Helicopter Sunday 20 years old … How Rangers Celtic spent the title on a dramatic last day of the season

The banner in the Celtic End of Ibrox when the teams appeared, was looking ahead. “Welcome to the Craig Bellamy show,” read it.

Towards the end of the last old company Clash of 2004-05, the Welsh attacker had justified his star invoice with a outrageous goal in a 2-1 victory, so that Martin O’Neill’s side clearly left five points with only four games to play. It felt like the credits started rolling in the title race.

Normally a bastion of hope, even Rangers‘Shamelessly partial official website seemed to resign from the inevitable.

“Rangers must destroy an almost insurmountable shortage of five points if they want to become SPL champions after losing the last old company match of the season,” said it.

“Only an almost collapse by Celtic In the last four games, the Ibrox side will end the season as champions.”

In Golfaal, the side of O’Neill was seven shots at the turn. Many engraver should have worked less certainly with a solution.

The story of what became known as a helicopter on Sunday was involved faith and unlikely heroes. It was the most dramatic final for a top-flight season in football this century.

In the following 20 years a story has arisen that the complacency of Celtic also played a role. This is determined.

The same applies to the suggestion that O’Neill’s eye was out of the ball because of his wife’s disease. It was three days after the title loss that he announced that he stepped aside.

While the side was inevitably weakened by the departure from Henrik Larsson to Barcelona the last summer, it still had Chris Sutton, 30-goal John Hartson, and from January a supreme talent in his colleague Welshman Bellamy.

Celtic had started defending their title in formidable form, won 12 and the sign of one of the opening 14 games. It was the honor of Rangers that they were not yet out of sight.

The side of Alex Mcleish spilled early points to Aberdeen, Hearts and Dundee United and lost the first derby in Parkhead. Yet they hung in it.

And after they had defeated Celtic 2-0 in Ibrox in November, they won in Parkhead in February with the same score to come forward.

But a draw with inverness and a loss for Dundee United left Celtic back for the foreground.

The men of O’Neill were clear when they ended in Ibrox on 24 April. A victory and the title apparently belonged to them.

The first turn in the story came a week later. Under Tony Mowbray, a youthful Hibs team – with Scott Brown, Derek Riordan and Garry O’Connor – went to Parkhead and won 3-1.

The next day the side of Mcleish Pittodrie left with the same score. It threatened to become interesting.

A week back in Glasgow, Rangers saw for the first time with the odd goal in three to go with a point at the top of the table. Celtic recovered their position 24 hours later by beating Aberdeen 2-0.

Mcleish’s men again enjoyed the benefit of playing on the penultimate weekend and stated another issue of Celtic by winning 4-1 against Motherwell. O’Neill’s men came from Tynecastle with a 2-1 win and their destination in their own hands.

While both parties would end with out -of -matches, Celtic’s assignment looked easier. Motherwell was scraped in the top six, was injured and only had proud to play for. Hibs, with whom Rangers was confronted, had European football in their thoughts.

MCleish later remembered: “I said to the team:” The only thing you can’t do is not winning this game. If Celtic Drop -points does not do your job for some reason and the game wins, you will regret it for the rest of your life. You wake up with cold sweat in the middle of the night. “

It was a message that had to be strengthened because the half-time whistle sounded in Leith.

After he did not break the impasse in their game, Rangers returned to their dressing room to hear that Celtic led through a Chris Sutton goal. While things stood, Celtic won the title with four points.

“The players came in with curved shoulders when they heard the Celtic score and I knew that I had to pick up the boys again,” Mcleish added. “I had a word in the ear of Barry Ferguson and said,” You can’t sit there with your face you stumble. You have to collect these guys “.

‘We had large Marvin Andrews who’ continues to believe ‘everyone in the dressing room and gradually the atmosphere changed a bit. I have everyone together and said, “Here it is scenario. If we score a goal and Motherwell score a goal, you are champions”.

After 14 minutes of the second half, a bent Nacho Novo strike made Rangers held their half of the bargains.

Word filtered to South Lanarkshire. Celtic was more than enough opportunities to solve the problem, but fear was now in the game.

Motherwell almost grabbed an equalizer when the head fencing of Stephen Craigan was blocked by Didier Agathe on the goal line.

Hartson wasted three possibilities to stretch Celtic’s lead with home keeper Gordon Marshall also keeping Bellamy at a distance.

An equalizer for HIBS would have been greeted with euphoria 40 miles west, but it would never appear.

Although Aberdeen hit Harten with Pittodrie 2-0, Hibs should admit three more times to be overtaken by the down on goal difference.

In a scene reminiscent of West Germany’s notorious victory of one goal over Austria in the World Cup 1982, both parties were satisfied to keep the score as it was.

“I remember talking to Ferguson and Michael Ball during the game,” reminded Dean Shiels, who played for Hibs that day.

“We had time to talk on the field because no action had happened. We were just in the game and the Rangers back celebrated the ball just over the field. We were not in a hurry to chase the ball. We were happy to lose 1-0. ‘

Kenny Clark, the referee in Leith, recalls the final phases of the match as the most bizarre that he even took the lead.

“It was like boxers who declined from each other,” he said. ‘Hibs withdrew into their own half and Rangers were allowed to keep the ball. It was an extraordinary situation.

“Barry Ferguson had asked how long to go. I said, “Four minutes” and he said, “Just blow, this is boring.” A minute later the entire mood changed completely and suddenly there was an urgency about Rangers, who thought: “Let’s not do anything stupid here”. “

News about the 88th -minute goal of Scott McDonald for Motherwell immediately echoed around Easter Road. From the want that it all ended, Rangers now led the title race with five goals.

Only two things can now deny Mcleish’s side. A Celtic winner or an equalizer of a hibs.

“The only fear I had was Soto Kyrgiakos and Marvin Andrews who kept the ball between them at the back,” McLeish recalled.

‘We are not talking about Barcelona defenders here, they were two big warriors. But they have not made any slip-ups. They were smart and careful enough to see the game. ‘

That was the Graas on Easter Road that many were present, did not know that McDonald had beaten for the second time in the 90th minute to seal a Motherwell victory.

The ball was at the feet of Lifelong Rangers fan Alex Rae when Clark blew the last whistle.

“I sent the missus to New York on Thursday because I thought:” If we lose this title, I will become an absolute nightmare, “the midfielder remembered.

“I remember Barry Ferguson jumped on my back and said,” We won this “. There were players who ran around as if I was actually overwhelmed. It was something I never suggested. ‘

McDonald, a professional in front of his bootstraps and looked like the happiest man in Fir Park when he scored the goals that his boy heroes sentenced to second place. Moments later, the enormous size of what he had done met him.

“I was in shock after the game,” the Australian remembered. “I thought I would be lynched. I remember that I was in tears there.

“The only thing I can remember is that Phil O’Donnell comes to me, tears the towel of my head and says:” Fabrics, it’s about us, it’s about you who do well for you “. That was huge from such a man who had played for Celtic.

“It’s a bit crazy. My grandfather was in the Celtic Supporters’ Club in Melbourne in the early hours of the morning. It is safe to say that he had to get bodyguards to get away from it. And my father -in -law didn’t look at me for about a week. ‘

The subsequent exploits of McDonald in a Celtic sweater made sure that his intervention would be forgiven that day if it would never be forgotten.

To this day, the visiting players claim that their attitude was not what cost them.

‘We were purely focused on what we had to do, and that was winning the game. Simply put, we blew it, “sutton reflected.

‘I had put the team first, but it was just like every match, you need a second goal. We had opportunities, in all honesty, but I have to give Motherwell credit.

“The dressing room was then a creepy place. There are no words to really describe it and nobody could have said anything that the situation would have made better.

“We won the cup the next week, what a comfort was, but the competition was the one we wanted.”

The curtain would come on the O’Neill era after that scary victory at Hampden on Dundee United.

In particular, Gordon Strachan would regain the title in his first season, with a point less than Celtic the previous year.

MCleish would end up a miserable last season at Ibrox and finished third behind Hearts when his former teammate Van Aberdeen won the championship in the first time of asking.

But he took his leave, knowing that no Rangers manager in history had chaired such a dramatic triumph. It’s hard to ever introduce yourself.