Francis Peter McGarvey, who was born on March 17, 1956 and died yesterday, aged 66, was a Scottish footballer who achieved a great deal during a playing career which spanned more than two decades. Yet he could easily have achieved much, more in terms of medals and remuneration if his decision-making off the pitch had matched his shrewdness on it.
Those too young to have seen McGarvey play may look at the bare statistics of his career and assume, quite reasonably, that his career was of the stellar variety. He did, after all, win championship medals in all three Scottish divisions — there were only three at the time — with St Mirren, Celtic and Clyde as well as lifting the Scottish Cup on three occasions and the League Cup once. On top of that he was capped seven times for Scotland.
Not too shabby, then, but not quite what it could have been for a centre forward of such distinction. As a young man, he made an early impact for a late starter. Signed by the junior club Kilsyth Rangers in the summer of 1974, he did so well that Alex Ferguson had signed him for St Mirren within months. He gave the 19-year-old a debut the following April.
The boy from Easterhouse was overlooked by senior clubs but he thrived under Ferguson’s tuition. A former centre forward himself, Fergie had plenty of wisdom to impart when he wasn’t throwing glasses or plates at his players.
McGarvey absorbed the information, elected to be inspired rather than intimidated by his mentor and went from strength to strength. He once confided that the advice Ferguson gave him in those early years was worth at least half-a-dozen goals per season to him until he retired.
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He was St Mirren’s leading scorer in 1976-77 — they won promotion to the top tier that season — until 1978-79 when Liverpool signed the striker for £270,000 (Ferguson had been dismissed by chairman Willie Todd following a confrontation the previous summer). In the course of a conversation a few short months ago, McGarvey revealed that the reason the Anfield manager Bob Paisley came in for him was because he had scored for St Mirren against Rangers at Ibrox and Celtic at Celtic Park, thereby proving his mettle. Before he had a chance to report for training with his new club, he made his debut for Scotland as a substitute against Northern Ireland, quickly followed by his first start against the world champions Argentina — complete with Diego Maradona — shortly afterwards.
Unfortunately, it would prove to be two more appearances than he would make for the most successful club in England. It was Liverpool’s policy at the time to sign emerging talent and then keep them in reserve until such time as the first-team regulars were either injured or declining in effectiveness.
McGarvey was the leading marksman for their reserves but was stripped for action only once for the full side and, when he was unused on that occasion, he demanded a move, even though Graeme Souness and Terry McDermott pleaded with him to be patient.
It was on Merseyside that McGarvey developed a taste for gambling, an enthusiasm which eventually became a costly addiction in every sense. Once, when he successfully visited Paisley’s office to ask for a wage rise, he also left with four successful tips the manager had been given by his friend, the Scouse jockey Frankie Durr.
McGarvey’s best friend at the club was Emlyn Hughes, a horse racing fanatic with numerous contacts in the sport and an endless list of can’t-fail bets which, all too often, would do exactly that.
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He was convinced he would have won the European Cup had he remained at Anfield — Liverpool would win it in 1981 and 1984 — and he could also have been part of Aberdeen’s European Cup-Winners’ Cup-winning team in 1983 had he agreed to be reunited with Ferguson, who wanted to take him north of the border. Instead, in March 1980, he signed for his boyhood heroes Celtic, who paid a then Scottish record fee of £270,000 for his services.
He confessed later that he returned to Glasgow partly because he feared that Ferguson, the arch disciplinarian, would ban him from the bookmakers. In only his fourth match for Billy McNeill’s side he scored an 85th-minute winner against Rangers and, two months later, was on the winning side again when they met in the Scottish Cup final.
Celtic would be champions in 1980-81 and 1981-82 — they also beat Rangers in the League Cup final in the latter season — before he signed off in 1985 by scoring the decisive goal with a diving header as David Hay’s side came from behind to beat Dundee United 2-1.
At the age of 29, he was, somewhat surprisingly, considered surplus to requirements and sold to St Mirren, where he starred in their Scottish Cup final victory, also against Dundee United, two years later before he went on to end his career with Queen of the South (as player/manager) and Clyde, with whom he won the Second Division title at the age of 38. He then returned to the juniors with Shotts Bon Accord and Troon before retiring at the age of 41.
McGarvey’s betting led to divorce and the money he made during his playing career soon evaporated, forcing him to return to joinery, a trade suggested to him by Ferguson during his days as a part-timer in Paisley. Gambling debts also led to the sale of his flat but, while he never quite kicked the habit, he finally appeared to have it under control.
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It was while working that he experienced back pain, initially self-diagnosed as a combination of ageing plus the wear and tear on the joints which accompany the job. It turned out to be the pancreatic cancer which killed him.
Having gone public with the news of his illness, he was reintroduced to the Celtic supporters at half-time during the 6-1 win over Motherwell on October 15. It provided this under-rated player — he was good enough at his best to keep fellow Scotland internationals Brian McClair, Mo Johnston and Alan McInally out of Celtic’s starting XI for spells — with a fitting farewell from the club for whom he had scored 113 goals in 245 games.
McGarvey was not the only person present to have something in his eye that afternoon. He is survived by wife Pauline, sons Paul, Sean and Scott and daughter Jennifer.
