|
The events of 10 July 1989 represented a seminal moment in Rangers'
history. Dogged for years by a millstone-like transfer policy that saw
the club openly resist signing players with a Roman Catholic background,
Graeme Souness and Chairman David Murray obliterated that strategy in
one fell swoop when they lured Maurice Johnston to Ibrox, plucking him
from under the noses of former employers Celtic in the process. It was a
landmark signing for the club, and although there was dissent from a
minority of Rangers followers, Johnston proved to be a shrewd
acquisition.
Signed from the French club Nantes for a fee of £1, 500, 000,
Johnston was one of the finest strikers in European football when he
arrived at Ibrox at the start of the 1989/90 season. A goalscorer par
excellence and capped twenty-eight times by Scotland before he joined
Rangers, Johnston was a small and gutsy forward who was deceptively good
in the air despite his lack of inches. He was quick off the mark too,
and became the perfect foil for Ally McCoist, with the pair managing to
seamlessly transition the productive partnership they had established at
international level with Scotland.
Understandably given the hullabaloo that was associated with his
signing, Johnston took some time to find his feet at Ibrox, but he soon
settled in and netted his first goal in a Rangers jersey in a league
match against Aberdeen at Ibrox on 9 September 1989. That goal, the
winner in that particular match, visibly lifted a weight from Maurice's
shoulders and gradually he found his way into the hearts of those within
the Rangers community. He was fully accepted into their company in
November when he picked up a loose clearance on the edge of the penalty
area and swept a right foot shot beyond Pat Bonner to score the only
goal in the final minute of the Rangers-Celtic Old Firm clash at Ibrox.
Johnston scored against Celtic again when The Hoops returned to Ibrox
the following April, and by the end of his first season with Rangers,
Maurice had supplemented his medal collection with another Premier
Division winners badge, with his goal-scoring return of fifteen from
thirty-six league appearances a major contributory factor to Rangers'
title triumph.
In his second season, 1990/91, Johnston found himself paired with a
new striker in the shape of English international Mark Hateley, with
fans favourite Ally McCoist relegated to the substitutes' bench. The new
combination of 'Little & Large' dovetailed perfectly, as Rangers
embarked on another successful season that yielded a third successive
Premier Division title in dramatic fashion and triumph in the Scottish
League Cup. Johnston netted a total of nineteen goals in thirty-nine
league and cup appearances, including one at his old stomping ground,
Parkhead, on 25 November, and claimed his first Rangers hat-trick when
he netted three of Rangers' six goals in their trouncing of Maltese
minnows Valletta in the opening round of the European Champions Cup.
With a total of thirty-six goals in just two seasons, Johnston looked
set to be a permanent fixture in the Rangers line-up in the years
ahead, but the departure of Graeme Souness to Liverpool in April 1991
heralded the beginning of the end of his Rangers career. Although he
started the 1991/92 season under new manager Walter Smith in fine
fashion with a double in the opening league fixture against St
Johnstone, Johnston eventually had to play second fiddle to the
resurgent Ally McCoist, and he moved to Everton for £1, 750, 000 in
October 1991 in search of regular first-team football. (Alistair Aird,
Author of Ally McCoist - Portrait of a Hero)
|