"When I pass away you can put it on my tombstone `Andy Goram broke my heart'. I've nothing but admiration for someone like that - but I have a contract out on him, right enough. He’s probably the best goalkeeper I’ve ever seen.”  

Tommy Burns 

If you are looking for the measure of a footballer, there are few better ways to gauge quality than ask those men who battled alongside them in the red-hot furnace that is the elite game. Chancers, sand-dancers and usurpers are quickly given the short-shrift by those who have toiled at the coal face.  

The former Celtic manager’s quote, delivered with a mixture of distress, exasperation and genuine respect came in early January 1996 after another painful Old Firm defeat. By this point, Burns had seen Goram star in this movie a few times and showed class in defeat to go alongside his obvious flair for the dramatic. But he was not the first to feel the pain of coming up against a world-class keeper in his pomp.

Before Celtic had re-emerged from financial strife in the later part of the 1990s, it was Aberdeen who were Scotland’s established second force. Led by European Cup Winner’s Cup winning captain Willie Miller as manager, the Dons has a formidable attack which blended power, pace and even grace thanks to the twinkle toes of Eoin Jess. 

When the two sides came together at Pittodrie on February 2nd 1993, BBC commentator Jock Brown described the encounter as “The most eagerly anticipated Premier Division match of the season. The immovable object versus the irresistible force, with both sides in splendid form and Aberdeen eager to get at the league leaders.”.  

It would be remembered as arguably Andy Goram’s greatest game. 

The keeper would make three top drawer saves in the first half alone, with Scott Booth, Mixu Paatelainen and Jess all denied. While Rangers got their act together after the break, he was still able to produce a couple of iconic moments with a one-handed catch that defied the laws of gravity and a last-minute recovery after Jess’ 20-yard thunderbolt squirms under his body only to be clawed off the line. It meant Mark Hately’s 59th-minute header was enough to secure the points and put the Govan side into the title driving seat. 

Miller can look back now, 29 years later and appreciate the majesty of Goram’s display, as painful as it was to experience at the time. 

"It was an unbelievable performance," he admitted. "It was heartbreaking as far as I was concerned but that's what he was employed to do for both Rangers and Scotland. You have to look at performances like that objectively and even though you are on the wrong end of it - you have to appreciate the quality that’s there. Even at the time, I appreciated that standard. I couldn't possibly tell you what I was calling him after the game right enough... 

"I do remember the statement it in terms of how important it was for me as manager of Aberdeen in trying to compete against Rangers but unfortunately Goram broke our hearts and certainly that was the key game. But there were others as well. He was a fabulous goalkeeper and was at the peak of his career. 

“We had a really exciting team at the time that was designed to create and take chances so whoever was going to stop them would have to be top quality. Andy Goram certainly was that." 

When asked to transport himself back nearly 30 years, Paatelainen can still see the events of that game like it was yesterday. 

"I remember the match and the save from my header,” he said. “Goram was fantastic. At times, you felt he was everywhere across his goal. He was really, really tough to beat, whether if it was a shot, a header or a one-on-one.  

"He was brave as a lion and a very, very tough character despite not being the biggest. He made saves you were not expecting but although he was a fantastic shot-stopper thanks to the quickness with his hands he was also surprisingly good at coming off his line to collect crosses when required.  

“We always had a right good tussle then after the match we shook hands and wished each other all the best. What a goalkeeper he was! The saves he made in that match were fantastic. He was unbelievable." 

Alex McLeish went on to be a legendary, treble-winning manager at Ibrox but he is no less of a totem at Aberdeen. The old stager marshalling the defence for the Dons that night, he points out the performance of the man affectionately called The Goalie was the perfect example of an early statistic circulating in Scottish football. 

He said: “You come to admire the greatness of certain players and when you talk about that you talk about games that people remember and this was one of those. He was ridiculous that night.

"He was a very athletic guy. He was a terrific cricketer as well, so he was a sporty fella and I always remember his one-handed catch in that game. 

"The performance was typical of Andy. He had games like that and that's why the top teams buy the top professionals. I always remember Andy Roxburgh saying to me that statistically when you have an international class goalie it saves you 12-15 points a season but a world-class keeper saves you 15-20. That was at the start of data coming into football. 

"If you're an ambitious club you have to have a top guy like that and I know all about the enormous demands on Rangers to win every week." 

Brian Irvine, who partnered McLeish in the heart of the Dons’ defence that night, is one of many who think the term “world-class” is becoming over-used in football. Not so in the case of Goram. 

“He certainly broke our hearts on that night and then Mark Hateley pops up with the winner,” he said. “That was the wee bit extra that they had to get that victory. It probably helped them secure the title that year. It happened to us in a number of games against them, Rangers always seemed to edge it. It was either great play from McCoist and Hateley up-front or great saves from Andy Goram. 

“It’s often an overused phrase but Goram was world-class. Some of the saves he made were amazing. He was an immense goalkeeper and tremendous player, a great person and a great talent.” 

After losing out to Rangers in both cup finals and coming second in the league in 1992/93 Miller would leave Aberdeen the following season. The Dons would simply not recover from the psychological battering they had taken in coming so close to glory on three fronts.  

“You might blame him for my downfall as Aberdeen manager,” he joked. “I’m saying that tongue in cheek obviously but there’s no doubt that was a pivotal game as far as Aberdeen were concerned. 

He continued: “I recall Tommy Burns later suffering the same fate as I did as far as the performances Andy managed to produce against Celtic. It obviously hurts at the time but you have to just admire the quality of man and goalkeeper.”