At the beginning of 1961-62 St.Mirren toured Iceland. In the final match of the tour
they suffered a humiliating 7-1 defeat at the hands of South West Iceland. Star for the Icelanders was a man by the name of
Therolf Beck who netted a hat trick. So impressed was manager Willie Reid that he signed Beck the following month!
The real action started well with three wins on the trot at the start of the League Cup campaign without the loss of
a goal (Kilmarnock 1-0, Raith Rovers 3-0 and Hearts 1-0) Unfortunately in the Hearts match Tommy Bryceland broke his leg and
without his influence on the park they lost the remaining matches to go out of the competition.
The league season was much the same as previous years with the team having to play the final match requiring a win
to ensure survival. Opponents were Dunfermline Athletic who had previously defeated Saints 7-0 at East End Park.
The Pars scored early but goals from Fernie, McLean, Bryceland and Provan ensured survival.
As a result of the poor form Willie Reid had quit the club for Norwich
City in December and been replaced by former player Bobby Flavell.
Flavell’s first task was to get Saints ready for the Scottish Cup run. The Cup was again the successful period
of the season. Wins over Dundee (1-0), Raith (1-1, 4-0) and Dunfermline
(1-0) took Saints to a semi final with Celtic at Ibrox. St.Mirren were very much the underdogs , a position made more inevitable
by the fact that Celtic had won a league match at Love Street the week before by five goals to nil and had won the first meeting
of the season 7-1 at Parkhead!
Saints lined up: - Williamson, Campbell, Wilson, Stewart, Clunie, McLean, Henderson, Bryceland, Kerrigan, Fernie and Beck.
Willie Fernie, an ex Celtic player, was the hero of the day. He scored in the 7th minute before setting
up goals for Kerrigan and Beck to give Saints a 3-1 victory and a place in the final against Rangers. However in the final, rangers were too strong and although Saints played well they lost 2-0.
