Zambian manager Trebor Mahtal wasn’t getting any younger, so a long stay in Scotland wasn’t exactly at the top of his list of objectives as he aimed to tick off the 18th letter of his Alphabet Challenge. Yet, for just the second time in his career, the 76-year-old began a fourth season at a club as he extended his stay at Scotland’s oldest club Queen’s Park.
Last season’s heroics in reaching the Conference League Final had seen the club turn a £20m profit, which sent them into the 2060/61 season with £38m in the bank and a £24m transfer kitty. That was boosted by selling centre backs Pablo Varela to Tenerife for £9m and Omar Marklund to Espanyol for £4.6m, and backup players like centre back James Chambers and underperforming right back Richard Mullen and winger Fraser Burke for an additional £2m.
Mahtal had been busily scouring the world for new talent and decided now was the time to splash £8.5m on exciting prospects his scouts had discovered. He got his transfer work done early as eight players arrived when the transfer window. They were led by centre backs Paul Redín for £1.5m from Millonarios and Slavomir Toth for £800k from Podbrezova, full backs Dragan Jovanovic for £1.5m from Vojvodina and 6ft 4in Rodrigo Bruschi for £2.1m from Nacional, midfielder/winger Hans Lauritz Margel-Simmons for £2.4m from Valarenga, striker Vladimir Petrovic for £2m from Vojvodina and midfielders Michel Techera for £2.2m from Liverpool FC and José Alejandro Arriaga for £650k from Tapatio.
The squad now had an average age of just 19 but was packed with 12 players of up to 5-star potential and 19 up to 4.5-star. Mahtal decided to stick with his 4-5-1 approach but slightly tweaked the instructions to try and gain a more offensive edge. Captain Richard Napier continues to lead the line with Norbert Durig supporting him on the left and exciting, rapidly improving 16-year-old winger James Cormack on the right. Jovanovic comes in at right back alongside Redin and Moussa Diop, who was signed under the radar in January and has progressed massively. Scotland international Craig Leslie plays alongside Alex Anaya in midfield ahead of Roberto Paredes, with plenty of competition for those places.
Brighter Start To Season 4 In Scotland
The bookies still didn’t massively fancy Queen’s Park’s chances, predicting them to finish 8th with shorter title odds of 100/1. Holders Aberdeen remain 5/6 favourites ahead of Celtic and Hibernian (5/1) and Rangers (17/2). Redin is tipped as the best young player in the league, along with Diop and homegrown left back Josh Mata.
The season began with Redín and Paredes at the Olympics and Durig out injured. But Queen’s Park kicked off with an impressive 3-0 win at Raith Rovers with goals by Napier, Cormack and left back Josh Mata. Margel-Simmons’ first senior goal and a late strike by midfielder Ales Vorel defeated Kelty Hearts 2-0 before Cormack scored the only goal at Kilmarnock, who didn’t even have a shot. Napier’s brace secured a 2-1 win at home to Dundee United before the winning start inevitably ended with a 1-0 loss at Aberdeen, whom Mahtal had now only beaten once in 13 meetings and lost 7 in a row.
Napier scored two more to ensure they bounced back with a 3-1 win at home to Dunfermline. Durig and Napier then earned a 2-2 at home to Celtic before Napier’s penalty and Ewan McDonald’s six saves earned a 1-0 home win over Rangers to put Queen’s Park top of the table after 10 games. They maintained their solid form through to a big game at home to Aberdeen in late November, and Mahtal finally got another win over them courtesy of Durig’s header and Napier’s penalty. That big win opened up a 5-point lead, which was extended to 8 as Aberdeen lost at home to Celtic a week later. The wonderful Cormack sent them into the new year with both assists in a 2-0 win over Kelty Hearts, which earned them a 7-point lead over Aberdeen.
Cup Final Excitement
Queen’s Park struggled in the cups last season as they focused on their first continental campaign. But they began this season by dropping back into the Viaplay League Cup group. Cormack scored two and assisted three in a 7-0 win at Hamilton then scored a club record five on a 10-0 hammering of Stenhousemuir. They qualified easily with wins over St Mirren and Spartans, led by Napier scoring 9 in four games, before the striker scored the only goal at home to Queen of the South and Toth, Petrovic and Napier downed Raith 3-0 in the quarters. Celtic awaited them in the semis and Mahtal rested the first 11 for a league draw with Raith. That paid off as they raced into a 3-0 lead inside 22 minutes and won 4-1 to tee up their first domestic final for 10 years.
That victory gave Queen’s Park a shot at their first major trophy since 1893, 167 years on from winning their 10th Scottish Cup. Standing in their way were holders and 35-times winners Rangers, who defeated Hibs 1-0 in the semis. Mahtal had a clean bill of health, bar Toth missing the game with ‘flu,’ so lined up:
McDonald; Jovanovic, Redín, Diop, Mata; Paredes; Cormack, Anaya, Leslie, Durig; Napier
Subs: Petrovic, Wilson, Rodriguez, Techera, Margel-Simmons, Vorel, Bruschi, Arriaga, Anocic
Queen’s Park got a huge early chance as McDonald’s goal kick sent Napier through on goal, only for him to shoot wide. The striker then got booked and had a goal disallowed just before halftime. Durig forced a good save out of the keeper before Napier’s bad day got worse as he got injured and was replaced along with Durig on 81 minutes. And Queen’s Park immediately took a chance as Cormack’s deep floated cross found Durig’s replacement Margel-Simmons, who headed home with his first touch! Rangers offered absolutely nothing and, despite Petrovic also having a late goal disallowed, Queen’s Park held on for a comfortable 1-0 win.
Queen’s Park won their first-ever Scottish League Cup!
Mahtal had only been counting top domestic leagues and biggest cup competitions towards his Alphabet Challenge. However, given the situation of winning Queen’s Park’s first trophy, he thought it was more than appropriate to consider the League Cup as a major trophy ticked off. Rather than immediately resign, he gave it until the end of the season to target the league and the Scottish Cup. The latter began with a trip to Raith and, after drawing 2-2, they lost on penalties. So there went that dream.
First Scottish Title Race
With a trophy safely locked away, Mahtal was fully focused on trying to win Queen’s Park’s first Scottish title in their 194 years of existence. They began 2061 with Napier’s penalty nicking a 2-2 at Raith while Aberdeen lost 1-0 at Celtic, but got back to winning ways with a 4-0 thumping of Kilmarnock while Aberdeen again lost 1-0 at Raith – opening up an 11-point lead.
Queen’s Park nicked a 1-1 at Aberdeen and drew 1-1 at home to Celtic in March. That saw Rangers, who suddenly started winning relentlessly, emerge as their closest challenger before losing 1-0 at Dunfermline. The two sides went head-to-head at Hampden Park in early April and Diop’s towering header from Cormack’s corner and McDonald’s 7 saves ensured a critical 1-0 victory. That restored Queen’s Park’s 11-point lead and Rangers drew 1-1 at Raith to take Queen’s Park a near-unassailable 13 clear heading into the Championship Group.
Game 1: Celtic (4th, away): That meant three points from their final five games would be enough for Queen’s Park’s maiden Scottish title. Mahtal felt a bit miffed by the group draw as they opened up with trips to the Old Firm. Their first chance to win the title came in a trip to Celtic, which started poorly as the hosts scored their first attack and went on to win 3-0 as Mahtal chased the game in vain.
Game 2 – Rangers (2nd, away): That was followed by a huge trip to Rangers in Mahtal’s 200th match at the club., in which a point would be enough for the title. They carried the shoddy performance at Celtic into this game, giving up 11 shots in the first half hour and going behind to the 12th. But, out of nowhere, Cormack swiftly nipped in at the backpost to equalise with their first shot. A similar story followed after the break as Rangers racked up 22 shots and won 2-1.
Game 3 – Aberdeen (3rd, home): The tough games continued as reigning champions Aberdeen came to town. A terrible first half was followed by an even worse second and they shared 2 shots on target in a dire 0-0. Rangers then went and won 1-0 at Hibs to reduce the gap to 5 points with two games to go.
Game 4 – Hibernian (6th, away): Queen’s Park’s final away day took them to Hibs three days later. Another poor first half ended 0-0, while Rangers trailed 1-0 at Greenock Morton. Mahtal fired the team up and got his reward as Diop headed home a corner to give them the lead in a match for the first time in over a month. Rangers equalised, immediately conceded and equalised again on 82 minutes. But Mahtal took the pace out of the game and they held on for a 1-0 victory.
Queen’s Park were Champions of Scotland for the first time!
Queen’s Park celebrated the success with Napier scoring the only goal at home to Greenock Morton the day after Mahtal’s 77th birthday. They went on to win the league by 7 points, finishing on 82 points after 24 wins, 10 draws and just 4 defeats, scoring a league-high 68 and conceding 34. Napier was the top scorer with 24, Cormack got the 2nd-most assists (13), the most MOTM awards (9) and the 3rd-best average rating (7.22) and McDonald’s 11 clean sheets in 23 games was only bettered by Morton’s keeper getting 17 in 36.
Leaving Queen’s Park As A Legend
Cormack was undoubtedly the star man this season, surpassing the club record 15 assists in mid-January. He went on to rack up a ridiculous 13 goals and 20 assists. Fellow homegrown star Napier smashed his own club record 30 goals in a season as, despite a poor end to the campaign, he again top-scored with 35 in 39. Durig chipped in with 13 goals and 10 assists and Anaya contributed 12 assists from midfield.
Cormack confirmed his potential by winning European Golden Boy aged just 17, and then went on to back it up by winning NxGn 2061! He looks set to become an absolutely phenomenal talent, and certainly one that Mahtal would be keeping his eye on in the future.
Mahtal had grown extremely attached to Queen’s Park in his near-four years at the club. But, after 1,427 days and a new career-long 203 games, surpassing the 148 at Perak, Mahtal knew he had to depart. In his 203 games, he won 107, drew 46 and lost 50, scoring 344 and conceding 248 with a win ratio of 52%, the fourth lowest in his career behind Racing and Necaxa (38%) and Longford (41%).
But with Q ticked off the Alphabet Challenge, it was time for Mahtal to try and tick off the 19th leg. Where would he end up next? Join us on Friday to find out!
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