Duncan Ferguson reflects on being arrested, burgled, red cards, the bust ups, and his career, while on The Overlap’s Stick to Football.
This week, Gary Neville, Jill Scott, Ian Wright, and Roy Keane were joined by Everton legend Duncan Ferguson, discussing his career at Rangers and Everton, memorable on-pitch moments, and off-field challenges, including his red cards and unique persona.
Ferguson shares insights on his coaching transition, his strong fan connection, and stories about players like Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer.
The conversation is candid, engaging, and humorous one, highlighting Ferguson’s uncompromising character, while also looking to the future and what he wants to do.
🏴 STF: DUNCAN FERGUSON! 🏴
🔴 Reliving Red Cards & Chaos!
😂 Stories Only Big Dunc Can Tell…
🫂 Rooney’s Early Days at Everton!
🍬 Memories of Goodison Park!Watch now on YouTube and listen on all major platforms! pic.twitter.com/K78jjsb32L
— The Overlap (@WeAreTheOverlap) April 17, 2025
TIMESTAMPS on the YouTube video above
00:00 Intro
03:14 Discipline and Red Cards
05:08 Career Beginnings and Challenges
18:35 Rangers Move and Early Struggles
32:15 Everton Move and Redemption
38:19 Reflecting on a Crucial Game
38:50 Celebrating a Victory
41:04 Memorable Matches and Moments
42:42 Career Highlights and Challenges
47:28 Defending Against Burglars
50:49 Coaching Philosophy and Experiences
51:31 Leaving Everton and Career Transitions
01:02:00 Coaching at Inverness and Financial Sacrifices
01:06:02 Future Aspirations and Book Release
Duncan Ferguson sent off for singing to the ref “Who’s a baldy b*stard”😭😭😭
What a bloke😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/uOUymiZW1O
— The 44 ⚽️ (@The_Forty_Four) April 17, 2025
“There’s a few red cards between us isn’t there?” 👀
No holding back, plenty of stories, Duncan Ferguson joins Stick to Football tomorrow! 🎬 pic.twitter.com/7Smw92Loxt
— The Overlap (@WeAreTheOverlap) April 16, 2025
ON HIS RED CARDS
“[On his third red card against Blackburn Rovers] That was for nothing violent at all. I was singing on the pitch to the referee who was receding at the time.
“I was singing, ‘Who’s that baldy b******, Who’s that baldy b******, ah na na na’. I was singing it all over the pitch and there were quite a few people looking at me going, ‘Are you singing at me?’
“Tim Sherwood came running up, and he looked like Tarzan at the time, he had hair down to here [pointing to his shoulders].
“He said, ‘He’s talking to me, ref’, but the referee gave me a red card.”
Duncs added: “Yes, I do remember that one. It was Fredi Bobic – it was a punch – I didn’t even notice. I thought it was somebody else,” Ferguson admitted.
“I thought it was [Kevin] Nolan, because I knew he was a red [Liverpool fan]. I thought he was at it [with me] so I turned around and I thought it was him. It wasn’t my finest moment.”
Admitting remorse at his red card against Derby County in 1998, he said: “It was naughty – it was [against] Paulo Wanchope. That was wrong.
“It was a long throw, he was tugging away at me, or he just said something and back then, that was enough!
“I floored him [with an elbow], and it wasn’t nice. I do [feel a bit of regret] for that one.”
“I got them both times, unfortunately for them…” 👀
Duncan Ferguson recalls the moment he confronted two burglars in his home. 🏡 pic.twitter.com/08aUiSjDKE
— The Overlap (@WeAreTheOverlap) April 17, 2025
ON BEING BURGLED
“I was lying on the couch because after a game, you can’t sleep. Your adrenaline’s pumping, we’d played Watford in the FA Cup. I had a funny feeling, these two guys are watching Match of the Day on the television or something, thinking I’m playing there. I think they were stoned or drunk, they must have been. I’m on my couch, it’s quarter to one in the morning, I’ve got my tracksuit bottoms on, no top on, trainers there. I just heard something.
“I went like that, ‘I just heard something there’, I put my trainers on, they were right there, I was fit as a fiddle, pumped up from the game. I had a conservatory and I could see the two shadows walking through the conservatory. I heard this pounding in my chest. I was pumped up. I was thinking ‘what do you do’, obviously I was going to go forward, it’s fight or flight. The fight one. I went forward and I didn’t give the boys a chance, they never knew what hit them. I went after them. That was it, end of really.”
He added: “One of them was too quick for me, he got away, but I got the other one. I couldn’t get the two of them. One of them ran and left his mate, good pal, eh? Good partner in crime there! I filled him in. I gave him a bad one. I was pumped up, my wife’s upstairs with a three-month old baby, she’s shouting out of the window, she’s hearing ‘thud, thud, thud’ and ‘bang, bang, bang’, and she’s screaming ‘f*cking hell, you’re gonna f*cking kill him! Stop!’ I had the mist. And you’re looking down, and you think ‘oh my god’.
“So the two options were phone my mates and drag him away and do whatever you’re gonna do, but I thought that’s probably not a good move or phone the police! We phoned the police and obviously got an ambulance at the same time.”
ON CRYING WHEN RANGERS GOT RID OF HIM
“I was called in at Rangers and told that Everton were up and that they’ve thrown my hat into the ring.
“I started crying my eyes out – I’ve failed. I got my big dream move and I failed at the end of the day. Everton were in the Premier League, which had just begun, and the daft thing is, I knew a lot of Scottish players had played for them, but they played in blue, which I liked, so I went to Everton. And that was it, I got my move to Everton.
“My move to Rangers was too early for me, as I wasn’t ready. There were a lot of great players at Rangers at the time, and I wanted to move from Dundee United as I had problems with the manager and was always getting fined. I was always skint, I had nothing.
“I was getting fined for daft things. I’d take the manager’s car as he’d told me to wash it, so I used to take it and drive it into a car wash, and next thing you know, there are four or five of us in the car driving around Dundee. The police would stop us, it was nuts. That’s what we did.
“There was massive pressure on me to do well at Rangers and I felt it,.
“I was getting terrible stick for it. I had minders everywhere I went – whether I went to Stirling or Glasgow – I had to have people with me. I was a young guy who’d come good, from a local area, so people didn’t want to see me happy, they wanted a shot at me.
“It was tough for me, as a young lad, to walk away [from people starting on me]. If only I‘d just walked away, but sometimes you get backed into a corner and you’ve got to come out swinging. I did that a few times. Between 17 and 19-years-old, I had three or four assaults against me.
“I’ve never looked at Rangers results in my life. Maybe because I hadn’t made it there and wanted to forget about it, I came down south and the fans looked after me. I was freer, it was a better league, and I was fitter and happier.”
Here’s how fans reacted as Duncan Ferguson reflects on red cards, bust ups, being burgled, and his career…
@DavidParky18: Get him on again. One of the best guests ever.
@Antsg3Griffiths: Big Dunc, what a legend – epic episode
@FootballIsMyRe1: His eyes lit up 😆 I’m no boxer or fighter, but Think I’d sooner have a go at a prime T-Rex than Big Dunc with red mist and tracksuit on.
@DeanAVFCL7: Duncan’s a legend. I live in the same place as him, we were out for a family meal in a restaurant and he was talking to a big table full of young Everton fans. When the fans went to pay the waiter said don’t worry, Duncan paid for you.
@MikrutMr: A proper hard man compared to gobshite Keane
@d2jcoak: I loved the very casual… I filled him in… 😂😂
@cm11983: Big Dunc is a terrific story teller. And you can tell not one detail is fabricated
@ChrisMM1878: My Hero, loved him as player, through and through Evertonian. Interesting on his youth team style, something @Everton has to fix, if not already, there is an Everton style of football, Evertonians (Kendall Style) know. That has to be ingrained at every level of the club, surely.
@DavidHy80619766: One of the best ones yet! I really enjoyed this ☺️ Laughed the whole way through 🤣
HAVE YOUR SAY –
What do you think of Duncan Ferguson? Have you got a favourite memory of him? Have you ever met him? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or tweet us @fan_banter
