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On the 2nd December 1992 St.Mirren
entertained Cowdenbeath in a First Division match at Love Street. On
the bench was a young man by the name of Richard Gillies. When he replaced his
brother Kenny during the match, he became the youngest player ever to represent
Saints first team at 16years and 100 days old! He created another record late in the
match when he headed home a John Hewitt cross to become the clubs youngest
scorer. The match ended 5-0 and the name Ricky Gillies was embedded into the
history of St.Mirren football club! He made a further two appearances from the
bench before making his first start on the 10th March 1993 against Raith Rovers
at Love Street. Over the next two seasons he played
irregularly, but soon earned a place with the first team squad and by the start
of season 1995-96 he had become a regular in the starting line ups and displayed
a talent and maturity beyond his years. He clocked up 31 starts that season and
registered three goals. Season 1996-97 was to see Ricky become
one of Saints most consistent and creative players, even though he was still
only 20 years old. The first game of the season was against East Fife at Bayview
and Ricky netted twice in a 4-0 victory. East Fife were to play another part in
Ricky’s progress as in the second match at Bayview he netted his first senior
hat-trick in a 3-0 win. This season saw the first evidence of his growing
ability to find the net when he scored eight times in 32 matches By the end of
the season many clubs had been linked with a move to take Ricky away from
Paisley, most notably Liverpool and Newcastle but it was Aberdeen who eventually
tempted Ricky north at the start of season 1997-98 for £35,000. This move did not work out as planned as
the Dons went through four managers in 2 ½ seasons and Ricky never really got
the chance to prove himself in the Premier League. In his time at
Pittodrie he started in 17 matches with 35 as sub, scoring twice. Toward the end of season 1999-2000,
Ricky was well out of the first team at Pittodrie, so Saints stepped in and
brought him back to Love Street on a short term loan deal and he played in the
final four matches of the campaign which saw Saints crowned First Division
champions. During the close season a deal was struck
to keep Ricky in Paisley permanently and he was in place for the start of the
SPL season that followed. In a poor season for Saints, Ricky was
one of the few highlights and he ended the year as the clubs top scorer with 11
goals. Pick of the games he played in was a match against Dundee United on the
23rd April when United led 1-0 going into the final 20 minutes, but Ricky
stepped in with two goals to win the game and give some hope of avoiding the
drop. Unfortunately it did not happen. Back in the first division, St.Mirren
underwent two seasons of mediocre performances and had to battle relegation up
till the final few matches of the seasons before safety was assured. In seasons of very few high points,
Ricky again proved to be a stand-out and by the end of 2002-03 rumours were rife
that he would be off to a club in the SPL. The final match of 2002-03 was
expected to be Ricky’s last for the club, which was fitting as it was his
250th start for the first team. During the close season there was much
talk of imminent transfer, but Ricky pleased the support by showing his feeling
for the club and pledged his future to St.Mirren for a further two seasons and
was given the honour of a testimonial in recognition of his services to the club
over the years. He started season 2003-04 in the best
possible way with five goals in the first few matches taking his Saints career
total to 50 goals, placing him in the top fifteen post war goalscorers for the
club. Saints fans hope that the name Ricky Gillies will continue to be associated with St.Mirren for many years to come. | ||||||||||||||||
