Some 120 exciting minutes later, he had his hands on the “cup” — it was actually a crystal vase — courtesy of a 3-2 win over Ally McLeod’s Honest Men.

And the league had the firm evidence needed that the competition could become an annual event in the lower leagues.

“I think it was always in their minds for the competition to continue beyond that first year, but the final told them it definitely could,” said Gordon, now the youth supremo at Dens. I remember it fondly and, back then, it was like it is now — it starts off as a mediocre tournament no-one is really bothered about, but, once you get nearer the semis, people start playing their strongest team.

“The final was certainly a good occasion, because at that time Ayr United had a decent team and it was always likely to be a close game.”

So it proved and, in front of a crowd of 11,506, the lead changed hands twice before an extra-time strike from Billy Dodds completed his hat-trick and secured the trophy.

While that meant it was the BBC pundit whose name featured in all the headlines, Gordon recalled it was another capture from down south that caught his eye.

“As well as signing Billy from Chelsea, I got Colin West. In fact, when I was thinking about trying to sign them, I spoke to Harry Redknapp because he’d seen both of them a few times.

“Harry told me Billy was very good, but he thought Colin West was even better and I should definitely go for him.

“Unfortunately for Colin, he had a bad time with injuries up here, partly because, for a winger, he was exceptionally brave and would go in where it hurt, and we didn’t really get the best out of him.

“That day, though, he was at his best and, as I recall, he set up Billy’s goals and, for me, was probably Man of the Match, which you don’t often say when someone else gets a hat-trick.”

Like everyone at Dens, Gordon makes no apologies for stressing promotion is the be all and end all for this campaign.

Now Dundee are in the final, though, he sees nothing but pluses from going to Perth and winning.

“It’s a chance for the players to take part in a final and the fans to have a good day out, and winning would make it one for them to remember.”

Meanwhile, midfielder Brian Kerr is on course to recover from an ankle problem in time to make Sunday’s game. He was training with the physio again today, but should be back with the squad by Thursday.

Leigh Griffiths picked up a minor knock while playing for the Scotland Under-21s at the weekend, but that has not stopped him training normally.