Born on this day is former Sunderland player Derek Ferguson. The Scottish midfielder was signed by Terry Butcher, who was also his captain at Rangers.
Ferguson began his career at Rangers, making his debut at just 15 years old! The match was a testimonial for defender Tom Forsyth against Swansea City. Ferguson went on to make his competitive debut at 16 years old, and remains the youngest player to ever play for Rangers. He quickly became a regular for the Scottish giants, showing great potential at such a young age.
However, Ferguson and manager Graeme Souness had a heated relationship which saw the midfielder fall out of favour, and his development was somewhat stunted. The pair of Ian Ferguson and an ageing Ray Wilkins were often preferred over Derek, and recurring injuries didn’t help. In 1990, he was sent to Dundee on loan and it was clear that his days were numbered. He played 148 times in total for the Gers, scoring 8 goals.
He stayed in Scotland, signing for Hearts for a club record fee of £750,000. He was a key player over three years on Tynecastle, including a second place league finish. His impressive performances caught the eye of Terry Butcher on Wearside, who swooped for the midfielder. Ferguson was part of a revolution at Sunderland, with Bob Murray splashing £2 million on Phil Gray, Andy Melville, Ian Rodgerson as well as the Scot. All did not go to plan, to say the least. After a pre-season match, the four new signings got into Ferguson’s car. He ended up going the wrong way around a roundabout, and the inevitable crash put Gray and Rodgerson out of action for a while.
He was pretty underwhelming at Sunderland, in an era where the team as a whole was pretty poor. After two seasons in England, Ferguson moved back to Scotland having played 64 times and failing to score a goal in red and white. He became a bit of a journeyman, with brief stints at a number of clubs such as Australian side Adelaide Force. He returned to Britain after just two appearances and continued to travel the lower leagues of Scotland in his later years.
He retired in 2006 after a spell at Raith Rovers, and had a short managerial career in Scotland. He appeared in the media as a pundit for BBC Scotland, and turned down a role as Dumbarton assistant manager due to his media duties.
