⚽ The Saturday Kick-Off #17 - Whatever Happened To...
The St Mirren team that won the League Cup in 2013? The free daily Kick-Off email will be back on Monday.
Welcome to The Saturday Kick-Off email - a special bonus email for paid subscribers. The free daily Kick-Off email will be back on Monday.
Safe travels to all those heading to a game this weekend.
SCOTTISH COMMUNITIES LEAGUE CUP WINNERS 2013 - ST MIRREN
It is St Mirren’s only League Cup trophy to date, and the last time they reached the final.
The Paisley club faced Hearts at Hampden on St Patrick’s Day 2013 in front of 44,000 fans. The Buddies beat Celtic in the semi-finals 3-2 and won the final by the same score line thanks to goals from Esmaël Gonçalves, Steven Thompson, and Connor Newton.
Whatever happened to that St Mirren squad?
1️⃣ CRAIG SAMSON
Goalkeeper Samson was between the sticks for St Mirren’s big day. After leaving the club, he went on to play for Kilmarnock and Motherwell before returning to Paisley. He retired from playing in 2018 to become a goalkeeping coach at Sunderland.
He later worked as a goalkeeping coach at Aberdeen and currently does the same role at Hibernian.
2️⃣ DAVID VAN ZANTEN
After the 2013 triumph, he stayed until the following year, when he moved on to Ian Murray’s Dumbarton and later Airdrieonians before hanging up his boots.