Alex Rae looks back as Rangers grab title on Helicopter Sunday

Former Ibrox midfielder Alex Rae recalls the final-day drama 15 years ago when the most bizarre game of his career ended with Alex McLeish’s men snatching the crown as Celtic suffered last-gasp agony at Fir Park

Shota Arveladze leads the Rangers title celebrations at Easter Road. Aubrey Washington/SNS

Fifteen years on and Alex Rae can’t tell the story of Helicopter Sunday without setting the scene.

“You have to take it back to the first game after the split, when Celtic beat Rangers 2-1 at Ibrox to give them a five-point lead over us. There was only one guy of a Rangers persuasion who still believed we could win the title and that was big Marvin Andrews, but that was him, he always believed!” Rae recalled.

“He tells the story about how guys like me and Fernando [Ricksen[ and Fergie [Barry Ferguson] were all saying, ‘tell you what big yin, if we win this league, we’ll all come to your church!’ He was right we did win it but he says he’s still waiting for us to turn up!”

But the week after that Old Firm loss, there was a glimmer of hope as Hibernian defeated Martin O’Neill’s men to squeeze the deficit and with no further slip-ups from either side, they headed into the final day aware with everything at stake.

Rangers travelled to Easter Road, needing a win. Celtic were away to Motherwell, aware that a victory would render anything that the Ibrox side managed irrelevant.

“It was still very much in the hands of Celtic but I remember Alex McLeish’s team-talk like it was yesterday,” said Rae. “It was very simple and concise. He sat us all down and said: “Right, we need to get the result here today because, let me tell you, if we don’t get the result required and then we find out that Motherwell have got a result against Celtic, you will not be able to sleep again. It will haunt you!”

The game that followed is described by Rae as the most bizarre of his career, the ecstasy at the final whistle and the celebrations afterwards among the most memorable.

Celtic had taken the early advantage, with a Chris Sutton opener at Fir Park, leaving the Rangers dressing room deflated during the interval. Little did they expect what was to come.

“It was well known that if Hibs kept the score down and avoided losing by three or four goals, they would get into Europe so their objective helped us,” admitted Rae, who was in his first season at the club and had already bagged the League Cup, “especially when we took the lead [through nacho Novo] with about half an hour to go. They were only interested in keeping things tight and were not adventurous at all. I have been involved in somewhere between 600-700 games in my career and I have never played in any other game where I have been one-up and the opposition hardly bothered coming beyond the halfway line! It was bizarre. Big Marv and [Soto] Kyrgiakos were passing the ball back and forth and the clock was just kicking down.”

Sinking into a stupor, there was momentary relief as Marv “had a rush of blood and decided to go on a run,” said Rae, “and I’m laughing thinking back because I looked over and saw Alex gesturing frantically, screaming at Marvin to get the heck back.”

Without that kind of craziness, though, everyone was just going through the motions. The match 
referee Kenny Clark has previously recounted the tale of a fed up Barry Ferguson asking how long was left and on hearing it was four minutes, pleading with him to put them all out there misery, saying “just blow, this is boring”.

The same player was soon jumping on Rae’s shoulders, boredom completely dispelled as news filtered through of Scott McDonald grabbing two goals in the final two minutes for Motherwell at Fir Park.

“It was almost like time stopped,” added the former Rangers midfielder. “It was surreal. I just heard this roar of noise behind the goal but there was nothing happening on the pitch to warrant that reaction. I looked across at big Alex and he was letting us know Motherwell had scored. And, a minute or two later, there’s that same noise and we hear they have scored again and I have Barry jumping on my shoulders, screaming: ‘we’re f****** going to win this!’

“I just remember pushing him away and telling him to concentrate because we still had to see our game out. I was focused on what we needed to do but at the same time, team-mates are jumping about, the supporters are going nuts behind the goal and Alex McLeish is screaming at the referee that it’s time up! It was crazy, there was so much going on but it was almost as though it was happening in slow motion.” Up in the skies, the helicopter carrying the league trophy, was also changing direction, turning away from Motherwell and heading, instead, to the capital.

As the players headed up the tunnel at the full-time whistle, to await the arrival of the silverware, Rae was “overwhelmed by emotion in a way I had never been before”.

Worried about his tough man status, he grabbed his phone and ducked out of the dressing room.

“It doesn’t bother me now but back then I knew if the others spotted me with tears streaming down my cheeks I would never hear the end of it so I slipped off to phone my missus, who was in New York and we had a moment. But I was distraught with joy.”

There were more tears when they finally arrived back at Ibrox for a lap of honour in front of 40,000 supporters.

“It is strange to think that it was 15 years ago today, because it still feels like yesterday. I can remember it all so clearly. The game, the bus back with Dado Prso and guys like that singing the Rangers songs, showing how much the club meant to them, and the crowds that greeted us when we got back.

“We all headed into town for a meal and onto a nightclub and it was just one of those nights you will never forget. In fact, because I don’t drink, I was still volunteering to give everyone a lift home at four or five in the morning. I didn’t want the day to end.”

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