One thing that the advent of social media has been good for is keeping in touch, whether that is with old school friends or basic training colleagues from life in the military, memories are only a click away.
And, it is no different with football. In the 1980’s and early 1990’s very rarely did games outside of cup finals appear on television, we had highlight shows but the access just wasn’t the same – if you missed it live, you missed it altogether.
What the digital age has allowed is for these moments to be recaptured and preserved for future generations and one particular highlight popped up on Twitter this week featuring a colourful figure from Rangers past.
Graham Roberts of Rangers FC. (Apps 69, Goals 3). Debut against Dundee United in December 1986. pic.twitter.com/4Fmwm4z0Gd
β PictureThis Scotland (@74frankfurt) August 5, 2018
Graham Roberts was a hard, no-nonsense defender, an England international signed in the twilight years of his career before one infamous response to Graeme Souness led to him being banished to the reserves never to play for the club again. The lesson being, don’t say “bollocks!” to the Rangers manager when he blames you for the defence conceding a goal!
π #OnThisDay 1οΈβ£9οΈβ£8οΈβ£7οΈβ£ : 9-man #Rangers fight from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Celtic at Ibrox thanks to goals from McCoist & Gough. Chris Woods & Terry Butcher saw Red. Graham Roberts went in goals to conduct the crowd. All 3, and McAvennie, were charged with Breach of the Peace. pic.twitter.com/roX9FUiL93
β ππ ππ«π ππ‘π πππ¨π©π₯π (@WATP72RFC) October 17, 2022
At the time, fans sang his name at Brockville on the last day of the season, in support of a player who only the week before had worn the captain’s armband. Roberts, after all, was a folklore hero after going in goals for Rangers in a game that Celtic couldn’t see off nine men and with a defender between the sticks, conducting his side’s fans in the process.
This week in 1990:
Big Graham Roberts gives it a bit of Maradona at the City Ground.
On a pitch like a shepherdβs pie and mushy peasβ¦pic.twitter.com/Zd2Jc7VQl4
β A Funny Old Game (@sid_lambert) February 19, 2023
To say Roberts was “just” a hard man doesn’t do his ability justice though as this Maradona-like goal for Chelsea proves, the club he moved to after ending his Rangers dispute.
For those of a certain age who like to compare modern day players to those of the past, the condition of the pitch was not a totally alien experience in those days, no wonder strikers weren’t quite as prolific as they are on today’s bowling greens.
Above all else, Roberts was a winner and those that are trusted to take to Hampden with the task of winning the league cup will need more than an ounce of the mentality that he used to show when representing the club – hopefully, we won’t see Connor Goldson or Ben Davies in goals but a worldie just like this one wouldn’t go a miss.