Parkhead Silenced in the best possible way
Well half of it anyway ;-)
Celtic 1 Rangers 2 April 5th 1998
April 5th 1998, a date which still brings a wry smile to my face every time I think about the events of that day. As a young boy of 14 I had never been allowed to go to the Old Firm, despite having watched Rangers for more than a few years: my parents felt I wasn’t old enough to experience the passions and intensity of the greatest derby in the world. But on this very day I was to experience the greatest of all football highs.
My Parents presented me with a match ticket early that morning, the excitement I felt is a feeling I still remember today. It was a early evening kick off and to make it even better the venue was Parkhead. The bus from Fort William was to leave the local co-op at around 11am and as I nervously took my seat the spirits were high and as intense as I have ever known them, everyone was up for it that day and I was highly confident the Rangers would come through in the end and make this day even more memorable.
The bus journey was eventful and full of singing, among the best I can remember that I’ve made with the FW loyal. I was amongst the youngest on the bus and enjoyed the stories of everyone else’s first Old Firm experiences. I could barely contain my excitement. As we arrived in Glasgow and as we got towards the stadium the intensity and noise began apparent. It was something I hadn’t known before; there was singing miles from the crowd and a real sense of passion in the air, something only the lucky ones who attend the Old Firm games will relate to and understand.
As I took my seat I realised that we were sat almost directly behind a lovely looking green pole which meant seeing the centre of the pitch was hazardous to say the least - we manoeuvred a few seats along where the view was less obscured. I loved the build up and watching the players train and go through their pre-match routine. The noise was incredible, booing and cheering even during the warm up was new to me but I was loving it.
The team was read out, Rangers would line up with : Goram, Cleland, Albertz, Gough, Petric (Amoruso ,19 ), Bjorklund, Thern, McCoist (Durie ,89 ), Gattuso, McCall, Laudrup. McCoist would lead the line in a 4-5-1 selection, with Laudrup providing the ammunition backed up by the left foot prowess of the Hammer, Jorg Albertz.
My memory of the game a good 11 years on are somewhat hazy but what I do remember is the excitement and intensity of the game and this will never be forgotten. 19 minutes in Rangers suffered a blow when Petric went off with a thigh strain, replaced by Lorenzo Amoruso who would make his Rangers debut and have the kind of performance against Celtic we would become accustomed to. It was a resilient Rangers First half performance with Goram once again to thank for still being on level terms. I remember being slightly perturbed at half time and suggesting to one of the older guys on the bus we were not doing so well: 'on the contrary' he suggested, 'we were doing just fine' and in fact the best was yet to come. He was correct. It wouldn’t be right to neglect to mention the outstanding moment from the first half, an audacious 40 yard free kick from Amoruso which had Gould scrambling across his goal, I remember even then being shocked he had taken it on, it was some effort indeed.
Rangers came more into it in the second half and began to wear Celtic down with a dominant display in midfield. A raking drive by Stuart McCall was the closest Gers had to offer until the 75th minute when my all time Rangers hero would pop up to score the opener and his last old firm goal, fitting in some ways I got to see it. Jonas Thern picked up the ball and sprayed a lovely cross field ball from right to left, Albertz picked it up and after a quick glance up sent a fantastic ball across the face of goal where Super Ally stooped to head in powerfully past the helpless Gould.
Trying to explain to someone who hasn’t experienced the Old Firm just how good this moment felt is near impossible. The celebrations and cheers seemed to last forever and I remember going wild in that moment. In fact it felt like I hadn’t stopped cheering for long at all when in the 88th minute Jorg Albertz picked up a loose ball just inside his own half. He began to run at the Celtic defence when he disappeared from view behind that Green pole I mentioned earlier. The cheers from the Rangers end told me he still had the ball and he emerged at the edge of the Rangers box shaping to shot at goal.
He sold the Celtic defence a fantastic dummy and the ball fell perfectly onto his left foot as he belted it high past the keeper into the roof of the net. Absolute ecstasy right there, it was unbelievable celebrations and despite a goal back from Burley deep into 4 minutes of injury time this was one party that would not be halted.
The journey home and after match celebrations were unbelievable. 22000 Rangers fans had sang and cheered their side to victory at the home of our fiercest rivals and it was now time to party. I remember being amazed at finding out the goals had come so late in the game (Parkhead was then without a scoreboard for time keeping) as the game seemed to pass in an absolute whirlwind. I barely remember the game, the goals live wild in my memory but it was the support for the team that left me with the biggest sense of amazement from the day. It was just incredible and I would urge all supporters ready to go to their first Old Firm to enjoy every minute and cheer for everything. And hopefully the result on Sunday can be as good as my first experience.