Rangers fans of a certain age will remember a time when you could sign players whenever you wanted without having to wait for a transfer window and were restricted to just three “foreigners” in your squad for European games, restrictions still apply but they aren’t quite as tight as they used to be.
The excellent Twitter page The Rangers Archives – found at @OldRangersVideo – provides a fascinating look back to the players who “mature” Rangers fans reminisce about and today’s video is a joy to behold on many levels.
First of all, there is the strip. The 1984-87 away shirt that has, strangely, never been reproduced by any kit makers since, despite being a firm favourite, then, there is the opposition.
On 8 December 1987, @RangersFC 2 v 2 Everton in Dubai, scorers were Watson & Sheedy for Everton, Fleck & McCoist for Rangers, and we won 8-7 on penalties. We also had 6 goals disallowed that night, enjoy the highlights and the full pen shootout pic.twitter.com/If1B4o0CTN
— The Rangers Archives (@OldRangersVideo) December 8, 2022
Everton were widely regarded as one of the best teams in Europe in the mid-80s and provided a stiff test in Dubai in the winter of 1987 for a Rangers team on the up after winning the Scottish title the season before – injuries would derail our progress in 1987-88 but that’s another story.
What the video does highlight is the strength of the players who came through our youth set-up. Derek Ferguson, Ian Durrant and Robert Fleck, all would be capped by Scotland and all were supremely talented youngsters.
Fleck is our last home grown striker to make a genuine impact on the first-team, it’s just a shame he didn’t stay longer. Ferguson should have achieved more but for “distractions” and Durrant had his considerable ability blunted by a cowardly tackle within a year of this game.
Durrant in particular demonstrates just how devastating a runner he was before his injury, he recovered to display the same intelligence off the ball, timing of forward runs and finishing, however, he was nowhere near as sharp as he used to be.
What Michael Beale would give to have three such academy prospects at his disposal now, who knows, maybe Charlie McCann, Alex Lowry and Robbie Ure can go on to emulate their illustrious predecessors.