My Team & I: Rangers
By Scott Johnston
Why Rangers?
Well growing up in Glasgow it is almost one of the first decisions you have to make, Rangers or Celtic? For me as a toddler my grandfather gave me a nice brand spanking new Rangers away top & that was me a Gers fan for life. It was only going to be that way as he was also a Rangers fan, who was friends with Willie Henderson & Jim Baxter.
Favourite Player?
I have been extremely lucky to have seen players like Brian Laudrup, Paul Gascoigne & Ronald De Boer grace Ibrox. Seen cult hero’s such as Rino Gattuso, Andy Goram & Jorg Albertz. But for me my hero was & Still is Ally McCoist. He was a goal machine, scoring 355 goals for Rangers in all competitions. He won two ‘European Golden Boots’ & won 20 domestic trophies with the club. He was a star both on & off the park, very funny & entertaining, ‘Super Ally’ was one of a very few respected by both halves of the Old Firm Support. He is now Assistant Manager at Ibrox & hotly tipped to take over from Walter Smith at the end of the season.
Favourite Game?
Any win over Old Firm rivals Celtic is an important game for Rangers fans but for me the one that sticks out is the 3-0 win at Parkhead in May the 2nd 1999. The game had everything.
The game was a title clincher for Rangers & they had never done that before at their biggest rivals stadium. Neil McCann was superb that day scoring two & terrorising the Celtic defence all day. The Referee Hugh Dallas was hit in the head by a coin which was thrown at him by a Celtic fan, he gave the penalty almost immediately after that incident. In total 3 players were sent off, 4 fans invaded the pitch & the winning Rangers team celebrated by mocking the Celtic huddle at full time almost causing a riot.
Favourite Strip?
The Purple European top worn by Rangers & made by Adidas in the 94-95 season has to be my favourite. I say worn but we got knocked out of Europe after playing only 2 legs against AEK Athens so the strip was limited to one of those games & a couple of league ties.
Worst Thing About Being A Rangers Fan?
Would have to be the sectarian fans who bring their religious hatred to Ibrox. Their is no need for it & they constantly give the club a bad name. I love the rivalry between Rangers & Celtic but its nothing to do with religion. I have plenty of friends who are Celtic fans & the banter is great & that is the way it should be for everyone.
Funniest Moment?
Two stand out. Paul Gascoigne showing the referee a yellow card he had found, although the ref didn’t see the funny side & booked ‘Gazza’ with the same card. The second was a Scottish Cup game, Gers were 4-0 up & Ally McCoist started to warm up on the sideline. The fans cheered ‘Super Ally, Super Ally, Oh way, Oh way, Oh way’ & then ‘Get him on, Get him on!’. Well Walter Smith obliged and sent him on only for Ally to miss a sitter with his 1st touch. The Gers fans sang ‘ Get him off, Get him off!’ & McCoist just laughed.
Favourite Moment?
Nacho Novo scoring the penalty in Florence to send Rangers into the UEFA Cup Final! I celebrated all night & must have drank 3 litres of Irn-Bru during that game I was so nervous. When that went in I just exploded, it was one of those amazing moments only football can generate.
Posted on September 13th, 2010 by scott
Filed under: My Team & I
I remember the Novo moment well. I was out with a group of Celtic fans (im a Rangers fan) who were cheering on Fiorentina. When Novo scored the pub went crazy and they all wanted to move on to another quieter pub. Do i stay on my own to enjoy the celebrations, or move on with my friends? I stayed!
During the old firm game, i seem to remember someone falling off one of the tiers and then as he was being stretched away, he continued to pump his fists in the air. Now that is a die hard OF fan.
Hahaha I can imagine your Celtic pals wouldn’t want to stay.
Another Old Firm memory was Lambert giving away a pen at Ibrox by putting his face in front of Albertz knees, resulting Lambert to go to hospital. Supposedly as he was being stretchered off Advocaat was saying he should have been sent off!