My Favourite Game
My Favourite Game
Throughout the course of the season, on average about 50 games will be played by each club. But how many of them do you remember? How many of them do you still remember on Sunday morning? Out of the 50 games played each season, only a few games will be clearly remembered in a couple of years. There are various reasons for this: either the game was particularly outstanding or the season was particularly dire. In Motherwell's case, both reasons could apply, but here are some of the games I won't forget about in a while.
Some of these games will be remembered by everyone, but a few are a bit more strange. I've deliberately left out the cup run as they are obvious selections.
1987: 'Well 0-2 Aberdeen. My first game - don't remember a thing.
1989: 'Well 7-0 Clyde. Before the game, Chick Young tipped this as a possible upset - wrong! Seven goals from seven players saw us through. I left my autograph book on the terracing. We returned to the main door at about five o'clock. Just go through we were told. So, on Scottish Cup third round day, there I was running out of the tunnel. I was on the pitch briefly and I got a seat 'beside' Tommy McLean in the dugout. Bliss.
1991: 'Well 3-0 Rangers. This was one of the few games I missed this year as my dad refused to watch "the Huns celebrating on our pitch". Remarkably, that didn't happen. A thunder bolt from Softy gave us the lead and two goals from wee Dougie clinched it. In between, Walters blasted a penalty high into the Knowetop end leaving me to jump around ecstatically on my bed.
1991: 'Well 3-1 Katovice. Despite a 2-0 defeat in Poland, we were mildly optimistic about overturning the deficit. I still remember a Pole clearing a shot off the line at 1-0. If that had gone in, we would have won. But the Poles scored at the start of the second half, and we would experience the pain of away goals for the first time. Two late goals gave us some pride but sadly that was all we got from our first excursion into Europe.
1992: Rangers 2-1 'Well. This was my first game at Ibrox. I vaguely remember the whole of the lower tier being packed with 'Well fans. We played with a pride and passion that had been missing all season. A rocket from Phil O’Donnell saw us lead at half time. The referee showed his true colours and two goals from a Russian saw us go out. A memory that still tingles the hairs on my neck, was the fans singing well into injury time even though we were losing - a rare thing!
1994: Dortmund 1-0 'Well. This is a vivid memory as it was my first trip abroad to see the 'Well. No one gave us a chance when they saw the draw, but as soon as the game started we started to scare the Germans. We played with skill and determination and managed to make a few decent chances. The best was when Coyne robbed Caesar and ran through on Klos. He curled it round the goalie, but into the side netting. We eventually lost 1-0 but we had a moral victory to claim.
1995: 'Well 2-1 Celtic. Even though beating Celtic has lost it's rarity value, it's still very sweet. We were winning when Scott Howie was injured, forcing Jamie Dolan into the goals. We tried hard but eventually conceded an equaliser with about 10mins to go. When we reached the 89th minute, most home fans were happy with a point. However, the team were still battling and Andy Roddie missed a great chance from six yards but Ian Ross forced the ball over the line to give us our first big win in front of the new Cooper Stand.
1996: Rangers 0-2 'Well. Another game where we were allegedly just going to make up the numbers. A good start saw Owen Coyle give us the lead, and but for some woeful finishing we could have been three or four up at half time. We defended solidly in the second half and Owen's second saw us home, leaving me to dance about the house knowing safety was in our own hands.
1998: 'Well 6-2 Hibs. This game was very important as it would virtually guarantee our safety if we won. We got off to a typically impressive start, losing two goals in the first five minutes. Hibs then proved just how bad they were by giving a couple of soft goals to Arnott and Weir. We grabbed the lead when Eric Garcin chipped a lovely free kick into the top corner. Hibs gave us a couple of scary moments in the second half but three late goals sealed it for us. This remains the only game I have seen us win from being two goals down.
1998: Utrecht 4-1 'Well. This game seemingly had no importance at all. A foreign friendly is always going to provide some fun for the travelling supporters, who made friends with all of Utrecht that night. The team were a let down, crumbling to a defeat after a positive start. The interesting thing was that after the game, Harri Kampman left the team to fly to Helsinki. Two days later Harri resigned under 'mysterious' circumstances, and to this day, no one is entirely certain why.
1998: 'Well 1-0 Rangers. This game sticks very much in the memory because not only did we defeat the Huns, it was also John Spencer's debut. During an even first half, we had the slightly better chances, but it was not until the second half that we took the lead. A quick free kick by another debutante, Ged Brannan, was controlled by Spenny and he turned to smash the ball into the net. Despite some late pressure, and some shocking misses by the £30 million 'superstars' we clung on.
No doubt I have forgotten many crucial and exciting games, so why don't you write in to remind me? Here's to some more great wins in 1999!
Derek Wilson
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