Football is a passionate game and we all get
overly emotional about it at times. You may recall the story of a chap who
knocked on his Celtic supporting neighbour’s door at all hours to remind him
that Rangers had won the league that weekend. The same chap thought nothing of
setting off fireworks in the wee small hours again much to the annoyance of
neighbours. Their feud went on for quite a few years and involved episodes
which were violent in nature. All of this didn’t take place in a Glasgow Scheme
or Lanarkshire Mining Village; it happened in a plush suburb of Glasgow and
involved two players at the country’s biggest clubs. Alan Thompson and Fernando
Ricksen were brought together as neighbours by fate but there was little love
lost between the two. Thompson, you may recall, smashed an unstoppable late
winner past Stefan Klos a decade back and as he celebrated performed a ‘knock
knock’ gesture in the direction of Ricksen. The meaning was clear to all who
knew the story of their troubled relationship. Thompson and Ricksen were both
committed and whole hearted players and no strangers to the odd red card.
Neither gave an inch during their many clashes and on more than one occasion the
intervention of team mates was required to stop their tangles developing into
an open fight. As the years advanced
though and their careers wound down, they did realise that their hot headed
ways were over. Thompson said…
"Fernando and I are not getting any younger. We
might as well put what has gone on before behind us and get on with things
now."
Ricksen, as
we all know, has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease, the illness which
took Jimmy Johnstone. This utterly dreadful condition also claimed the life of
Sam English, the Rangers striker who was involved in the tragic accident which
killed Celtic goalkeeper John Thomson in 1931. Fans across football recognise
that some things make our petty rivalries fade into insignificance. Fernando
Ricksen was no angel on the football field as Alan Thompson, Derek Roirdan and
many other players would testify. His aggressive character, linked to his
admitted alcohol problems also brought him into conflict off the field. However
his indiscretions were not dissimilar to those of many young men with anger
issues. He had the added pressure of life in the Old Firm goldfish bowl. Whatever
your opinion of his abilities as a footballer, there is no disputing that he
gave his all for Rangers in the years he was there. Yes, he was wildly erratic
at times and on his first trip to Celtic Park was substituted in the first half
as he looked likely to implode as Bobby Petta ripped him apart. Some of his
tackles were crude in the extreme but there was a bit of football in him too.
You don’t play 12 times for Holland if you’re useless.
So as we
enter the week in which Celtic and Rangers (however you perceive them) square
off at Hampden Park in the League cup semi-final, it is perhaps worthwhile keeping
some perspective on the game. I will never forget the night we lost Jock Stein
as his Scotland side qualified for the world cup. A distraught Scotland fan
said afterwards, ‘I’d rather we had
failed to qualify and the big man was still with us.’ Stein seemed so
strong, so in control and yet he was taken on the cusp of another triumph. Bill
Shankly, Stein’s great friend, once famously said,
‘Some people say football is a matter of life and death,
I can assure you it’s much more important than that.’
He was wrong
on that one. So when the whistle sounds and the thunder starts at Hampden Park
next weekend, shout your head off, sing like there’s no tomorrow, but try to
remember too, it is only a game.
Watching the tribulations of Jinky and
Fernando should teach us that much.
Nice post mate! HH
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