It remains Terry Butcher’s biggest regret. Thirty-five years on and the fact he failed to become a Treble-winning captain still eats away at the legendary centre-back.
All this time later and the current Rangers squad have something gnawing away at them as well. Jack Butland admitted losing the title hit him ‘like a ton of bricks’ as the pain of relinquishing pole position to Celtic refuses to go away.
There’s no Treble on offer of course when Philippe Clement’s side faces off against Celtic in the Scottish Cup Final on Saturday. But there is a Double up for grabs and Butcher has called on Rangers to go all out and nab it because it’s just as big a prize as the one the Englishman let slip through his grasp way back in 1989.
He said: “It’s still as important as a treble. That’s what it feels like. Every Old Firm game is bigger than the last one. It just continues all the time and this one even more so because it’s a chance for Rangers to win silverware and stop Celtic. It doesn’t matter the situation, you want to beat Celtic and Celtic want to beat Rangers. No matter what’s happened in the league, that’s all that matters – winning. It’s win at all costs.”
Butcher savoured so much success during his four years at Ibrox, winning three Premier League crowns – including Rangers first title triumph in nine years - and two League Cups.
In 1989, he had the chance to move alongside club icon John Greig as a treble winning captain but on a baking hot day at Hampden, Rangers hopes evaporated in the sunshine as Joe Miller’s first half strike clinched the Cup for Celtic. And Butcher admits it still rankles he missed out on claiming the lot as skipper.
Butcher said: “It was the end of a long season and the pitch was rock hard. It wasn’t watered. If it was it was so warm it was evaporating quickly. It was a hot day. I just felt if we’d scored first, we’d have gone onto win. But because they scored it gave Celtic something to hang onto.
“We just couldn’t get going. It was not one game too much but we weren’t anywhere near our best. When you come in and you’ve lost the Treble.
"Talking to the ex-Rangers players like John Greig and these people who’d won trebles and the feeling of winning a treble.
“Down in England it’s unbelievable to win a treble. In Scotland, with Rangers and Celtic, it’s not common but it happens more often. I wanted to be the captain who led Rangers to a treble. It was the most horrible feeling when you come off and you’ve lost it. You haven’t scored and haven’t played well.
“It’s a regret I wasn’t a treble winning captain, that’s one of my regrets. However, I had a fantastic time in my four years at Rangers, it was really spectacular.”
Rangers have yet to get the better of Celtic in four Old Firm league meetings this season, losing three and drawing one. And Butcher insists Clement’s charges must prove they have the mentality for these occasions.
He said: “It’s all psychological. You’ve got to be mentally strong in this game and the more you play in the top level, you look at the mentality of becoming champions, you’ve got to be mentally strong.
“It’s on a continuous level all the time and when it comes to Old Firm games that’s what you must have. If you go into the game with anything less than the strongest mentality you have then you’ll fail. The importance of the occasion, you’ve got to fight that mental battle first that we are good enough to win, we can win.
“You motivate yourself and then the captain especially motivates others in the squad and gets them going as well. It all depends what your self motivation is and how strong it is because it’s the last game of the season and you want everything.”
Former Rangers player-manager Graeme Souness showed his winning mentality as he threw away his runners-up medal from the 1989 final.
Butcher added: “Graeme threw his medal in the bath. The big plunge bath at Hampden.
"After George Soutar, little Doddie, the kitman, he lifted out the plug from the bath and the water drained and he noticed the medal hadn’t gone down the plughole because there was metal ridges over that and it was stuck there.
“He saw it shining and got it out and gave it back to Graeme, as he knew it was his, and Graeme just said ‘no, I don’t take losers’ medals’.”
Butcher got the better of Celtic in the 1986/87 League Cup final to win his first trophy as Rangers captain and revealed he didn’t know he had to pass the silverware to his team-mates after hoisting it into the air.
He said: “There’s nothing like going up to the podium and accepting the trophy and lifting it up. With my first one, the League Cup in 1986, I got the trophy and promptly took it down and over to the fans. I never gave in to the other players to hold up. I didn’t know that, I’d never lifted a trophy in my career before. That wasn’t a particularly good move.”
*Terry Butcher was promoting Aguttes Auction House’s sale of Diego Maradona’s 1986 Golden Ball Trophy on June 6 in Paris. www.aguttes.com
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