Scores can take a long time to settle in football. But rarely as long as 37 years. That's the case for fans of Coventry City and Premiership side St Mirren however, who have been patiently waiting for the second leg of their 1987 Anglo Scottish Challenge match to be played - and who hope to finally settle the outcome by playing the match 40 years after the first.
With English clubs banned from European competition after the Heysel disaster, the tournament pitted the surprise winners of the Scottish Cup and FA Cup against each other. The first leg of the final, back in December 1987, finished 1-1 at Coventry's long-demolished Highfield Road. David Phillips put the Sky Blues ahead before future Rangers caretaker boss Kenny McDowall equalised for the visitors. But despite the tie being perfectly poised, a second leg scheduled to be held at Saints' former Love Street home didn't take place - with congested fixture lists blamed, leading to almost four decades of limbo without a winner. Now a group of Coventry supporters living in Scotland have teamed up with Saints fans in the hope of finally deciding, once and for all, who the rightful winner of the second leg is - with plans for a pre-season game between the sides in 2027, 40 years after the first leg kicked off. The idea has already captured the imagination online, with one St Mirren fan stressing ‘away goals still count’. A spokesperson for Sky Blue Army Scotland, the Coventry fans group, told the Coventry Observer: 'As soon as we read about this uncompleted final we had try to get it resurrected. Not least because it would be played on our doorstep as opposed to the 10 hour round trip to most Coventry City matches. “While we have every expectation Coventry could well be in the Premier League by 2027, and St Mirren still competing in Europe, the opportunity to win a trophy should not be passed up by either. It’s time to settle this cup and declare a winner once and for al