TWO heroes from the past were given their rightful place in the St Mirren FC Hall of Fame during the annual premier awards dinner.

Jun 2 2009 by Paul Behan, Paisley Daily Express

The first honour was bestowed upon the late, great Jim Clunie, the former St Mirren manager.

Former Aberdeen star Clunie won the 1956/57 League Cup with the Dons at the expense of the Buddies – and then he appeared in the 1959 Scottish Cup final, when he was in the Dons side that this time lost that game to the Saints in front of more than 100,000 supporters.

In 1962 the centre half donned the black and white of St Mirren and was part of the team that finished as runners-up to Rangers in the cup final of that year.

Later in his career Clunie plied his trade in Ireland before he hung up his boots.

His first foray into management was in England with Southampton where he was assistant to Lawrie McMenemy, before Saints came calling in 1978, when he returned ‘home’ to take over the manager’s hotseat from the legendary Alex Ferguson.

In 1979/80 he led the Buddies to the Anglo-Scottish Cup, etching himself into the history books as the Paisley side became the first and only club from this country to win that particular competition

Even more success followed for Clunie as St Mirren qualified for European competition for the first time.

Clunie left the club in 1980 and went on to manage Kilmarnock before he died in 2003, aged 69.

On hand to accept the induction into the Hall of Fame on Clunie’s behalf was St Mirren legend Billy Abercromby, who helped Saints to the Scottish Cup in 1987.

‘Aber’ said: “Jim was a man of few words but he was certainly a great motivator.”

The second inductee into the St Mirren Hall of Fame was former captain Norrie McWhirter, the longest serving player at the club.

Johnstone-born McWhirter is widely regarded as one of the most talented players to ever wear the black and white of St Mirren.

Unfortunately, injury hampered his career and defender McWhirter never hit the heights that he was destined for.

Former Linwood Rangers starlet McWhirter made his debut in 1987 with a slender 1-0 victory over Aberdeen at Pittodrie and later went on to captain the club in season 1993/94.

He made more than 280 starts and in 1999 he was rewarded with a Testimonial against Kilmarnock, a game where current St Mirren boss Gus MacPherson captained the opposing team.

Later in his career McWhirter went on to join best pal Paul Lambert, a former St Mirren team-mate , at Livingston, where he was assistant manager.

McWhirter was unable to attend the event in Renfrew, so team-mate Tony Fitzpatrick was on hand to accept the induction on his behalf.

Tony said: “It was a privilege to play alongside Norrie. He was so unfortunate with his injuries but when you played with him you could see how fantastic a player he was. There was nobody better in a St Mirren jersey than Norrie.”

McWhirter and Clunie now join the following legends in the Saints Hall of Fame: the first ever St Mirren team, from the 1870s, James ‘Daddy’ Dunlop, David McCrae, Gerry Baker, Tommy Bryceland, David Lapsley, Alistair Miller, Jim Rodger, John ‘Cockles’ Wilson, Tony Connell, Willie Fulton, Alex Wright, Andrew McFadden, Tony Fitzpatrick, Frank McGarvey, Billy Stark, Alex Beckett, Lex Richardson, Billy Abercromby, Kenny McDowall, Campbell Money, Dougie Somner, Ricky Gillies, Barry McLaughlin, Hugh Murray, Tommy Turner, Mark Yardley and Kevin McGowne.