Willie Pettigrew looks back fondly on superb career

[SpeedDemon]

Nice story about Willie... my hero back in school.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...rb-career.html

[jwok]

A fine article about one of our unassuming heroes. No frills, down to earth and wholly genuine.

[wellin]

How much would Pettigrew be worth in today's market?

[numpty13]

Regardless of how good it is, I'm not clicking a Daily Mail link to read it...

[Handsome_Devil]

Prince of poachers: In his prime, he rubbed shoulders with Kenny Dalglish and Sir Alex Ferguson... now, 65, Willie Pettigrew looks back fondly on superb career while loving life on the graveyard shift in a supermarket
Willie Pettigrew packs shelves on two night shifts a week - he has just turned 65
The occasional congestion in aisles is caused by Pettigrew's ability and affability
He may now be a pensioner but he was once fleet of foot and fantastic of finish
He played for Scotland five times, scoring twice and never being on losing side
By HUGH MACDONALD FOR THE SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL

There are memories that will warm most loiterers in the refrigerated aisle of a superstore. They are available on a peculiar type of special offer.

One has merely to engage with the chap packing the shelves.

'Whether I am wearing a Scotland shirt, a Motherwell shirt or an Asda shirt I am the same man,' says Willie Pettigrew, sipping a large hot chocolate and looking over to his place of work in a retail park in Hamilton.

Pettigrew packs the shelves on two night shifts a week. He has just turned 65 but the storyline is not one of a one-time great now scrambling for a living.

'I am comfortable financially,' he says, pointing out that golf and Asda are what get him out of the house.

The occasional congestion in the aisles is caused by both Pettigrew's ability and affability.


He may now be a pedestrian pensioner but he was once fleet of foot and fantastic of finish.

He scored goals most conspicuously for Motherwell, to cup-winning effect for Dundee United, and for Hearts, Morton and Hamilton Academical.

He played for Scotland five times, scoring twice and never being on the losing side. The goals abound but so do the memories.

A chat over a lunchtime cuppa brings forth encounters with Fergie, Ian St John, the three McLeans (the managerial brothers, not a singing trio), Kenny Dalglish and Kevin Keegan. This illustrious list forms a timeline of Pettigrew's career.


'Fergie was an interesting encounter. I played with his brother, Martin, at East Kilbride Thistle. I went there after leaving Hibs. They had signed me on a schoolboy form but decided I was a centre-half. I had to leave,' he says.

'I got on to the bus after a game at East Kilbride and there was Alex sitting there. Martin had told him about me. He wanted to sign me for East Stirling but I had already agreed to join Motherwell.

'If I say I am going to do something, I do it. I don't go back on my word. Fergie said: "That's all right. Have a good career".'

It was and he did. Motherwell was initially underwhelming until St John came in and put Pettigrew in the first team. 'I was fortunate in him being there. He recognised that I had a talent,' he said.

'I asked him if I could go full-time. He told me yes and to come back the next morning. That night I saw on telly that he was going to be manager at Portsmouth. But he kept his word with me and I became a full-timer.'

Under Willie McLean, he found it difficult to break through. 'I said to him: "You need to play me or sell me".

'I was picked against Airdrie and I was horrendous, taken off at half-time. Next game was Ayr United at Fir Park and I scored four, then we beat Celtic 3-2 and I scored two. It took off from there.' Motherwell was his playground from 1972 to 1979 but he needed something more. 'To be a success, you have to win something,' he says.

He went to Dundee United where he won the League Cup twice under Jim McLean.

'Jim told me: "All I want you to do is to score goals". I scored immediately, against Spurs in a pre-season game, with Hoddle and Ardiles on the opposite side.

'Good start I thought. But it took me five games to score again and that was from a penalty at Celtic Park.

'I came in after the game and wee Jim says: 'Thank f*** for that. I thought I had bought a dud'. Aye, there's nothing like getting a wee boost.' He points out that McLean's solitary requirement for him to score goals was short-lived. 'We used to have a board with dots denoting goals put beside names. There were 29 against mine and seven next to Paul (Sturrock).

'Wee Jim said: "It's not good enough. You need to do other things as well". He always wanted more. It was brutal. He wasn't half joking, half serious. It was all serious.' Sturrock, too, had an enquiry. 'He asked me: "Why do you score so many?" I told him: "Because I don't pass to you but you pass to me".' He chuckles at this, but it is said in tribute to both Sturrock and Motherwell team-mate Bobby Graham, who were generous and gifted partners.

The McLean association continued with Tommy of that ilk at Morton.

'The three of them know the game inside out although they have different ways of interpreting it and putting it across.

'But they all believed in me. I went to Morton in 1984 because I fell out with Wallace Mercer at Hearts. I must have said something,' he says. A subsequent spell with Hamilton Accies followed and Pettigrew ended his pro career in 1986.

It was a professional life spent entirely in Scotland but it could have been different.

'I had an offer to go to St Pauli in Hamburg when I was at Fir Park. They flew me over and told me Motherwell were getting £365,000.

'I enquired what I was getting and they said it was all going to Motherwell.

'I told them to fly me back. I made the right decision. I met Kevin Keegan in the hotel. He was at Hamburg at the time and told me what it was like.

'He said: "I thought I could play but they have me in every afternoon, showing me how to pass the ball, how to kick the ball".

'But what put me off was that I was considered just a piece of luggage to be dropped off. There are no recriminations about that. It was just the way it was.'

Similarly, he is philosophical about his Scotland career. He only played on five occasions for the national team but there was genuine, substantial competition for places.

'For a start we had Big Joe (Jordan). He didn't so much play you through, but laid a path down for you to get through,' he says.

There was also Kenny Dalglish. 'I was playing for Scotland with him under Willie Ormond,' recalls Pettigrew.

'Kenny tells me Ormond takes one of the strikers off and he says that when I am substituted I should limp as it makes it look as if I am being taken off because I am injured.


'So in the second half, the call comes up that there is going to be a substitution. But Ormond is taking off Dalglish. So I shout: "Remember and limp, Kenny".' There is a grin at that and at much more. Pettigrew ran a succession of businesses in football retirement but is glad to have put them in the past.

'It was 24/7,' he says. 'There was stress with it but now I am contented. I am just off the golf course. Now I don't have any problems. I do a couple of shifts for Asda and then play golf.' He coached for a spell, too, helping out the youngsters at Motherwell with Chris Cadden, Allan Campbell and David Turnbull benefiting from his tutelage.

'I enjoyed it,' he says, 'but I hate it when people talk about making that or this player. I didn't make anyone a player. I helped them develop. What they are is a result of what they did themselves.' He stopped coaching last year but still goes to home games at Motherwell with Bobby Graham, his erstwhile partner up front.

They are aware that they come from a different football world but the issue of the surge in players' wages does not seem to concern him.

'They must need two wives to spend it,' he says lightly. But when pressed, he says: 'The memories are better than the money.' It is said with a sincerity that banishes any disbelief.

Those memories endure and are available for free for Willie Pettigrew. And on demand in an Asda aisle.

[sieb1886]

Prince of poachers: In his prime, he rubbed shoulders with Kenny Dalglish and Sir Alex Ferguson... now, 65, Willie Pettigrew looks back fondly on superb career while loving life on the graveyard shift in a supermarket
Willie Pettigrew packs shelves on two night shifts a week - he has just turned 65
The occasional congestion in aisles is caused by Pettigrew's ability and affability
He may now be a pensioner but he was once fleet of foot and fantastic of finish
He played for Scotland five times, scoring twice and never being on losing side
By HUGH MACDONALD FOR THE SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL

There are memories that will warm most loiterers in the refrigerated aisle of a superstore. They are available on a peculiar type of special offer.

One has merely to engage with the chap packing the shelves.

'Whether I am wearing a Scotland shirt, a Motherwell shirt or an Asda shirt I am the same man,' says Willie Pettigrew, sipping a large hot chocolate and looking over to his place of work in a retail park in Hamilton.

Pettigrew packs the shelves on two night shifts a week. He has just turned 65 but the storyline is not one of a one-time great now scrambling for a living.

'I am comfortable financially,' he says, pointing out that golf and Asda are what get him out of the house.

The occasional congestion in the aisles is caused by both Pettigrew's ability and affability.


He may now be a pedestrian pensioner but he was once fleet of foot and fantastic of finish.

He scored goals most conspicuously for Motherwell, to cup-winning effect for Dundee United, and for Hearts, Morton and Hamilton Academical.

He played for Scotland five times, scoring twice and never being on the losing side. The goals abound but so do the memories.

A chat over a lunchtime cuppa brings forth encounters with Fergie, Ian St John, the three McLeans (the managerial brothers, not a singing trio), Kenny Dalglish and Kevin Keegan. This illustrious list forms a timeline of Pettigrew's career.


'Fergie was an interesting encounter. I played with his brother, Martin, at East Kilbride Thistle. I went there after leaving Hibs. They had signed me on a schoolboy form but decided I was a centre-half. I had to leave,' he says.

'I got on to the bus after a game at East Kilbride and there was Alex sitting there. Martin had told him about me. He wanted to sign me for East Stirling but I had already agreed to join Motherwell.

'If I say I am going to do something, I do it. I don't go back on my word. Fergie said: "That's all right. Have a good career".'

It was and he did. Motherwell was initially underwhelming until St John came in and put Pettigrew in the first team. 'I was fortunate in him being there. He recognised that I had a talent,' he said.

'I asked him if I could go full-time. He told me yes and to come back the next morning. That night I saw on telly that he was going to be manager at Portsmouth. But he kept his word with me and I became a full-timer.'

Under Willie McLean, he found it difficult to break through. 'I said to him: "You need to play me or sell me".

'I was picked against Airdrie and I was horrendous, taken off at half-time. Next game was Ayr United at Fir Park and I scored four, then we beat Celtic 3-2 and I scored two. It took off from there.' Motherwell was his playground from 1972 to 1979 but he needed something more. 'To be a success, you have to win something,' he says.

He went to Dundee United where he won the League Cup twice under Jim McLean.

'Jim told me: "All I want you to do is to score goals". I scored immediately, against Spurs in a pre-season game, with Hoddle and Ardiles on the opposite side.

'Good start I thought. But it took me five games to score again and that was from a penalty at Celtic Park.

'I came in after the game and wee Jim says: 'Thank f*** for that. I thought I had bought a dud'. Aye, there's nothing like getting a wee boost.' He points out that McLean's solitary requirement for him to score goals was short-lived. 'We used to have a board with dots denoting goals put beside names. There were 29 against mine and seven next to Paul (Sturrock).

'Wee Jim said: "It's not good enough. You need to do other things as well". He always wanted more. It was brutal. He wasn't half joking, half serious. It was all serious.' Sturrock, too, had an enquiry. 'He asked me: "Why do you score so many?" I told him: "Because I don't pass to you but you pass to me".' He chuckles at this, but it is said in tribute to both Sturrock and Motherwell team-mate Bobby Graham, who were generous and gifted partners.

The McLean association continued with Tommy of that ilk at Morton.

'The three of them know the game inside out although they have different ways of interpreting it and putting it across.

'But they all believed in me. I went to Morton in 1984 because I fell out with Wallace Mercer at Hearts. I must have said something,' he says. A subsequent spell with Hamilton Accies followed and Pettigrew ended his pro career in 1986.

It was a professional life spent entirely in Scotland but it could have been different.

'I had an offer to go to St Pauli in Hamburg when I was at Fir Park. They flew me over and told me Motherwell were getting £365,000.

'I enquired what I was getting and they said it was all going to Motherwell.

'I told them to fly me back. I made the right decision. I met Kevin Keegan in the hotel. He was at Hamburg at the time and told me what it was like.

'He said: "I thought I could play but they have me in every afternoon, showing me how to pass the ball, how to kick the ball".

'But what put me off was that I was considered just a piece of luggage to be dropped off. There are no recriminations about that. It was just the way it was.'

Similarly, he is philosophical about his Scotland career. He only played on five occasions for the national team but there was genuine, substantial competition for places.

'For a start we had Big Joe (Jordan). He didn't so much play you through, but laid a path down for you to get through,' he says.

There was also Kenny Dalglish. 'I was playing for Scotland with him under Willie Ormond,' recalls Pettigrew.

'Kenny tells me Ormond takes one of the strikers off and he says that when I am substituted I should limp as it makes it look as if I am being taken off because I am injured.


'So in the second half, the call comes up that there is going to be a substitution. But Ormond is taking off Dalglish. So I shout: "Remember and limp, Kenny".' There is a grin at that and at much more. Pettigrew ran a succession of businesses in football retirement but is glad to have put them in the past.

'It was 24/7,' he says. 'There was stress with it but now I am contented. I am just off the golf course. Now I don't have any problems. I do a couple of shifts for Asda and then play golf.' He coached for a spell, too, helping out the youngsters at Motherwell with Chris Cadden, Allan Campbell and David Turnbull benefiting from his tutelage.

'I enjoyed it,' he says, 'but I hate it when people talk about making that or this player. I didn't make anyone a player. I helped them develop. What they are is a result of what they did themselves.' He stopped coaching last year but still goes to home games at Motherwell with Bobby Graham, his erstwhile partner up front.

They are aware that they come from a different football world but the issue of the surge in players' wages does not seem to concern him.

'They must need two wives to spend it,' he says lightly. But when pressed, he says: 'The memories are better than the money.' It is said with a sincerity that banishes any disbelief.

Those memories endure and are available for free for Willie Pettigrew. And on demand in an Asda aisle.

Thanks HD for putting that on here ... it was simply 'magic' reading! Go on 'The Grew' !!

[dasdeid]

Thanks Sieb1886 for quoting the same text as uploaded HD .. reading it TWICE reminded me Asda have buy one get another free offer