Billy Abercomby dead: St Mirren legend & 1987 Scottish Cup-winning captain dies aged 65

St Mirren, in a statement, said it was “incredibly saddened to hear of the passing of our 1987 Scottish Cup winning captain Billy Abercromby who has passed at the age of 65.”

A St Mirren Hall of Fame inductee, Abercomby began his career at Saints in 1975 - signing professional terms following a spell at St Mirren Boys’ Club. He spent 13 seasons in Paisley and quickly rose to fame with his tough tackling, no nonsense style, leading to chants of 'Aber's gonnae get ye' from the terraces.

In his time at Saints, Abercomby made 367 appearances for the Buddies – nine of which came in European fixtures, a club record. He was also part of the club’s First Division title winning side in 1976/77, Anglo Scottish Cup winning side of 1980 and captained Saints to their third Scottish Cup triumph in 1987 after a 1-0 win over Dundee United at Hampden.

His final match for the club came in 1987 in the second leg of their European Cup Winners Cup tie against Norwegian side Tromso. He would depart Saints in 1988 when he moved to Partick Thistle and had further spells in his career with the likes of Dunfermline Athletic, Cowdenbeath and East Stirlingshire.

His death was announced the day before Saints find out their Europa Conference League qualifying opponents in what will be their first European campaign since Abercromby’s last season at the club.

“The thoughts of everyone at St Mirren are with Billy’s loved ones at the difficult time,” read a statement from the Buddies.