Rangers’ trip to Manchester on Thursday will see memories of their 2008 UEFA Cup Final shared – including the ugly scenes off the park as well as the heartbreaking defeat on it to Zenit St Petersburg.
But fans of a certain vintage will recall another trip to the city in north west England where there was similar carnage and on that occasion it was actually at Old Trafford, where Philippe Clement will take his side, rather than the home of Manchester United’s rivals City.
That match took place 34 years before Walter Smith led his troops out at the Etihad with Jock Wallace the man in charge of the Light Blues for a fixture that was a friendly in name only after both sets of fans were involved in what has been described as the “the worst violence Old Trafford has ever seen”.
Rangers won the game thanks to a late Derek Parlane penalty with legendary captain John Greig and Derek Johnstone also on the scoresheet in a 3-2 victory. But the game isn’t remembered for anything that happened on the field of play. Supporters who made the trip south from Glasgow recalled their buses being attacked on arrival but the trouble appeared to start when a group of home fans entered the pitch – only to for rival supporters to vault the fence and charge them down with police forced to break up the battles.
One newspaper reported the next day: “When United took the lead, bottles streamed on to the pitch from the Rangers end. Fans were struck on the head. Ambulancemen treated 40 for bottle injuries. United club officials called in a doctor for a young Rangers fan, who had suspected brain damage.
“After the match, more trouble broke out. Rangers buses were stoned, and three Manchester buses were put off the road with broken windows. Ibrox supporters were shepherded onto the 6.40 train to get them out of the city as soon soon as possible.”
Chief superintendent Dennis Grange said: “They are among the worst we have ever seen at Old Trafford. Their behaviour is irresponsible, drunken and dangerous.”
But Rangers manager Wallace said: “The Manchester fans were to blame. They taunted the Rangers fans by coming on to the field. I was delighted the Rangers fans heeded my plea and left the field.”
Describing events of that day for an article in 2004, former Manchester Evening News chief football writer Stuart Brennan told of how United fans used to be split on their favoured Old Firm team but how that day changed everything – and also saw Rangers punters develop a hatred for the Red Devils.
He said: “In the duller moments of the Seventies – and Lord knows, there were many – the Stretford End used to amuse itself with a little internal strife. One section would chant ‘Celtic’. And the reply would come, loud and clear, “Rangers”.
“It mattered not if those two Scottish teams were not playing each other that day, it was just a bit of fun. Some fans would wear ski hats that bore the colours of United on one side, those of Celtic on the other. But others wore similar hats that were half-and-half with the blue of Rangers. Many of the latter ditched those hats when Rangers came to town for a ‘friendly’ match in 1974 – the violence was the worst Old Trafford has ever seen.
“United’s following were hardly angelic in those dark days, but the scenes on the terraces that night were truly shocking. United are a club that tends to inspire dislike, some of it bordering on pathological, but many Reds are genuinely puzzled as to why a Scottish club, with no history of playing the Reds in meaningful matches, should jump on that particular bandwagon.
“One reason, of course, is United’s long history of association with Ireland. United, like Celtic, have a huge fan base in the Republic, while Rangers have big support among Northern Ireland’s Protestant community.
“Any lingering notion that United were a ‘Catholic’ club was destroyed from the Sixties onwards as Northern Ireland Protestants like Best, Jimmy Nicholl and Norman Whiteside claimed regular places. But many fans retain an affinity for Celtic, and the friendly links between United and Glasgow’s ‘other’ club are another reason that Rangers are not too fond of the Reds.”
Rangers have been to Old Trafford twice since on competitive duty, both in the Champions League in 2003 and 2010, without any major incident.