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‘Joining Rangers came a couple of years too early – I was young, with a few quid in my pocket, and I followed McCoist and Durrant around like a poodle’ Duncan Ferguson on his British transfer record move to Rangers

By Contributions from published

The Scottish striker was only 21 when he made the move to the Ibrox giants

Duncan Ferguson in action for Rangers against Kilmarnock in April 1994.
Duncan Ferguson in action for Rangers (Image credit: Getty Images)

Duncan Ferguson first began to turn heads as a teenager for Dundee United in the early 1990s.

After making his first-team debut as a teenager, the striker would quickly establish himself in The Tangerines’ first team, netting 17 goals during the 1991/92 campaign and scoring 15 times the following season.

This early promise saw Rangers pull the trigger on a British record £4million move in 1993 and Ferguson now had a new challenge to deal with, as expectations were high as he looked to integrate himself into a successful side.

Ferguson on his early Rangers struggles

Duncan Ferguson flies into a challenge for Scotland's Under-21 side against Malta in 1993.

Ferguson in action for Scotland's under-21s in 1993 (Image credit: Getty Images)

Ferguson admits that this weighed heavily on him, with his two-year spell at Ibrox seeing him play just 21 times and netting five goals, either side of a 44-day prison spell following a conviction of assault after he headbutted Raith Rovers’ John McStay during a match in April 1994.

“Yes. It was something I couldn’t handle,” he admits to FourFourTwo. I never gave myself a chance – that’s one of my biggest regrets.

Everton forward Duncan Ferguson wearing a blue nose lifts the trophy to photographers after the 1995 FA Cup Final between Everton and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium on May 20, 1995 in London, United Kingdom.

Ferguson moved to Everton during the 1994/95 season and would go on to win the FA Cup (Image credit: Getty Images)

“A wee bit of that was my lifestyle. I was getting a lot of injuries at the time. I was a young guy, I had a few quid in my pocket, and I followed Ally McCoist and Durranty [Ian Durrant] around like a wee poodle.

“They were established players; I was just a kid learning the trade. You get caught up in it all. You’ve made it before you’ve really made it.

“You’re in the big time but, actually, I never performed on the pitch because I never had an opportunity to perform – I was never fit.

“It probably came a couple of years too early for me.”

Duncan Ferguson

Ferguson would go on to become a cult hero at Everton (Image credit: Alamy)

Ferguson left Ibrox for Everton in October 1994, initially on loan before his move was later made permanent. The Scot would play a key role in saving the Toffees from relegation that term, while also helping them win the 1995 FA Cup.

Ferguson would play 11 seasons for Everton, punctuated by an 18-month spell at Newcastle United and would go down as one of the Toffees’ most popular players of recent times.

Big Dunc: The Upfront Autobiography, written with Henry Winter, is available now in hardback, eBook and audiobook

Joe Mewis
Joe Mewis

For more than a decade, Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor. Mewis has had stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others and worked at FourFourTwo throughout Euro 2024, reporting on the tournament. In addition to his journalist work, Mewis is also the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team. Now working as a digital marketing coordinator at Harrogate Town, too, Mewis counts some of his best career moments as being in the iconic Spygate press conference under Marcelo Bielsa and seeing his beloved Leeds lift the Championship trophy during lockdown.

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