NEIL MURRAY played a pivotal role in Rangers' Nine In A Row triumph but admits the significance of the achievement was lost on him.
Murray came through the ranks at Ibrox having signed schoolboy forms as a 14-year-old with Rangers Boys Club before going onto feature in the famous Champions League run in 1992-93 as well as scoring the opener in the Scottish Cup final win over Aberdeen.
But when Walter Smith offered him the opportunity to be a part of the momentous 1996-97 campaign, Murray declined and instead ventured abroad to sign for Swiss outfit Sion.
Despite the wealth of talent Rangers had at their disposal in the late 80s, Murray possessed an inner belief that saw him make it when others failed.
“Football is a game of talent I suppose but it’s also a game of personalities,” he said.
“You can have young players with the mindset that they’re the best player in the world but they aren’t and were overconfident and you had others you maybe didn’t have the belief in themselves.
“I think throughout my whole time, I had a quiet belief in myself. You look at everybody about you and think you can do better than them.
READ MORE: Chris Vinnicombe on choosing Rangers over English elite and playing his part in nine in a row
“A couple of things stood out because I played with the Scotland under-16s team that reached the World Cup final, they took some of the lads away on a training excursion so we went and trained with the Scotland team before the World Cup in 1990. I know it was only training but you were with the top squad and you’re thinking you’re not a million miles away.
“And then I remember being at the cup final that year when Rangers beat Aberdeen, watching them win it and just thinking it was within touching distance and that I wasn't a million miles away. Then it was maybe two years later I was there myself.
“I always had that inner belief and I still do to this day. I always had that, looking at players round about me and thinking, ‘You’re not that great.’”
Murray would flourish under Smith but says Graeme Souness had an enormous impact on his early career.
“For me, he was a role model in a sense that maybe Steven Gerrard is to certain players and younger players at Rangers now.
“You looked at Souness and he had a presence about him. Clearly, he was nobody's fool when there was a bit of friction between him and some of the senior players, he left nobody in doubt who was the manager.
“He was a winner as well, he wanted good players and high standards - that’s clear and that’s when you got to 16 or 17 you understood you needed to win every game.
“He was smart, I remember there was a reserve game at Clydebank. We weren’t playing well and he came into the dressing room at half-time and rather than going crazy he went another way. He said, ‘Listen, when you’re 14 or 15 you go out and play football with your pals and it’s fun. Just because you’re getting paid now and there’s a bigger expectation, don’t play with the weight of the world on your shoulders. Go out and just play and have fun, nothing’s changed.’
“He would pick certain moments to deliver certain things. I remember we were playing Celtic at Parkhead in a reserve game and he came in before the game and left nobody in any doubt that if that game was not won they’d be in big bother.
“We ended up winning 6-2. He picked moments to do the right things and he delivered it and you left in no uncertain terms what he wanted from you.”
“The first game I played for Rangers in terms of a big crowd was a pre-season game against Dundee, it was 1990. I was 17 and I thought I was going up to carry the boxes as I wasn’t in the reserve team group that had another game elsewhere.
“I went up there and he named the team, number 2 - me!
“Souness himself played and quite often the right-back is more or less the out-ball so he just kept on feeding me the ball through the game, again maybe that was a subtle test to say, ‘Ok, you’re in the big team now, can you handle the ball? Can you play?’
“I had a really good game, I played against Raith Rovers the next game and I played against Morton and it was great just to be involved.
“Against Raith, we didn’t play well and he arranged a team meeting the next day, I went to go into the home dressing room and he said, ‘No, you don’t get involved in this one’, so I stood outside and he absolutely destroyed them all.
“But again, in a management way that was probably him laying a marker before the season starts to make sure the players know there’s no complacency.
“He was a very good manager, a bit like Walter, you look back on it now, he wasn’t simply a legendary manager - he picked his moments to do certain things for certain reasons.”
Murray admits Souness’ shock departure for Liverpool rocked the players but the managerial transition was one that helped propel him onto heights he could only have dreamed of.
“In the initial days when Souness left there was a bit of uncertainty but pretty quickly Walter got the opportunity and obviously took it. Taking that continuity forward was a good thing.
“The last game of the season against Aberdeen to win the title was probably one of Rangers biggest games in that period, they had to win that game.
“Nothing really changed for me at that point, I was just doing my own thing, playing for the reserves week-in, week-out and at that point, there were two reserves leagues - the Premier Reserve League and the Reserve League West - so I played in excess of 60 games which was great.
“I remember John McGregor and Davie Dodds were the managers and there were a few players moaning about the bonus. We won one of the reserve leagues and we were second in the other one.
“We were moaning and complaining so McGregor says, ‘Ok, I’ll speak to Walter.’ So Walter comes flying in and says, ‘Do you know what, I’m going to give you a bonus for winning that reserve league, see for coming second in that other reserve league, I’m taking that bonus off you so you’re getting fuck all!’ and he walked out the door!
“That was Walter’s take on coming second in the reserve league.”
Murray would have to wait for his opportunity in the first team but season 1992-93 would provide him with some of his greatest memories as a footballer.
It would be a campaign that would see him come up against some of the best players on the planet and culminate with the opening goal in the Scottish Cup final but Murray credits his success that year to a sink-or-swim moment during an early-season trip to Stranraer in the League Cup.
The Light Blues would run out 5-0 victors but despite the thumping scoreline, the match sticks out in Murray’s mind for an altogether different reason.
“To be honest, I was absolutely fantastic that game and I was raging that McCoist got man of the match.” He joked.
“He must’ve scored or something but we won 5-0. The reason I remember it is because near the end of the game Richard Gough and Dave McPherson had bombed up the park, the ball broke down and I’m left by myself at the back, two v one.
“I’m watching the player come forward with the ball and I can see in the corner of my eye, a player who’s about to run through and just as he’s about to pass it, I step forward so the boy is offside. That little moment I always remember because I was left to deal with a situation on my own and it was one of those things where I played smart, played with my head and used my game intelligence.”
With the club having to abide by the three foreigner rule, Murray would benefit by featuring heavily during the club’s first foray in the newly created Champions League.
The 19-year-old would be thrust into the deep end at Ibrox when Smith’s men came back from the dead to record a 2-2 draw with Marseille would also feature in the two matches against Club Brugge.
His next appearance would be as a substitute in the winner-takes-all showdown with the French champions at the Velodrome, certainly one of the biggest matches in Rangers' history.
The often self-assured Murray admits it was the only time in his career he was riddled with anxiety due to the magnitude of the clash.
“When people sometimes ask me, ‘Did you get nervous before games?’ I never got nervous before any game, even Celtic games, I had played against Celtic from the age of 12 so you kind of knew what you were up against but the Marseille game was the most nervous I’ve ever been.
“You’re playing in a game that if you win, you’re in the final and if you lose you’re not in the final. The first thing was not to lose that game.
“When you’re playing against Abedi Pele you’re so keen not to make a mistake and not to lose a goal. The nerves in that game were off the scale.
“Your mindset is, don’t give anything away, don’t let the team down, let’s not lose this game here.
“That was the overall feeling of the game but in terms of moments when we were walking out at the Velodrome, they played Van Halen’s Jump at huge volume and their fans were going crazy.
“You’re thinking to yourself, ‘Wow! This is a huge game.’
“Bearing in mind I had just turned 20, two years earlier I was watching them play Red Star Belgrade and two years later you’re actually playing.
“The chances were few and far between. I watched the game not that long ago with my wee fella. We watched a 20-minute segment and if the game was played today, there would be five red cards! It was aggressive, people were determined not to lose, tackles flying in, elbows flying in, it was a real tough, aggressive game.”
Unfortunately for Rangers, they would just miss out on reaching the final despite a creditable 1-1 draw in France, with Marseille going on to defeat Milan 1-0 in Athens.
For Murray, his debut season was set to reach its crescendo and arguably the greatest moment of his career.
He was named in the starting lineup to face Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final at Parkhead as Walter Smith’s men looked to seal the club’s first treble in 15 years.
Despite being the youngest player on the pitch, Murray wasn’t fazed by the occasion, so much so he would open the scoring before Mark Hateley doubled the champions' advantage before the break.
Lee Richardson would reduce the deficit midway through the second half but Rangers held on to cap a historic season.
Murray credited his performance that sunny day in May to former reserve team coach Billy Kirkwood.
“Walter named the team two hours before the game, I suppose the thought process was everyone thinks they’ve got a chance of playing so everyone’s prepared.
“One thing I do remember is seeing Billy Kirkwood and he said, ‘Just make sure you do something, whether it’s a good forward pass, a shot on target, a goal, a defensive block, just make sure you do something, make a contribution, leave a mark.’
“I always remember those wise words.”
“This might not sound right to certain people of certain years but if we circle back, I walked out in front of a full house at Hampden in the under-16 World Cup final so it was nothing new. We used to get 25,000 in the reserves playing against Celtic so these kinds of things weren’t new. Ok, it’s a cup final but I always treated one game as the same as the next, there was no real difference.
“In fact, I actually preferred playing in bigger games than smaller games and preferred playing away from home as well because you could silence a hostile crowd. I quite enjoyed going away and winning or getting our noses in front and controlling the game.
“You probably don’t appreciate the significance of winning the treble or the long unbeaten run at the time because you’re so caught up in the moment of just winning the next game. That’s all that is important and is all your focus really.”
Despite coming within a whisker of reaching the Champions League final, Rangers would fail to reach those dizzy heights again with trouncing’s becoming the norm on the continent despite attracting the likes of Brian Laudrup and Paul Gascoigne to the club.
Murray recalls a sobering night in Turin when the Light Blues were walloped 4-1 by a star-studded Juventus side but despite the beating, it’s an evening that still brings a smile to his face, thanks to former teammate and perennial joker Ally McCoist.
“McCoist wasn’t playing that game and one of the boys came into the dressing room, I think it was Alex Cleland and said, ‘Do you know what? They’ve got a warm-up area inside the stadium before you go out onto the pitch, you don’t need to go out onto the pitch!’ McCoist said, ‘Is that right aye? Have they got a hide your face area for after the game when you get scudded?’”
And it wasn't just the comedy where the legendary striker excelled.
While no Rangers observer needs reminding about McCoist's sublime talents, the consistent quality of the 355 goal hero's otherworldly timing left him in fits of rage on the training ground.
“He was an unbelievable striker. I remember when I was a kid, about 18 or 19 and you don’t see many strikers do this, but they go short then they peel long then they go back in short again or vice versa. Long, short, long.
"I remember this one day at training at Jordanhill and he went short so I went short with him then he pulled out towards the middle of the six-yard box and as you’re going with him he’s back in front for the cross, bang, goal and you’re like, ‘How did he do that?’ you know raging with yourself. Other strikers who people might’ve thought were technically better than McCoist did not have that ability. He had that ability just to time that run, move defenders about and get in front and score – he was unbelievable.”
“The only other striker who was like that was Robbie Keane. I remember when Leeds played Rangers at Ibrox and he did that to Lorenzo Amoruso, that real movement to mess defenders around - you don’t see it often.”
Despite being part of a trophy-laden side rampaging towards the coveted 9 In A Row, Murray’s first-team opportunities were becoming less frequent.
His decision to leave the club on the cusp of one of their most historic seasons in their 150-year history was a simple one…he wanted more games.
“It’s interesting. Walter had said to me, ‘Would you like a new contract? I’ll give you a new contract, not a problem, it’s the Nine In A Row season.'
“At that point, as strange as it may seem, I really didn’t see the importance or the significance of nine in a row.
“I think football is a very selfish game and selfishly when Gazza came, I didn’t play so much - that’s fair enough. I’ve no axe to grind about that but when Walter said I had a new contract there to sign, I said to Walter, ‘Will I get games?’
Walter said, ‘You’ll probably not get a lot of game time,’ so I thought to myself I don’t really want to stay there, I want to try something different."
“When we were younger, Rangers went to quite a few youth tournaments abroad. One of the coaches had said at the time, ‘If you get a chance at any stage of your career, go and do it, go and try something different.’ That’s really what influenced my thinking. It was a mixture of not getting game time at Rangers and wanting to try something different and I suppose part of my thinking on it was if I went to another Scottish team, would it really be the same?
“You wouldn’t be winning things, you wouldn’t be playing in the big stadiums every other week so I think I just needed a change.”
Switzerland was to be Murray’s next port of call before moving to French football with Lorient, a short stint with Dundee United was followed by a switch abroad once more, this time with Mainz in Germany where Jurgen Klopp would be a teammate.
He’d wind down his career with spells at Grimsby, Falkirk and Ayr before hanging up his boots.
A return to Ibrox would present itself however when he was asked to assist Ewan Chester with scouting, it would be a move that would see him be appointed as Head Scout in 2011 when Chester left for Norwich City.
His time would coincide with some of the darkest days in the club’s history when Craig Whyte plunged this Scottish institution into administration.
Prior to the Valentines Day announcement in 2012, Murray says his job was challenging but admits the true extent of the financial problems came as a shock.
“One of the things that I always found difficult at Rangers was there was no real set budget so it wasn’t as if the manager got x amount of pounds to spend on transfer fees and x amount of pounds as a salary budget. You just didn’t know what you had to play with so that wasn’t the easiest strategy to go and find players not knowing exactly what we had to spend.
“There weren’t any clues. Quite often when clubs encounter trouble you get a clue when they don’t pay wages or they don’t pay wages on time. That never happened at Rangers - wages were always paid on time so although there were rumours, nobody really thought there was too much deceit.
“From my point of view, when the Valentines Day announcement from Craig Whyte came, it wasn’t totally unexpected because there had been quite a bit of rumour about it but it still was a shock to a degree because there were no outward signs of trouble in terms of cash flow because all the players were getting paid and all the staff were getting paid.”
Murray would depart Ibrox for the second time in April 2013 but still keeps a keen eye on the team where he made his name.
He says he’d love to roll back the years to play for this Rangers vintage.
“From my point of view, the team has improved year upon year upon year. Last season was obviously the culmination of those years of improvement.
“You can take out Davis, you can take out Kamara and you can put in Lundstram and Jack if he’s fit and it’s just the same, you can swap Hagi for Aribo, you can swap Nathan Patterson for Tavernier at full-back.
"The quality of depth in the squad is the strength of the team and the way the team plays is also its strength. That doesn’t come overnight, that comes over a period of time and that’s what Gerrard has brought to the team - an identity in a sense of how the team plays and in the characteristics of the players that he wants in certain positions.
“If you look back at older games, they were difficult to play in. You had big men, real aggressive, throwing elbows and tackles in and all the rest of it. In the modern-day, to play in a team like Rangers that play good quality football, passing, moving, it would be good to play in that environment that’s for sure.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here