The Daily Record has relived the Ibrox 10-in-a-row Rally that went badly wrong.
In the summer of 1997 Dave Murray went all in. Becoming the second Glasgow team to win the European Cup had proved to be too much for the Ibrox chairman but becoming the first to win 10-in-a-row filled Murray with glee.
The True Blue core of the 9-in-a-row squad were there for at least one more title- McCoist, McCall, Durie, Durrant, Goram and Brown- with Walter Smith raiding Serie A to sign up Lorenzo Amoruso, Sergio Porrini, Jonas Thern, Rino Gatusso and Marco Negri.
Nike had outbid Adidas and Bukta for the lucrative kit deal with Tiger Woods rumoured to be a special guest as two teams of all-stars lined up for the first step towards 10-in-a-row.
Across the city Wim Jansen had just signed Darren Jackson while Paolo di Canio and Jorge Cadette were working their escape from Celtic.
Today the Daily Record recalls:
Billed as the Nike Family Day, some of Walter Smith’s £15 million worth of summer signings were on display to add to stars such as Brian Laudrup and Paul Gascoigine who had helped Gers to a landmark-equalling nine-in-a-row the previous season.
And in an ominous warning to rivals Celtic ahead of the new campaign it was the SECOND STRING who ran out rampant 6-1 winners after two 30-minute halves.
A look back at the XIs that day is a reminder of the embarrassment of riches Smith had at his disposal and also the shock that not only did they fail to win the league but finished a season empty-handed for the first time in 13 years.
The teams that day were Blues: Goram, Porrini, Vidmar, Wright, Thern, Durrant, Albertz, Laudrup, Johansson, Durie Negri.
Whites/Reserves: Niemi, Cleland, Bjorklund, Amoruso, Stensaas, Gattuso, Ferguson, Gascoigne, Bo Andersen, Van Vossen, McCoist.
It’s no wonder the Light Blues were massive odds-on to win a 10th consecutive title and the fact they didn’t and Jansen’s squad instead wrote their names into Parkhead folklore is the hope Gers fans will be clinging on to ahead of next season.
Yet a title triumph for Steven Gerrard’s men which would take the league trophy to Ibrox for the first time in a decade would arguably be an even bigger shock.
While Gers brought in a raft of new signings that summer, including Lorenzo Amoruso from Fiorentina who recalled that campaign for Record Sport on Thursday, they had so many players who had been at the core of their success for so many years.
It was the end of the road for the likes of Andy Goram, Stuart McCall, Ian Durrant, Ally McCoist and Richard Gough who had returned from a move to Kansas City Wizards due to injuries with Amoruso crocked.
Lorenzo Amorso was crocked in the 10-in-a-row rally, Gascoigne was sold to Middlesbrough in March and Laudrip barely turned up.
Jansen and his team stopped the 10, in August Neil Lennon’s squad will try to complete the job by delivering Celtic’s tenth successive Scottish title.
