Alistair “Ally” McCoist

Sunderland manager Alan Durban signed 19-year old McCoist for £400,000 from St. Johnstone to be part of a very promising side which was later sold and dismantled due to lack of funds. Durban had a very good eye for a promising player and said that Ally would be a world class forward in in 3 -5 years.

Durban was resigned to losing McCoist to finance the purchase of Mark Proctor (£115,000) and Paul Bracewell (£250, 000). Alistair was snapped up by Rangers for £185,000 in 1983 having scored only 8 goals in 56 appearances for the Black Cats.

Trivia: In the winter of 1997 there were rumors of McCoist returning to Sunderland on loan from Rangers in a bid to secure a place in the Scottish national squad for the World Cup finals in France.