Tributes paid to legendary St Johnstone tea-lady Aggie Moffat

Tributes have been paid to former St Johnstone tea-lady Aggie Moffat after the beloved club figure died on Thursday.

Aggie Moffat back in the year 2000. Picture: SNS

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The long-time club servant was famous in Scottish football circles for a heated exchange with Graeme Souness, which the ex-Rangers boss later admitted was a contributing factor in his 1991 exit from Ibrox.

Mrs Moffat worked for the Perth club for 30 years before her retirement in 2007. In addition to making sure the directors and staff never went without a hot cuppa, she was known for brewing up some tremendous homemade soup.

Mrs Moffat with former manager Paul Sturrock. Picture: Ian Rutherford

A statement on St Johnstone’s official website read: “Everyone at McDiarmid Park is sad to learn of the passing yesterday of former employee Aggie Moffat.

“Often referred to as the “Saints tea lady”, that title didn’t do justice to the jobs Aggie carried out over many years at both Muirton Park and McDiarmid Park.

“Aggie briefly came to national prominence after a well-publicised fall out with the then Rangers Manager Graeme Souness but she was very much a private person with her husband and family the most important things in her life.

“We are certain that a great many former players will be sad to hear of her passing and we offer our thoughts and condolences to her family at this sad time.”

Mrs Moffat with former manager Paul Sturrock. Picture: Ian Rutherford

The incident with Souness occurred after a 1-1 draw at the club’s old Muirton Park ground. Souness had thrown a jug belonging to Mrs Moffat off the dressing room wall. It led to the pair squaring up to each other in front of the St Johnstone chief executive.

She told The Scotsman in 2001: “He is just a plonker. He always will be. I never liked the man and I never will.

“If he’d come back the next season I would have finished it. His nose would have been splattered over his face. That’s the only thing I regret not happening - that I didnae finish it. I should have broken his big nose.”

Mrs Moffat later cooled on the conflict, saying it was “all water under the bridge”, though she retained her stance of refusing to speak to Souness if their paths ever crossed again.

The former Scotland international admitted the row played a part in his exit from Ibrox. He told Rangers TV in 2010: “I was getting so much aggravation form all quarters. I was banned from the touchline and I felt I was getting hounded out. I couldn’t take it.

“Then there was the incident at St Johnstone which really pushed me over the edge. I got involved in an argument with the tea lady that I should never have got involved in. I stormed up to the boardroom looking for their chairman.

“Nobody knows me better than I know myself and I was nearly losing it with the chairman of another football club. I knew then I had to get out.”

Mrs Moffat was also offered a role in Robert Duvall’s 2000 film A Shot At Glory. She turned down the invitation, later stating it was the right decision. “It was a rotten film,” she said.