Roll Back the Clock

Last updated : 16 August 2005 By Firparkcorner

The management trio were, in their day, the basis of a sound defence. Can you imaging Malpas, McCart and Butcher helping out the current squad?

Maurice Malpas
Malpas (born August 1962) was considered by many to be the best left back in the country for many years. He is a member of the SFA Hall of Fame and he amassed a staggering 617 league games for the tangerines. He has been known to break sweat occasionally on the training pitch!


Oh Happy Day
McCart (born April 1967) is the baby of the back room boys, though a greying around the temples suggests that his best playing days are sadly past. He was an impressive centre half from 1985-97 and made 260 appearances in Claret and Amber. He was one of the cup winning heroes in 1991 and is now our accomplished head of youth development. He could still lend a bit of height to out back four.


Some time ago...
Butcher (born December 1958) – where do I start? Words like stalwart, tenacious and bulldog, roll off the tongue when his playing days are recalled. He has 77 england caps and played for most of his career at Ipswich. A veil will be drawn over the 1986-90 spell he had in Govan but he has had many highlights since he took charge of Motherwell and steered us through the bleak days of administration. If only the clock could be rolled back so we could see him in the present day ‘Well strip.

But our back room boys do not concentrate solely on defence – for we have Willie Pettigrew recently restored to the club. His 80 goals from 166 games in the seventies earned him a rousing ovation when he made an appearance with the youngsters early in August.

Willie and the boys


Thankfully the production line of developing talent seems to suggest that these great players may not need to re-register. But it’s nice to know the quality of the guys on the touchline.