 Walter Smith paid £3.75m - at a time when Ferguson first flashed across Everton's radar. Howard Kendall, then in his second spell at the club and having conceded that his midget gem strike-force of Peter Beardsley and Tony Cottee needed beefing up, bid for Rangers' highly-rated target-man - along with Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Leeds. But it was Rangers who landed a player who was already starting to makean impact at international level. Called up to Scotland Under-21s in 1992, a summons to the full national side followed, where a spectacularly athletic overhead kick against Germany which smacked off the crossbar suggested the Scots had found a talisman to carry national hopes for years to come. The moment showed his rich potential. But it also became a motif for his tantalising ability to fall short of genuine achievements. His move to Ibrox never worked out. After finishing two successive seasons as top scorer at Tannadice, Duncan Ferguson's time in Glasgow was not able only for the incidents which made front page headlines, rather than the sports pages. A serious knee injury meant he was restricted to just 14 appearances and two goals in 12 months. But an incident against Raith Rovers in April 1994 ultimately had lasting repercussions. Ferguson was involved in an altercation with John McStay, a flare-up which ended with him head-butting the player. It was unsavoury and regrettable, but hardly unique on a football field. There action of the Scottish football authorities, however, was. A barely disguised witch-hunt was launched which only ended when Ferguson served a 44-day jail sentence in Glasgow's Barlinnie Prison. By the time Ferguson served his time, however, he was an Everton player. And the seeds of a lasting love affair with Everton Football Club and its fans had been sown.
TOMORROW: Ferguson sings the Blues
WE want your views on 'Big Dunc's' Goodison career
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