Jim Morton remembers standing at Perth Railway Station rehearsing his opening words.
‘Hi, Jock’. No it can’t be that. ‘Hello, Mr Stein’. Is that too formal? There were more than a few options running through his head.
The St Johnstone midfielder had been called up by Scotland to play in a four-nations semi-professional tournament over in Italy.
Jock Stein was to be in charge of the squad and prior to heading overseas had arranged a friendly up north against an Inverness select side.
“The first time I met Jock Stein was before Italy when we were going up to Inverness to play a select team,” remembers Morton.
“I’d arranged to meet the bus at Perth Railway Station. It was about 1pm and I was a little bit hesitant.
“I see the bus coming to the entrance and the Scottish FA board, with Jock sitting at the front. I didn’t get nervous much, but I was.
“I didn’t know what to say. Is it ‘Hi, Jock’ or ‘Hello, Mr Stein’. I was panicking about that.
“I bent down to pick my bag up, the bus doors opened with that old noise and he is standing there. He shook my hand and said: ‘I’ll get the bag’. I was dumbfounded. You remember these things forever.
“We later went to play in Montecatini near Florence. It was the time of the air traffic control strikes so we got an extra couple of days.
“Sitting listening to Jock telling stories were just great memories.”
That Italian adventure was in 1981 and arrived at a time where Morton was a couple of years into his Muirton Park career having joined from Berwick Rangers. He actually almost signed earlier than he did.
“These were the days with no mobiles,” he laughed. “I had to go to a phone box outside the Angus Hotel and call Jim Storrie.
“He says: ‘We’re trying to sign you’. I was at Brechin at the time and thought going to St Johnstone would be ideal.
“But I ended up going to Berwick Rangers and it was quite successful. I played really well against Saints a few times. Alex Stuart then called and was interested in talking to me. I went along to Muirton Park and was in less than half an hour.
“I thought that this was the right club and the time to sign. I probably should’ve signed 18 months prior.
“The team was in a bit of transition when I got there.
“There were some really good players, but a lot who you thought weren’t good enough to make the step up.
“Roger Hynd was the assistant at that time and he took over for the last six games of the season. You didn’t want to fall out with Roger.
“I scored my first goal towards the end of the season at Ayr United and then Alex Rennie came in. I was thinking: ‘Another manager’. Alex called me in to his office – he had his white suit on – and said he had tried to sign me all the time when he was with Hearts.
“That first meeting with him gave me confidence. You need to have confidence from your manager.
“It helped and that season we started like a ball of fire. McCoist and Brogan were up front and we hit the ground running.”
It wasn’t, however, until the conclusion of the 1982/83 season that Saints booked their return to the top-flight.
A 2-1 win over Hearts in April – Morton scored the opener – helped put the Perth club in the driving seat for the title.
“I’ve got a picture of that goal – a brilliant picture,” he smiled. “It was a corner kick and I’d gone to the back
post. I lobbed it from the side of the six yard box into the top corner of the goal.
“There were eight Hearts players in the picture. It was like slow motion as the ball went up in the air.
“I remember it went in and the noise just took off.
“When you talk about scoring goals, the feeling of energy and excitement comes back.”
Scoring goals was what Morton did so well from midfield. He netted 58 in his 235 appearances for the club.
“When I was younger I just always loved scoring goals,” Morton says. “There’s not a better feeling in the world than putting the ball in the back of the net.
“I always used to like chipping goalkeepers. But the main thing was getting in the box as often as possible.
“If you don’t get in the box, you aren’t going to score many. John Brogan made a lot of the goals. He had everything, although to be fair he wasn’t the best in the air.
“He was one of the quickest and had a sharp mind. He had good feet, could turn and twist. I always got to that back post.”
Four of Morton’s goals arrived in the Premier Division campaign of 1983/84. Saints were the only part-time club in the division and ended up finishing ninth. It was a quick return to the First Division.
Morton told the PA: “I think we were unlucky. We were part-time against all the full-time teams.
“Celtic and Rangers were good, but Aberdeen and Dundee United too. We would run out of steam and we couldn’t really dominate games.
“But after Christmas we went on a run and started to adapt. The games were quite brutal.
“Muirton was one of the best surfaces in the country but, as the season went on, pitches got rough. The full-time fitness ended up costing us. We were good enough players to stay up.”
Relegation was a bitter pill to swallow. But perhaps not as tough as the relegation from Division One that followed the season after.
Saints, in season 1985/86, would be plying their trade in Division Two. Many players moved on, but Morton remained that year.
He said: “The team started to break up for various reasons and that was a shame. I enjoyed every bit of time at St Johnstone. A few clubs tried to sign me.
“Hibs were desperate to sign me. But I was happy and still thought we had enough players to start getting back up again.
“We started to lose the likes of Stuart Beedie and John Brogan, and were not replacing them. But you always think you can get back.
“I was happy to stay and try to get the club back to where I thought they should be.
“The money was dwindling and everything was going in a downward spiral. But you tried to keep everyone going.
“A number of things were going against the club. It was like the perfect storm.”
Morton was a player who experienced Saints’ highest of highs and lowest of lows. Throughout he was held in high regard by the fans. And in 2019 he was inducted into the club’s hall of fame.
He smiled: “That was the most humbling experience I’ve had. Ever.
“I got a call from Paul Smith to say what was happening. I thought he was winding me up at first.
“There are thousands of players who have played for the club. I was truly humbled and proud.”
Now based down south, Morton (64) is thrilled that Saints have enjoyed more than a decade of success in the top-flight and, of course, the famous cup wins.
“To win any trophy – it doesn’t matter who you are playing - is brilliant,” Morton said.
He adds: “It’s good for the record books to have the Scottish and League Cup.
“Next up is the league, isn’t it?”
