1 Hugh Dallas is left bleeding amid Old Firm chaos
The final Old Firm match of the inaugural SPL season in May 1999, an evening kick-off on a sunny bank holiday Sunday, and Rangers clinching the title at the home of their bitter rivals. The perfect recipe for mayhem. Two Celtic players were sent off, scuffles broke out among backroom staff, a home supporter fell off the top tier of a stand (and lived) and Rangers players almost caused a riot by doing a Celtic ‘huddle’ to celebrate the championship win. Worse still was the sight of referee Hugh Dallas being felled by a coin thrown from the home support, blood pouring from his head. One supporter also tried to attack Dallas, and that evening a brick was thrown through the official’s living room window. Celtic’s then chief executive, Allan MacDonald, later admitted to hiring a behavioural psychologist to analyse Dallas’s perfomance. “Was it purely coincidental that, soon after he was seen patting (Giovanni) van Bronckhorst (on the backside) a coin came on the park and struck the referee?” asked MacDonald. All in all, a day to forget.
2 Beachballs at Ibrox
Celtic beat Boavista to reach the Uefa Cup final in Seville, so where better to celebrate the achievement than the following Sunday against Rangers? Beachballs, sombreros, lillos, sunglasses and sun cream were all sneaked into the visitors’ end of Ibrox — and waved mockingly at speechless home fans. “A mate of mine even saw one fan carrying a surfboard down the street,” revealed comedian Andy Cameron, a renowned bluenose. The mood was sunnier still after a 2-1 victory re-ignited title hopes for Martin O’Neill’s side. Rangers had the last laugh, though. The final ended in defeat to Porto and, four days afterwards, Ibrox was awash with the Portuguese side’s flags as their favourites pipped Celtic to the championship by a single goal.
3 Pittodrie pandemonium
The open hatred between Aberdeen and Rangers supporters has simmered for years, fuelled by Dons dominance in the 1980s under Alex Ferguson, Neil Simpson’s infamous tackle on Ian Durrant and Fernando Ricksen’s karate kick on Darren Young. But the feud reached a new low one dark Saturday evening in January 2002. Aberdeen striker Robbie Winters was struck on the head by a coin, sparking an ugly confrontation between the two sets of supporters, and it got so bad that referee Mike McCurry was forced to take the players off the pitch for 20 minutes. The game finished with police surrounding the field of play — all played out in front of a live TV audience watching on Sky Sports. An Aberdeen follower was later found guilty of punching a 70-year-old visiting fan.
4 Dundee try to sign Diego Maradona
Help ma boab — the Hand of God at Dens! The Ivano Bonetti era had already seen Claudio Caniggia enticed to Tayside, and now the tubby 40-year-old was reportedly being paid £250,000 to make a one-off friendly appearance against old club Napoli. This would be beamed around the world to an audience of ‘millions’. But the deal was never finalised, depriving all football fans the chance of seeing the legend Ceramic Tile Warehouse fit snugly around his ever-expanding belly.
5 The Old Firm are compared to a couple of old tarts
Despite helping set up the SPL, Celtic and Rangers seem desperate to leave it. They’ve been linked with the Premiership, the Nationwide League and the Atlantic League, much to the annoyance of the 10 other top clubs. “They’re like two old girls in Sauchiehall Street raising their skirts to any League that walks past,” fumed Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness in December 2001. “They are chasing any idea they can to get out of Scotland.” Perhaps someone working at Pittodrie should have used more tact. After all, his predecessor Gordon Bennett had to quit amid allegations of a fondness for the city’s prostitutes.
Advertisement
6 Russell Latapy is tackled by traffic on the M8
The Trinidadian playmaker clearly knows how to impress his employers. A few months earlier, he had been shown the door by Hibs days before the 2001 Scottish Cup final, after being caught three-and-a-half times over the drink drive limit following a session with Dwight Yorke. Then, despite a lucrative move to Rangers, he managed to miss his new club’s game against Livingston when his chauffeur-driven car got stuck in a traffic jam on the M8. Strangely, Livingston managed to make it to Glasgow despite coming from the same direction, and Latapy never quite got out of first gear at Ibrox, spending most of his time in the reserves.
7 Tore Andre Flo
Rangers signed the Norwegian striker from Chelsea for a Scottish-record £12m fee in November 2000. Just two years later he was bundled off to Sunderland for £6.75m. In between, he scored just 38 goals in 72 games — a positive famine for any Old Firm forward. Despite finding the net on his debut, against Celtic no less, Flo flopped whenever it really mattered and was particularly ineffectual in those make-or-break Old Firm encounters. Life has not been too kind to him on his return south, either. He scored just four goals last season, Sunderland were relegated, and now Kevin Kyle — of all people — has been handed his No9 shirt.
8 Tom McManus practices his pole-dancing
The cheeky Hibs striker was pictured last April on a night out with teammates at a lap-dancing bar. A week later, after scoring against Dundee United, he ran behind the goal, jumped on a pole that holds the net in place, and slithered down it. His club’s supporters may have been in ecstasy, but the referee was less than turned on and booked the player. “We’re not a team of boozers — every now and again it’s good to get the boys out and have a laugh together, that’s all,” said McManus. “We didn’t have a game that weekend and we just went out for team morale.”
10 Ally McCoist makes a play for Hollywood
Super Ally could do no wrong in the box. But on the box is the only place where you’ll see A Shot At Glory — the film that went straight to video. The creation of Godfather legend Robert Duval, McCoist plays a maverick striker signed by lowly Kilnockie FC to help them win the Scottish Cup and avoid being relocated to Ireland. “I’m looking forward to seeing how the American public react to a film about Scots football,” said McCoist before last year’s premiere in Los Angeles. Sadly, it flopped faster than Scotland at a World Cup. “A Shot At Glory has all the brains of a half-time pie,” shot one film critic.