Restoring the balance: when Graeme Souness’s Rangers beat Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen.

Rangers v Aberdeen, 27 September, 1986

To say that Sir Alex Ferguson’s relationship with Rangers is complicated is probably one of the biggest understatements in football.

As is well documented, Ferguson grew up in Govan in the shadow of Ibrox Park and was a keen supporter of the club.

His dream of playing for his boyhood heroes came true in July 1967 when he signed for Rangers after successful periods at St Johnstone and Dunfermline. He would make 41 appearances for the club, scoring a very respectable 25 goals.

However his dream moved turned sour after the Scottish Cup final of 1969 against Celtic. Rangers suffered a 4-0 battering at the hands of their most bitter rivals and Ferguson bore the brunt of the fallout after failing to mark Billy McNeil at a corner in the third minute, resulting in the Celtic captain scoring the opening goal.

Ferguson never played for Rangers again, and was made to train on his own before being moved on to Falkirk.

Ferguson maintains to this day that he was made the scapegoat because his wife, Cathy, was a Catholic. His evidence for this claim was that a club director at the time had challenged Ferguson about his wife’s religion and if they had married in a chapel.

This line has not always sat well with some Rangers supporters who are old enough to remember Sir Alex’s time at Rangers. They maintain that, as much as Ferguson was a committed professional, and very harshly treated after that final, the blunt truth was that he just wasn’t good enough to play for Rangers. And Rangers had form on dumping strikers on the back of one bad result – you only have to look at the treatment of Jim Forrest and George McLean after Berwick to see evidence of that.

Alex Ferguson in his final game for Rangers – the 1969 Scottish Cup Final.

Whatever the truth is regarding Ferguson’s sudden departure from Ibrox, his relationship with Rangers changed from that moment on. He remained a Rangers supporter, but there was also an element of hostility towards the club.

Ferguson saw out his playing days at Falkirk and Ayr Utd before moving into management at East Stirlingshire and then St Mirren.

When he took over Aberdeen in 1978, Rangers became the main target in his bid for success.

Ferguson made it his mission that Aberdeen would turn up to Ibrox – and to a lesser extent Celtic Park – and win. It was a mission he succeeded in, turning the Pittodrie club into champions of Scotland on three occasions and famously leading them to success in Europe by beating Real Madrid in the 1983 European Cup Winners’ Cup final.

Ten days after that famous victory in Gothenburg, Ferguson’s side faced Rangers in the Scottish Cup final. Aberdeen struggled badly throughout the game, but still came out on top thanks to a goal very late in extra time by Eric Black.  

Despite the victory, Ferguson stunned viewers live on TV with an incredible outburst which was scathing of his team and their performance.

Ferguson admits now that part of the motivation for the outburst was the fact that his side had failed to hammer Rangers. He had wanted to twist the knife into his former employers by humiliating them. When Rangers outplayed Aberdeen, putting in a performance that merited victory on the day, Ferguson’s rage prompted an entirely over-the-top reaction which he claims he now regrets.

Sept 1985: Rangers and Aberdeen serve up a typically feisty encounter.

Ferguson would get another opportunity to twist the knife into Rangers a few months after that Scottish Cup victory when, after John Greig was sacked as Rangers manager, Ferguson spectacularly turned down to opportunity to take charge at Ibrox, deciding instead to stay at Aberdeen where he would enjoy further success whilst Rangers continued to toil badly under Greig’s successor Jock Wallace.  

Three years after Wallace’s return, with the league title remaining elusive, he too was sacked and replaced by Graeme Souness.

Souness arrived at a club that would finish fifth, 15 points behind champions Celtic – the same amount of points they were ahead of bottom placed Clydebank.

Something drastic was required to halt the mediocrity that had engulfed the club, and David Homes looked to the former Liverpool captain as the man to provide it.

Souness set about his revolution by bringing in the likes of Chris Woods, Terry Butcher and Graham Roberts as Rangers looked to bring back the glory days. An early test of Rangers league title credentials came on 27^th September at Ibrox as Alex Ferguson returned yet again to Ibrox with his Aberdeen side.

Rangers v Aberdeen was a fixture which carried an edge in Ferguson’s time at the Dons, with several notorious games between the clubs in that period – the most recent of which was at Ibrox in September ’85 when nine man Rangers slumped to a 3-0 defeat on a day that supporters in the old East Enclosure invaded the pitch.

However there was an extra edge to this particular game. Not only did Rangers have the opportunity to lay down a gauntlet to Ferguson and his side, there was also the added dimension that Ferguson had dropped Graeme Souness in final game of the Mexico World Cup against Uruguay just a couple of months before.

Ferguson had stepped up to manage the national side in Mexico after the sudden death of Jock Stein the previous year. Souness was the captain and also the head of the players committee.

Souness had enjoyed a good relationship with Stein, but relations between him and Ferguson were fraught and tensions were never far from the surface during team meetings throughout the tournament.

Graeme Souness in Mexico for the 1986 World Cup – the final time he would represent his country.

On one particular occasion, a meeting to discuss an SFA rule that stated players were only permitted one three minute phone call to their families twice a week led to a blistering and heated face-to-face argument.

Relations were soured even further when, after defeat in the first two games against Denmark and West Germany, Ferguson spectacularly dropped Souness for the final game – ending his international career in the process.

With such a backdrop, the scene was set for a potentially explosive fixture on 27 September. It was Rangers v Aberdeen. Souness v Ferguson. Sleeping giants v provincial upstarts.

Rangers went into the game having already suffered three defeats in their league campaign, the most recent being the previous week against Dundee at Dens Park. They could not afford another slip-up.

The first-half was relatively tame, with the only chance of note falling to John Hewitt who forced a good save from Chris Woods from distance.

The second-half would provide more drama, and it started early on after the break.

In the 49th minute, Ted McMinn cut inside from the left wing past Stewart McKimmie and passed it to Souness on the edge of box. Souness took a touch with right, moved it on to his left before unleashing a shot which flew past Jim Leighton, struck the post before rebounding off Leighton’s back and creeping over the line.

Souness ran to the Copland Rd stand in celebration of a moment that had huge ramifications. Souness had landed a retaliatory blow on Ferguson for his treatment in Mexico. But more importantly, Rangers had landed a blow on a club that had routinely turned them over in recent years.

Rangers took heart from the goal and had chances to increase their lead through McCoist and Souness, but failed to take them.

Aberdeen then slowly crept back into the game with chances of their own, but with ten minutes remaining the clincher came.

Rangers hit on the counter through Ally McCoist after a poor set-piece by the visitors allowed Rangers to break. McCoist ran in on goal and put it wide to Robert Fleck. Fleck returned it to McCoist, taking Leighton out of the equation, which allowed McCoist an easy tap-in.

Whilst McCoist and his teammates celebrated, Aberdeen players furiously surrounded the linesman protesting that McCoist was in an offside position. Future Rangers assistant manager Archie Knox had to be escorted back to the dugout by police such was his anger. But the goal stood and Rangers secured the victory, ensuring they had beaten both Celtic and Aberdeen in the opening weeks of the season.

Souness and Ferguson in the post-match interview.

Walter Smith realised just how big a result this was for Rangers stating: “During the week, Graeme and I had told the players to forget Rangers’ poor record against Aberdeen. We told them all that it was in the past, but really, it was still there, so this victory was an important psychological breakthrough”.

It would be the final time Alex Ferguson managed an Aberdeen side against Rangers. He moved six weeks later on 6 November to take up his post at Manchester United and would watch on from other side of Hadrian’s Wall as Rangers, the club he loved and loathed in equal measures, secured its first league title for nine years under Souness – ironically winning it at Pittodrie, adding extra emphasis to the feeling that the balance of power in Scottish football had been restored.

Ferguson would go on to enjoy huge success at Manchester Utd and is synonymous with the Old Trafford club. However, despite some friction, there is a feeling that he holds a special place for Rangers in his heart, and still speaks fondly of of the club to this day.

RANGERS:  Woods, Nicholl, Munro, Souness, McPherson, Butcher, Fraser, McMinn, McCoist, Durrant, Cooper, SUBS: Fleck, Dawson.

GOALS: Souness (49), McCoist (80)

ABERDEEN: Leighton, McKimmie, Mitchell, Miller, McLeish, Stark, Bett, Connor, Dodds, Hewitt. SUBS: Robertson, Wright.  

REFEREE: J Duncan (Gorebridge)

The secret diary of a Rangers supporter, aged 50 1/4 – 15th August, Servette (a)

For a while now July and August have felt like fraught months for Rangers. From 2018 and the arrival of Steven Gerrard onwards it feels like we’ve been served up an apparently never ending chore of qualification for the Europa League group stage football.

I remember standing in the Lord Nelson pub on Nelson St in Glasgow when Rangers were in Russia to take on Ufa, with qualification for group stage football in Europe at stake of the first time since the events of 2012.

The game was at a ridiculous time in the afternoon, so I bunked off work early, skipped over the squinty bridge and made my way to the Lord Nelson which had procured a stream of the game.

When said stream typically failed after about 10 minutes, you had a ridiculous situation of everyone in the pub resorting to standing round various peoples mobile phones to catch a glimpse the game which, despite the sending offs of Jon Flanagan and Alfredo Morelos, went Rangers’ way.

I remember one punter turning and saying to me at one point “there is no work getting done in Glasgow today, eh?”. And it was hard to disagree with him, it definitely felt like a hefty percentage of the city’s population was currently crowded around a telly, phone or laptop watching the game.

My personal highlight of those qualification nights was probably against Legia Warsaw when Alfredo Morelos scored an injury time winner at Ibrox – provoking huge scenes of joy within the home support, and pissing off a certain Artur Boric in the away end. A cherry on the cake moment if ever there was one!

And here we are again, back in the fraught, nail-biting arena that are European football qualifiers – but this time for the Champions League against Servette.

Artur Boric has a sense that old familiar feeling again – getting pumped at Ibrox!

The mood is mixed after the win in the first leg was not as convincing as we would have liked. The fact that the game is on the BBC Scotland channel also makes me feel uncomfortable.

As most know there has been some issues between the top brass and reporting staff at Pacific Quay and Rangers Football Club. Personally I find how BBC Scotland has conducted itself in its reporting, content and position on Rangers to be nothing other than absolutely embarrassing – and the thought of having to put up with the likes of Jonathan Sutherland and Rob McLean for 90 minutes is not a pleasant one. Still, needs must!

Sutherland opens proceedings by saying it’s a crucial game for Rangers, which will explain why BBC Scotland has decided to only allocate ten minutes of build up for the game. As I said, embarrassing.

The team suggests that Beale is looking towards a counter-attacking threat, with Raskin and Jack sitting and Sima, Cifuentes and Cantwell providing the ammunition for Danilo.

Rangers do what they always seem to do in these games and start reasonably well and look in control of proceedings, before deciding to totally lose control of things fairly quickly.   

Sportscene’s coverage of the game – the less said the better.

The turning point in the first-half is an outstanding save from Jack Butland to deny Timothe Cognat, who was clean through on the Rangers goal. The moment provides further weight to feeling that Rangers have recruited well in replacing Allan McGregor, but it also breathes belief into Servette and their supporters that they can get something from this game – a feeling that is emboldened further when Servette take the lead on 22 minutes thanks to a very decent strike by Kutesa.

The mood in my house is flat at this point as my son and I look on horrified at the events that are unfolding in front of us, events that should have taken a turn for the worse when Souttar is caught trying to play offside, allowing Kutesa to run in on Butland but fail to either score or cut it across to an unmarked team mate in the box. A sliding doors moment in the tie!

Thing are worryingly bad at this stage, made even more so by a shocking open goal miss from Danilo and having to listen to the dulcet tones of Rob McLean and James McFadden barely concealing their absolute joy at the Rangers’ severe discomfort.

It is a relief to go in at half-time just one goal down.

The second-half, however, is a completely different story. Rangers look more composed from the off, and it doesn’t take long before the they have equalised through a very familiar routine.

Nicolas Raskin: different gravy!

Borna sends in another accurate delivery to the box and Tav heads in to give Rangers parity via the much used full-back-to-full-back option. It gives Rangers the foundation and confidence to go an control the second-half.

The main man in that second-half dominance is Nicolas Raskin, who yet again gives a level a performance that makes you believe that if we develop this boy correctly, he could be a star for us before moving on for a decent profit at some point in the future.

We secure the result we need and we move on next to PSV in the play-off – a repeat of last season’s fixture.

We never seem to get the easy route when it comes to qualification for the Champions League, but it is another big night at Ibrox to look forward to and I feel we are looking in better shape now than we were just a week or so ago for such a fixture.

I can’t deny that there is still a nagging concern that we are relying on James Tavernier for goals – and we need the strikers to step up against PSV if we are to have any chance of progression, but there a few more positive signs that the likes of Lammers, Danilo and Dessers are starting to click into gear.  Hopefully they can make the difference against the Dutch side.

It’s another huge night at Ibrox and, even though it is undoubtedly a tricky tie, a win on Tuesday puts us in a good position to go over to Eindhoven and get the result we need to qualify.

I just need to confirm if the Lord Nelson is showing the return tie!

WATP!

The secret diary of a Rangers supporter, aged 50 1/4 – 12th August, Livingston (h)

As per usual, my Saturday morning starts early with a walk with the dog. I had been our for dinner the previous evening to celebrate my daughter’s 16^th birthday, so getting up is a little more difficult than usual.

I find that the quickness of time causes me more and more concern the older I get – I mean, can it really be 16 years since I nearly launched my six week old daughter through the living room ceiling whilst celebrating Lee McCulloch’s goal against Lyon on that famous night in the Champions League? Sixteen years? Really? Time flies!

Friday also brought a nice wee delivery through the post in the form of the programme from the 1979 Drybrough Cup Final between Rangers and Celtic – a game famous for Davie Cooper’s wonder goal where he lobbed the ball over several Celtic defenders heads before dispatching it past Peter Latchford. It is a moment which is part of Rangers folklore – so it is a nice wee addition to the collection.

But back to the Saturday and I have the a couple of options to meet up with mates prior to kick off for a pre-match pint. However domestic responsibilities mean I don’t get into the city until just after 2pm, so it’s a quick pre-match pint on my tod before heading to Ibrox.

Lee McCulloch scores against Lyon – inadvertently causing minor head injuries to my six week old daughter.

Whilst I am enjoying my pint the teams are announced and, again, it looks encouraging. Connor Goldson is out – presumably rested – which allows Leon Balogun to make his first start since returning to the club. Jose Cifuentes also gets his first start, as does the Brazilian Danilo.

Davie Cooper celebrates winning the Drybrough Cup in 1979.

We get off to a great start when we take the lead after just ten minutes, with some great work by Cantwell leading to an opportunity for Lammers to slam home the opener – an opportunity he doesn’t pass up on. 

The early goal is good but I always feel that the second goal is the most important goal for Rangers, and it looks like we’ve got it when Cifuentes scores from a corner after 20 minutes.

But VAR rules he used a hand and the so called Masonic conspiracy in refereeing has a seemingly further dent to its credibility!

Rangers then fall into bad habits and, without playing all that badly, give the impression of a side that is making heavier weather of this game than it should be. This results in the usual mumbles of discontent from an element of the crowd.

The second goal comes late but it brings a debut goal for one of the new signings, which will become a theme of this game.

Borna sends over a great delivery into the box which allows Danilo to head in his first goal for the club and secure the three points – as the goal comes in the 78^th minute, it also allows for a mass exodus of the Subway Loyal!

Having already introduced Matondo and Sima, the second goal provides Michael Beale with the opportunity to make further changes, bringing on Dowell, Sterling and Lundstram which injects further energy in the side as they go on and score another couple of goals before full-time.

Vroni’s on West Nile St – they do a decent pint of Menabrea!

Firstly, Lima gets his first goal for the club after a bit of a stramash in the penalty box allows him to score from close range. Then Dowell scores an absolute peach right on time to put the icing on the cake.

Overall it is a fairly routine victory and a convincing scoreline.

Four goals, four different scorers (all new signings), Butland looks composed, Souttar and Balogun are solid at the back, Cifuentes looks impressive and Cantwell is lively and involved in everything – that’s not a bad day’s work.

That’s not to say there isn’t room for improvement, but those who are saying it’s another sign that Beale and the new signings are all duds are well wide of the mark.

I’m sitting with my mate Keith, who usually sits behind me but he has taken my son’s seat today as his own football career now sees him play on a Saturday for a local amateur side.

This means for the first time in six years he won’t be heading to Ibrox with me on a Saturday. He’s keeping his seat, obviously, but unless it’s a weeknight or a Sunday the chances are he won’t be using it for the foreseeable.

I’m chuffed he’s doing his own thing, and he scored twice on his competitive debut for his new club, but I can’t deny it’ll not be the same him not being there on a Saturday.

On the final whistle Keith and I head to Edmiston House for a pint, but the queue at the bar failing to move so much as an inch in the ten minutes we were stood there provokes us to move to the Rolls Royce Social Club on Beech Avenue – where we get served immediately.

I am hoping to hook up with some of the lads from the Gersnet podcast later but the banter is flowing and time runs away from me. After a couple of hours I head back into city for one final pint in Vroni’s before heading for my train.

I get in at about half nine and pretty much head straight to bed. I have an early rise in the morning as I’m walking a section of the John Muir Way with my daughter – all 25km of it!

I am of course looking forward to it – I just hope my legs have recovered in time to watch Tuesday’s massive game in Geneva!

WATP!

The secret diary of a Rangers supporter, aged 50 1/4 – 9th August, Servette (h)

My day begins with a commute into Glasgow for work. I find commutes to work are always better when you know you have the fitba to look forward after your nine-to-five grind. So the walk from Queen St to my office is a purposeful one that ponders all the opportunity that lies ahead.

It’s Champions League qualifier night, and we are up against Swiss outfit Servette FC – whom I have never seen before, so it’s another club to add to the list of clubs I have watched in the flesh whilst following Rangers in Europe.

These nights are always tense, and have delivered joy and despair in equal measures down the years.

My first real experience of them was in 92/93 against Leeds Utd. I was at Ibrox for the previous round against Lyngby, but that night against the English Champions when we won 2-1 will go down in echelons of Ibrox folklore. The noise when the teams came out of the tunnel will go with me to the grave – and until that fairly recent epic night against RP Leipzig, it stood out as my favourite ever night at Ibrox.

Then there was Parma. The night we shoved it right up the likes of Buffon, Dino Baggio, Ortega and Thuram and served up revenge for them dumping us out the UEFA Cup the previous season. When Claudio Reyna made it 2-0 that night the scenes were ones of absolute hysteria. Another night that will stay with me ’til the end.  

But I have also felt the other side of the Champions League qualifier sword, with the night against AEK Athens probably being the sorest I can remember.

Two down from the first-leg, there were high hopes that the new signings Basile Boli and Brian Laudrup would dig us out the hole we had found ourselves in. But it was not to be and a goal by Toni Savevski two minutes from half-time killed the tie stone dead and ensured we were out of Europe’s top competition before it had really got started – and back in those days there was no safety net of falling into the UEFA Cup!

Brian Laudrup: hero, legend – couldn’t save us from AEK Athens.

With work done, I head from my office to a boozer on Queen St for a pre-match pint, awaiting the arrival of my son. When he arrives we chew the fat over Saturday’s defeat, possible team selection and that I had witnessed some bloke get properly lamped by another bloke on Argyle St on my walk to the pub. I don’t want to advocate violence, but it was as deserved a second prize as I’ve seen anyone take – to the point there were a few cheers by the afternoon shoppers when he copped it.  

The team news comes out on the official club accounts and it looks better than the eleven selected on Saturday at Rugby Park – out goes Lundstram, Dowell and Sima, in comes Jack, Cantwell and Lammers. 

We are slightly late leaving the pub for the subway and as a result we miss the first goal. I actually believe at the time we have contrived to miss two early goals as there are two huge cheers – it’s only when I get to my seat that I realise the first huge cheer was for the penalty claim, the second cheer was for the actual goal.

Despite missing the goal I’m quite happy as the opening stages are encouraging, we look a far better outfit than the one that limped about Kilmarnock and when Rangers go 2-0 up on 15 minutes, thanks to a goal from Cyriel Dessers, all in the garden looks rosy.

We shouldn’t dismiss how good a goal it was either, with great contributions from Souttar and Borna creating the conditions that allowed for the Nigerian internationalist to score his first goal for the club. On a night of few positives, this is one of them.

“Nobody in here can know I’m looking at!”

We then pass up a great opportunity to go three up – and potentially kill of the tie – when Lammers misses a sitter that seemed easier to score. Not taking that chance proves crucial as within two minutes we’re subject to a VAR review for an alleged handball in the box by Dessers. The ref goes to the screen and we all know what is coming when that happens.

Those who know me best know I am not the greatest supporter of VAR, and one of my main criticisms of it is that it is supporters in the ground who are the only ones in the dark over what is happening. As the ref studied the screen, I look around me and see a sea of confused faces wondering what the review is in relation to and relying on texts and messages from mates watching the game at home to get the details. It feels really off to me that the only punters who are out the loop in these moments are the ones who got off their arses and paid top dollar to be at the game. And if that isn’t bad enough, Bedia scores from the spot and suddenly we’re in a game.

The second-half is more of the same huff and puff from Saturday and the crowd becomes restless and the groans and moans start to increase in volume. Even when Servette go down to ten Rangers can’t seem to create enough quality chances to extend their lead – although Mall in the Servette goal does produce several decent saves, and one very good one from a Lammers effort.  

Rangers fail to break their Swiss opponents down and the final whistle brings a sense of frustration that we couldn’t extend our lead. A tight scoreline means it’s all to play for next week in Geneva.

Paul Gascoigne: club legend despite a pish start!

The sense after the game is one of disappointment, and even some anger aimed at Beale and the new signings. But I was reminded of a previous Champions League qualifier I had attended 28 years previously to the day when Rangers beat Anorthosis Famagusta 1-0 at Ibrox – a game that saw Paul Gascoigne make his competitive debut for the club.

On the night Rangers were really poor, as was Gascoigne, and after the game there were the usual groans and moans. But we progressed to the group stages that season and Gascoigne went on to win us 8-in-a-row with a hatrick against Aberdeen in that famous game at Ibrox that secured the 95/96 title.

I guess what I’m saying is that discouraging signs early in campaigns aren’t necessarily a sign that the team isn’t going to perform well over the season or win trophies – the same goes for new signings, early struggles are often just that.

My son and I leave the stadium and head for a light refreshment at the Louden Tavern to allow the queue at the underground to recede. I bump into an old work colleague in the beer garden and we chat about old times. When I worked with him I was barely in my 30s and didn’t have any kids, now I’m standing here talking to him with my 18 year old son who is enjoying a pint. He too is an older, more domesticated version of himself with a wife, a kid and all that comes with that. It is a sharp reminder that time flies.

It’s been a disappointing night but nothing has been won or lost yet, and it’s all to play for next week in Geneva. And before that we have the opportunity to get three points against Livingston on Saturday at Ibrox and help get the new players bedded in further.

So lets keep the heid and get behind the team.

WATP!  

The secret diary of a Rangers supporter, aged 50 1/4 – 5th August, Kilmarnock (a)

New cast – same movie.

It’s finally here, the start of the football season. I say ‘finally’ but the reality is that the gap between one season and the next seems to get shorter and shorter every year. It feels odd to be a football fan and complain that there is too much football, but the older I get the more I feel the game has suffered from over-saturation in the Sky era, to the point that I actually quite enjoy the summer break when it comes – no matter how short it is.

My summer break this year was in Cornwall with the missus, daughter and dug. It was nice few days of walks, pasties, sightseeing, listening to Radio 2, watching Wimbledon and the occasional pint of Korev. I can’t say I really missed football or Rangers at any point during my break – and as the final whistled shrilled on Saturday at Rugby Park, it is easy to understand why!

It was largely felt that this would be a summer of change at Ibrox. A season of zero trophies last term necessitated that change had to come. For the likes of Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent it felt they had long outstayed their time at the club, for Allan McGregor, a club legend, it also felt like he had stayed a year or two too long. It was time for a change.

So it was a summer of out-with-the-old and in-with-the-new as club brought in a glut of new signings – including Dujon Sterling, Jack Butland, Leon Balogun, Sam Lammers, Kieran Dowell, Cyriel Dessers and Danilo – giving supporters hope that serious title challenge could be mounted this season.  Pre-season had not entirely gone to plan, but surely they would be ready come day one at Rugby Park?

My day started early as it always does on a Saturday morning. Up and out with the dug for a 5k walk, then home to some breakfast and a bit of Radcliffe and Maconie. It was then off to catch the noon train to Glasgow and specifically Shawlands to take in Pollok v Kirkintilloch Rob Roy. I arrive about 50 minutes prior to kick-off, which allows me the luxury of a pint and a read of the matchday programme in Loks Bar and Kitchen.

The plan is to take in as much of this game as possible, before leaving with approx. ten minutes to go to allow me to catch a train back home to meet my son and a mate to catch the Rangers game at 5:15pm. It feels like a perfect plan, but a hint is given at the Pollok game that this is not gonna be an enjoyable day of football.

When I leave after about 80 minutes Pollok are 3-1 up and seemingly home and hosed – so I leave happy in the belief that three points have been secured. However by time I get to Pollokshaws East station, a two minute walk from the ground, Twitter informs me that Rob Roy have made it 3-2 and are back in the game. Within two minutes of boarding my train for Glasgow Central it is 3-3, and that is how it finishes. Pollok have someone managed to grab a draw from the jaws of victory, not the result I was looking for and it gives me the fear for Rangers’ visit to Kilmarnock.

My journey back home is interrupted by World Cycling Championship’s in Glasgow. I can’t say I am a huge cycling fan, I mean aren’t they are all just ripped up junkies in ill-fitting lycra always looking for ways to out-cheat the other guy? I could be wrong in that assertion, but that I miss my intended train because of them does not endear me any further to their cause.

Pint and programme

Despite getting a later train than intended, I successfully hook up with my son and mate and we head to a local hostelry to take in the game. The nerves have really kicked in since the teams have been announced and we have all seen that John Lundstram is starting.

Lundstram performed heroically in Rangers’ run to the Europa League Final last year, but it is fair to say he has not reached anywhere near those levels for a considerable amount of time. For most fans he was viewed as part of the problem last season, that we have signed so many new players and we are still starting with him brings a heavy dose of unease, which will be justified by the end of the game. We can only hope that former manager Steven Gerrard comes in with a £40m bid to usher him away to the gold rush that is the Saudi Arabia Pro League – a move that even members of the Rangers LGBT+ community surely wouldn’t protest against!

The first half is a chore. Games at Killie usually are; plastic pitch, their defensive set up…etc, but it does feel that Rangers make these games more of a chore than they should be. After about 20 minutes there are uneasy glances between the three of us – this is starting to feel like a game we have seen many times before.

Ian Ferguson dons the gloves on the opening day defeat to St Mirren in 1989.

No goals at the break and the feeling is that was dire but that there must be a reaction in the second half, but unfortunately that is not the case. Instead we get the same slow tempo, side-to-side football that was served up in the first half – and for long periods of last season.

When the Rangers defence fall asleep at a throw-in that allows Brad Lyons to nip in and give Kilmarnock the lead it confirms the fears all three of us had been contemplating; this might be a new cast, but we were watching the same horror movie we had all seen so many times before.

The new cast huffed and puffed but rarely threatened to get an equaliser, let alone a winner, and the new season had delivered that old feeling of disappointment at the first time of asking. Day one and we are already chasing Celtic.

I have seen Rangers teams lose on the opening day before and then go on to win the title. Graeme Souness lost a couple, once at Easter Rd and another against St Mirren at Ibrox when Ian Ferguson ended up in goals due to an injury to Chris Woods, but the margins or error in those days were far greater than they are now and defeat on the opening day provides Michael Beale with an early headache as he tries to wrestle the title back from Celtic.

Champions League: To be or not to be?

Next up are the Swiss outfit Servette and the challenge of qualifying for the Champions League. As I write this I am hearing Rangers could face PSV Eindhoven in the play-off match if they progress, who we eliminated to reach the group stages last season.

Former Rangers midfielder Malik Tillman is on course to join PSV, which already has me fearing the scenario of him scoring a last minute winner for PSV securing Champions League riches for them and consigning us to Europa League poverty.

Yip, day one and the fear and loathing has started already.

Don’t you just love it?

WATP!

A journey from Brockburn Road to Paisley Road West: the story of a boy’s first visit to Ibrox.

Rangers v Morton at Ibrox

Around five miles in a south-westerly direction from Glasgow city centre, overlooking the Levern Water, sits Crookston Castle – the only surviving medieval castle in the city.

The current structure was built by Sir Alexander Stewart, who held Crookston from 1374 until 1406, and it a castle which has played its part in Scottish history.

For example, during a rebellion by the Earl of Lennox in 1489, James IV bombarded the castle with Mons Meg – the famous cannon which is now housed at Edinburgh Castle – causing substantial damage to the structure and a swift end to the rebellion. The castle was also the location where Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and Mary, Queen of Scots were betrothed.

In the 1750s it came into the possession of the Maxwells of Pollok, but fell into a state of disrepair until it was partially restored to commemorate the visit of Queen Victoria to the city in 1847. During the Second World War the north-east tower of the castle was used to spot enemy aircraft during the blitz.  It is an unassuming castle, and certainly not as grand as some other castles in Scotland, but it has certainly played it’s part in the history of Glasgow.

The castle has also played a big part in my personal history as, from 1973 until 1989, it looked down onto my bedroom in my nanas flat on Brockburn Rd – providing an ever-present and reassuring silhouette at nights during my visits back to the city of my birth.

It was under the protective gaze of the castle that I ventured from Brockburn Rd one Saturday in February 1982 to attend a game at Ibrox for the very first time – to witness a league game against Morton.

Crookston Castle

I am a Glaswegian by birth, and was born a mere half-decent goal-kick away from Ibrox Park in Govan’s then Southern General Hospital. I stayed initially in a tenement flat on Cathcart Rd with my parents.

However when my dad secured work in the highlands at Invergordon’s aluminium smelter later that year, we relocated to Easter Ross and specifically to a small estate in Alness by the name of Milnafua, which was custom-built to deal with the huge influx of workers coming up from Glasgow to take advantage of the economic opportunity the smelter provided.

Milnafua has been in the news recently for all the wrong reasons, and it’s fair to say it does not enjoy the best of reputations these days. However it was considered an estate of such stature back in those days that it was officially opened by HRH Queen Elizabeth in 1974, and it was great place to live then.

We lived in Milnafua for ten years, but every Easter, summer and Christmas would mean the trip back to Glasgow, and specifically Brockburn Rd in Pollok, to catch up with family. It felt like we were a family of two homes – actual and spiritual – and it was on one of the trips to the latter that I first took in my first game at Ibrox.

Queen Elizabeth officially opens Milnafua in 1974

By February 1982, however, the Highland adventure had turned sour, and in serious danger of ending after it was announced in the previous December that the smelter in Invergordon was to close.

This was problematic as both my parents worked there. The opening of the smelter had boosted the population of the area rapidly, and almost overnight.

Now with 900 jobs directly being lost with the closure, along with a further 600 indirect jobs, the local economy struggled to support the number of people now living in the area and the unemployment rate hit a staggering 25%.

Although the announcement was made in December ‘81, the smelter stayed open until the June of ‘82. So as we headed south to Glasgow that February my parents weren’t yet out of work – but there was a storm on the horizon and some difficult decisions would have to be made. But none of that was on the minds of my dad and I as we left Brockburn Road that afternoon to head to my first ever Rangers game.

If truth be known, Rangers were not yet totally at the forefront of my thoughts. I was very aware of Rangers and was a Rangers supporter, but the club and football in general took a backseat at this time compared to my love of all things Star Wars and music, particularly Adam & the Ants. Football and Rangers would come more to the fore after the summer of ’82 and the World Cup in Spain, but for now I was more interested in who was number one in the charts than whether it was Jim Stewart or Peter McCloy wearing the number one jersey for Rangers.

Glasgow bus in the early 1980s

My dad and I set off about 1pm, heading up Brockburn Rd past Crookston Castle Primary, over the Levern Water and towards Braidcraft Rd. From there we walked towards Corkerhill Rd to jump a bus to the stadium.

This was the time when the buses in Glasgow were green, white and yellow, which made for an element of discomfort for those of a Rangers persuasion. The tables were turned by the mid-80s though when the colour of the buses were dramatically changed to orange – proving that even the buses in Glasgow couldn’t escape the sectarian divisions of the city.

The bus journey didn’t take long, although we were now officially running late, and by the time it dropped us off at the point Paisley Rd West meets Edmiston Drive, the game had already kicked off. We scampered in a hurried fashion down Edmiston Drive towards the Copland Road stand and in we went.

Billy Connolly once remarked that the Queen thinks the world smells of paint, because everywhere she went some poor panic-stricken guy was five feet in front of her trying to apply the final coat of paint to some wall or other, and Ibrox felt like that on this day. The Copland Road stand had only been redeveloped in 1979 and it definitely had a new, shiny feel to it as I gazed around the concourse while my dad procured the pies and Bovril’s.

Then came the moment we all have as Rangers supporters, the moment you climb the stairs and look down onto the Ibrox pitch for the first time.      

Ibrox Stadium in the 80s

As I walked up the stairs from the concourse, Ibrox revealed itself in stages. Firstly just sky, then a glimpse of the roofs of the Broomloan and brand new Govan stand, then a sight of the colour coordinated seats, a first glimpse of the old main stand and then finally the pitch, the huge square goalposts and the players – who were already in action.

As I looked down I saw my first glimpse of action at Ibrox, and it was Colin Jackson – wearing the number five jersey on his back, grey hair making him look much older than his 36 years – who was striding forward confidently with the ball in what was ultimately his final season with the club. And that is all I can really remember about the game, that and that Rangers won 3-0.  

Research tells me that only 10,200 were in attendance that day and that, despite the scoreline, Rangers huffed and puffed to put the game to bed – despite going 1-0 up early doors thanks to a goal by John MacDonald – requiring two very late strikes by Gordon Dalziel and Billy McKay to secure the win. It also tells me Jim Bett, Bobby Russell and Sandy Jardine were the standout performers for Rangers on the day. But the truth is I have no memory of these finer details, and such was the rush to get into the stadium due to us being late I don’t even have a copy of the match programme from that day – which feels like I’ve committed an international war crime of some kind.

The programme from the game.

But I was there, and it started a lifelong love of Rangers and attending games that continues to this day.

After the final whistle my dad and I headed back to Brockburn Rd to my mum, aunties, uncles and my nana – and a Saturday night that would have probably encompassed watching Buck Rodgers in the 25^th Century and Game for a Laugh on the telly, with a decent amount of alcohol being consumed by the adults – it was a Saturday night in Glasgow after all!  

It would be one of the final journeys we made back to Glasgow from Alness. By March of the following year we had relocated to Cumbernauld as the search for new employment failed and the redundancy money ran out.

It was undoubtedly an unsettling time for a boy of my age; new school, new friends, new environment… But on the plus side my new location meant that trips to Glasgow and, more importantly, Ibrox, were about to become a little bit easier.

Rangers – Stewart, Jardine, Dawson, McAdam, Jackson, Bett, Cooper, Russell, Johnstone, Miller, MacDonald Subs – McKay, Dalziel

GOALS: MacDonald 17; Dalziel 80; McKay 83

Morton – Baines, Hayes, McLaughlin, Duffy, Holmes, Rooney, Busby, Docherty, Hutchison, Houston, Slaven Subs –  Ritchie, McNeil

Referee – J.J. Timmons (Kilwinning)

Attendance – 10,200

“I want you to do what you do best – make hits”: The story of Let’s Dance

David Bowie in the Carinda Hotel for the Let’s Dance video.

The date is 17 March, 1983.  The location, London’s 5-star Claridge’s Hotel.

Within one of its luxury suites, a gathering of the world’s music press has assembled to hear a major announcement from one of the world’s biggest stars of the past decade. When David Bowie enters the room he looks tanned, relaxed and has the demeanour of a man who had just spent his last pound on the winning lottery ticket.

Bowie had gathered the world’s musical press to announce his new album, Let’s Dance, as well as a supporting tour, the Serious Moonlight Tour. Now 36, Bowie was entering what would become a pivotal moment of his career. He looked like a man with a rejuvenated lust for life, and with good reason.

For starters, he had just signed a new deal with EMI America which was reportedly worth £17m. His deal with RCA had expired in 1982, much to both Bowie and RCA’s relief. In his last few years with the label Bowie had not felt entirely supported, particularly through the Berlin Trilogy years of Low, “Heroes” and Lodger.  “I didn’t like them because they didn’t like me” was his summarisation of RCA at the press conference.

David Bowie entertains the press at Claridge’s Hotel, 17 March, 1983.

To add to this, MainMan, the company set-up to look after Bowie’s affairs by former manager Tony DeFries, had been wound up the previous year in the high court, bringing an end to Bowie’s royalty obligations to a man he no longer trusted after the relationship turned sour in 1975 when Bowie discovered he did not solely own the publishing rights to his own songs. The new deal with EMI provided Bowie with much needed financial security after years of financial mismanagement and disagreement with DeFries.

In addition, Bowie was now also free from his ex-wife Angie after their divorce was finalised two years previously, with Bowie securing custody of their son, Duncan.

This meant when Bowie faced the press that day in a swanky suite in Claridge’s, he was literally at a crossroads in his life. Free from RCA, a record label he no longer felt supported by. Free from financial obligation to a former manager he had long since trusted. And free from a marriage that had been a strain on both parties for a significant period of time.

But Bowie was also free in another sense. He now felt free from the requirement to make a certain type of record. He was a man with a new sense of purpose that very much chimed with the direction of traffic in 1983. Bowie, the champion of the avant-garde, was now out for something that his most recent albums had largely failed to achieve: commercial success.

The dawn of the 80s had seen the arrival of new wave, the New Romantics and a spate of bands like Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet who were neither ashamed of obtaining wealth, nor of flouting it. Now Bowie wanted his piece of the action.

As a man approaching 40 with a chaotic history on the finances front, perhaps he sought security, particularly after winning custody of his son. Perhaps he felt he had to right the perceived wrongs with his deal with DeFries and MainMan, and recoup some of the losses he felt he’d sustained. Whatever the reason, Bowie was about to become ruthless in his pursuit of wealth.

The first part of attaining the commercial success he desired meant a change of line-up. Out went long-time producer Tony Visconti and in came Nile Rodgers to co-produce. When Bowie approached Rodgers he requested the Chic star do the same for him that he had done for every other act he had worked with. “What is that?”, enquired Rodgers. “You make hits”, replied Bowie.

Bowie with co-producer Nile Rodgers

Out also went guitarist Carlos Alomar, who was replaced with Stevie Ray Vaughan, a relatively little known blues guitarist from Texas whom Bowie had seen at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

The album was recorded in the Power Station studios in New York over 17 days in the December of 1982, and released on 14 April the following year to huge critical and commercial success. Much of that success was down to the lead single from the album, which was released a month before the album hit the shelves.

‘Let’s Dance’ was the first song recorded for the album and would become the fourth of Bowie’s five number one singles.  It captured everything that Bowie was looking to achieve with Let’s Dance, aiming for feet rather than heads. Charles Shaar Murray heaped praise on the single in the NME stating: “Let’s Dance’ is easily this year’s biggest single; every time it comes up it creates an instant impression of sheer scale. The sounds are huge, the emotions it contains gigantic. You should catch this beat, but be careful what you catch it with.”

Another key component for the success of the ‘Let’s Dance’ single was its video, which was filmed in Australia; a country that Bowie loved but was not afraid of criticising. Speaking on the treatment of the indigenous Aboriginal population, he stated: “As much as I love this country, it is probably one of the most racially intolerant in the world, well in line with South Africa.”

Terry Roberts and Jolene King in the Let’s Dance video.

If the lyrics on Let’s Dance – album and single – avoided political comment, the video for the single  ‘Let’s Dance’ took on the thorny issue of race, and in particular the treatment of Aboriginals in Australia, with Bowie hiring Terry Roberts and Jolene King – two Aboriginal performers – to star in the video.

The video was primarily shot in the New South Wales town of Carinda, with Bowie performing in the local hotel in the sweltering heat whilst the its patrons look on in a mild state of disgust. Roberts and King’s role depicted them as a young Aboriginal couple struggling to make a life for themselves in white Australia. Bowie’s own words on the video were blunt. It was, he said, “a direct statement about integration of one culture with another” Direct statement or not, the video was a huge success and became a staple on MTV, helping to increase the popularity of the single and making it one of the standout hits of 1983.

The famous Carinda Hotel – location for the Let’s Dance video.

‘China Girl’, an Iggy Pop cover, and ‘Modern Love’ were also released as singles, both making it to number two and giving Bowie his most consistent run of successful singles in the UK chart. But despite this commercial success, Let’s Dance marked the end of Bowie’s golden period. Never again would he replicate the levels he achieved between Hunky Dory in 1971 and Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) in 1980, where he released 11 albums of which six have legitimate claims to being genuine classics.

The avant-garde was gone, as were the various characters he adopted through the 70s. Bowie was now very much his own man, weird no more, and a serious businessman who was fully aware of his own worth and commercially available at the right price – as was proved with his horrendous Weird Science inspired Pepsi advert where he duetted with Tina Turner and sang a modified version of ‘Modern Love’.  

Let’s Dance is a long way off Bowie’s greatest album, but it remains the most commercially successful of his entire back catalogue – which was the aim when he asked Nile Rodgers to make him “a hit”. The goal of commercial success was achieved, but it brought about the end of Bowie’s golden period and the critical acclaim.

As someone who was keen to secure his financial future after the past money disputes with Tony DeFries, and musical differences with RCA, maybe Bowie felt it was time to embrace the wealth accumulating mood of the 80s and make an album that would provide him with financial security rather than appreciation from the critics.

Whatever the reason, on his death in 2016 Bowie’s estate was worth an estimated £230m. There were other shrewd business activities to come in the future that helped add to his bank balance, most notably his Bowie Bonds scheme in 1997, but the seeds to accumulating the level of wealth his estate matured at were undoubtedly planted with Let’s Dance.

Bowie’s Pepsi advert with Tina Turner.

Super Ally serves notice of intent: When Rangers won the 1984 League Cup final

The Rangers players celebrate their win over Celtic.

It is quite rare that a recently appointed manager is provided the opportunity to lift silverware in the first few months of their reign, but that is the prospect facing Michael Beale on 26 February when he faces Celtic in the Viaplay Cup Final.

Victory will provide silverware and the foundation to push for more titles, defeat will leave the club and supporters with further feelings of disappointment.

The situation is not too dissimilar to the one faced by Jock Wallace back on Sunday, 25 March, 1984 when he took Rangers to Hampden to face Celtic in the Skol Cup final. It would be a day that would secure Wallace his first trophy since returning to the club, and one that introduced the world to a certain Alastair Murdoch McCoist.

Wallace had returned to Rangers in the November of ’83 after they had suffered a catastrophic start to the 83/84 campaign. The season opened at Ibrox to St Mirren on 20 August where a 1-1 draw, thanks to a Robert Prytz penalty, was all Rangers could muster.

If that draw was disappointing then what followed was an outright disaster as Rangers lost their next three games against Celtic, Hearts and Aberdeen. The defeat against Celtic provided one memorable moment, however, with the aforementioned Ally McCoist, recently signed from Sunderland, scoring his first Old Firm goal after a mere 27 seconds.

Rangers recovered some form, but by October John Greig was under huge pressure and back-to-back defeats against Dundee at Dens Park and Motherwell at Ibrox forced the club to take decisive action. John Greig was sacked, with Tommy McLean put in temporary charge as they attempted to recruit firstly Alex Ferguson from Aberdeen, then Jim McLean from Dundee Utd. When both refused the advances of Rangers, the club looked to former manager Jock Wallace.

Wallace was appointed on 10 November at a point when Rangers were on a run of four straight defeats. His arrival couldn’t stop that run stretching to a fifth consecutive defeat as Rangers lost 3-0 at Pittodrie on 12 November.

Rangers ended the run of defeats with a 0-0 draw against Dundee Utd at Ibrox on 19 November. Wallace was re-introduced to a delirious Ibrox support prior to the game, whom welcomed home the man who had secured two trebles in his previous spell as manager as if he were some sort of footballing messiah.

Wallace also done his cause with supporters no harm by briefly reintroducing the traditional black and red socks (pictured above), an undoubted nod to a support that treasures tradition more than most. The draw was mildly disappointing on the day, but Rangers would embark on a run of form in the league which would not see them lose again until April against Celtic.

As impressive as that run was, it could not undo the damage the early season form had inflicted on the league campaign and Rangers would finish in fourth place behind winners Aberdeen, second placed Celtic and third placed Dundee Utd – winning only 15 of their 36 games.

The Scottish Cup campaign also came to anticlimactic end after a quarter-final 3-2 home defeat to Dundee a week prior to the League Cup final against Celtic. To make matters worse, Ian Redford was sent off in the closing stages meaning he would miss the final the following week.

Jock Wallace outside Hampden – battle fever on!

Rangers saved their best form for the League Cup and reached the final thanks to topping Group 2 with six wins out of six against Hearts, Clydebank and St Mirren, scoring 18 goals on the way without conceding. They then took Dundee Utd on the semi-final over two legs, drawing 1-1 at Tannadice and winning 2-0 at Ibrox – with the aforementioned Ian Redford scoring a brilliant 35 yard lob to make it 2-0 and seal a place in the final.

Despite this supreme form in the League Cup, Rangers entered the fray at Hampden on 25 March knowing that failure to win on the day would mean ending the season empty handed – the pressure was on. Not that Jock Wallace looked like a man under pressure prior to game, giving his infamous “battle fever” speech to a waiting TV crew.

The day would belong to one man – Ally McCoist. As previously stated he had already struck against Celtic earlier in the season, but this final would see 21 year old make history – not to mention taking home the match ball.

Rangers started the better of the two teams, and John MacDonald had an effort cleared off the line in after seven minutes as Rangers looked to grab the early initiative. The day may be remembered for McCoist hat-trick heroics, but Bobby Russell’s contribution on the day should not go unnoticed. He put in an excellent performance and it was he who was fouled for the 44^th minute penalty which would give Rangers the lead.

Cooper played a delightful ball to Russell in the box who took it past Murdo MacLeod, forcing him to bring the Rangers midfielder down. Referee Bob Valentine pointed to the spot and McCoist made no mistake from 12 yards to put Rangers one up.

All McCoist scores from the spot.

Just before the hour mark Rangers found themselves in dreamland when they went 2-0 up. Peter McCloy hit a huge kick upfield, Sandy Clark outmuscled Roy Aitken to head in the direction of the onrushing McCoist, who made it 2-0 and put Rangers firmly in the driving seat.

But Celtic struck back seven minutes later with a well worked free-kick which set up Brian McClair to halve the deficit and bring the Parkhead side back into the match.

Rangers held on and looked like they had done enough to win the cup until the dying seconds when McCoist was judged to have fouled Murdo MacLeod in the box, allowing Mark Reid to hammer home a last gasp equaliser from the spot and take the game into extra time.

Tiredness was now creeping into proceedings and that was certainly how it looked when Roy Aitken lazily slammed into the back of Ally McCoist in the 104^th minute, giving Bob Valentine the opportunity to point to the spot for the third time in the match. Ally McCoist stepped up to secure his name in the history books with an Old Firm final hat-trick, but watched in horror as Pat Bonner guessed correctly and saved his initial kick – but McCoist confirmed his place in history by scoring the rebound to ensure a Rangers victory with a 3-2 scoreline.

For McCoist it marked the beginning of an illustrious career at Ibrox which would see him score 355 goals, win ten league titles, one Scottish Cup and nine League Cups. He would also win two European Golden Boot awards in 91/92 and 92/93.

For Jock Wallace the win would not be the springboard to further success everyone had hoped for. He would lead Rangers back to Hampden for the final of the same competition sevenths months later where an Iain Ferguson goal would secure the trophy against Dundee Utd – a win that would turn out to be Wallace’s last honour with Rangers.

Despite a bright start to the 84/85 campaign, Rangers would again finish in fourth position, winning only 13 of their 36 games. Dundee would yet again end the Scottish Cup dream, with future Ranger John Brown scoring the winner on what was an infamously dreadful day for a Ally McCoist.  

The 85/86 campaign would prove to be even worse for Wallace. Hibs ended Rangers’ hold of the League Cup in October, Hearts brought the Scottish Cup campaign to an premature end at the third round stage in January and by April Rangers had already lost 12 league games and would eventually finish in 5^th place – the same amount of points away from bottom placed Clydebank as champions Celtic.

It was obvious that changes had to be made and the club acted on 6 April after a home defeat to Spurs in a challenge match, sacking Wallace and replacing him with Graeme Souness.

It was a sad end for Wallace, a man who had served the club so well in the past. However that victory against Celtic remains a significant one in the club’s history, not to mention in the career of a Ally McCoist. We can only hope for a similar result on Sunday.

Rangers – McCloy, Nicholl, Dawson, McClelland, Paterson, McPherson, Russell, McCoist, Clark, McDonald, Cooper. Subs – McAdam, Burns

GOALS: McCoist 44 (pen), 56, 104 (pen)

Celtic – Bonner, McGrain, Reid, Aitken, McAdam, McLeod, Provan, McStay, McGarvey, Burns, McClair, Subs – Sinclair, Melrose

GOALS: McClair 67; Reid 89   

Referee – Bob Valentine

Attendance – 66,369

Friends reunited: When Rangers welcomed Arsenal for a centenary celebration.

It is fair to say that Rangers found themselves in an odd situation ahead of the 1972-73 season, the season which would take the club into its centenary year.

On the plus side they were the holders of the European Cup Winners’ Cup, and it took pride of place in an already impressive trophy room.

But the ban from European football following the disturbances in Barcelona meant that Rangers would have no glamourous European ties to help celebrate their momentous 100th year.

Relieved of responsibility for matters on the field after handing the reigns to Jock Wallace, Willie Waddell set about ensuring the club would have a glamour game to commemorate the centenary celebrations, and on Wednesday 15 November 1972 the front page of the Rangers News screamed, “It’s Arsenal!”.

The Highbury side, who had famously won the League and FA Cup double in 1971, had accepted an invitation from Willie Waddell for a glamour friendly to help Rangers celebrate their big year, and nobody was more delighted than Waddell himself. “The links between Rangers and Arsenal go back for many, many years”, he said, “and naturally they were the first club we thought of when we came to discuss Centenary Year celebrations.”

Rangers and Arsenal had enjoyed an ongoing challenge match since as far back as the 1930s, which was mainly attributed to a strong friendship between Bill Struth and Arsenal’s legendary manager Herbert Chapman

The first of the regular games with Arsenal took place in 1933/34 when Rangers defeated Arsenal 2-0 at Ibrox, followed by a 3-1 victory at Highbury. The games continued annually up until 1938, the same year Willie Waddell announced his arrival as a player by scoring against the Gunners at Ibrox at the tender age of 17.

Highbury under the lights: Arsenal v Rangers, October 1951.

The onset of the Second World War meant a hiatus in the matches until 1951 when Rangers travelled to Highbury, losing narrowly by three goals to two under the lights – only the second time the floodlights had been used at Highbury. Arsenal dominated the first three games of the 50s and Rangers had to wait until 1956 for a win – a 2-0 victory at Ibrox. Regular matches continued through to the 1960s, however the game at Ibrox for the centenary celebrations was the first meeting between the two clubs in the 70s.

Although the regular games between the clubs started in the 30s, the links between Rangers and Arsenal actually date much further back to the early 1900s and to a Glaswegian by the name of George Morrell.

Morrell had previously been on the books at Ibrox and was the boss of Woolwich Arsenal, as the Gunners were then known, in 1908. He oversaw a difficult time financially for the North London club and his links with Rangers would prove to be more than useful.

His connection with Rangers led to the Ibrox hierarchy investing in two £1 shares in Woolwich Arsenal. The financial boost to the Londoners would prove crucial. Two decades later, when Rangers and Arsenal started their annual ‘Best of British’ games, the friendship between Struth and Chapman prompted Arsenal to gift Rangers a further 14 shares as a thank you for Rangers’ generosity.  The shares remained in Govan until Craig Whyte sold them for £230,000 in 2012 to the Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov, thus ending a link between the two clubs that stretched back over a century.

But such matters were a long time in the future on Monday 20 August 1973 when Arsenal arrived at Ibrox for the centenary match. Rangers reduced the price for entry to the game to 5p – representing the price to enter the gate at Ibrox in years gone by. As a result of the cheap entry price, the queues to enter the ground started forming at 4pm on the day of the game – three-and-a-half hours before kick off. The reduced entry price also meant that, rather bizarrely, the cost of the matchday programme was more expensive than gaining entry to the game!

The first cheer of the night was for ‘Slim’ Jim Baxter, who led out 200 former players onto the pitch including Ian McColl, Willie Woodburn, Bobby Shearer, Bob McPhail, Ralph Brand, Jimmy Millar and Eric Caldow. Eight tables were placed in the centre circle displaying every trophy the club had won in its 100 year history. The biggest cheer of the night was for Alex Newbigging who, at 97 years of age, was the oldest former player to turn out on the night. Newbigging had kept goal for the club in the early 1900s and was given a huge reception by the 71,000 strong crowd.

Rangers display their 100 year collection of silverware prior to the Centenary game against Arsenal at Ibrox on 20 August 1973

Rangers started the game with the same eleven which had lost 2-1 to Celtic at Ibrox two days previously in a League Cup game, when goals from Bobby Lennox and Harry Hood rendered Alistair Scott’s late consolation goal redundant. The game had been marred by a pitch invasion in the dying minutes when Celtic had gone 2-0 up, and Willie Waddell was far from impressed. “I’m bitterly disappointed at what happened at Ibrox on Saturday”, he told Rangers News.  “It had been a great Old Firm game, a marvellous spectacle, and then it is spoiled. There was absolutely no need for the scenes which followed Celtic’s second goal and the fans will have realise that”. 

With Saturday’s disappointment on and off the park out of the way, Rangers set about ensuring the centenary celebrations had a victory to celebrate, and in the early stages of the game it looked like Rangers were the more likely side to score. Despite their superiority, however, the two teams went in at the half-time goalless.   

The second-half kicked off with Rangers again looking stronger and they got their reward on 57 minutes when a Tommy McLean cross was hooked magnificently past Bob Wilson in the Arsenal goal by Derek Parlane. It was a sublime strike, but it would be Parlane’s last contribution to the match. He limped off injured ten minutes later and was replaced by Ally Scott. Rangers felt the loss of Parlane and without the ‘King of Ibrox Park’ leading the line, the tide slowly started to turn in Arsenal’s favour. Despite this, however, Rangers were still leading in the 88th minute and looking likely to see out the match.

Then disaster struck when Charlie George hit a speculative shot from 35 yards. Peter McCloy misjudged the flight and, rather than touching the ball over the bar, tried to catch it, letting it squirm out his hands and into the net. If that wasn’t bad enough, there was worse to come when John Radford scored a winner for Arsenal in the final seconds. He took advantage of a botched attempt to play him offside by John Greig and slotted past McCloy to give Arsenal a 2-1 victory when they had been seconds away from defeat.

Despite the disappointment, Jock Wallace was gracious in his comments after the game. “It gave us an idea of how the English play the game”, he said. “They let the ball do just about all the work and never do more than they have to. It was a good exercise for us – despite losing – and I would hope that the players can learn from playing in these types of matches.”

A Dutch of class: When Rangers and Ajax created the European Super Cup

Battle of the European Giants: John Greig and Johan Cruyff exchange pennants in Amsterdam.

Ibrox has witnessed many great European nights. Barcelona, Bayern Munich, PSG, Leeds United, Parma, Juventus, Porto, Feyenoord and more have all come to Ibrox and left with a sharp reminder that we are force to be reckoned with in competitive European competition.

It is therefore somewhat ironic that one of the most famous nights in the old stadium was actually a “challenge match” against the then European champions Ajax, which led to the European Super Cup becoming an annual game on the footballing calendar.  

The year was 1973 and Ajax were travelling to Ibrox as part of Rangers’ centenary celebrations. However the game was also part of a two-legged competition between the holders of the European Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup.  

The idea had been mooted a few days after Rangers’ European Cup Winners’ Cup victory when, on returning from Barcelona, Willie Waddell received a call from Ajax offering a “decider” game between the club’s to ascertain the true “Kings of Europe”.

The Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf was heavily involved in the decider concept and the paper devoted a full back page to the announcement of the games whilst donating a trophy for the winners: the European Super Cup.

The game was just the tonic for Waddell, who was looking for top class opposition to help in Rangers centenary celebrations and offset the lack of European football due to UEFA ban after the issues with supporters in Barcelona.

Ajax were the best club in Europe at the time with their legendary “Total Football” style, and nobody epitomised that style more than their talismanic and charismatic leader Johan Cruyff, who would be instrumental over the two legs.

It was Tuesday 16 January when the first leg took place at Ibrox, and the whole of Glasgow was buzzing in anticipation of the visit of the European champions. The plan was to make the make occasion of Ajax’s visit and the official centenary celebrations as glamourous as possible.

The pre-match entertainment started early in the ground with a performance by the City of Glasgow Police Band, with Pipe Major Angus McLellan leading a parade of boys from Govan High and Bellahouston Academy sporting the kits of all the 38 clubs Rangers had met in European competition. The teams then came out and were introduced to the Lord Provost of Glasgow, Mr William S. Gray.

This may have been a “challenge match” in one sense, but the glamour and honour associated with the centenary celebrations, plus the European Super Cup concept, meant that 58,000 supporters crammed into see Rangers take on the Dutch masters. They would not be disappointed.

Ajax took the lead on 34 minutes thanks to a goal by Johnny Rep, with Cruyff sending the ball through that allowed Rep to put the European champions 1-0 up. Rangers were up against it, and largely chased shadows for long periods of the first-half.  Incredibly, however, they found a way back into the game through Alex MacDonald on the 40th minute. Alfie Conn was the supplier who allowed “Wee Doddie” the opportunity to shoot low and hard past the Ajax keeper Heinz Stuy and in off the post.

But such was the mastery of this Ajax side parity was held for a mere four minutes before Cruyff struck the goal of the night – and one that would have graced any occasion.

Put through but heading wide of the goal, Cruyff was set to shoot with his right foot. Sensing the danger, Derek Johnston moved in to challenge him. In a moment of Cruyff mastery, he dragged the ball back away from Johnstone and onto his left-foot, then shot past the now exposed and helpless Peter McCloy.

The centenary celebrations continued during the break, with local schools again leading the way thanks to four girls from Hyndland Secondary carrying the European Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup around the stadium for the patrons of Ibrox to see.

Rangers made a change for the second-half, introducing Tommy McLean, which paid dividends as they enjoyed their best period in the match and dominated the European and world club champions.

Derek Johnstone, John Greig, Quinton Young and Derek Parlane all had great opportunities to score, but Ajax weathered the considerable Rangers storm and put the game to bed on 71 minutes when Arie Haan made it 3-1 after running onto a through ball from Barrie Hulshoff.

Despite the result, the home support stayed on after the final whistle to cheer their heroes and enjoy the firework display that had been arranged as part of the centenary celebrations.

Cruyff heaped praise on Rangers after the game stating: “Our first 45 minutes were the best we’ve played all season. We were well on top then, but in the second-half Rangers really came at us. They are a young side. When they get more international experiences they can really go places. I like the full-back Jardine. Greig is good, too. Forsyth impressed me and the substitute McLean is obviously a good player”.

The players and club officials then attended a reception at the Rangers Social Club in Edmiston House. Matt Taylor deputised as Chairman in the absence of John Lawrence, who was unfortunately in hospital. His first duty was to welcome the Dutch party and present Ajax’s President, Jaap Van Praag, with a piece of amethyst mounted on a plinth to commemorate Rangers’ centenary.

The prospect of the Super Cup becoming a permanent fixture was raised by Van Praag when he addressed the assembled parties. “Although this match between the winners of the European Cup and the winners of the European Cup Winners’ Cup is unofficial this season, we hope it will have official backing from now and become a yearly affair”, he said.

Willie Waddell thanked Ajax for attending and presented every Ajax player with an inscribed silver trophy, a bottle of whisky and a Rangers pennant. Cruyff was famously pictured with his gift in the following week’s edition of the Rangers News telling its readers: “I know for a fact that the Rangers fans are among the very best in the world. There is no disputing that.”

The second-leg would be held in Amsterdam’s Olympic Stadium, rather than Ajax’s De Meer stadium which was not deemed big enough for such an esteemed fixture. Within three minutes of kick off Rangers took the lead through Alex Macdonald. Dave Smith sent a cross into the box, and Derek Parlane caused enough confusion to allow Doddie to score.

The early goal shocked Ajax into action and McCloy twice denied Cruyff’s efforts. However the Amsterdammers would not have to wait much longer for their goal which came from Arie Haan, who had also scored in the first leg. Becoming frustrated at the lack of service, Cruyff dropped to a deeper position to collect the ball and had fashioned the chance that allowed Haan to score.

Ajax now had their tails up and McCloy was called into action again when he denied both Keizer and Blankenburg. But Rangers fought back again and after Parlane had missed a good opportunity to score, Quinton Young gave Rangers the lead on the night after he headed in a Tommy McLean free-kick.

Rangers were in control of the match until an incredible penalty decision allowed the Dutch side back into the game. Johan Neeskens made the most of a tackle from Tom Forsyth, the referee ignored the offside flag which would have rendered the spot kick award redundant, and Gerrie Mȕhren converted the kick to make it 2-2.

The penalty was a cruel blow for Rangers leaving them with a mountain to climb. Cruyff, who had shown so often over the two games that he was the world’s best player, sealed victory for Ajax with a vicious shot past McCloy, making the final score 3-2 on the night and 6-3 on aggregate.

At the end of the game, Rangers players congregated in the centre-circle to take a traditional continental ‘bow’ in front of the huge support who gave the visitors an extended round of applause.  The reward for Ajax’s success over the two legs was the “Europa Cup” – or Super Cup as it would become known. The trophy itself was a monster, weighing in at four stone, and the Ajax players struggled to carry it for the traditional lap of honour, whilst bizarrely sporting what can only be described as dressing gowns.

Overall the games were seen as a success. Top Dutch journalist Anton Witkamp referred to the two-legged tie as the ‘final of all finals’. His De Telegraaf colleague Jan de Deugd was similarly impressed with the Super Cup experiment and suggested that Uefa should recognise the tournament on an official basis stating, “My paper is delighted with the success of this venture and, naturally, we hope it will become an annual affair. The two games were very good and everybody who saw them and played in them enjoyed the matches.”

Despite losing on the night, Rangers came out the game with praise ringing in their ears. Jim Blair wrote in the Evening Times that ‘Rangers rose to the occasion and gave Ajax the fright of their lives. They were unlucky to lose, a draw would have been a more just result. This display was typical of the form Rangers showed when clearing the way for their European Cup Winners’ Cup victory in Barcelona’.

Such was the success of these games that UEFA officially sanctioned the new European Super Cup the following year where Ajax returned to beat Milan 6-1 on aggregate. The competition would take place every year from thereon-in and is still going strong today, meaning Rangers’ centenary celebrations played a significant part in the formation of an official UEFA competition.

Not many clubs can make a claim like that.

The Prodigal Son returns: The day Maurice Johnston returned to Celtic wearing Royal Blue.

Welcome to the Jungle: Maurice Johnston returns to Celtic Park in a Rangers jersey. 26 August, 1989.

Nineteen eighty nine was a momentous year for many reasons. It was the year that the Berlin Wall finally came down, the year that some bloke stood in front of a tank in Tiananmen Square in a pro-democracy protest and the year that Michael Keaton donned the Caped Crusader’s rubber suit in Tim Burton’s Batman, and Indiana Jones brought his da along for his alleged ‘Last Crusade’.

On a personal note, it was also the year I left school (at the first time of asking) and took on full-time employment in the form of an ultimately ill-fated retail management training course with a major supermarket.

I left school in the May knowing I had a job to go to in the August, which meant that 1989 would become my summer of ’69 – a summer where I had nothing to worry about other than enjoying all that summer would bring. A kind of working class gap year, so to speak.

For the most part that meant kicking about the streets with my mates, lying in the sun in a variety of back gardens listening to INXS’s ‘Kick’ or Guns and Roses’ ‘Appetite for Destruction’, or frequenting one of the few pubs where you had a chance of getting served a pint with very little questions. It was a very ‘coming of age’ summer.

A few weeks before I left school, on 29 April, I stood in the west enclosure at Ibrox as Rangers earned a 4-0 win against Hearts to secure the club’s 39^th league title. Two goals each from Mel Sterland and Kevin Drinkell had ensured that Rangers wrestled back the title from Celtic, adding to the League Cup secured in October (which I was also at) and setting up the possibility of club’s first treble since 1978.  

However, three weeks later I was stood in the 72,069 Hampden crowd (my highest attendance) as Rangers failed in that treble attempt, thanks to a Joe Miller goal which should never had stood. The treble was gone – for now.

It was crushing to lose out on a treble to Celtic, especially when you consider we had thumped them 5-1 and 4-1 at Ibrox that season, not to mention securing our first win at Celtic Park since 1980 when goals from Kevin Drinkell and Ian Ferguson earned a 2-1 win.

But Celtic had received a huge boost in the build up to the cup final with the return of their Prodigal Son, Maurice Johnston. Johnston was a boyhood Celtic supporter and his arrival had rejuvenated Celtic and their supporters after a poor campaign which had seen them finish ten points behind Rangers in third place.

Johnston had left Celtic in 1987 under something of a cloud to join French club Nantes. The move elevated Johnston to a new level of performance as he played some of the best football of his career. His apparent return had given Celtic a new sense of belief which was palpable on that sunny day at Hampden, and arguably helped Celtic over the line.

In his previous stay in Glasgow Mojo had a bit of a reputation. A serial pumper of women, a man who liked a drink and a man you could turn to if you were in need of a cheap tracksuit. Rumour and legend followed him everywhere, and it was even suggested that the reason he was the only Celtic player to wear long sleeves was to hide the many needle marks on his arms.

However France had appeared to mature him. He was in a settled relationship, had become a dad again and it was undeniable that Celtic were getting an improved version of the player and man that had left them two years previously.

So when Johnston dramatically decided to veto his move to Celtic and controversially sign for Rangers, becoming the club’s first Catholic player in decades, then historical moments in the year like the tearing down of the Berlin Wall suddenly felt as newsworthy as an item on John Craven’s “and finally…” section on Newsround. Fuck the Berlin Wall coming down – Rangers had signed the most uber tim imaginable!  It represented an incredible act of one-upmanship by Souness and Rangers, and it added more fuel to the already raging fire which was the Old Firm rivalry.  

While Johnston may have divided the Rangers support by putting pen to paper, he united the Celtic support in outright hatred. How could their hero have betrayed them like this? For the days and weeks after his signing it really did feel like we were all living on some weird parallel universe, but as the dust slowly settled on the announcement of Johnston’s dramatic move to Ibrox, all eyes started to focus on Saturday, 26^th August – the day of the first Old Firm game of the season at Celtic Park.

Johnston had waxed lyrical about how he was looking forward to the playing in Old Firm games again when he was ‘unveiled’ at Celtic Park, now his opportunity would come – but he would be in a Rangers jersey.

Coincidently the summer of ’89 was also the year I procured my first season ticket, in the Govan front, and I was traveling to games on the Camelon Rangers Supporters Club which left from the Mariner Bar in the town’s main street.

It was exciting to finally be a season ticket holder, but Johnston’s arrival appeared to instigate a level of indifferent form as Rangers lost their opening two games of the season at home to St Mirren and at Easter Rd against Hibs. So as the big date with Celtic loomed, the pressure was building on Souness, Rangers and Johnston who had yet to score a competitive goal for his new club.

As was the norm for these games, demand outstripped supply when it came to tickets, and so a ballot was arranged on my supporters bus. Given the intensity and historic relevance of this particular game there were more people looking for tickets than usual. I made my way to the Mariner Bar around lunchtime on the day of the game and was allocated my number in ballot – number 26.

Those who were in the ballot moved from the bar to the lounge. A pile of ground tickets were placed on the table and numbers started to be drawn out of the hat. When a number came out, the lucky patron handed over their cash, picked up their ticket and gleefully made their way back to the bar safe in the knowledge they were going to the game.

For the majority of this process I sat glumly as the room gradually became emptier and emptier. When there were only three tickets left I had given up.L, then suddenly the boy shouted “number 26!” and I was in. “Yes!” I roared and handed over my hard earned and picked up my brief. The east end of Glasgow was going to produce a moment of footballing history at 3pm today, and I would be there.

Welcome Home: a Celtic fan lets their feelings known on the subject of Maurice Johnston joining Rangers.

With the ballot complete and beers sank, the bus left for the game with the sense of anticipation at boiling point as it made its way along the M73 and M8. Every few minutes we would pass a Celtic bus and the gestures and abuse would start. There was no doubt about it, this was going to be a big day in the long running story of Rangers and Celtic.

As I took my spot in the east terracing the atmosphere was already at fever pitch. Then, in what felt a manufactured move, Rangers sent out Maurice Johnston as the first player to warm up. He ran down the tunnel to a crescendo of abuse from the Celtic support, ran towards the Rangers support housed behind the goal, kicked a ball into the empty net and applauded a support which had once despised him – his back turned on those who once adored him.

That set the tone. The fuse that was lit on 10 July when Rangers announced Johnston’s signing was about go off, and as the teams came onto the park the noise level was everything you would expect from a 53,000 crowd attending the next chapter of Glasgow’s religiously charged footballing struggle.  

It only took five minutes for Rangers to score their first goal of the match and season, having drawn blanks in their two previous league games. A Trevor Steven corner found Terry Butcher with a surprising amount of space to hammer home a header in Pat Bonner’s top right-hand corner. Maybe the fear of Maurice Johnston being in the penalty box had diverted the Celtic defenders’ attention away from Butcher. Whatever the reason for the freedom he was allowed, Rangers were up and running.

Celtic then had a great chance to equalise when Tommy Burns sent through Dariusz “Jacki” Dziekanowski, the man Celtic had turned to when Johnston had snubbed them.  Dziekanowski took the ball around the Rangers stand-in keeper Boni Ginzburg, covering for the injured Chris Woods, only to be fouled by the Israeli on the edge of the box. Ginzburg saw yellow in the days before the ‘denying a scoring opportunity’ rule, Celtic Park fumed at not being awarded a penalty and Celtic wasted the resulting free kick.  

Dziekanowski would not be denied, however, and on the 20 minute mark he equalised. John Hewitt sent in a vicious corner which was headed off the post by Tommy Coyne, only to be tapped in by the Polish striker.

The game from then on was probably suffocated by the sheer amount of pressure surrounding it, although Maurice Johnston should have scored with two excellent chances after being put through on Bonner. It was maybe a blessing in disguise that he didn’t score given the cauldron of hate surrounding the game. Johnston would have other opportunities to twist the knife further in future games that he would not pass up.

As the final whistle blew there was a sense of relief that, in one of the most important Old Firm fixtures in living memory, nobody had lost face. Celtic had not lost the game and Johnston had failed to make much of an impression, and Rangers had finally got off the mark and secured the first of their 51 points tally – a tally which would be enough to clinch a second successive title come May. Celtic would finish 17 points adrift in fifth place, adding weight to the argument that Johnston chose wisely.

It had been a hectic and historic day, and as the crowd dispersed I made my way up the stairs towards the exits when I noticed two girls behind the counter at the pie stall clearing up for the day.

“Super Mo!” I shouted at them, holding my fist in the air and sporting a huge grin.

“Fuck you, ya Orange bastard!”, one of them roared, before quickly pulling the shutters down.

An appropriate ending to an historic day.

Celtic: Bonner, Morris, Burns, Aitken, Whyte, Grant, Galloway, McStay, Dziekanowski, Coyne, Hewitt. Subs: Rogan, Walker

Goals: Dziekanowski (20)

Rangers: Ginzburg, Stevens, Munro, Gough, Wilkins, Butcher, Steven, Ferguson, Drinkell, Johnston, Brown. Subs: McCoist, Walters

Goals: Butcher (5)

Att: 53,000  

Do you remember the first time?: The story of an Old Firm debut and an eight goal thriller at Ibrox

Dave MacPherson challenges Pat Bonner. Ibrox Stadium, 22 March 1986

It is often said that the first time is the most memorable, and in my experience it is hard to disagree with that logic. For example, it was recently the 40^th anniversary Kings of the Wild Frontier, the second and most successful album by Adam and the Ants – which coincidently was the first album I bought.

I was only eight when the album was at its pomp in 1981, but I was so besotted with them I felt compelled to use my own pocket money to buy it. Every album bought and gig attended since can be traced to that purchase, and I often remind myself of that whenever I stick it on. It is not my favourite album of all time, but it certainly the most important and most memorable.

The first game of football I attended was a Ross County game around 1979. At that stage of my life I was living in the Highlands in the Easter Ross town of Alness. We had moved there from Glasgow in 1973 when my dad secured work in the aluminium smelter in Invergordon.

It was whilst awaiting a train at Dingwall station that the roars and cheers from Ross County’s adjacent Victoria Park pricked the ears of my dad. Despite my protests, he took me over the bridge and into the then Highland League ground. I can’t remember the opposition or score, but I can vividly recall the strong smell of alcohol and nicotine that emanated from the corrugated iron covered terracing behind the goal.

My first Rangers game came against Morton around 1981 on one of our many trips back to Glasgow to visit family. When we moved to Cumbernauld in 1983 my then burgeoning interest in Rangers took a further leap and my dad, who was by now unemployed, took me to games when he could on the supporters bus that left from the Twa Corbies pub in Carbrain.

After I had been to a few games at Ibrox my ambition focussed on bagging my first Old Firm game. It took a few years, but the day finally came on 22 March, 1986 – a day which provided an incredible scoreline: Rangers 4 Celtic 4.

At the time Rangers were in the midst of one their worst seasons in living memory. On the day of the game they had already lost eleven games, and would go on to lose another three before the end of the season meaning they lost more games than they won in 85/86 and would finish a very lowly fifth – beating Dundee to the last UEFA Cup spot by solitary goal.

Celtic were not having the best of times either, trailing Hearts in the title race. But they would rally and sneak a title win in one of the most dramatic last day’s before helicopters entered the equation and completely changed the dynamic of dramatic last day’s.

By 1986 my family had moved to Falkirk after my dad had secured permanent work again in the iron works factory at Carron. He procured tickets for my Old Firm debut through a contact at the Grangemouth Rangers Supporters Club, at that point the biggest Rangers supporters club in Scotland, and I was in!

The first thing it should be said about the game was the weather, which was horrific. It literally poured from the heavens all day, making the pitch a quagmire of such proportions that the players would probably have been grateful for an artificial pitch as pathetic as Livingston’s instead of the Ibrox mud bath they were presented with!

The second thing is this was one of the final “traditional” Old Firm games. Within a few weeks Graeme Souness would arrive at Ibrox to launch his revolution on Rangers and Scottish football which would slowly introduce a more global feel to these occasions. In our recent victory at Celtic Park we started with two Scots in the starting eleven – Celtic fared slightly better with three.  On this day only Pierce O’Leary stood as the solitary non-Scot. So it was an old money derby – exclusively Protestant Rangers versus predominantly Catholic Celtic.  

The game started in typically ferocious fashion, with neither side really taking control of proceedings. So it felt like Rangers were hard done by when Maurice Johnston opened the scoring on 21 minutes, reacting well to a mishit shot by Murdo MacLeod and cooly passing it past Nicky Walker into the bottom corner. When Celtic went 2-0 up through Brian McClair eight minutes later it felt like it could be a long day for Jock Wallace, unknowingly taking part in his final Old Firm game, and his players.

Albert Einstein is widely credited with saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result. And such an act of insanity provided Rangers with route back into the game. Willie McStay received a warning early in the game from referee Davie Syme for a bad foul on Ted McMinn. A few minutes later he received a booking for a foul on the same player. He saw red on the 33rd minute when he crocked McMinn yet again, seemingly incapable of taking heed of Einstein’s advice. All of a sudden Celtic’s position of strength had been slightly chipped away at. Cammy Fraser took a shovel to that position a minute later when he headed in an Ally McCoist cross to make it 2-1. It stayed like that until half-time, setting up a fascinating second-half.

Three minutes into that second-half it looked as though Tommy Burns had put enough distance between the sides to secure the three points when he was put through by Johnston and slotted home to make it 3-1. But if supporters felt they had been treated to everything this game would offer, they were very much mistaken as Rangers went about turning the game completely on its head in a frantic 15 minute spell.

First, Ally McCoist scored a screamer from 20 yards after latching on to Nicky Walker lump up the park and firing low and hard past Pat Bonner. The less said about his celebration the better! Then Robert Fleck equalised on 59 minutes when his shot was deflected in to set up a very interesting last half-hour.

Rangers only had to wait a further four minutes before they took the lead thanks to Cammy Fraser again. Davie Cooper, who had replaced Ted McMinn, swung in one of his trademark corners. Bonner came to clear but his punch was weak and landed at that head of Dave McKinnon, who headed it high and towards goal where Fraser jumped on the line to head it in and make sure.

The scenes where I was sat in the Copland Rd front, just to side of the goal Fraser had scored in, where a joy to behold. The old boy in the row behind – who I didn’t know – lifted me up in celebration, and he, my dad and me scoffed at the punter next to us who had upped and left when Burns made it 3-1 to Celtic. I’ve always wondered what his reaction was when he heard it was now 4-3 to Rangers. Given the numerical advantage, it felt like I would secure a victory in my first experience of Glasgow’s age old rivalry – and a seven goal thriller victory at that.

But just when Rangers felt they were in a strong position and closing in on victory, Celtic sucker-punched them with a screamer of a goal from Murdo MacLeod making it all level again at 4-4.

The remaining 20 minutes could not separate the teams and as the final whistle blew there was an unusual feeling of both sets of supporters going home happy with their lot. Even Celtic manager Davie Hay felt content enough to praise the performance of referee Davie Syme – adding to the feeling we had witnessed something more akin to an event in history than a mere game of football.  

It was the first time since 1957 that there had been a 4-4 draw in the Old Firm derby, and the drama didn’t end there. Archie MacPherson later claimed that after the game Jock Wallace belted out a rendition of the Sash in the boardroom in the presence of the Celtic directors, much to the embarrassment of Rangers chairman David Holmes. The incident allegedly led to Holmes phoning club owner Lawrence Marlborough demanding he be given the authority to make the changes at the club he felt were necessary to bring back success.

Fifteen days later Rangers were dismal in friendly match at Ibrox against Spurs and within 48 hours, on 8 April, Rangers announced that Jock Wallace had been removed from his position and replaced by Graeme Souness.

The appointment of Souness would herald a revolution, a new era of success and a new cosmopolitan age where one of Celtic goal-scorers on 22 March 1986 would one day soon feel comfortable enough to cross Glasgow’s great divide.

But that is a story for another day.  

Rangers: Walker, Burns (D Ferguson), Munro, McPherson, McKinnon, Durrant, McMinn (Cooper), Russell, Fleck, Fraser, McCoist.

Goals: Fraser 34, McCoist 52, Fleck 59, Fraser 63.

Celtic: Bonner, W. McStay, Whyte, Aitken, O’Leary, MacLeod, P. McStay (McInally), Burns, Archdeacon (Grant 46), McClair, Johnston.

Goals: Johnston 21, McClair 29, Burns 47, McLeod 70. Sent Off:- W McStay 33.

Att: 41,006

Bringing us sunshine in the wintertime: How Morecambe & Wise became the Kings of Christmas

Eric & Ernie in typical Christmas mode

It is Christmas time again and, as is the norm at this time of year, there will be many a yuletide tradition being re-enacted: exchanging of gifts, the eating of turkey with all the trimmings and much consumption of alcohol.

For me, however, Christmas has always represented one thing in particular: Morecambe and Wise.

Nineteen seventy four aside, the classic comedy act made Christmas their own through their annual Christmas specials from 1969 to 1980; and their yuletide show reached a peak in 1977 when it attracted 28 million viewers, cementing them as the biggest act in the country at that time.

The road to this level of success was not an easy one, however, and it was one which had more than its fair share of highs and lows along the way.

The journey to dominating Christmas in the 70s for John Eric Bartholomew and Ernest Wiseman began in 1940 when the then teenagers were booked separately to appear at the Nottingham Empire Theatre. At the suggestion of Eric’s mother, the two became one and were initially named Bartholomew and Wiseman.

Unsurprisingly, this name was short lived.  When Ernie shortened his name to Wise, and Eric changed his to that of his hometown – Morecambe and Wise were born.

They performed as a double-act for the first time at the Liverpool Empire in 1941. In the audience that night was a man who would feature heavily in their future, the comedy writer Eddie Braben – and he wasn’t impressed.

“I saw them at the Liverpool Empire”, he said. “It was a packed, enormous Liverpool Empire theatre and they had all gone to see the top of the bill, Lena Hall. Before we got to Lena Hall, these two boys came on the stage and nobody knew them or heard of them, and they were painful. They were awful.”

This inauspicious start did not deter Morecambe and Wise, and they continued to tour the country playing in the clubs and theatres of the then vibrant variety circuit. They even played the infamous Glasgow Empire, a theatre which Ken Dodd had nicknamed the ‘House of Terror’.

The theatre had a fearsome reputation amongst artists due to the audience’s knack of giving acts – particularly English comedy acts – a hard time if they were struggling on stage. One victim was Des O’Connor, who famously fainted mid-routine at the Glasgow Empire due to the hostile nature of the audience. On their first outing there Eric and Ernie walked off stage to a deafening silence. “They’re beginning to like you,” the stage manager growled at them.

Such baptisms of fire were intimidating, however they helped Eric and Ernie in learning their trade and honing their act. After a bit of radio work for the BBC helped build their reputation further, the pair were offered their first TV series in 1954 – the infamous Running Wild.

Running Wild would prove to be disastrous for Morecambe and Wise. The reviews were so stinging that both Eric and Ernie suggested to Ronnie Waldman, the head of light entertainment for the BBC, to cancel the show after only three episodes. However Waldman was steadfast in his commitment and belief in the pair, and insisted that they continue and see out the whole six episodes. Despite this vote of confidence from Waldman, the final three shows failed to improve the image of Running Wild and it was cancelled after one series.

The damage to Morecambe and Wise’s reputation was viewed as potentially fatal in terms of their TV careers, and one particular review by Kenneth Bailey in The People – where he described TV as ‘the box they buried Morecambe and Wise in’ – was so hurtful that Eric Morecambe carried a cutting of it in his wallet until the day he died. With their reputation battered and pride bruised, the pair returned to variety circuit and would not return to television for another seven years.

The experience hurt them, but it also helped them solidify their act. Slowly they recovered from the damage inflicted by Running Wild and started to make guest slots on TV again.

By 1961 they had repaired their reputation to such an extent that Lew Grade felt confident enough to offer the duo another crack at a TV series, this time at ATV with the show Two of a Kind. Unlike Running Wild, Two of a Kind would prove to be a success for the pair, one which was helped by the writing of Sid Green and Dick Hills.

The series ran between 1961 and 1968 and was a huge success, although one that relied upon a twist of fate accidentally introducing a new format to the show.

A strike by the actors union Equity meant that Morecambe and Wise had no actors to appear in the comedy sketches of Two of a Kind. As members of the Variety Artists’ Federation Union, Eric and Ernie were free to work – as were their writers Green and Hills. The decision was made to include the writers in the show and the format was a huge success, cementing the show’s popularity. But just as they seemed to finally be on the crest of a wave, the floor caved in to such an extent there was a doubt the pair would ever perform again.

In a diary entry from 17 August 1967, Eric Morecambe complained of a pain around the “left side of his heart”. As a heavy smoker and drinker, he did not enjoy the best of health. This came to a head on the night of 8 November 1968 after a performance at the Variety Club in Bately.

Whilst driving home, Morecambe started to experience chest pains that became so severe he was unable to drive any further. He lay stricken in his car until a passer-by – a young, local lad by the name of Walter Butterworth – found him and drove him at high speed in Morecambe’s Jensen Interceptor car to Leeds Infirmary, where it was established the performer had suffered a major heart-attack at the tender age of 42. He would not perform again for six months.

The doubts about Morecambe’s health prompted Sid Green and Dick Hills to split from Morecambe and Wise – a move that left a sour taste in the mouth of Eric Morecambe, mostly due to the fact that Green and Hills didn’t inform Morecambe or Ernie Wise in person of their intention to leave. The departure further complicated matters as Morecambe and Wise had left ATV earlier in the year to join the BBC, with the first series of the now titled Morecambe and Wise Show having just finished a month before Morecambe’s near-fatal heart attack.

With one half of the act recuperating from a serious health condition, and with no writers to speak of, there were serious doubts about their future.

Whilst Morecambe recovered, Wise kept working the club’s and theatre’s and sent half of the royalties he received to his partner and friend. Meanwhile Bill Cotton, who was head of light entertainment at the BBC, dealt with the writing issue by hiring the Liverpudlian Eddie Braben.

Braben, who had recently stopped writing for fellow Scouser Ken Dodd, was seen by Cotton as the ideal man to rejuvenate Morecambe & Wise.  It would prove to be an inspired choice.

Morecambe recovered and returned to record the next series of The Morecambe and Wise Show in May 1969, and they returned to our screens on 27 July of the same year when the first episode of the second BBC series was broadcast to the nation.  Yet again Morecambe and Wise had come back from the dead – this time almost literally – and they were about to embark on the glory years of their careers.

Braben would be a vital factor in that success. On first meeting the pair he observed that Eric and Ernie were closer than any brothers he had ever met, and felt that was an opportunity to be exploited. “I was there with these two men in Bill Cotton’s office”, said Braben, “and I saw what was missing; it was warmth. What was missing was the genuine and honest affection that they had for one another, but we never saw this on television. I wanted to bring that out.”

And bring it out he did, with hugely successful results. Braben also altered Wise’s “straight man” routine, making him the pompous writer with his “plays what he wrote”. The show’s guest-stars, who were becoming more glamourous with each passing series, would be duped to appear in Wise’s cringeworthy productions.

Ernie Wise, Eddie Braben and Eric Morecambe.

From 1968 to 1978, Morecambe and Wise were the biggest name in showbusiness as they soared from one success to another.

High profile guests and awards came raining down on them. The many years the pair had put in on the variety circuit were now paying off, with an act that was perfected through attention to detail, endless rehearsing and an unshakeable confidence in each other. However the success came at a price.

Firstly Eddie Braben suffered a mental breakdown. The endless travelling from Liverpool to London, coupled with the constant tinkering and requested rewrites of scripts (from Morecambe in particular) became too much and he succumbed in 1972 – ironically the same year he was awarded with a Bafta for his outstanding contribution to television.

Then, in 1979, Eric Morecambe suffered another heart attack that would require heart bypass surgery. The success of The Morecambe and Wise Show was taking its toll, and Braben complained that the pressure around the Christmas shows in particular was unfair and unrealistic. With more than half the country watching, Braben felt that Christmas in Britain was almost dependent on the success of Morecambe and Wise’s Christmas special.

But despite the pressures, the show rumbled on and huge names like Glenda Jackson, Elton John, John Thaw, Edward Woodward, Peter Cushing, Dusty Springfield, Vanesa Redgrave, Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey queued up to appear on the hottest show on television.

In 1976 the newsreader Angela Rippon appeared on the Christmas special, revealing her shapely legs for the first time in doing so, not to mention displaying an impressive ability to dance.

After the success of Rippon’s appearance,  a host of current affairs correspondents like Richard Baker, Frank Bough, Barry Norman and Michael Aspel appear on the Christmas special the following year to perform ‘Nothing Like a Dame’ from the musical South Pacific.  Like Rippon’s appearance the previous year, the sketch was a huge success.

However there is little doubt that the Morecambe and Wise sketch most people remember is the infamous Andre Previn sketch from 1971, where Morecambe’s attempts to play Grieg’s Piano Concerto resulted in arguably the best line Eddie Braben has ever written. When an increasingly frustrated Previn informs Eric that he is playing “all the wrong notes”, an insulted Morecambe tells the famous conductor and composer that he is  “playing all the right notes – but not necessarily in the right order”.

In 1978, a mere 12 months after the Christmas show had attracted its record breaking 28 million viewers, Morecambe and Wise stunned the showbiz world when they left the BBC and returned to ITV with Thames Television. Bill Cotton described their move away from the BBC as “feeling like a divorce”.

Contractual obligations with the BBC meant that Braben would not join the pair at Thames until 1980, but even when Braben did finally arrive the shine was starting to wear off the show, and Morecambe’s second heart attack in 1979 had again put question marks over his ability to perform.

By the 80s there was a feeling that Morecambe and Wise were on the slide, and Morecambe’s son Gary recalls watching the final Christmas special Morecambe and Wise ever made in 1983.

“We watched it together, as usual,” he said, “but my father’s mood was far less buoyant. Now made by Thames TV rather than the BBC, the programme looked tired. Whenever a Thames show transmitted he’d look to us for reassurance. ‘It was good, though, don’t you think?’ he’d often ask.

“It was a difficult question to answer. With a lack of decent new material, Eric and Ernie had resorted to rehashing old routines. They looked older, and there was a spark missing. That day, my father was slightly defensive about the show, which was very weak by their own high standards, and I found it very sad.”

Eric Morecambe with Stan Stennet on the night he died

From his first heart attack in 1968, Eric Morecambe had always promised to make alterations to his lifestyle, particularly his workload. He stopped smoking a reputed 60 cigarettes a day in favour of a pipe, and took up fishing and birdwatching. But his widow Joan said recently that fear of failure always drove him back towards work. “He was always worried the next show would be the last, always worried they wouldn’t survive”, she said.

This inability to switch off would ultimately cost Morecambe his life at the relatively young age of 58. On 27 May 1984, Morecambe was due to appear at the Roses Theatre in Tewkesbury for a charity show hosted by his close friend Stan Stennett.

Morecambe had been feeling unwell on the run-up to the performance and had considered cancelling. But that inability to switch off, coupled with a desire to not let an audience down, meant that Morecambe fulfilled his commitment and he put in a tremendous final performance, making six encores. As he stepped into the wings for the final time, he collapsed with his third heart-attack in 16 years and died early the following morning at Cheltenham General Hospital.

His death brought an end to the one of the most iconic double acts of all time, and 39 years after his passing Eric Morecambe can still be found on the television at Christmas time with the seemingly endless line of repeats of classic episodes and documentaries.

After Morecambe’s death, Ernie Wise continued to work up until his 70th birthday in November 1995, by which time he had health issues of his own.

In January 1999, he underwent heart by-pass surgery in Florida after suffering two heart attacks within a week. A few weeks later he was flown back to the UK and died on 21 March at the age of 73.

Eddie Braben admitted that after Morecambe’s death he still had lines for the duo “running round in my head, but there was nowhere for them to go”. His tribute play to Morecambe and Wise entitled The Play What I Wrote, which ran at London’s Wyndham’s Theatre in 2001, provided closure on that. His final writing job was for Ant & Dec on CD:UK. He died in 2013, aged 82.

Ernie Wise’s widow, Doreen, died in April 2018. So of all those involved in the most loved comedy double-act this country has ever seen only Eric’s widow, Joan, remains.

Now aged 95, she is still proud of what the “one with glasses and the one with short, fat hairy legs” achieved.

“Now there’s no Eric, no Ernie, Ernie’s wife Doreen has gone, there’s only me left”, she told the Radio Times recently. “I’m sad because he’s not here and doesn’t know how successful they still are. But how marvellous for him that they’re still so loved.”

And loved they are. Eric Morecambe has a statue honouring him in the town he was born and took his name from, Ernie Wise has a similar statue in his home town of Leeds and the pair are immortalised in bronze together at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool – a town they very much made their own during their variety circuit days.

So if you get the chance this Christmas why don’t you revisit them? I can promise you one thing – they’ll bring sunshine to your Christmas.