McDiarmid Park chief shocked as Sturrock is stricken by Parkinson’s Disease

Jul 29 2008 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

ST Johnstone chairman Geoff Brown yesterday expressed shock after learning former Saints manager Paul Sturrock had revealed he was suffering from Parkinson’s Disease.

The one-time Perth boss, now in his second spell in charge at Championship side Plymouth Argyle, has been suffering from a mild form of the progressive neurological condition for the past eight years.

Going public, he stressed: “I don’t want sympathy and I don’t want people feeling sorry for me. I just thought this was the right time to bring this out into the open.

“It’s an illness yes but one I’m perfectly comfortable with. It is not a severe form by any means.

“It doesn’t really affect me, unless I forget to take a tablet, and then I just get a few tremors in my hand or my leg. It will not affect the way I go about my job. There’s plenty life in the old dog yet.”

Sturrock, who led Saints to the First Division title 11 years ago, told the club website: “Thousands of people live and work with Parkinson’s and I will be one of them.

“I have got by for the last eight years and I have felt fine. I have had many talks with the medical people and I am quite content with what they have told me.”

Geoff Brown said: “I am on the phone to Luggy fairly regularly for one reason or another and he has never talked about this. It’s a real shock to be frank.

“Obviously it’s bad news but it does effect people in different so hopefully he will manage it in the longer term.”

Sturrock suffered a previous health scare when he was manager at McDiarmid, ending up in hospital after collapsing on the trackside during a Premier League derby clash with Dundee United in October, 1995.

Brown, who came through his own health scare after prostate cancer was diagnosed, said: “That gave us all a real scare but he got the all-clear and we were assured there was nothing seriously wrong.”

Sturrock, who walked away from Dundee Untied eight years ago, always stressed that incident was down to hyperventilating and got fed-up of subsequent health scare stories.

Brown, a close confidante of Sturrock’s when he was Perth manager from 1993 to 1998, said: “People handle health problems in different ways and Luggy has decided to talk about it.

“I know people who suffer from Parkinson’s and it goes without saying he has my very best wishes.

“Hopefully it won’t progress and Luggy will be able to carry on as usual for a long, long time to come.”