Written by Alistair Aird A journey that had begun at Douglas Park in Hamilton on 13 August 1988 was almost at its climax. Rangers Football Club stood on the cusp of winning nine successive league titles and thus break new ground since none of the squads that had gone before them had had a similar opportunity. (In fairness, had league competition contested during World War II been counted on official records then nine-in-a-row would already have been achieved. Rangers won the last league title before war broke out, the first after the cessation of hostilities and the seven contested in between. But perhaps because that septet of leagues was contested on a regional basis - firstly the Western and Eastern Divisions and then the Northern and Southern Leagues – is the rationale as to why they aren’t given the credit that they richly deserved.) Rangers welcomed a couple of fresh faces into the group before the season started. Jorg Albertz, who could play at left back or in midfield, came from Hamburg at a cost of £4,000,0000 while the Swedish centre back Joachim ‘Jocky’ Bjorklund came in from Vicenza. The competitive action got underway on 7 August. The Russian side Alania Vladikavkaz came to Ibrox in a Champions League qualifier and were beaten by three goals to one. Derek McInnes, Ally McCoist and Gordan Petric got the goals, and Andy Goram saved a penalty kick too. That looked to have been a priceless intervention from The Goalie, but in the end, it didn’t really matter. Rangers were rampant in the return leg, netting seven goals. McCoist, a month shy of his 34th birthday, rolled back the years, scoring a hat trick. A fortnight later goals from Gough and Gascoigne drew first blood in the Old Firm matches. The 2-0 win maintained Rangers’ unblemished start in the league – seven wins out of seven - but there would be a hiccup that would witness two draws and a defeat in the next three league outings. That meant when Smith took his side to Parkhead on 14 November, they trailed Celtic albeit on goal difference. What followed was one of the most eventful Old Firm matches for a long time. Laudrup put Rangers ahead inside the opening 10 minutes and among the events that followed were a pitch invasion by a fox, a missed penalty from Gascoigne, an embarrassing miss by van Vossen and a late penalty save from Goram who plunged to his right to parry away van Hoojdonk’s effort from 12 yards. But Rangers held out and regained their place at the top of the table. And after that, they rarely looked back. Points were dropped in just four of the next 16 league games. Among the 12 victories were a remarkable 4-3 win over Hibernian at Ibrox and a 3-1 victory over Celtic at the same venue on 2 January. The Rangers squad had been stricken by a flu virus that ruled out the likes of Laudrup and Gough, but a thumping free kick from Albertz that was supposedly clocked at 97mph edged Rangers ahead. Celtic levelled and looked set to leave with a point until Erik Bo Andersen scored twice in the closing minutes to earn a priceless three points. Laudrup returned to action two days later against Hibernian at Easter Road. Earlier in the season at the same venue, the Great Dane had contrived to miss a penalty twice - his initial effort and the retake – as Rangers lost 2-1. But Andersen scored again and Albertz managed to do what Laudrup hadn’t, find the net from the spot, to earn a narrow 2-1 win. In fairness, the game shouldn’t have gone ahead. The flu bug was still wreaking havoc in the squad, and with only four players who could be considered fully fit, Rangers requested a postponement. Not for the first or indeed the last time, the powers-that-be rebuffed the request. A 13-match unbeaten run was halted by Dundee United in March. United, who had beaten Rangers 1-0 at Tannadice in December, won 2-0 and in so doing inflicted upon Rangers their first league defeat at Ibrox since January 1996. They had dropped points at Ibrox only twice all season, but after losing to United, Smith’s side would lose two of their last three home league games. Thankfully, their away form was more solid. A 1-0 win at Parkhead in March all but sealed the title, and after thrashing Raith Rovers 6-0 at Starks Park, the stage was set. A win over Motherwell at Ibrox would seal the deal. But an Owen Coyle double pooped the party, the ice-cold champagne looked to have gone flat. But two days later, at Tannadice, the corks would pop. Charlie Miller’s pinpoint cross with his left foot picked out Laudrup and his header ruffled the rigging. Scotland’s Player of the Year once again had literally risen to the occasion. The party started on the bus journey back to Glasgow, and the players were greeted by swathes of supporters as they arrived back at Ibrox in the early hours of the morning. And they turned out in force again in torrential rain on 10 May when their heroes came back home with the trophy after the final league fixture at Tynecastle. The 3-1 defeat in Edinburgh was insignificant save for the fact that a young Barry Ferguson made his debut. And after Gary Stevens had scored the first goal of the run, Derek McInnes would score the last. Rangers lost four of their last eight league games yet still reigned supreme, finishing five points clear of Celtic. And for the first time since the inception of the Premier Division back in season 1975/76, Rangers won all four of the Old Firm league matches. The League Cup returned to Ibrox too. Clydebank, Ayr United and Hibernian were dispatched before Dunfermline Athletic were hammered 6-1 in the semi-final. That set up a final against a Hearts side that were no doubt still smarting from the thumping they had suffered in the Scottish Cup Final back in May. And it looked like this one would follow suit when McCoist, playing with ‘the enthusiasm of a youngster’ according to the match commentator, Jock Brown, scored twice. But Stevie Fulton scored just before the break, and with McCoist and Gascoigne getting involved in a spat that continued into the dressing room at half time, it looked like feathers had been ruffled. And the cat looked to have been thrust among the proverbial pigeons when John Robertson levelled matters early in the second half. Rangers needed a hero and found one in the mercurial Gascoigne. Misdemeanours on and off the field had been troubling the wayward genius, but fuelled by a half time double brandy, Gascoigne won the cup for Rangers with a couple of sensational solo goals. Celtic ended hopes of retaining the Scottish Cup with a 2-0 win in the quarter finals, and in a group that contained Grasshopper Zurich, AJ Auxerre and Ajax, Rangers won only once and lost the other five fixtures. A 3-0 hammering in Zurich was followed by a 2-1 loss at home to the Guy Roux’s French side. Gascoigne scored with a header in that one, but he was ordered off in the next match, petulantly flicking out a leg at Winston Bogarde in a 4-1 defeat in Amsterdam. Rangers were better in the home match against Ajax and were unfortunate to lose 1-0. A 2-1 win over Grasshopper in the penultimate fixture featured McCoist’s first-ever goals in the Champions League group stages. This was his 14th appearance too, but a rapier-like strike with his right foot and a penalty kick ended the drought. However, his brace still left him a goal shy of his good pal, Ian Durrant, who had three group stage goals to his name. The season ended with a 3-3 draw against Arsenal at Highbury in a testimonial match for Nigel Winterburn. Steven Pressley, John Moncur, and David Unsworth made guest appearances for the Rangers side. Having managed to achieve the coveted nine-in-a-row, Rangers thus entered season 1997/98 in the same way that Celtic had done over 20 years earlier in season 1974/75. Having matched their Old Firm rivals record, they were now intent on eclipsing it and in so doing become the first Scottish side ever to win 10 successive league titles
Both featured in a busy pre-season programme that included a tour of Denmark, and a total of seven matches played. Included among them were a 9-1 mauling of Fremad Amager – Peter van Vossen scored four goals, and Ally McCoist grabbed a hat trick – and a 3-1 win over Arsenal at Ibrox in Richard Gough’s testimonial.
In between times, Trevor Steven scored the only goal of the league curtain raiser at home to Raith Rovers. But the cultured midfielder would see his season blighted by injury. He made only five starts in the league in what would be his last season as a Rangers player.
McCoist was clearly enjoying the back nine of his golden career. He followed the hat trick in Russia with another in a 5-2 win over Dunfermline Athletic at East End Park and scored again when Rangers defeated a Hearts side that were reduced to SEVEN men 3-0 at Ibrox in mid-September.
The Treble would alas prove elusive once more as indeed would be progress in Europe.
