Duncan Ferguson Didn't Reply to One Fan Letter in Prison After Finding Out Who Sent It
Everton legend Duncan Ferguson says he tried to respond to every letter he received from fans while in prison - but there was one person he didn't reply to.
Ferguson spent 44 days in the notorious Barlinnie prison in 1995 after he was convicted of headbutting Raith Rovers defender John McStay during a match against Rangers.
The Scottish striker was still serving a year's probation at the time of the offence and was sentenced to three months in prison, before having an appeal rejected.
He was sent to Barlinnie prison, which housed some of Scotland's most violent and serially-offending prisoners.
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In his autobiography, titled 'Big Dunc', the prologue - centring on his time at prison - is simply titled 'Welcome to Hell',
While inside, Ferguson recalled how he received a significant number of letters from fans of Rangers, Everton - whom he signed for in October 1994 - and beyond.
One of the letters was from a young Wayne Rooney, with Ferguson noting: "I wrote him back, without a clue who this passionate football fan would turn out to become."
The Scot explained that he read all the letters he received - except those that had to be withheld by the guards.
He penned an open letter to Everton fans stating that he would 'reply personally to every supporter who has taken the time and trouble to write to me', adding: "Those messages have been coming in by the sackful and it is going to be a major job dealing with them. But it is something I want to do."
Ferguson didn't, however, take the time to reply to a letter sent to him by Michael Stone, a member of the Ulster Defence Association who murdered three people during an IRA funeral in Belfast in 1988.
Stone, who described himself as a 'freelance loyalist paramilitary', was released from prison in 2000.
He was later sentenced to a further 16 years in jail after attempting to kill Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness - for the second time, having tried to do so 20 years earlier - in 2006.
Ferguson was sent letters from other members of loyalist groups which were also withheld, but he made specific reference to Stone in his book.
"They [the guards] told me that Michael Stone, a notorious figure even by the standards of the Northern Ireland Troubles, had written to me," Ferguson wrote.
"'Have you any idea who's writing to you?' they asked. 'No, I don't'.
"'All the notorious UVF [Ulster Volunteer Force, loyalist paramilitary group]'."
He continued: "These letters raised a few eyebrows, not least mine when they told me.
"These lads who were writing wanted to protect me. They considered me some kind of emblem of Rangers and Protestant loyalism. In my mind I was never that kind of figure at all ... I was never sectarian in my thoughts. Never."
"Even today, thirty years later," he concluded. "From time to time I'll visit an Everton supporter in their home and they'll say to me, 'I've still got that letter [that I sent back to them]'. And that means a lot.
"As for Michael Stone - and for obvious reasons I wouldn't wish him to take any offence - I don't believe I responded to his letter."
Ryan Smart