I don’t think I could embark on a series of these without starting at probably the greatest signing I certainly witnessed in my childhood, let alone one of the best the club would make in recent times. Paul Gascoigne was, without a doubt, the craziest signing Rangers ever pulled off and he was instrumental in helping the club secure two titles leading up to completing 9 in a row.
Gazza signed for Rangers in the summer of 95 and I still remember the mass hysteria surrounding the transfer, I mean c’mon this was Paul bloody Gascoigne we were trying to sign. The club acquired his signature from Lazio for a fee of £4.3 million. Absolutely no word of a lie, I remember traveling to Ibrox to watch the club parade Gazza to the fans outside the ground, I’ve still never seen that many fans turn up to a players unveiling at Rangers and I doubt it will ever happen again. As the double doors opened and he emerged with his strip on and bleach blonde hair, the crowd erupted into the chorus of “there’s only one Paul Gascoigne”. It’s certainly something I will never forget, and as a 15-year-old fan experiencing something like that, it still sits up there with one of my best footballing memories.
Paul came to the club with huge expectation, and massive pressure was already placed on his shoulders to perform, and boy did he deliver. The press doubted the manager could get the best out of the troubled star but Walter Smith managed to tame his crazy antics to a certain extent. In the first Old Firm of the season, he scored at Celtic Park by running the entire length of the pitch to score and send the away fans into meltdown. Gazza has forever been known to be a joker on and off the pitch and in a game just before the turn of the year against Hearts, the referee dropped his yellow card and Gazza picked up the card and booked the ref for a joke, which resulted in him being booked himself. He turned in his biggest performance of that season in the penultimate game vs Aberdeen. With Rangers needing three points from the two remaining games to secure the title, they found themselves one nil down after 20 mins only for Gazza to equalize two minutes later. With ten minutes remaining he picked up the ball just out of his own half and ran 50 yards shrugging off three Dons players to put us ahead, and then shortly after scoring a penalty to complete his
He turned in his biggest performance of that season in the penultimate game vs Aberdeen. With Rangers needing three points from the two remaining games to secure the title, they found themselves one nil down after 20 minutes only for Gazza to equalize two minutes later. With ten minutes remaining he picked up the ball just out of his own half and ran 50 yards shrugging off three Dons players to put us ahead, and then shortly after scoring a penalty to complete his hat-trick. A truly magnificent display that proved many doubters he was back to his best form. Not only did he bag himself a hat-trick but it was the game to clinch the 8th title in a row. That season he was awarded both PFA Scotland Players ‘Player of the Year and SFWA Footballer of the Year.
The following season he helped claim the famous 9th title in a row to equal Celtics previous record. In the 96-97 season Rangers also completed the double with the league and the league cup with them beating Hearts 4-3 with another match winning performance from the mad Geordie in which he scored two goals. Unfortunately, things started to turn bad for him after that season and he became heavily dependent on alcohol and constant appearances in the press for various reasons.
The midfield genius holds a great place in my heart as one of the greatest players I’ve seen walk onto the pitch, he was world class and I would argue all day long with anyone who questions such a bold statement, the man could turn games on their head in a heartbeat and I can’t fathom how good he would have been had he not injured himself for Spurs vs Nottingham Forest. Paul Gascoigne was certainly a handful on and off the park but the good outweighed the bad and it was a gamble that paid off. Gazza is still worshiped at Ibrox and he remains one of the best player ever to pull on the famous blue jersey.
Gazza is still worshiped at Ibrox and he remains one of the best player ever to pull on the famous blue jersey.