If there’s one man who knows a thing or two about knocking Rangers out of the Scottish Cup, it’s Colin Miller.
But it was a bittersweet feeling when he did it back in 1995 – because he’s an Ibrox diehard and his own BROTHER wouldn’t even look at him after it. The Canadian spent two years at Ibrox between 1984 and 1986 but his real claim to fame came years later with Hearts, when his free-kick got the Jambos up and running on their way to a 4-2 win in the fourth round.
Now 60 and coaching back in his homeland, it’s a memory that sparks mixed emotions in him as he admitted it got him a cold response from his brother – while his teammates gave him it tight for his non-celebration. He told the Scottish Sun: “When I scored I just sort of jogged back to my position, and I can remember guys like John Robertson and John Colquhoun giving me a stick because of my lack of celebration. But they all knew how I felt and still feel 30 years later about Rangers.
“It was nothing against Hearts, because I was proud to play for a prestigious club. But I was a Rangers man and I couldn’t really celebrate scoring against them, even if I didn’t score all that many goals in my career.
“After the game I went up to the players’ lounge at Tynecastle and my brother Dal and his wife Jackie came over. He shook my hand, but it was one of those ones where he looked the opposite way as he did it! I was actually looking at the Rangers team that played that night and what a team they had out. None of the current team would have got on that team bus.
“Any time you played the Old Firm and beat them it was a wonderful night for our supporters. There’s still footage of the game on the internet. I can remember my goal. At the time the vogue was for defensive walls to jump at free-kicks, and I had an inkling Rangers would do that, so I concentrated on keeping my shot as low and hard as I could.
“There wasn’t any of the ‘draught excluder’ teams have now, with someone lying on the ground behind the wall. Fortunately they all jumped and it went underneath and went in at Ally Maxwell’s post.
“The other funny thing was that my mum and dad watched the game in the Rangers’ Supporters Club in Vancouver and when it went in my mum jumped up cheering and was the only one clapping her hands. My dad had to quietly pull her back down. Probably because I didn’t score many goals, if I bump into a Hearts supporter, they seem to remember that one. The only other one I scored for the Jambos was against Motherwell at Fir Park.
“It was a real privilege to play for Hearts at that time because I had some good team-mates who were really top players. There was Craig Levein and John Robertson of course. And Jim Bett was there at the time. Gary Mackay was Mr Hearts. It was a really good group.”
Miller is now Technical Lead for Abbotsford Soccer Association near Vancouver and he admits he’ll be up early to watch his two old teams do battle on Sunday morning – even if it’s not a great timer to support his beloved Rangers. “This is as low as I’ve been as a Rangers supporter, and that’s saying a lot,” he said. “Surely there will be a reaction from the Queen’s Park result and that’s with the greatest respect to them. It’s a 4am kick-off here, but I’ll be up to watch.”