Skip to content
Football legend Paul Sturrock opens up on defiant battle with Parkinson’s disease
Scots football legend Paul Sturrock has spoken about his defiant battle with Parkinson’s disease in a new BBC Scotland documentary celebrating his remarkable career.
The former Dundee United and Scotland star, 66, who also enjoyed success as a manager and coach, also reveals how club chiefs have overlooked him for jobs because of his condition. Sturrock, affectionately known as Luggy, revealed in 2008 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2000, while he was manager of Plymouth Argyle.
Speaking on Icons of Football: Paul Sturrock – to be broadcast on the BBC Scotland channel on Friday, June 23 – he reveals he has got worse over time, but insists “it’s not caught up with me totally”. He said: “The first time I was at Plymouth I picked up a cup one day from my breakfast table and my hand was shaking.
“I couldn’t stop it so I talked to the club doctor who sent me to see a specialist and he told me I had Parkinson’s. I just couldn’t believe it. I went through the ‘why me?’ syndrome. As the seasons have rolled on I’ve got worse but, touch wood, it’s not caught up with me totally.”
He added: “Certain chairmen have disregarded me because of that – I can see their point of view.”
Sturrock was the iconic star of the Dundee United team that won the Premier League and almost conquered Europe in the 1980s. He won 20 caps for Scotland before going on to have remarkable success as a manager and was rewarded with a place in the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2019.
His managerial resume includes promotions with St Johnstone, Plymouth twice, Sheffield Wednesday and Swindon Town. In 2004 the League Managers Association honoured him as the best performing boss in any division – following in the footsteps of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger – while an academic study in 2012 named him one of the best managers in English football in terms of success relative to resources.
Sturrock has not managed professionally since leaving Yeovil Town in 2015 but, in spite of his Parkinson’s, he attempted to form a village side in Cornwall, where he lives, before the plan was scuppered by the Covid pandemic. He insists he might resurrect his plan, but has also taken up hobbies.
He said: “The pitch was sorted and the changing rooms were sorted but because of Covid I couldn’t get any players to play. It was unbelievable. I just wanted to coach players. That’s all I want, just to get on the training ground and do bits and pieces with individuals. I might still do that.
“I’m just away to take up fishing again and I’ve got a metal detector so I’m going to find out if there’s any doubloons in these lagoons in Cornwall. There’s no cure for it (Parkinson’s) but you can stabilise it, slow it down. I’m very, very happy with the standard that I’m at. It’ll beat me eventually but that’s life.”
He added: “I think as a manager and a coach and a player I achieved a lot of what I would have wanted to achieve right at the beginning. I just enjoyed playing football.”
Dundee United’s most famous fan, chat show queen Lorraine Kelly, tells the programme: “He is an amazing man and I don’t think that he realises just how good he was and just how much we love him.”
Spain opportunity
Sturrock spent his entire playing career at Dundee United, under late legendary boss Jim McLean. In the programme he reveals there could have been a life changing transfer to Barcelona, however.
Terry Venables, who managed Barcelona from 1984-87, was rumoured to be interested in the striker after he helped inspire United to home and away victories over the Catalan giants on route to the 1987 UEFA Cup final. But, he said, manager McLean would never have let his star leave.
Sturrock says: “I’ve heard that rumour. Wee Jim told me what had happened, but I was never going to get to move from Tannadice. I didn’t miss the idea. I missed the money but the camaraderie that I had with this team – I was playing with my mates.”
England legend turned pundit Gary Lineker, who played in the defeated Barcelona team, said: “It’s fair to say that as a Barcelona player you would expect to beat Dundee United over two legs but they deserved their victory.
“I remember they were very well organised, they were very difficult, very tough, very aggressive and had a little bit of class in there and that ultimately made the difference.”
He added: “Paul Sturrock was an excellent footballer and goalscorer as well so I think he would have probably done quite well in Spain, but we’ll never know.”
Icons of Football: Paul Sturrock, is on Friday, June 23, BBC Scotland at 10.30pm.
Don’t miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond – Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
