'I was half cut and dressed like Albert Steptoe': Ex-Raith Rovers boss Jimmy Nicholl gives hilarious account of press conference held morning after 1994 cup final win

Nicholl, 67, who bossed Raith in two spells from 1990 to ’96 and 1997 to ’99, told the Fife Free Press: “Straight after that final the celebrations had been in full swing, with straw hats and trumpets in the dressing room!

“Rightly so, then it was great on the bus and back at the Dean Park Hotel.

"I then went back to Dollar, where I lived, and I ended up in a pub there. Danny McGhee was a big Celtic man and he owned the pub.

"My father was up, and we were sitting drinking. I don’t normally drink whisky, but I had a whisky with my dad and it was about 7.30am or 8am when I went to bed.

"Then the phone went at about 10.30am and it was the club saying: ‘Where are you?’

"I said: ‘What do you mean where am I?’

"They said: ‘There’s a press conference here, the press are waiting for you’.

"And I said: ‘You’re joking!’

"I was p….d. It was 30 miles from my house in Dollar to Kirkcaldy.

"I just jumped into the wardrobe and got a black jacket on, brown trousers, a tie that never matched and brown shoes with holes in the soles! Nothing matched, I just grabbed the first thing that came to me and I got a lift to Stark’s Park.

"I looked like Albert Steptoe and I was half cut!

"I got to this press conference and all they wanted was a few quotes and a picture with the cup. I can’t remember what I said when answering the questions, but I would love to hear it back. It was all part of the fun.

"I remember speaking to the then Fife Free Press sports reporter and he said: ‘Jimmy can I see you?’

"I said: ‘Come on into the office’. He came in and he said: ‘Of all the days I’ve been supporting Raith Rovers, of all the games I’ve been to, this was the best’ and he started getting emotional.

"I said: ‘Here, come on then’. And I had a bottle of Bell’s Whisky from a manager of the month in the office. So we opened it up and me and him were sitting drinking whisky!

"It was just the occasion, it just got to me.”

Nicholl also gave a fascinating insight into why the Raith stars hadn’t practised taking spot-kicks in the days preceding the showpiece on November 27, 1994.

Despite the intimidating atmosphere – which saw Raith’s fans outnumbered around four to one inside a stadium packed with 45,384 supporters – Shaun Dennis, Jason Dair, Colin Cameron, Stevie Crawford, Stephen McAnespie and Jason Rowbotham all stepped up to score from 12 yards past Celtic keeper Gordon Marshall before Rovers custodian Scott Thomson saved from Hoops skipper Paul McStay to seal a remarkable triumph for the first division underdogs.

"I honestly didn't have the boys practising penalties before that final against Celtic,” Nicholl said. "What I found was that they were just taking penalties anyway off their own back.

"These days they try and create that situation which is difficult. I felt it was pointless back then because it might knock the confidence out of you.

"You practice a couple of penalties and Scott Thomson and Brian Potter save them, you are not going to have much confidence if I pick you the next day!

"I've always thought that. I watch the lads with Northern Ireland now and the training's finished and someone will ask the goalkeepers to stay to take penalties.

"And I watch them and our keeper's saving them so I ask the outfield player: 'Why are you doing this?'”

When asked if watching that penalty shootout left him more nervous than at any other time in his illustrious career playing and managing, the man who also turned out for Manchester United and Rangers during his playing career – as well as winning 73 international caps for Northern Ireland – refuted this suggestion.

Nicholl said: “I don’t think it was the most nervous I’d felt. To be honest with you I wasn’t nervous because the biggest fear I’d had about that final was the prospect of being gubbed five or six nil because you don’t want that, the players end up walking off at the end and all of the excitement of getting to the final has been knocked out of them.

"So I was chuffed to bits with them taking the game to penalties. I thought it was a free shot.

"We held Celtic to 2-2, coming back with just a few minutes to go when everyone thought Celtic had won it.

"So in my eyes they had practically achieved everything, they’d never let themselves or the club down on the day and that was good enough for me.

"To go on and win it on penalties and for Raith Rovers to end up representing Scottish football in Europe, that was the biggest thing, that was the one I wanted.”

When asked to sum up just how much winning the cup with Raith 30 years ago meant to him, Nicholl added: "There's absolutely no doubt that Raith winning that cup was right up there with being the best day of my career. The reason I say that is because the other highlight was Northern Ireland beating Spain 1-0 in Spain with 10 men and qualifying for the next round of the World Cup.

"Both these things were unexpected.

"If you win a cup with Rangers or Manchester United, it's great, but I just felt as if I was a wee pawn among the kings and queens of the chess board!

"But I was glad to be part of it.

"It was the collectiveness of what I achieved with Raith Rovers, how things were built up over the years and how it finally came to that. That's what I got my satisfaction from.”