Gordon Dalziel
DENIS LAW, Asa Hartford and Willie Donachie weren’t the only Scots to have played for Manchester City, Celtic’s Champions League opponents this week. After Rangers, but before he become a Raith Rovers legend, GORDON DALZIEL had a year at Maine Road from 1983-84.
Here he recalls some career highlights with DANNY STEWART.
BEST MANAGER YOU HAVE PLAYED FOR?
THERE have been some very good ones. But I will go for my first Raith Rovers boss, Frank Connor. Very much in the mould of Jock Wallace, he was great at getting the best out of his players.
BEST PLAYER YOU PLAYED WITH?
THE man I used to chauffeur about from Motherwell to Rangers every day, Davie Cooper. He had amazing ability.
BEST PLAYER YOU PLAYED AGAINST?
KENNY DALGLISH when he was down at Liverpool – what a player!
TURNING POINT IN YOUR CAREER
IT would be 1987 when I was without a club, going nowhere, and scunnered with football. Frank Connor chapped my door and told me a few home truths. He took me to Raith Rovers and the rest is history. I went on to play more than 300 times for them and was the club-record goalscorer.
BEST GOAL YOU SCORED?
THE feeling I got scoring as a teenager playing in the Old Firm game at Celtic Park was never topped.
BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT IN YOUR CAREER?
I’LL go for one from my coaching days – leading Ayr United to the League Cup Final and the Scottish Cup semi-final in the space of six days.
BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR CAREER?
DEREK PARLANE, a better striker than I ever was, was absolutely fantastic with me when I was a young player at both Rangers and Manchester City. I really appreciated it and to this day I will still send him texts to see how he is getting on.
MOST-MEMORABLE GAME?
THE 1981 League Cup Final, my first big showpiece game. Rangers beat Dundee United 2-1 with Davie Cooper scoring a free-kick and Ian Redford chipping Hamish McAlpine for the winner. Hamish was later my team-mate at Raith and I never stopped winding him up about it.
BEST STORY ABOUT A TEAM-MATE?
THE late Ronnie Coyle successfully convinced Peter Hetherston (newly inducted into the Raith Hall of Fame) he had landed a part in Taggart and the whole team turned up to meet him when he arrived for his first day of shooting.
SECRET ABOUT YOU?
I USED to be able to score 100-plus breaks in snooker. My best ever was 114 but nowadays I would be lucky to get the 14.