Tell you what; if Bluenoses were yahoos, we'd be screaming it's a conspiracy. But whatever else we may be, we are assuredly not yahoos, so we'll just put it down to the luck of the draw. (PS, We were due a home tie against them in 1978, but lower division, Killie, put them out beforehand. Yup, with Ba Face at the helm)
I've been just trawling back through the history books and the OF fixture Scottish Cup tie does tend to paint a very indifferent picture, considering its premier 'Cup competition' status. Scottish Cup crowds from the turn of the last century are not what you would expect. Did you know for instance that in season 1900/01, the Old Firm drew a bigger attendance at a Glasgow Cup tie at the Cesspit than they did for the Scottish Cup?
In saying that, in 1904/05, 24,000 more punters turned up to watch an OF, Glasgow Cup-tie than rolled up for a League title play-off match. It's hard to try and second-guess what was going on in great-grandpa's mind back then.
The Old Firm Scottish cup game as a 'major attraction' in the Scottish calendar kicked off on this very weekend 84 years ago. That's when 85,000 shoehorned itself into Ibrox for the first post-war Scottish Cup tie. The majority were to go home very pleased with the Tommy Muirhead goal that sealed the victory. However, for those who thought the Scottish Cup was coming back to Ibrox, another eight frustrating years were still on the clock.
It was to be another thirty-three years before another OF, Scottish cup tie (there had been a Semi-final tie in 1925 and a final in 1928) arrived on the scene. And once again Rangers, before a home crowd of 95,000, waltzed home with a ticket to the semi finals thanks to a goal apiece from John Prentice and Derek Grierson.
The Nineteen-Fifties were to throw up another two Old Firm Scottish cup-ties. A crowd of 55,000 rolled up to CP to witness a thrilling 4-4 match in February 1957. Thirty-three thousand more turned up at Ibrox to witness the replay and most went home disappointed with a 2-0 reverse. Two years later Rangers went down 2-1 at CP before a crowd of 45,000. There were a lot of 40,000 odd OF attendances at Parkhead in the 50s for some reason.
There was another Q/F tie at Ibrox in 1964 (ironically enough on the 7th of March) when Rangers laughably clapped their opponents onto the park as a tribute to them qualifying for a ECWC semi final berth a few days previously, and then proceeded to play them off the park. A Jim Forrest goal and then a Willie Henderson strike, either side of half time, was more than enough to see Rangers through. Of course this was just a normal day out in the Baxter era for Rangers fans.
The roles had reversed by the time of the next OF Q/F tie six years later and a Parkhead full house of 75,000 watched a rather tousy OF cup tie. The game hinged on a scandalous piece of refereeing. With the game all square there was a flashpoint in the second half and quite unbelievably, referee, Tiny Wharton, decided to send off Ranger, Alex McDonald, for his part in the incident, yet allowed Davie Hay, who had thrown McDonald to the ground to walk away Scot-free. Think cowardice Dallas style at CP, 97 and 99 style and you've got Tiny Wharton 1970, down pat. And for the record, it wasn't the only diabolical pro-Celtic decision that season in a cup-tie at home. Where are those Masons when you need them eh?
Nowadays, people (quite rightly) ask pointed questions of an unfit, overweight, Willie Young. How people can point their fingers at Young, but remember Mama Cass in football boots fondly, is a mystery. The only reason I can think of that the unfit, overweight Wharton is not considered as a figure of scorn is because he was the main man-in-black in what was a period largely dominated by the paranoid ones. And as we all know, referees don't come into the equation when Celtic are winning.
Another twenty years were to pass before the clubs met on pre Final/semi-final Scottish cup business again. Back in 1990, the yahoos were in the same position as Rangers find themselves in at present. I.E very much the underdog. But home advantage and a collective bad day at the office from Rangers meant that a home win was secured.
The following season it was the exact same scenario and this time Rangers were reduced to eight men after another diabolical refereeing display, this time by Andrew Waddell. Not that the Rangers side with a full complement of bodies on the park deserved to win mind you. Another unfathomable tactical display by manager, Graeme Souness, had Rangers on the rack, right from the first whistle.
We only had to wait six years for the next visit across the city on Scottish Cup duty. This game is memorable (if that is indeed the word I'm looking for) for a few things.
1 ˆ Theo Snelders crapping out of playing in this game, which meant an injured Andy Goram, had to take to the field in an injury-ravaged Rangers side.
2 ˆ The referee allowing a foul on the aforementioned injured Goram in the lead up to the yahoo's opening goal.
3 ˆ The disgraceful booing of the hapless Erik Bo Anderson by the home support as he was carried off in a stretcher with a depressed fracture of the skull in the first half.
4 ˆ The yahoos doing a POST-MATCH huddle as a way of saying 'getitriteupye' to their opponents. The precedent had been set! ;-)
So it's Scottish Cup Q/f time again and once more we have to visit CP. Fourteen years ago. Gerry McNee said that the worst thing that could happen to Celtic was to win that particular OF Scottish Cup final, as it would only paper over the cracks.
Unbelievable and scandalous as it may seem, David Murray's Rangers now find themselves at the same crossroads. However, I'd like to think that a win this weekend (and yes I would grab it with both hands) wouldn't hoodwink our lot into as false a sense of security as Timmy back then. BUT, reading the FF message boards, you never can tell, can you?
The Govanhill Gub.