Old Firm rivalry cut deep but Goram and Burns shared mutual respect

ANDY GORAM’S intense rivalry with Celtic never clouded his deep admiration for Tommy Burns. Manager at Parkhead between 1994 and 1997, Burns’ hopes of preventing Rangers from edging towards nine-in-a-row were often dashed by the keeper’s outstanding displays in Old Firm games. After the Ibrox No 1 had singlehandedly earned a goalless draw in the 1996 New Year game to preserve his side’s advantage in the title race, Burns famously quipped: ‘Put it on my tombstone — Andy Goram broke my heart’. Burns was sacked by Celtic after Rangers won their ninth straight title in 1997 — with Dutchman Wim Jansen winning the championship the following year in his one and only season in Glasgow. Writing in his autobiography The Goalie — My Story, Goram detailed the depth of his feelings towards Burns (pictured), who died from skin cancer in 2008. ‘All that ill will towards Celtic in the heat of the battle never once stopped me respecting the hell out of the likes of Tommy Burns and Peter Grant,’ he wrote. ‘Tommy said what he did about his tombstone with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek, but it lives with me now that we have lost him to cancer at the age of 51. ‘I loved that man. For all the anguish I caused him when he was Celtic manager, I loved that man. ‘He spoke from his heart and was honest always. ‘Tommy had such a fantastic side, too. To lose only one game in a season and still not win the league in 1996 must have been soul destroying for him. ‘So, whilst we utter words in humour or in anger in this game, what Tommy said about me will stay with me for the rest of my life. I treasure those words and take them as a huge compliment. ‘His death shattered me. The respect in which he was held by Rangers fans was demonstrated in the days after we lost him. ‘In the society we live in, you get sick texts on your mobile, crude

jokes, the lot, when people die. I didn’t get one about TB. People couldn’t bring themselves to sink that low. ‘Rangers players on international duty might not have respected some of the Scotland managers Tommy Burns worked under but they had a lot of respect for TB himself. ‘He was a great man who wore his heart on his sleeve, a Celtic man who lived for his club. ‘If anyone deserved to be the manager who stopped Rangers’ ten-in-a-row, it was Tommy Burns, God rest his soul, not Wim Jansen. ‘Wim came to Glasgow for one season, won the league, had no idea what he’d done and then cleared off again. It should have been Tommy.’

I loved Tommy. I treasured his words and took them as a huge compliment