There were tears. Many tears.
Tears of pure happiness from a mother watching her son fulfil a boyhood dream.
St Johnstone had just won the League Cup for the first time and captain Jason Kerr lofted the trophy high into the Hampden sky as team-mates danced all around. Tracy Rodgers — better known to Kerr as ‘Mum’ — could not have been prouder.
“I tape the games so I can watch them again,” she smiled.
“Do you know how many times I’ve watched him lift the trophy? Hundreds and hundreds of times.
“Still now I constantly watch it. It was the best feeling ever.”
Recording the big games is hugely important for Tracy — especially considering she can’t bear to watch them live. She often takes herself away from the television to cook up another batch of spaghetti Bolognese or similar.
“I’m a very nervous person when it comes to watching Jason,” revealed Tracy. “I can very rarely actually watch it.
“The League Cup final was so intense. I pace about, go outside and don’t even want to hear what’s going on.
“I made a whole pot of spaghetti Bolognese during the Scottish Cup semi-final game.”
That win against St Mirren earlier this month has set-up the chance for Saints — and Kerr — to do the unthinkable. Victory against Hibs this weekend would secure the proud Fair City club a famous cup double.
With fans (and family) still not able to attend matches due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tracy is booked up to take in the action at Perth watering hole the Cherrybank Inn.
“Greg [Jason’s brother] is a Hibee, so I think he is watching the cup final at a beer garden,” said Tracy, who is from Penicuik.
“I thought if I went up to Perth, at least I’ll be with lots of Saints fans. A guy who had a table with two spare seats messaged to say I could have them.
“I’ll have to lock myself in the toilet or something when the game is on. It’s going to be horrible watching it because I think I’ll be more nervous than I’ve ever been before. Of course I will get very tearful if they win.
“If they do, I do not expect to buy another round after the final whistle!”
For her son to be on the brink of this achievement is all a bit surreal for Tracy. Especially as she remembers his early community football sessions in hometown Penicuik aged just three, before eventually joining Tynecastle boys’ club many years later.
Tracy told the PA: “Jason and his brother have always done everything together football-wise.
“When he was three, I took him to the local community centre in Penicuik.
“I remember going back the third week and asking if they were budding footballers. The coach said: ‘Well, it’s great because we can actually kick the ball to them now and they don’t pick it up with their hands’.
“Jason and Greg managed to get so many trophies and awards. It was competitive all of the time for them.
“Then they got picked up by Saints at the right time. The year before, Livingston were wanting Jason. I was on the phone and they said they wanted Jason as a centre-half.
“I’d said he was a centre-mid, you’re not getting him... I was to make sure St Johnstone knew too but I never did get in the dugout!
“I always thought he was better going forward. I couldn’t help myself. I like him attacking and can’t stand when he’s at the back — because I don’t want the ball to get to him.”
Kerr has taken everything in his stride, including the captaincy at Saints. The pressure of the big occasion does not faze him.
“He was over in Northern Ireland at the time,” Tracy remembers of Kerr first getting the captain’s armband aged just 22. “He gave me a phone and I was absolutely delighted.
“At the time, you would read some comments about Jason being young. He was but it never fazed him.
“He is a very laid-back kind of person. He always has been. He can be deep, but is very disciplined.
“If you go into his fridge, it’s very boring. Everyone that’s been in his house will say it’s the most boring fridge they’ve ever seen. He is very professional and his brother and all his friends are very close. We are all really close.”
Tracy concludes: “I never thought in a million years he could be lifting a trophy again so soon."
