Hartson: Fernando epitomised everything Rangers don’t have now
Thirteen years after standing on stage as joint winners of the PFA Player of the Year award, former Celtic striker John Hartson and his Rangers rival, Fernando Ricksen, were reunited at Glasgow’s Hilton Hotel for the 2018 ceremony, writes Ewing Grahame.
Neither player could have predicted the hands fate would deal them in the intervening years. Hartson retired from playing in 2008 and the following year was in a critical condition after being diagnosed with cancer of the brain, lungs and testicles. Happily, he responded well to treatment and now works as a TV pundit.
Ricksen has not been as fortunate. A year after collecting his award, the Dutch full-back checked himself into former Arsenal captain Tony Adams’ Sporting Chance clinic, set up to treat athletes with addiction problems. He successfully squared up to his issues with alcohol but, in 2013, after ending his career with Fortuna Sittard, he announced he was terminally ill with motor neurone disease.
Unsurprisingly, Hartson was moved after spending the evening with the 41-year-old, whose fortitude, he claims, is in sharp contrast to the men currently wearing the Rangers shirt. “I stood on stage with a man who showed more commitment and desire and willingness to win and run around and stop Celtic than any of those players have done all season,” he said.
“Fernando epitomised everything Rangers don’t have now. He’s currently doing the same in battling his illness. To come out tonight in front of all those people shows he is so brave. He’s fighting that condition on a daily basis and it’s so inspirational. He can’t talk. He can see everything, he can hear everything, he can lip read. I was sitting next to him and he was trying to laugh.
“Fernando can’t move his arms or legs and is in a wheelchair but he’s inspirational. The bravery and the heart he’s showing now is incredible and it was the same when he was a player. It’s people like him that you want at a football club.” 0 Ricksen, right, with former Rangers striker Mark Hateley at the PFA awards on Sunday.