Duncan Ferguson, a former Rangers striker, has reflected on his prison sentence while still playing for the club.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager John McStay was sentenced to three months in jail in 1994 after headbutting rival defender John McStay during a match between the Light Blues and Raith Rovers.
The assault charge and subsequent spell in Barlinnie effectively ended Ferguson’s career playing for the Scotland National Team and he was handed a 12-game ban by the SFA.
The ex-Dundee United man did not stay in Scotland for much longer after his release from prison, moving to Everton later that year.
He went on to forge a stellar career in the English Premier League, retiring in 2006 in his second spell with The Toffees with a short spell at Newcastle sandwiched in between.
He began his coaching career at Goodison Park, twice taking the team in interim charge in 2019 and 2022.
His first full time gig ended in disappointment, sacked by Forest Green Rovers this July after only six months in charge.
Now he’s in charge of the Highland side, pushing for promotion from the Scottish Championship.
And ahead of his team’s match against them this weekend, Ferguson talked about facing Rovers for the first time since his infamous headbutt.
He told Sky Sports: “You don’t think about it that much. It just happened didn’t it?
“It happens. It’s a part of my life – you just have to accept it.
“I think it was a tough decision when it happened to me.
“I don’t think it was the first time it happened to any one on a football pitch but to be sent to prison. It’s the last time.
“Somebody must have rewritten the rulebook.
“I think as the years have gone on people have thought about it and said ‘he shouldn’t have been in there’.
“Not a nice environment for a young fella, or anybody for that matter.
“It wasn’t easy for myself because I played for Rangers.
“You do what you have to do, get on with it. And you live to tell the tale.”
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