In his pomp, he could lay claim to being the best in Europe
Goram The Goalie was a true great for Rangers and Scotland
WHEN you think of iconic figures from Rangers’ nine-in-a-row era, certain names immediately spring to mind. Any mention of them will evoke a goldmine of cherished memories for the club’s supporters. Whether it was the mercurial midfield talents of Gazza, the wing wizardry and artistry of Laudrup, or the strength and leadership of Gough.
The goalscoring talents of poacher extraordinaire McCoist, or Walter, the managerial mastermind who oversaw the whole operation.
Today, though, Rangers fans are united in their grief for a man who was known simply as The Goalie.
Andy Goram, the club’s greatestever goalkeeper, will rightly be viewed in the same light as all of the aforementioned Ibrox legends.
To understand just how good Goram was in his pomp, it is instructive to look around Europe at some of the other leading keepers in the ’90s.
Down south, Manchester United had Peter Schmeichel. Arsenal had David Seaman and together they were viewed as the best in the newly-formed English Premier League.
Looking further afield, there was also an abundance of terrific goalkeepers on the continent.
Germany could call on Euro 96 hero Andreas Kopke, as well as
Bayern Munich star Oliver Kahn. Holland had Edwin van der Sar, who had won a Champions League with Ajax before moving on to Juventus and Manchester United.
Italy had Angelo Peruzzi, another Juventus star, before a young Gianluigi Buffon burst on to the scene with Parma in the mid-to-late 1990s.
Perhaps the biggest compliment you could pay Andy Goram is that he could have played for any of those teams and they would not have been any weaker. Quite the contrary, actually.
This was a player who, in his ninein-a-row pomp during the 90s, held a legitimate claim to be the best goalkeeper in Europe.
It is a thought which resonates with Craig Brown, who had the unenviable task of trying to pick between Goram and Jim Leighton as Scotland approached Euro ’96.
Brown eventually opted for Goram, a decision he would not regret. The former Scotland boss rated Goram and Leighton among the very best in the business.
‘We had, in my opinion, in Andy and Jim Leighton, the two best goalkeepers in Europe at that time,’ said Brown yesterday in a warm tribute to Goram following his tragic death at the age of 58.
‘Andy was the one I selected to play at Euro 96 and I did not regret that — because he was outstanding.
‘He’s a cult hero at Ibrox, no doubt a Rangers legend. Just to be called The Goalie tells you everything.
‘The emphasis is in The because they felt he was The one – the best goalkeeper.
‘I remember the late Tommy Burns, the manager of Celtic, saying Andy Goram single-handedly won the title for Rangers one season.
‘He was a wonderful goalkeeper and a very popular guy, not only with the Rangers and Scotland players but with the opposing team.
‘He had so many attributes to make him such a popular individual. He was a character, full of fun and good-natured. It’s a heartbreak to many people hearing this today.’
Not many players can claim to have moved from Motherwell to Manchester United, as Goram did when he was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson in 2001.
Nor can anyone else claim to have played for their country at both football and cricket, two of the more unique entries in the tapestry of Goram’s story.
Goram also enjoyed a game of golf and this Sportsmail correspondent had the pleasure of meeting him some years ago at a pro-am event in Troon. It’s fair to say that his golf game perhaps wasn’t quite up to the same standard as his abilities on a football pitch, but that was no disgrace.
Because on his day, there can be no doubt that Goram belonged in elite company as one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation.
Gordon Smith, the former Rangers, Brighton and Manchester City striker, was another to pay a warm tribute to The Goalie yesterday.
Smith told of how he had been in Goram’s company only a few weeks ago, and how his razor-sharp sense of humour had stayed with him until the very end.
‘He was a marvellous goalkeeper — one of the best there’s ever been, without a doubt,’ said Smith. ‘Andy came to a function about 10 days ago. It was quite amazing that he turned up at it. It was in Airdrie, near the hospice where he was having his treatment.
‘He came along with his son on the night. He mentioned a game where I was playing for Manchester City and he was playing for Oldham back in the 1980s.
‘He said he was delighted to save my penalty that night. He didn’t mention the fact that I did score against him later in the game.
‘We always had a laugh about it over the years. It was the only penalty in my career that I actually missed, so I always gave Andy
credit that he saved that one and only penalty.’
Former Rangers striker Derek Johnstone said of Goram: ‘He was a Manchester United fan when he was younger, so it gave him the greatest of pleasure to play for them.
‘But Rangers were his club up here — he absolutely adored them. The fans loved him as well. He was a man who loved life and loved a laugh.’
Former Rangers boss Alex McLeish, meanwhile, said: ‘Andy Goram was a guy you wanted to be around. He was always encouraging people and had a joke here and there. It was always a pleasure to see him. ‘I’ll never forget seeing him at Hampden in his final days and he told me he had only a few weeks (to live). I can’t believe it.’
In his prime, Goram made saves which almost defied belief. As the late, great Celtic legend Tommy Burns once remarked: ‘Andy Goram broke my heart’.
The performances of Allan McGregor over recent seasons have led to comparisons with Goram, and understandably so given some of the saves he’s made.
But any suggestion that McGregor is Rangers’ all-time greatest No1 does feel like a bit of a stretch.
Truthfully, Goram remains out on his own and he could rightly claim to be the best in Europe at one point in his career.
There was almost a sense of inevitability that he would make an outrageous save when a striker went through one-on-one.
Plainly, we may never quite see the like of Andy Goram ever again.
One of the finest to ever put on a pair of gloves for club and country. Farewell, The Goalie.