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The Football Show · 3 November 2026
Frank McAvennie never set out to be a footballer. He tells Peter Martin on Straight Talk (first published December 2023) how he went from going to the bookies, unemployed, to St Mirren at 19: learning his touch on the red ash in the Milton, being told by Partick Thistle's Bertie Auld that he wasn't good enough ("I'm better than anyone on your team"), and getting sent off in the Renfrewshire Cup final against Morton.
Why did St Mirren sign Frank McAvennie?
The manager, Jim Clunie, after that red card: "I knew you had the ability, I didn't know you had the heart." Then, McAvennie says, "he gets sacked the following morning."
Who taught Frank McAvennie to play up front?
Jimmy Bone, who kept him back after training: "he was teaching me how to jump into people, how to get fouls, just things that people don't talk you through."
What happened against Feyenoord?
St Mirren played Feyenoord in the UEFA Cup in 1983, with Johan Cruyff in their side. Frank McDougall was sent off, took the wrong stair off the pitch and found the gate shut: "I'm playing against Cruyff and I've got tears."
Plus Tony Fitzpatrick, Lex Richardson and Billy Stark, going from ginger to blonde ("Changed my life") and Alex Miller's arrival: "I'm bringing in good pros."
Who was the best player you saw at St Mirren? Tell us below.
CHAPTERS
0:00 Frank McAvennie never set out to be a footballer
1:03 School football and "I wasn't very good with authorities"
2:54 Starting at 19, and Bertie Auld's knock-back at Partick Thistle
4:11 Sent off in the Renfrewshire Cup final, then signed: "I didn't know you had the heart"
5:06 Going full-time, and Tony Fitzpatrick's lifts to training
6:42 Jimmy Bone teaches him to play up front
7:37 Feyenoord, Johan Cruyff and Frank McDougall's wrong turn
9:10 Remembering Frank McDougall: "such an unconscious comedian"
10:23 Ginger to blonde: "Changed my life"
10:47 Alex Miller arrives: "I'm bringing in good pros"
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Watch the full Straight Talk with Frank McAvennie: https://youtu.be/V5c3xOahdpU
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