HE DEFIED LOGIC... HE WAS JUST INCREDIBLE
Goram wasn’t your typical goalkeeper and his ability was simply unrivalled
ANDY GORAM defied logic, and seemingly his own physiology, with his ability to keep the ball out of the net. Yet it was on the day he stunned Scottish football by scoring for Hibs that the goalkeeper’s aptitude for the extraordinary first exploded to life in front of future Rangers team-mate Derek McInnes.
The occasion was a Premier League fixture at Easter Road in 1988 in which Goram registered the first and only goal of his silverware-laden career.
‘It was my first league start for Morton,’ explains Mail on Sunday columnist McInnes. ‘It was a hard pitch and there was sun in our keeper David Wylie’s eyes.
‘The Goalie kicked it down the slope and it bounced up and over David. I reminded him of that when I later signed at Rangers.
‘It’s not necessarily the first thing you think of but he did like to join in. He was good with the ball at his feet and his kicking was renowned.’
Born in Lancashire in 1964, Andy took his cues from his Scottish father Lewis, a Rangers fan who had himself kept goal for Hibs and Bury Town. Released by West Bromwich Albion as a teenager for being too short, Goram bounced back quickly and determinedly to make his first-team debut for Oldham at the age of just 16.
It wouldn’t be the last time he would resist the odds and push his body to achievements far beyond men who better fitted the template of what a goalkeeper ought to look like.
Fast-tracked to the Oldham first team, he made 219 appearances for the Boundary Park club and earned his first Scotland cap along the way against East Germany in 1985.
His obvious potential earned him a seat on the plane to the Mexico ’86 World Cup, where he was back-up to Jim Leighton and Alan Rough.
Ripe for a transfer, it was Hibs who decided to mount a significant cash bid, paying £325,000 to bring Goram across the border and closer to his ultimate destination.
At Hibs, he made his name as an agile, strong-willed competitor, one who revelled in the Edinburgh derby and enjoyed the challenge of trying to keep the big Glasgow crowds quiet.
All things considered, his move to Rangers in 1991 for £1million was the proverbial no-brainer for Walter Smith.
Yet even as that deal lay in the balance, Goram was indulging his appetite for the unconventional.
A sporting sideline as a regular for Kelso Cricket Club earned him a call-up for an international match against Australia, much to the chagrin of Hibs boss Alex Miller, who did not want to jeopardise the seven-figure deal.
Despite Miller’s threats of disciplinary action, Goram took the fine of two weeks’ wages and offset it with a newspaper serialisation chronicling his second international debut. Having faced Allan Border and Merv Hughes at the crease, he checked in for his career-defining stint at Rangers. ‘His was the No1 peg in the Ibrox dressing room, so he was the first person you encountered as soon as you walked in,’ recalls McInnes.
‘He was a big personality but incredible as a goalkeeper and I say that in the true sense of the word. At times he was unbeatable, he defended his goal with everything he could.
‘I have worked with loads of goalkeepers, talented players, but they didn’t have that same will to keep the ball out of the net.
‘It was always you versus him and he needed to win. He was so consistent.
‘He wasn’t the most athletic goalkeeper, he didn’t have lots of power in his legs, he wasn’t a
keeper to come through bodies and win crosses.
‘He did not have that big ranging frame that would fill the goal and make him visible at set-plays.
‘But other goalies didn’t have what he had. What he lacked in size and stature, he had everything else in abundance.
‘First and foremost, I always like goalkeepers to make the saves you would expect them to make. But he would make big, special saves. Ones he had no right to make.
‘He was massive for Walter and the success he had. When the players know how good your goalkeeper is, it’s a massive and every player in front of him on that pitch knew exactly what they had.
‘He had that single-mindedness to say: “Nobody is scoring against me”.’
Smith ordered Goram to give up the cricket and he simply became known as ‘The Goalie’, his big-game contributions contributing to a trophy haul that brought six league titles, three Scottish Cups and two League Cups.
On an individual level, he won both the players’ and football writers’ player of the year awards in 1993,
thanks in no small part to his performance in the inaugural Champions League.
Forever synonymous with Rangers’ nine-in-a-row era, his performances in the Old Firm derbies against Celtic became legendary, with Tommy Burns famously lamenting his ability to pull off the impossible by saying: ‘You can put it on my tombstone: Andy Goram broke my heart.’
Burns, too, would tragically die young and Goram’s tribute to the former Celtic boss in his 2009 autobiography makes for poignant reading this weekend.
‘Tommy said what he did about the tombstone with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek but it lives with me today that we have lost him to cancer at the tragically young age of 51,’ he wrote. ‘I loved that man. I treasure those words and take them as a huge compliment.’
Goram’s relationship with Smith was not always plain sailing. In 1994, he was transfer-listed after going AWOL on a drink-fuelled sunshine holiday.
A repentant attitude and leaner figure were enough to gain him a reprieve, but he remained no stranger to the front pages of the newspapers. A regular at Rangers supporters clubs in Belfast, he faced accusations of associating with Ulster Loyalists yet flatly denied sympathising with terrorism.
With Scotland, he would accrue 43 caps, holding the first-choice position at both the Euro ’92 and Euro ’96 tournaments.
Yet despite being twice selected for squads, he was destined not to play at a World Cup. If Mexico had been a valuable learning experience, Goram was unenthused at the prospect of once again playing back-up to Leighton 12 years later at France ’98. He walked out of a
He would make the big, special saves. Ones he had no right to make
pre-tournament excursion to the USA and would never represent his country again.
With Smith making way for Dick Advocaat, a host of new expensive signings were brought in to reset Rangers after the failed bid to are it ten consecutive titles.
Brief spells at Notts County and Sheffield United were unfulfilling but Goram rediscovered his mojo at Motherwell and earned one last glorious tilt at the big time.
Few players make an emergency loan move from Fir Park to Old Trafford but that’s exactly the call Goram answered when Sir Alex Ferguson found himself in the grips of a goalkeeping crisis in 2001.
And so, at 37, Goram found himself fulfilling one final childhood dream as he ran out with the likes of Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes for Manchester United in the English Premiership.
Further stints at Hamilton, Coventry, Oldham, Queen of the South and finally Elgin City brought his career to an end at the age of 40.
After hanging up the gloves, Goram craved a coaching career but he was limited to brief spells assisting at Clyde, Hamilton and Dunfermline.
‘I think he was a bit disappointed by that,’ says McInnes.
‘He still had a lot to offer and he always said that with the amount of games he played in, big occasions, he didn’t need all the coaching badges that are required now. His experience would have been enough.’
Although his personal life was seldom settled, Goram continued to revel in the camaraderie of his football days.
‘I remember one year we went over for a Scotland v England event in Dubai,’ adds McInnes. ‘Andy would go every year but I was between jobs at Bristol City and Aberdeen so could go too.
‘He was saving everything. I remember Teddy Sheringham going through one on one and he couldn’t beat The Goalie. He was even saving penalties.
‘He defied logic. As soon as the gloves went on they literally were on. He was scary.
‘He was a brilliant lad — he didn’t sound Scottish but he seemed Scottish. He loved Rangers, his love for the club was frightening and that association with the club continued long after his playing days.
‘He was such a popular team-mate. He would put us first. He loved the bonds forged in that dressing room and he was a huge part of what was a special time for the club.
‘You knew we had the best team but also the best goalie.
‘It’s so important for the psyche and the confidence. In certain positions, you just need that trust and we had total trust in him.
‘He was a good person and a great team-mate. And he could be great company, too.
‘Charlie Miller and I went for breakfast with him before Walter’s funeral last year and we spent the morning reminiscing.
‘We’re all on a group chat and he was always the life and soul on there — throwing in the funnies and the jokes.
‘The last wee while we’ve not had that. He had his battles to fight and it’s so sad to see him being taken far too early.
‘The way he dealt with his diagnosis was very brave. But it was heartbreaking for him, the realisation of what was hitting him.
‘It is so sad for him to go at such a young age.
‘We will all miss him. Rest easy, Andy.’