The Championship wasn't retained in 1983/84 but the Club's European Cup run provided more unprecedented peaks for United as the semi-final second leg was reached. United were two goals to the good when they arrived at the Olympic Stadium in Rome but 'hostile' is insufficient to describe the atmosphere which awaited the United team and fans. The intimidation, intentional or not, undoubtedly contributed to a desperately disappointing performance on the afternoon of 25 April 1984 but no one handled the testing conditions better than Maurice. Jock Speed had been spot-on in his assesment of his cool temperamemt.

Still only 21 he showed he could perform in any situation. It was a display which was widely noted and two months after the Roma match, in June 1984, Maurice won the first of his club record fifty-five caps for Scotland when he lined up in Marseille against a very impressive French side which contained such celebrated midfield opposition as Platini and Tigana. His opponents may have been equally impressed to discover that Maurice was only a part-time footballer - the last such player to represent Scotland. They might have also been surprised to learn he was getting married the following day!

It wasn't the best of starts to his Scotland career as France won much more convincingly than the 2-0 score-line suggested and Maurice expressed doubts at the time of his ability to operate at that level. "It could have been 20-0," Maurice recalled five years later. "I remember thinking at half-time that I was out of my depth." He was reassured by everyone; France had been special. He had everything needed to be a successful internationalist.

By the start of 1984/85 Maurice, having successfully completed his University course and graduating with an Honours Degree in Electrical Engineering, was full-time. It may have been naive of him to think that Championship titles 'would be something which would happen every year' but reaching cup finals was certainly within United's capabilities and 1984/85 offered Maurice the chance of a clean sweep of domestic medals before his twenty-third birthday. It was not to be.

If the 1-0 defeat by Rangers in a poor quality October League Cup Final was disappointing the 2-1 reversal to Celtic in the Scottish Cup seven months later was simply heart-breaking. A tenth minute goal by Stuart Beedie had given United the lead and for almost eighty minutes United produced a controlled performance. Two late goals by Celtic meant Maurice was one of eleven United players left shattered by the turn of events. His day would come.

 

 

 

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