David Wotherspoon's Abernethy Cubs coach on the World Cup star who has never forgotten his roots

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A quick glance at David Wotherspoon’s World Cup squad profile reveals a list of his former clubs.Bridge of Earn youths, Celtic, Hibs and of course St Johnstone are among those jotted down.

No real surprises.Yet swivel your eyes back to the start of the text on the official Canada Soccer website and one other team proudly makes the cut: Abernethy Cubs.It was there, on the hallowed turf of Powrie Park, where Wotherspoon perhaps started to get his first taste of competitive football.

He was the top scorer three years in a row from 1998-2001.“David should’ve been eight years old to be playing in the cubs team, but we would sneak him in,” smiled Gordon Miller, a Saints season ticket holder who was coach of the Abernethy Cubs football team."We used to pretend he was wee for his age.

He was playing in the number 10 role at that time and we would basically say give him the ball.”It was not long before Wotherspoon’s close control and eye for a pass and finish were turning heads.And Miller quickly realised that here was a young lad who had real potential to take his talents to a grander stage.He explained to the PA: “He won all of our trophies, the player of the year and all the rest of it.“I said to him, when he was about nine years old, that there is no doubt in my mind you will lift the cup some day.