Iain Ferguson recalls 1989 wonder goal for Hearts against Bayern Munich

Iain Ferguson (left) tussles with Bayern Munich's Klaus Augenthaler during the Uefa Cup quarter-final first leg at Tynecastle in February 1989.

There was nothing particularly innovative about the goal they scored from a free-kick 30 years ago on Thursday in the Uefa Cup quarter-final first leg. Yet it still managed to  outfox the European aristocrats of Bayern Munich, consigning them to a memorable defeat in the Gorgie glaur.

Rehearsed routines cannot trump a sweetly-struck shot sent rippling into the net as this one did at the old School End. In contrast to the inflatable bananas in vogue at the time, a few of which can be seen being poked in the air amid the delirium greeting Iain Ferguson’s fabled strike, the ball flew through the air as straight as an arrow. The striker required none of the bending sorcery employed by players such as Roberto Carlos.

Current assistant manager and set-piece guru Austin MacPhee makes crafty use of techniques such as blocking and decoy runs. The 1980s were simpler times. After Mike Galloway was the victim of a sandwich around 25 yards from goal, things got no more complex than this: Tosh McKinlay bent down and rolled the ball along the turf to secure a better angle for the right-footed Ferguson. The Bayern Munich wall, already in the act of positioning itself, shuffled along to their left in response, like a Bavarian chorus line.

Bayern Munich goalkeeper Raimond Aumann dives in vain as Iain Ferguson's match-winning strike whistles past him.

“I moved it sideways a bit: I knew if I got any angle on it at all Fergie was going to hit the target,” McKinlay recalled.

The left-back’s hand was still resting on the ball when he nudged it to his right with his left foot. Ferguson let fly with his trusty right. It was the 55th minute of their 40th game in a season in which Hearts had rarely hit the heights. They were whacked  3-0 by Aberdeen on the previous Saturday. But this was the last night in February and Hearts were British football’s sole representatives in Europe. Ferguson retained his place up front. John Robertson, who had recently returned from Newcastle United, was not risked because of a pelvic injury.

Ferguson was slightly taken aback to be starting successive games. He had begun to struggle for playing time in his first season since joining from Dundee United for £375,000. The return of Robertson was bound to have an impact on his own fortunes. Indeed, it already had – Ferguson had started only seven times in the previous four months. Reflecting this uncertainty was the striker’s decision to hand his complimentary tickets to his Glasgow hairdresser, Thomas Ionta, rather than to his then wife or parents. “I told him I’ll be in the squad, but I won’t be playing,” recalled Ferguson.

Hearts headed to North Berwick the night before the game. “Sandy Clark pulled me aside and said: ‘I think you are playing tonight’. I said: ‘Shut up, what you talking about?’ ” Manager Alex MacDonald confirmed the news: he was in.

It seemed sensible to include Ferguson for such a high-profile tie given his previous experience of European football. He was – and remains – the last Scot to score a winning goal for a Scottish side in the Nou Camp. He also struck twice in a 3-1 win over Internazionale for Rangers and at Borussia Moenchengladbach in a Uefa Cup semi-final for Dundee United, just after beating Barcelona home and away. His CV screamed: big game player.

“To give Alex credit, he looked at me and Eamonn Bannon, who had also played in a Uefa Cup final,” said Ferguson. “He knew he could rely on us, 100 per cent.”

Also persuading MacDonald it was wise to include Ferguson was his ability at set-pieces. In the way budding golfers are advised to study the swing of Ben Hogan, so those wishing to hit a football in its sweet spot should pore over the footage of Ferguson’s strike against Bayern Munich: it’s on YouTube. As Martin Tyler exclaims in the commentary for BBC 1’s  Sportsnight programme when the ball whistles inside goalkeeper Raimond Aumann’s near post: “Boy, did he hit that one!”

Ferguson had already caused the visitors to fret with a free-kick from a similar distance a few moments before scoring what proved the winner. The striker’s effort skidded across the wet surface towards Aumann, who was happy to push the ball out again.

“Those were the rules,” said Ferguson. “Because I hit the target with the first one I got to have another go. If I had ballooned it over the bar maybe someone else would have hit it. Having struck the first one well, I said to Tosh: ‘Just touch it to me’.”

Hearts had Novafone, the telecommunications company, sponsoring their shirts at the time. The connection between Ferguson and McKinlay was deeper, more profound than technology could hope to achieve. It stretched back to the early 1980s and shared digs in Broughty Ferry, when the pair were making their way in the game with Dundee. McKinlay, younger by two years, even wore Ferguson’s boots during his trial match at Dens.

“His magic must have worn off on me,” McKinlay said. The full-back recalls setting up Ferguson for a goal for Dundee v Rangers in a 2-2 draw at Dens in the Scottish Cup. There had long been synergy between them and they remain close to this day.

“Tosh knew all he had to do was touch it to the side,” said Ferguson. “Thankfully I hit the second one even more sweetly. It went in.”

Saying “it went in” about a goal fondly regarded as Hearts’ best-ever in Europe is rare understatement by Ferguson, whose peroxide highlights and outré suits – he wore a particularly striking pinstriped one when signing for Hearts from Dundee United – marked him out as from the same salon as Charlie Nicholas and Mo Johnston.

This personal flair also received an outlet in the standout quality of his goals – as well as the calibre of opposition he tended to excel against. Asked if the free-kick against Bayern Munich was the best goal he had scored, Ferguson replied: “For Hearts, aye.” He once scored a 40-yard effort – for Dundee United against Hearts. There were also goals in Scottish Cup semi-finals and finals and a winner in a League Cup final for Rangers against Dundee United.

“People will always say how I only played in big games and scored goals from 40 yards,” he said. “If you asked every team in the league I think I scored against every one of them, from Partick Thistle to Aberdeen, from Morton to Celtic. Rangers, Hearts… I scored against them all. They were not all from 40 yards. And they were not all in cup finals.

“I am happy now, at 56, to be remembered as that guy who scored that wonderful goal. But I also scored goals from two yards out. They all count.”

While the strike earned him a place in Tynecastle folklore, with Ferguson invited back as recently as January for a game against Dundee, it failed to cement his place in the side. He was dropped for the away leg. Ferguson and Robertson were frustrated onlookers as Hearts passed up opportunities to place Bayern in a real predicament. Ferguson was sent on for Bannon with 20 minutes left and with Hearts now 2-1 down on aggregate. Robertson played the last ten. “Too late, really,” according to Ferguson, although Hearts only needed a goal to progress to the last four, where Diego Maradona’s Napoli were among the teams waiting. Ferguson now has plenty of time to discuss the matter with MacDonald while they entertain guests in hospitality suites at Ibrox.

Ferguson’s Tynecastle career was resurrected briefly after Joe Jordan took over from MacDonald, who left shortly into the 1990-91 season. Ferguson started Jordan’s first nine games in charge and he knew the new manager rated him. Jordan signed him on loan for Bristol City the previous season.

“We got promotion down there and I am sure Joe would say I helped them get promotion,” said Ferguson. “I came back because they could not negotiate a fee. Hearts wanted something ridiculous like £250,000. I was like: You are not even playing me! How can you value me at that after two years in and out of the team? But that was between the clubs. We did not have the freedom that boys have now.”

Ferguson’s fate was sealed by Frank Connor’s arrival as Jordan’s assistant. “We did not get on,” he said. “As soon as he walked in the door I knew I would be leaving.” He was on his travels once more. Goals and glory  awaited in Motherwell, his hometown club. “If Robbo made a success of Newcastle I might have played for Hearts for the rest of my career,” said Ferguson. “It was not to be. But I have no regrets about anything in my football career.”

Certainly not that command issued to an old friend on a night of nights at Tynecastle: Just touch it to me, Tosh.