The one sour point for Saints came in their first Challenge Cup final appearance. Big wins over Ayr (4-0), Dundee (5-1) and Montrose (4-2) set up a meeting with Second Division Stranraer but on a horrendous day at Broadwood, a Danny Griffin own goal saw the trophy head south.

OCGnYM.gif

Buoyed by how well United (3rd) and Dunfermline (5th) had done following promotion, there was a quiet confidence that Paul Sturrock's talented squad could compete well in the Premier Division the following year...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 years later...

Ah well instead of updating my own thread with just Kilmarnock memories I think I’ll continue with the season by season review that my fellow (and totally unconnected to me) Kilmarnock poster had started a few years ago. This one is far better.

Will do the next season soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1997/98 saw Kilmarnock carry our cup-winning momentum on and was the start of a couple of years of really good league form for the club. The ending to the 90s really was the peak of the Fleeting\Burns revival even though it was Bobby Williamson who took us to a different level for a few years. I actually don’t think Williamson gets the credit he deserved for what he achieved at Rugby Park. 
 

After winning the cup we experienced European football for the first time in around 30 years. Similar to last years Nomads debacle we found ourselves at risk of embarrassment from a part time side but in the 97 version at least we made it through, sneaking past Shelbourne 3-2 on aggregate. I remember the home game saw Shelbournre start really well and when their player popped a screamer in things didn’t look good. We recovered from that though - and recovered from one of Lekovic’s brain farts in the second leg to squeeze through.

We eventually lost out to OGC Nice in the next round but at least the fans got to experience an away day in the south of France, a bit different from Onthank.

In the league we came back from quite a poor start (only 1 win in the league before October) with an 11 game unbeaten run in all competitions. That was sadly ended at Somerset as we had our Scottish Cup holders status ripped away from us by Ayr. A horrendous day (surely we couldn’t see anything worse) and the second best result in the wee teams history.

Our League form continued to improve after our cup misery though and we ended the season in 4th place. I found myself devastated at the loss of Drago Lekovic though towards the end of that season, even with the afore mentioned occasional brain farts he was still a legend for the club and made THAT save in the Scottish Cup final the year before.

Also out that season were Jim McIntyre and Mark Reilly in a double transfer to Tommy Burns new club Reading. Burns era there didn’t go particularly well.

Burns other old team Celtic made (or stopped) history by finally winning a league title and ending Rangers hopes for 10-in-a-row. We played our own small part in that with a  win at Ibrox on the second last day of the season. That season was the first year of what turned out to be a very average Scandinavian forward player by the name of Henrik Larsson and the final year of another average Scandinavian player in Scottish football - Brian Laudrup who was leaving the club along with Walter Smith, McCoist, Durant and a few others in a real end of an era feeling at Ibrox.

Hearts won the Scottish Cup beating Rangers 2-1 at Celtic Park as Hampden was being modernized. Hearts getting revenge for the previous years 5-1 hammering and I’m sure Hearts fans, like Kilmarnock, felt their club was on a real upwards trajectory under Jim Jefferies.

The League Cup was won by Celtic who defeated Dundee Utd 3-0 - here is the Bbc sport article for anyone who is interested.

Other notable things to mention from that season:

Dundee win promotion to the top flight. A well established yo-yo club back in 1998 with very little changing in the 23 years since. Zero trophies to speak about since then but a few relegations/promotions and a fair bit of financial cheating.

As Dundee were stepping up to play in the top flight Clydebank were stepping up for a season in the old Division 1. Livingston missed out on promotion from Div 2 as a result but it wouldn’t be long before they were making waves.

Marco Negri rattled 5 past Dundee Utd early in the season on his way to scoring an incredible amount of goals by Christmas. Rumour has it that he then got caught having an affair with the wife of another Italian at Ibrox, Sergio Porrini, and after a wee dust up Negri was never really the same player.

This of course was the last season of the current setup in Scottish football and we were all so very lucky to move into the promised land that was the SPL from the following season.

Scottish football was only going to get better now, right? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...