Celtic 0 Rangers 1: The night a band of brothers was born

Everything that you need to know about this match can be derived from the on-field celebrations after the final whistle. It’s not the normal reaction when beating Celtic, even in a cup semi-final. In terms of games that didn’t directly produce a trophy, perhaps only Fiorentina in 2008 and the Scottish Cup semi-final from 2016 provided the same kind of wild scenes, and one of those led to a European final and the other followed a dramatic penalty shoot-out ending years of pent-up frustration. The footage of Walter Smith in his suit being held up by the hero of the hour Ally McCoist, punching and kicking the air with delight, tells a deeper story. Something was born that night that didn’t just lead to success in the final two months later, it laid the foundations for the greatest season of all. This was a side coming of age.

Once again the Scottish Cup was a problem. No win since 1981, and, what’s more, Rangers were on a terrible run against Celtic in the competition. For three straight seasons, Celtic had ended our cup hopes. Firstly, there was the 1989 final defeat, stolen throws, terrible pass backs, disallowed goals and all. Then there were two exits in the earlier rounds, both at Parkhead: a 1-0 defeat in 1990 that saw Tommy Coyne kicked back into the net by John Brown after he had given Celtic the lead and then a horrendous match in March 1991 where Rangers had three men sent off (Terry Hurlock, Mark Hateley and Mark Walters) in a 2-0 defeat. Rangers hadn’t scored against Celtic in the Scottish Cup since the Centenary Final of 1973, let alone beat them.

In a period of dominance in the league, those results stand out as being somewhat anomalous. In that season, Rangers had beaten Celtic twice away from home very comfortably, with Hateley asserting himself all over the Parkhead pitch. At Ibrox, Rangers had sold a point with some careless play by Nigel Spackman and then, just ten days before the semi-final, had turned in their worst performance of the season in the final Old Firm league clash of the season. Celtic won 2-0 with goals in either half by Charlie Nicholas and Gerry Creaney. It was a fine showing, albeit amplified by the Rangers anaemia, and was one match in a 12-game winning streak. Much was made by the players in the press afterwards about how comfortable they found playing Rangers; however, they may have been better advised to keep that to themselves.

Celtic were at full strength for the semi-final and Rangers welcomed back Ian Durrant, Stuart McCall and Dale Gordon from injury but there was a key player missing once again. Mark Hateley, now in his second season and residing deep in the subconscious of every defender in the country, was not able to recover from the injury he got after leading Rangers to victory against St Johnstone in Perth on the Saturday afternoon. Smith’s natural alternative was Paul Rideout, but he opted, not for the last time, for security in the midfield by using Pieter Huistra in a supporting role from midfield and Ally McCoist leading the line on his own. A 4-5-1 without the ball but the ability to be more of a very modern 4-2-3-1 Rangers lined up with Goram, Stevens, Gough, Brown, Robertson; Spackman and McCall; Gordon, Durrant and Huistra, with McCoist in front.

Hampden was engulfed by an incessant downpour that had not abated all day long. The match was a priority for Sky Sports, not yet into their English Premier League coverage, and they had bumped Milan v Juventus from the San Siro to the 10pm slot. David Livingstone, bringing the latest from trackside to Richard Keys, Ray Wilkins and Paul Elliot in a London studio, cut out now and again as he was rocked by the wind and rain. Conditions and context meant that it was never going to be a quality footballing contest but then that wasn’t why people all over Britain were tuning in. They knew exactly the kind of battle that this game was always likely to produce.

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They wouldn’t have to wait long to witness the first flashpoint. On the BBC, Jock Brown had noted at kick-off that referee Andrew Waddell would have a ‘key role’ in proceedings. A well-worn commentary practice of stating the obvious to fill the time whilst literally nothing is happening it may have been; however, it only took six minutes for it to be proved correct. "Joe Miller and I were mates at Aberdeen," recalled David Robertson when I spoke to him for a Heart and Hand interview in 2019.

"We were very close and I didn’t want a friend to get the better of me in a game. Walter and Archie were winding me up before the game saying, 'you need to sort him out early and do whatever you have to do to stop him.'

"The ball was thrown out to Joe and I was going full steam ahead. He took a little touch past me and I thought, 'here’s my chance' so I took him out. A little more than I planned to! In those days it was an unfortunate red card."

Both Brown and Tyler assumed Waddell was going over to talk to Robertson and then show him the first of a few yellows that evening. They were stunned when the red card was brought out of Waddell’s pocket, as was the director who didn’t wait for the card to be shown and instead cut to another replay of the incident. Terry Butcher on co-commentary called it "a disgrace." 

Rangers David Robertson is sent off by referee Andrew Waddell (Image: SNS)

Those who weren’t commentating live and had a long time to digest the incident, Dougie Donnelly for the BBC and Keys, Wilkins and Elliot for Sky, were all convinced it was a straight red. As ever, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. It’s a clear obstruction and foul, Robertson is never getting to the ball once it was thrown out to Miller by Gordon Marshall. However, by his own admission, there was intent to cause some harm. Just how much, and to what extent a referee has to consider the conditions and match situation in the practical application of the rules, is another debate. The Rangers players and management were in no mood for a considered chat. Fourth official Joseph Timmons’s attempt to restrict Smith from getting organisational instructions to his players was met with a ferocious riposte from an irate Rangers manager. Ultimately Smith’s instinct to go with Huistra over the more direct forward worked a treat as the only alteration required was for Spackman to move back into the centre of defence and John Brown to replace Robertson at left-back.

Caught in the middle of a tempest, both literal and metaphorical, Smith’s Rangers faced a challenge that would go on to define their era. The inevitable foul count mounted up, McStay pole-axed Durrant just seconds after play resumed but didn’t see a card, and Tony Mowbray saw yellow for a tackle from behind on McCoist. Celtic’s plan seemed to be to continue wide to Joe Miller. His delivery was average and a very tall Rangers defence dealt with the cross balls with relative ease. Rangers in the first half, on the other hand, were surprisingly technical although still tenacious. McCall and Gordon would press and Durrant and McCoist tried to link with each other nicely around the Celtic defence, but the state of the pitch and the absence of another runner made it increasingly difficult to penetrate. Stevens and Gordon both went wide from distance but, incredibly, as half-time approached, Rangers were the better side and fairly comfortable.

That position of comfort was about to get even better. With seconds of the first half remaining, Tom Boyd cut inside and played a ball to Brian O’Neill just inside the Celtic half. He was robbed, first by McCall and then McCoist, and the break was on. McCall took one touch out the right whilst McCoist made a run into space on the left. The cutback reached McCoist perfectly, and without breaking stride, he buried the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area. Gordon Marshall had a glove on it, but the surface made it nigh on impossible to keep out. There was only one tiny piece of the target for him to aim at successfully and, on pure instinct, he found it. "Scenes of extravagant celebration," shouted Martin Tyler. "McCoist is almost in tears of joy and disbelief." It really was a visceral reaction. A team felt their backs against the wall, under pressure, out of form and with a sense of injustice so early on. Archie Knox on the trackside resembled something from Saturday Night Fever, while McCoist was more like the poster from Platoon as he looked upwards to the heavens, open as they were.

"I had kicked the dressing room door in when I got there," said Robertson. "The guy came in and fixed it as I was waiting. I heard a noise from above and knew it was a goal. I thought, 'oh no, Celtic have scored.' Wee Doddie (the Rangers kit man George Souter) came in and said, 'Coisty’s scored! Coisty’s scored! We’re going to be ok!'"

"I knew Celtic would throw everything at us in the second half," recalled Archie Knox in his autobiography. "I went out before the second half kicked off and grabbed one of the ball boys at Hampden. I asked if he was a Rangers fan and he said 'yes.' So I gave him a fiver and told him to get the message round his pals. If the ball went out for a Celtic throw-in, just leave it until the Celtic fans throw it back. If the ball goes out for a Rangers throw-in, just leave it full stop. I watched him go round all four sides of the Hampden pitch telling his pals not to go for the ball. We needed every advantage we could get and we managed to hang on for the win." 

Knox wasn’t wrong and Rangers decided to sit in and defend what they had as Celtic, with the wind now behind them, sought to rescue their season in the remaining 45 minutes. They caused problems but rarely from direct range, with Joe Miller failing to properly connect with the only chance he had in behind Brown. O’Neill hit the post from distance with an effort that deflected off Spackman’s hand. Mike Galloway, his replacement later in the half, stung Goram’s hands from outside the area. Goram’s goal frame was struck twice in quick succession, the first from a Paul McStay shot that left him rooted to the mud bath that constituted a six-yard area, and then he tipped onto the same crossbar from a Crainey header from the resulting corner. Almost like a game of rugby, Rangers were conceding both possession and territory as Celtic began to create chances inside the box and the game’s second flashpoint was a case in point. With just less than ten minutes remaining, a tiring Rangers defence failed to clear a Celtic move and John Collins appeared to be fouled in the area by John Brown. In the replay, it is a fatigued and clumsy tackle, and Brown’s left foot definitely makes contact with the right of Collins. However, the Celtic midfielder is already on the way down when the contact takes place, his body shape is that of the traditional simulation and perhaps that created enough doubt in Waddell’s mind. If Collins had waited he would have been taken out and Celtic would surely have been presented with an opportunity to force a replay. As it happened, the Edinburgh referee spent the final ten minutes much in the same way he did the first, by ensuring that all of Glasgow had something to be incensed about.

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Galloway had another pot shot from 30 yards, but Goram got behind it and Rangers saw the remaining time out. This failure, when it really mattered, was probably the beginning of the end for Liam Brady at Celtic, and it opened up a huge opportunity for Rangers to end their drought in the Scottish Cup as eventually, Airdrieonians would face them at Hampden in the final. However, the repercussions of this result were not contained by the arbitrary nature of a season end. "In the second half I was up in the stand," said Robertson. "I was kicking every ball but it shows the fighting spirit that squad had. Even in later years, if you were 2-0 down to Falkirk, you still knew that you were going to come back and win." The greatest Rangers side of all time was arguably born that night. 1992/93 was characterised by comebacks and resilience, but that can only happen time and again, once you know how. Twice against Marseille in the Champions League, famously at home to Leeds United and twice against Aberdeen in the league, this side had to fight back from adversity and the belief can be traced back here when all of the odds were stacked against them.

Speaking on Sky to David Livingstone after the game, McCoist said, "We did not play well last week when Celtic beat us 2-0 at Ibrox. And then we picked up the newspapers on the Sunday and the Monday and some of the Celtic players were saying that it was the easiest game they’ve had all season. Maybe that was their second easiest. I hope it was." The language may be slightly confused but the sentiment wasn’t. When it really counted, Rangers had a team prepared to dig deeper into their own mental reserves more than anyone else, exactly the kind of characteristics that Rangers fans keep close to their hearts decades later. The hugs and roars on the pitch said it all. This wasn’t just a team progressing to a cup final on a filthy, wet night.

This was now a band of brothers and one that would take some stopping.