How Dougie Imrie suffered three times in Challenge Cup final defeat with Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Having lost two Challenge Cup finals as a player, this spring’s KDM Evolution Trophy showpiece for Raith Rovers against Inverness Caledonian Thistle offers Stark’s Park gaffer Dougie Imrie a very real possibility of making it ‘third time lucky’.
Ironically, one of those previous disappointments saw Imrie, 42, as part of the Inverness Caledonian Thistle squad heartbreakingly defeated 3-2 by Dundee at Perth’s McDiarmid Park in the 2009/2010 final, having led 2-0 at half-time. Of particular pain for Imrie was that – after missing out on selection for manager Terry Butcher’s starting XI – he came on in the 89th minute but was then promptly sent off a minute later for a foul on Dundee’s Pat Clarke just before Jocky Scott’s team were presented with the trophy.
When asked what his memories of that fateful day were, Imrie told the Fife Free Press: “Frustration, because I had come back from injury for the club and the manager early, played 13 games on the bounce and then got left out of a cup final.
"I’d had an MCL knee injury which was supposed to put me out for 12 weeks but it only lasted seven as I came back early and wanted to play. I was gutted not to be picked for the final, but that’s football, every manager’s got their own way of playing and how they want their team to set up.
"So you can imagine how I felt.
"I was itching to get on, I make a tackle, it wasn't a red card in my opinion. I was breaking a promising attack and got sent off.
"I wouldn't say it was a lunge. It was one of those ones where you're trying to stop an attack and you clip somebody's heels.
"It was a difficult period and then a couple of months after that I left the football club. It wasn't great."
On whether that day in Perth marked the biggest disappointment of his career, Imrie referenced the fact that he wasn’t picked in St Mirren’s squad for their 3-2 League Cup final victory over Hearts at Hampden Park in 2013, by adding: "No. I was left out of that League Cup final at St Mirren as well, which was more disappointing. That was sore.
"I’ve still got a winner’s medal, but it just doesn’t feel the same as I never played the game, so it would be better sitting in a bin fire somewhere. It doesn’t mean anything.
"I've had a lot of downs in my career as a football player but that's what makes us stronger, makes you more willing to get to finals as a manager.
"But it's not about me. These interviews aren't about me, they're about the players.
"The final is a winner takes all scenario. We've got a great squad here.”