0:00:00 > 0:00:00the fans were gently persuaded to empty their pockets.
0:00:01 > 0:00:05This programme contains some strong language.
0:00:05 > 0:00:06Football.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10Love it or hate it, you certainly can't avoid it.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12It's deeply woven into our society.
0:00:14 > 0:00:19It can affect our politics, and sometimes even our identity.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22From the beginning, into the mid-1980s,
0:00:22 > 0:00:26club football was still rooted in our industrial communities,
0:00:26 > 0:00:29played in every street and backyard,
0:00:29 > 0:00:33and many of the players we produced were world-class.
0:00:35 > 0:00:36But the quality of those players
0:00:36 > 0:00:40disguised a system in desperate need of modernisation.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44As the industrial communities that supported the clubs also fractured,
0:00:44 > 0:00:47Scottish football found itself at a crossroads.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53This is the story of 30 years of social change,
0:00:53 > 0:00:55self-delusion, greed,
0:00:55 > 0:00:58risk, blind ambition,
0:00:58 > 0:01:00and political intrigue.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06The soul of Scottish football was up for grabs.
0:01:21 > 0:01:22Three decades ago,
0:01:22 > 0:01:26Scotland's game was riding high on its proud history.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29A heritage that produced world-renowned leaders
0:01:29 > 0:01:32who transcended class and culture.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35Heroes to the working-class communities they came from
0:01:35 > 0:01:39who, in turn, unified the whole nation.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42But the times were changing.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45A new wave of political doctrine had emerged,
0:01:45 > 0:01:47placing money above everything.
0:01:48 > 0:01:53Popular capitalism is nothing less than a crusade
0:01:53 > 0:01:57to enfranchise the many in the economic life of the nation.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05To be a success in the new era called for a new type of leader.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09One that would keep one eye on the ball
0:02:09 > 0:02:11and the other on business.
0:02:11 > 0:02:12In 1986,
0:02:12 > 0:02:18the first of many dynamic characters determined to shake the game up
0:02:18 > 0:02:20did it in his own inimitable style.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24I'm a professional footballer who plays for money.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27I'm not ashamed of that. I've always been open about that.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29I play for money.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32'Three players to his right. He's picked out Souness,
0:02:32 > 0:02:34'who picks out a beauty.'
0:02:34 > 0:02:38Graeme Souness was already an international star.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41He had scaled the heights of European football
0:02:41 > 0:02:43and was one of the highest earners in the game.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48He was probably a superstar at that time.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50'Here's Souness.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52'Oh, he's given them a chance right at the death.'
0:02:52 > 0:02:56He was a master tactician and a dominant presence on the pitch.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58We all know he could be really physical.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01But he was a brilliant footballer.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03Souness now redirected his career,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06setting his sights on football management.
0:03:06 > 0:03:07His target...
0:03:07 > 0:03:10Rangers, one of the giants of football.
0:03:12 > 0:03:17After years of decline, the club was badly in need of a major revamp.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22Rangers' gates were down to, I think, 15,000.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25We hadn't won the league for nine years.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28People were totally fed up with it all. And we lit a fire.
0:03:29 > 0:03:34So, gentlemen, welcome now our new player-manager, Graeme Souness.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37Scotland's international captain, Graeme Souness,
0:03:37 > 0:03:39signed on as Rangers...
0:03:39 > 0:03:41It's speculated that Rangers are making Souness
0:03:41 > 0:03:44one of Britain's highest-paid managers.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49His first move was to initiate one of the biggest spending sprees
0:03:49 > 0:03:51in the history of the Scottish game.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55Him coming to Ibrox, even as a player,
0:03:55 > 0:03:57raised everybody's eyebrows.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59But as a manager, everybody knew
0:03:59 > 0:04:03that this was light blue touchpaper and retire ten yards.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05We knew this was going to be
0:04:05 > 0:04:08a really fractious, argumentative,
0:04:08 > 0:04:11dramatic move in Scottish football.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16I thought I was aware how big a club Rangers was,
0:04:16 > 0:04:20but I quickly realised they were far bigger than I'd imagined.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22Do you think Souness can bring back the flag to Ibrox?
0:04:22 > 0:04:26I think within two years, two or three years, easy.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30But Souness wasn't prepared to wait that long.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33I wasn't used to losing. I wasn't used to failure.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36It had just been a succession of winning things,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39and captaining my country...
0:04:39 > 0:04:40I didn't see any fear in it.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45His appointment coincided with a barren period
0:04:45 > 0:04:47for the game in England.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51Clubs were banned from lucrative European competition for five years
0:04:51 > 0:04:53due to a wave of hooliganism.
0:04:55 > 0:04:56In an audacious move,
0:04:56 > 0:05:00Souness pounced for one of the best-known names in world football -
0:05:00 > 0:05:04Terry Butcher, the England international captain.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08We see Terry as the best player of his type in the world today.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11We trained on the Albion, which is now a car park,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14across from the main ground at Ibrox,
0:05:14 > 0:05:16and I spoke to Davie Cooper and I said to him,
0:05:16 > 0:05:20"Look, Davie, if I do join, will we win the league?"
0:05:20 > 0:05:22And he says, "Yep, no problem, big man."
0:05:22 > 0:05:24"You join - absolute certainty."
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Graeme Souness had agreed a fee - I think it was 750,000 -
0:05:28 > 0:05:30and he paid cash.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34The traffic was always across the border, heading south, and suddenly,
0:05:34 > 0:05:38the best players in England were coming to Scottish football.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40That was quite remarkable and significant.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45Big players were eager to try their hand in European football.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49It was revolutionary. I mean, England internationals
0:05:49 > 0:05:52playing in Scottish football?
0:05:52 > 0:05:53Just unheard of.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55My aim is to bring the best here.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57Obviously, that's going to cost a lot of money.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00You don't think you're going to miss the challenge
0:06:00 > 0:06:01of English league football?
0:06:01 > 0:06:04If you asked any Scotsman that up here, they'd laugh at you.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07Scotland was a better league than the English top flight,
0:06:07 > 0:06:09because there is much more interest, there was European football,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12there was internationals going up there,
0:06:12 > 0:06:13it was a phenomenal place to be.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15I didn't know Graeme Souness at the time,
0:06:15 > 0:06:17I played against him, but, you know, big plans for Ibrox,
0:06:17 > 0:06:20big plans for the club and everything else like that,
0:06:20 > 0:06:22and I really bought into it.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27Right from his very first game as player-manager,
0:06:27 > 0:06:31Souness made it clear he would never back away from a fight.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37'The red card has been shown to Graeme Souness.'
0:06:40 > 0:06:42I was ready for it.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45I was fearless.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50I've never felt fearful playing in a game of football.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53The bigger the challenge, the more I like to think I rose to it.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59His combative approach and huge spending power
0:06:59 > 0:07:01having an immediate effect.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03'And there is Terry Butcher,
0:07:03 > 0:07:07'the first Englishman to hold that League Cup trophy aloft.'
0:07:09 > 0:07:12That breakthrough success opening the floodgates.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17'And there it is, the final whistle.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20'Rangers have won the league, and on come the supporters.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23'The crowd have gone berserk.'
0:07:31 > 0:07:35He brought a swagger and a sense of confidence
0:07:35 > 0:07:38and brought that sense of invincibility,
0:07:38 > 0:07:39or if not invincibility,
0:07:39 > 0:07:44simply, you know, "Who are you? Who are you looking at, sunshine?"
0:07:44 > 0:07:47And he raised the game for everyone.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52There was this severe paradigm shift
0:07:52 > 0:07:55of depression and misery
0:07:55 > 0:07:57to money, success.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59So if it wasn't a revolution,
0:07:59 > 0:08:03it was certainly something incredibly exciting and innovative.
0:08:03 > 0:08:04It was just complete change.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10Souness, however, was not the only manager
0:08:10 > 0:08:13shaking up Scottish football with a new and distinctive approach.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18There had been other examples on the east coast.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21Success had been achieved at Aberdeen under Alex Ferguson
0:08:21 > 0:08:24at a fraction of the cost of their Glasgow rivals.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31Ferguson's great success would eventually see him lured
0:08:31 > 0:08:34to one of the biggest clubs in England.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37At Dundee United, Jim McLean was also riding high...
0:08:39 > 0:08:42..but without access to a blank cheque book.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45'There is a man who totally transformed
0:08:45 > 0:08:48'the face of football in this city.'
0:08:48 > 0:08:50Recognising their limitations,
0:08:50 > 0:08:54McLean led them through the most successful period in their history.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56'..second goal...
0:08:56 > 0:08:57'There it goes. It's a goal.'
0:08:58 > 0:09:01'There's the chip. He might get it...
0:09:03 > 0:09:07'Oh, magnificent! Ferguson scores.'
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Only the fourth Scottish club to reach a European final.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18Although they fell short in the ultimate test
0:09:18 > 0:09:20against Gothenburg in 1987,
0:09:20 > 0:09:24the scale of McLean's achievements were obvious to the club's fans.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27'I don't think I've ever seen a crowd stand like this
0:09:27 > 0:09:28'for a defeated side.'
0:09:30 > 0:09:32That chapter with Jim McLean and Dundee United
0:09:32 > 0:09:35stands equal with anything we've done in Scottish football
0:09:35 > 0:09:37in the last 50 years.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40At times, McLean seemed to regard the players
0:09:40 > 0:09:42as the sole property of his club.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47Players were famously tied up on long-term contracts
0:09:47 > 0:09:49during a period where the balance of power between player and club
0:09:49 > 0:09:52still lay very much in favour of the clubs.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58Something I always think was paramount to our success
0:09:58 > 0:10:03was Jim McLean had a policy
0:10:03 > 0:10:06that we all stayed within eight miles of the city.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08We would socialise with each other quite a lot,
0:10:08 > 0:10:12our wives were close, we were a close bunch of guys.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14We trained a lot, we were really fit.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17Even Christmas Day we could train, because we all stayed here.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21So if things weren't good, you were quickly told with supporters,
0:10:21 > 0:10:22you know, "Things need to improve."
0:10:22 > 0:10:24Have a good night tonight, then, eh?
0:10:24 > 0:10:27I'm baby-sitting tonight. Baby-sitting?
0:10:27 > 0:10:30You'll be drunk baby-sitting. Yes! Thank you very much, pal.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37We had dieticians, sports scientists, fitness coaches,
0:10:37 > 0:10:38psychologists...
0:10:38 > 0:10:42in the early '80s, long before it became popular.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47Where he let himself down was his man management.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49Everybody was treated the same.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51They were all battered with the same brush.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54HE SHOUTS ANGRILY
0:10:54 > 0:10:58For all that he was a tinpot dictator,
0:10:58 > 0:11:00for all that he might have flouted
0:11:00 > 0:11:03the United Nations conventions on human rights,
0:11:03 > 0:11:05I mean, he was a great football figure.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07His ways wouldn't work now.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13I played reserve team football at 15, against men.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15Physically, you couldn't handle it.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17But mentally, you grew stronger.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20And you grew stronger quicker.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24You had experienced players who literally would punch you
0:11:24 > 0:11:26if you weren't doing the right things.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29There was none of this mollycoddling you. You got a whack.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32And you either grew up or you got shipped out, simple as that.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38McLean made light of United's financial disadvantages
0:11:38 > 0:11:42and applied his forceful personality to the pursuit of greatness.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47It's a small club, it's a provincial club,
0:11:47 > 0:11:49and we have to cut all corners
0:11:49 > 0:11:52to try and stay competing at the top,
0:11:52 > 0:11:53save money wherever we can.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00McLean also had views on the very structure and future of the game...
0:12:01 > 0:12:05..believing that to have 42 professional clubs
0:12:05 > 0:12:07was unsustainable.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11I honestly believe that clubs would be more successful
0:12:11 > 0:12:14if they joined ranks and pooled resources
0:12:14 > 0:12:16than at the moment,
0:12:16 > 0:12:18where it's spread far too thin over the ground.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23His contemporaries had achieved success
0:12:23 > 0:12:24by following the money.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26Alex Ferguson,
0:12:26 > 0:12:29now at the helm of one of the richest clubs in the world,
0:12:29 > 0:12:33would go on to achieve spectacular success.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35But McLean, fearing his club
0:12:35 > 0:12:38would soon be too small and impoverished to compete,
0:12:38 > 0:12:39had ambitious plans.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44And in 1999, he attempted to consume his city rival,
0:12:44 > 0:12:46Peter Marr's Dundee FC.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49It was very close to happening,
0:12:49 > 0:12:51and the merger was very, very close to happening.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53It was within two or three days of happening.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57People don't remember, or certainly some people don't want to remember,
0:12:57 > 0:12:59that that deal was done,
0:12:59 > 0:13:02those two teams, on a Friday night, had merged.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04They had come up with a new name,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07they had come up with the strip they would play in.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09And on a Monday morning, it had all changed.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12What had happened had been some incident in a nightclub with...
0:13:12 > 0:13:14I think it was Rab Douglas,
0:13:14 > 0:13:17who was married to the daughter of Peter Marr.
0:13:17 > 0:13:18Peter Marr came on and said,
0:13:18 > 0:13:22"I'm not going to put my family through this," and it was off.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24Jim McLean, who really wanted the merger,
0:13:24 > 0:13:26and the proof is there,
0:13:26 > 0:13:28asked me...
0:13:28 > 0:13:31in every way to get that back on the table,
0:13:31 > 0:13:33but Peter wasn't for it.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36It was more a takeover than a merger, I believe.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40But, hey, it's historic now. I'm not one to stir things up.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44I've never said a thing about my neighbours up the road.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47We're both important for each other in the city.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50And, yeah, it never happened.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58Jim McLean had responded to the increasing financial pressures
0:13:58 > 0:14:00by suggesting the unthinkable.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03In the end, it hadn't worked.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06Those financial pressures
0:14:06 > 0:14:10meant that football was now more vulnerable than ever
0:14:10 > 0:14:13to people who saw it mainly in terms of the money it could generate.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17Most people don't understand
0:14:17 > 0:14:20how you can acquire A - a famous football club,
0:14:20 > 0:14:23and then B - turn it into a strong company,
0:14:23 > 0:14:25with nearly ?100,000 capital.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27I mean, I lot of intelligent people have said,
0:14:27 > 0:14:29"How on earth did you do that?"
0:14:30 > 0:14:32Claiming to be a lifelong fan,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35solicitor David Duff was given a seat
0:14:35 > 0:14:38on the Hibernian Football Club board in 1987.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42It remains to me, even to this day,
0:14:42 > 0:14:46a mystery as to who exactly was David Duff.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48He's very much an enigmatic character
0:14:48 > 0:14:50in the history of Scottish football,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54not someone that is well known, not someone that even in a pub quiz
0:14:54 > 0:14:56you would necessarily come up with his name,
0:14:56 > 0:14:58and I think the enigma around him is,
0:14:58 > 0:15:01what was he really trying to achieve?
0:15:03 > 0:15:04Duff attracted the attention
0:15:04 > 0:15:07of Conservative Party treasurer-in-waiting
0:15:07 > 0:15:09and tax exile David Rowland,
0:15:09 > 0:15:13who agreed to bankroll an acquisition of the Edinburgh club,
0:15:13 > 0:15:17but only if the Hibernian fans were also encouraged to fork out.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19With the use of bizarre TV advertising,
0:15:19 > 0:15:24the fans were gently persuaded to empty their pockets.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27The most important person at Easter Road isn't Alex Miller,
0:15:27 > 0:15:31Peter Cormack, John Collins or Steve Archibald.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33It's you - Hibs fans.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36While the team plays its part on the park,
0:15:36 > 0:15:38we and all our fans play theirs.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40There's no substitute for that.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44The Hibs fans bought shares in huge numbers,
0:15:44 > 0:15:47and a profit of about ?1.5 million
0:15:47 > 0:15:50found its way back to David Rowland.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55But hidden in the small print of the newly formed Hibernian plc
0:15:55 > 0:15:58was the acquisition of a loss-making restaurant chain
0:15:58 > 0:15:59trading in the south of England
0:15:59 > 0:16:02and owned by one of David Rowland's companies.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07Haemorrhaging massive debt, it dragged Hibs into receivership.
0:16:08 > 0:16:09I think it pointed
0:16:09 > 0:16:12to some of the issues that we see later in Scottish football
0:16:12 > 0:16:16where the club is not only overextending itself,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19but more importantly, starting to get involved,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22by curious, circuitous route, in other forms of business.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24And, of course, these are very different businesses.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27They're not run in the same kind of way,
0:16:27 > 0:16:31and it ended up to Hibs spiralling into economic chaos, basically,
0:16:31 > 0:16:35and made them uniquely vulnerable to being taken over.
0:16:38 > 0:16:39With the club on its knees,
0:16:39 > 0:16:42Duff was ordered to an emergency board meeting,
0:16:42 > 0:16:46where he discovered there was to be a hostile takeover of Hibernian,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49and learned the identity of the individual behind it.
0:16:51 > 0:16:52David Rowland said,
0:16:52 > 0:16:55"Who is the worst person you could imagine
0:16:55 > 0:16:58"that would bid for the company?"
0:16:58 > 0:17:02And I speculated a few names that I won't repeat,
0:17:02 > 0:17:03but not the right one.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06And Jeremy kept saying, "No, worse than that, worse than that.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08"The very worst person."
0:17:09 > 0:17:11The Hearts chairman Wallace Mercer
0:17:11 > 0:17:14strode into an Edinburgh hotel this afternoon
0:17:14 > 0:17:19to announce the boldest takeover bid British football has ever heard.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22This morning, Heart of Midlothian plc submitted an offer
0:17:22 > 0:17:28for the full issued share capital of Edinburgh Hibernian plc.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31His idea of taking over Hibernian Football Club
0:17:31 > 0:17:33was totally a disastrous idea.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36It shouldn't come as a cultural shock,
0:17:36 > 0:17:40the thought of putting together two teams who have been...
0:17:40 > 0:17:43competitors for a hundred years or so.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45Disgraceful.
0:17:45 > 0:17:46Are you going to go yourself?
0:17:46 > 0:17:48Go where? Go to a new club?
0:17:48 > 0:17:49No danger. No danger.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53Anybody who really understands football
0:17:53 > 0:17:55knows that you can't have yin without yang,
0:17:55 > 0:17:57you can't have Hearts without Hibs,
0:17:57 > 0:17:59you can't have Rangers without Celtic,
0:17:59 > 0:18:01and you cannot, you must not ever
0:18:01 > 0:18:03effectively deprive people of their football loyalties.
0:18:03 > 0:18:04You can't do that.
0:18:09 > 0:18:10Wallace Mercer's plan
0:18:10 > 0:18:14was to sell both of the valuable city centre club grounds
0:18:14 > 0:18:18and build a new all-seater stadium on the outskirts of Edinburgh.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24But unlike other businesses, most football clubs
0:18:24 > 0:18:27were still firmly rooted in strong communities...
0:18:33 > 0:18:35..with their fans ready to be called upon
0:18:35 > 0:18:38as a last line of defence.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Keep your predator hands off Hibernian Football Club.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43CHEERING
0:18:46 > 0:18:48It was a very modern campaign in that sense,
0:18:48 > 0:18:50but it preceded social media,
0:18:50 > 0:18:52so it wasn't done through forums or anything like that.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54It was done through concerts,
0:18:54 > 0:18:56through raising money through the buckets in the streets,
0:18:56 > 0:18:59through hand-outs, flyers and things like that.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04More was at stake than just the club's history.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06Identity, trust in its owners,
0:19:06 > 0:19:10and the fans' dignity were also on the line.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13The community cared enough to believe it could make a difference
0:19:13 > 0:19:16as the campaign took hold.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18They had a rally in the Usher Hall,
0:19:18 > 0:19:22and they asked me to go along just to show support to the Hibs players,
0:19:22 > 0:19:24cos that was the other thing that was involved -
0:19:24 > 0:19:25if the teams were to merge,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28at least one full squad of 30-odd players would have been lost.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30And I told the truth.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32I just felt that the city was big enough for both clubs.
0:19:32 > 0:19:33I didn't agree with it.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36I knew a lot of the lads in the Hearts dressing room didn't agree with it,
0:19:36 > 0:19:38and didn't feel it was right,
0:19:38 > 0:19:41which didn't go down too well with the chairman.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43It was probably close to the club's darkest hour,
0:19:43 > 0:19:45and everybody who was part of Hands Off Hibs
0:19:45 > 0:19:48deserves great credit for the passion that they showed
0:19:48 > 0:19:50and the determination they showed to save the football club.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52That's part of a recurring theme within football -
0:19:52 > 0:19:55supporters are passionate about their football club
0:19:55 > 0:19:57and just want the best for their club.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01The relentless campaigning
0:20:01 > 0:20:04piled pressure on David Duff and his business partners.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07At the very last moment, they held on to their shares
0:20:07 > 0:20:09and the deal fell through.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13Since the takeover campaign began,
0:20:13 > 0:20:17a simmering undercurrent of aggression stalked the city,
0:20:17 > 0:20:19aimed mostly at Wallace Mercer.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24The fact of having a 24-hour guard on my family by the police...
0:20:25 > 0:20:27..bricks through windows.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31I mean, really, it is so parochial, it is so short-sighted,
0:20:31 > 0:20:34and in the end, it really is quite sickening.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38'The ball through to Foster. He's got Robertson in the middle.
0:20:38 > 0:20:39'John Robertson!'
0:20:41 > 0:20:45Just weeks later, the pent-up anger boiled over,
0:20:45 > 0:20:47the fans displaying their rage
0:20:47 > 0:20:50at the bungled attempt to dismantle their club communities.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53'We have an incident on the field.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57'Several players having to race forwards, fans invading the park.'
0:20:57 > 0:21:01The place was packed to the rafters, and it was a horrible atmosphere.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04You know, Hibs fans were going bananas, and rightly so.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07Hearts fans weren't too happy about it either.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09We were the Antichrist at the time, we were the enemies.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13'Well, there have been chants throughout the game
0:21:13 > 0:21:15'against the Hearts chairman, Wallace Mercer,
0:21:15 > 0:21:17'who's not here this afternoon.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19'But no matter what's happened during the summer,
0:21:19 > 0:21:23'there can be no excuse for these disgraceful scenes,
0:21:23 > 0:21:25'these quite dreadful scenes.'
0:21:28 > 0:21:32Tensions erupted, and the police, inadequately prepared
0:21:32 > 0:21:37and completely misjudging the volatile atmosphere, lost control.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39The game was suspended several times,
0:21:39 > 0:21:42but the teams struggled on until half-time,
0:21:42 > 0:21:45when John Robertson led Hearts off the pitch three goals ahead.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49We came in at half-time
0:21:49 > 0:21:51and in came the match commander and a couple of policeman.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54He says, "Look, we fear another pitch invasion.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56"We're going to basically say if you score another goal
0:21:56 > 0:21:58"and Hibs fans invade,
0:21:58 > 0:22:00"we may have to stop the game, we'll have to stop the game.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03"So if you can help it, don't score."
0:22:03 > 0:22:06And we're all looking stunned, thinking,
0:22:06 > 0:22:07some strange request, that.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10He went out the door, "Yeah, yeah, no problem at all.
0:22:10 > 0:22:11"Thanks very much.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13"We know where he's coming from, we'll leave it at that."
0:22:13 > 0:22:16Shut the door and just says, "Nah, that ain't happening, guys."
0:22:16 > 0:22:17WHISTLE BLOWS
0:22:17 > 0:22:19'And there, in fact, goes the final whistle.'
0:22:19 > 0:22:21Hibs lost the game,
0:22:21 > 0:22:24but claimed victory in their battle with Wallace Mercer.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28It wasn't the love of football that brought David Duff to Hibs.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30It was the lure of making money,
0:22:30 > 0:22:34and when that didn't happen, it was time to leave.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37The biggest lesson is that you can't really trust anybody.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41And I just want away from it now.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47David Duff did move away, and eventually into prison...
0:22:49 > 0:22:52..convicted of fraud in 1993
0:22:52 > 0:22:54after swindling hundreds of thousands of pounds
0:22:54 > 0:22:57from numerous banks and building societies.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03An appropriate omen for the shape of things to come.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15Financial turmoil became a common feature of the game.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18And no club, regardless of size or pedigree, was immune.
0:23:23 > 0:23:24For over a century,
0:23:24 > 0:23:28Celtic Football Club had been under the control of a group of
0:23:28 > 0:23:32close-knit families. Resistant to change, these custodians were
0:23:32 > 0:23:36stuck in a rut, increasingly disconnected from their supporters.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39Somebody's got to do something because the board are just
0:23:39 > 0:23:42going to sit there indefinitely and they have got to let them know
0:23:42 > 0:23:44what their feelings out.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47What was actually going on at Celtic in the accounts and in the way
0:23:47 > 0:23:50that money was spent, where the money ended up,
0:23:50 > 0:23:53because they certainly weren't spending it on players,
0:23:53 > 0:23:56they weren't spending it on the stadium.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59Their attitude to football supporters was to treat them
0:23:59 > 0:24:03like scum. You will have no voice. Keep giving us the money.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07Don't ask any questions about where it's going and behave yourselves.
0:24:09 > 0:24:14And it wasn't long after that where the fanzine phenomenon began
0:24:14 > 0:24:17and became a real thorn in the flesh.
0:24:17 > 0:24:22They began asking questions about how football fans had been treated.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25Celtic fanzine.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28ALL: # Sack the board, sack the board, sack the board
0:24:28 > 0:24:33# Sack the board, sack the board, sack the board, sack the board
0:24:33 > 0:24:35# Sack the board, sack the board! #
0:24:35 > 0:24:38Liam Brady, who was then the Celtic manager,
0:24:38 > 0:24:42he actually said to me, "you think Celtic are going to go under?"
0:24:42 > 0:24:46That was the Celtic manager not sure about what the future held
0:24:46 > 0:24:48for the club and everything else.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53The old family dynasty, it was ancient.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56It belonged to another era and it was time to move on and they
0:24:56 > 0:25:01were not capable of modernising that club and that's what had to happen.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08You had the famous headline with the hearse outside Parkhead
0:25:08 > 0:25:10which was in one of the Sunday tabloids
0:25:10 > 0:25:12which caused a lot of ill-feeling
0:25:12 > 0:25:16and out of all of this, at the 11th hour, the saviour arrived -
0:25:16 > 0:25:18Fergus McCann.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25The so-called saviour brought with him new business ideas
0:25:25 > 0:25:28and a fresh vision to a club and football system
0:25:28 > 0:25:30bereft of direction and purpose.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35McCann, a lifelong fan and self-made travel tycoon,
0:25:35 > 0:25:39had watched from his home in Canada as the club's fortunes declined.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43He responded to desperate pleas from supporters to mount a rescue.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48I Had ?11 million sitting in an account to show that the funds
0:25:48 > 0:25:51were there. I was not an illusion.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54I was not some guy with other people's money or no money and all the rest.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56"Has he got any money, has got any money?"
0:25:56 > 0:26:00It was sitting there. The bank exercised a squeeze play.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04By noon, on a certain day if you don't pay up, we will foreclose
0:26:04 > 0:26:08and we will take over the assets and put you into administration.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11So I responded to that and paid that off.
0:26:12 > 0:26:13I only paid off the bank.
0:26:13 > 0:26:18I did not have control of the shares or the company on that day.
0:26:19 > 0:26:24For 48 hours, McCann was trapped in a financial no-man's-land.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27With the assistance of director Brian Dempsey,
0:26:27 > 0:26:30he attempted to hammer out a deal for full control.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35The club's bankers warned the club was in peril of being put into...
0:26:35 > 0:26:37The chairman, David Smith, had arrived in Glasgow,
0:26:37 > 0:26:39saying he would resign...
0:26:39 > 0:26:42Did you mislead the board over the current state of the finances?
0:26:42 > 0:26:43Absolutely not.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47The old board, under siege, held the line.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51The fans gathered on the doorstep.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56And the media waited for answers.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59A lot of us journalists were holed up at Celtic Park while all
0:26:59 > 0:27:03these negotiations were going on and it was the end of the negotiations.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07Out of a side door, Fergus McCann appeared,
0:27:07 > 0:27:11quickly followed by David Smith, one of the Celtic directors.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15And David Smith opened the door for Fergus
0:27:15 > 0:27:17and said, "Goodnight, Fergus."
0:27:17 > 0:27:21And Fergus McCann kept his head down and said, "Goodbye, Mr Smith."
0:27:21 > 0:27:24The game is over. The rebels have won.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27CHEERING
0:27:30 > 0:27:32We have new people, a new plan,
0:27:32 > 0:27:34a new vision and the strength to go forward.
0:27:36 > 0:27:41McCann's five-year strategy involved giving the supporters a stake
0:27:41 > 0:27:45in the club's future and building a new state-of-the-art stadium.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48He actually saved Celtic.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51Celtic would have been out of business had it not been for
0:27:51 > 0:27:52him and Brian Dempsey.
0:27:52 > 0:27:57It was about giving fans more of an interest in their club in terms...
0:27:57 > 0:28:00They could buy shares, which was largely unheard of here.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02He gave the fans a new belief.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08He did not think within the traditional parameters of
0:28:08 > 0:28:11Scottish football. He came with new ideas.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15It went against the grain with some people. So he was different.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20McCann's radical approach to the business of football appeared
0:28:20 > 0:28:24to be deliberately misunderstood by an increasingly hostile media.
0:28:27 > 0:28:32His focus was utterly clear-cut about making Celtic a great,
0:28:32 > 0:28:34powerful force in the game.
0:28:34 > 0:28:35He would keep on saying,
0:28:35 > 0:28:40"We don't do things conditioned to appease the press.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43"We do the right things and we deal with the repercussions."
0:28:45 > 0:28:49The football authorities frequently questioned many of his
0:28:49 > 0:28:51American-style commercial practices.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55McCann was issued with an order to appear before them
0:28:55 > 0:28:58for enticing another team's manager to join his club.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03'Celtic have been fined a record sum of ?100,000.
0:29:03 > 0:29:07'The fine is the largest ever in the history of Scottish football.'
0:29:07 > 0:29:10'..could be expelled from the Scottish league unless they pay
0:29:10 > 0:29:14'a ?100,000 fine within the next two weeks.'
0:29:14 > 0:29:17You can't have this football association with football rules
0:29:17 > 0:29:23and football laws deciding to penalise to that extent.
0:29:24 > 0:29:30I felt that was vindictive and it was unnecessary and excessive.
0:29:30 > 0:29:35And was intending to go to a real court, which, by the way,
0:29:35 > 0:29:38under the football rules you are not allowed to do.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42They have a rule in the football rules which is an illegal rule,
0:29:42 > 0:29:46namely, you can't use the law. Now, nobody is above the law.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52And when the SFA chief executive Jim Farry mysteriously delayed
0:29:52 > 0:29:55a big player transfer, McCann went to war.
0:29:57 > 0:30:01That was an example of maybe, if you like, a panjandrum,
0:30:01 > 0:30:04if you want to call him that. He made the rules.
0:30:04 > 0:30:06He'd do things his way. It's all
0:30:06 > 0:30:10about, "We are going to show this guy, McCann, who's in charge here."
0:30:11 > 0:30:15Well, you can't and you can't prejudice a given club on
0:30:15 > 0:30:19a given day, doing as he did. And he paid the price.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22'The Scottish Football Association has suspended
0:30:22 > 0:30:24'its chief executive, Jim Farry.'
0:30:24 > 0:30:26'The SFA have been forced into an apology to Celtic
0:30:26 > 0:30:30'and the finger of blame is clearly being pointed at the Chief Executive.'
0:30:45 > 0:30:48Much of this ongoing conflict between the old and the new
0:30:48 > 0:30:51was played out in the media, with the personalities involved
0:30:51 > 0:30:56providing endless stories for the so-called "fans with typewriters".
0:30:56 > 0:30:58When I started in journalism,
0:30:58 > 0:31:01sports writers and journalists in general still had this
0:31:01 > 0:31:07amazing divine privilege almost that when the newspaper hit the
0:31:07 > 0:31:12doormat the next morning, you revealed the news to the world.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15The main purpose of producing a newspaper is to sell more
0:31:15 > 0:31:20than your rivals, sell as many as possible by any legal,
0:31:20 > 0:31:22barely legal means possible.
0:31:22 > 0:31:24And football sells.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27The new world of sports media gave the fans what they wanted,
0:31:27 > 0:31:31more column inches about football.
0:31:31 > 0:31:35But for the clubs, controlling the media was still a new challenge.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39Ayrshire businessman David Murray
0:31:39 > 0:31:42had amassed a fortune in the steel and property industry and had a
0:31:42 > 0:31:48deep interest in sport, particularly his local club, Ayr United.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51He was looking to get involved in Ayr because his family are
0:31:51 > 0:31:53from there. I said it's a mistake.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56I think if you have the money, you could buy Rangers.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00That's how it turned out. We got on very well. We became great friends.
0:32:02 > 0:32:06Murray and Souness shared a similar outlook and world view
0:32:06 > 0:32:08and both were fiercely ambitious.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12Murray purchased Rangers in 1988 with aspirations
0:32:12 > 0:32:15to join the European elite.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18In a bold move, he further extended his empire
0:32:18 > 0:32:21into the media business, creating his own newspaper.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26Aware that a new era of football public relations had dawned,
0:32:26 > 0:32:30Murray discovered that feeding the media was preferable to fighting it.
0:32:33 > 0:32:38David Murray liked to hold court, which was great for the media.
0:32:40 > 0:32:45The old journalists got sweeties from David and hence David was the
0:32:45 > 0:32:50king and David's challenger, Fergus, was the village idiot.
0:32:52 > 0:32:56Fergus was never prepared to try and compete by giving sweeties
0:32:56 > 0:32:59to the media. And if you don't give sweeties to the media,
0:32:59 > 0:33:02they don't like you and they hurt you and they treat you badly.
0:33:02 > 0:33:04David Murray had the media in his pocket.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06And he had very good methods for doing it.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09We knew what the methods were and we discussed the methods at Celtic
0:33:09 > 0:33:11and decided not to follow them,
0:33:11 > 0:33:14but we knew how he was going about it, and it worked.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24David Murray deployed shrewd manipulation of the media as well as
0:33:24 > 0:33:27continuing his aggressive financial approach to running Rangers.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33Very quickly you realise that he was a person who was going to spend
0:33:33 > 0:33:37whatever it would take to make Rangers successful in Europe.
0:33:37 > 0:33:41We have applied for a work permit for Oleg Kuznetsov,
0:33:41 > 0:33:42the Russian captain.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44He started to build and build and build
0:33:44 > 0:33:48and spend, spend, spend and get players in and lay the foundations
0:33:48 > 0:33:51for the dominance that Rangers had in Scottish football at that time.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54If we weren't doing well, we'd lost a couple of games,
0:33:54 > 0:33:57a new player would arrive. It was just wonderful.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59That was the first indication
0:33:59 > 0:34:04that anyone got that Rangers were going to up the ante,
0:34:04 > 0:34:06and after that,
0:34:06 > 0:34:11it was very difficult for any other Scottish clubs to compete against them.
0:34:11 > 0:34:14At the time, nobody was talking about, "is David Murray
0:34:14 > 0:34:16"spending too much money?"
0:34:16 > 0:34:21Everyone was just going, "Brian Laudrup, wow."
0:34:21 > 0:34:25"World-class." There was no sense that this was anything other than normal.
0:34:27 > 0:34:29This was it, this is what Rangers do.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32This is going to continue and the next superstar
0:34:32 > 0:34:35is going to be in the door pretty soon.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39'Paul Gascoigne finally concluded his much-heralded move to Glasgow Rangers
0:34:39 > 0:34:42'to become the club's most expensive ever signing.'
0:34:44 > 0:34:46Our ambitions hold no bounds.
0:34:46 > 0:34:50More and more money will become available. This will be a regular feature at Rangers.
0:34:50 > 0:34:51He enjoyed that rollercoaster.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55He enjoyed high stakes,
0:34:55 > 0:34:59taking risks, taking the club on this exciting journey,
0:34:59 > 0:35:03and a lot of people bought into it, including...
0:35:03 > 0:35:07and I don't spare myself this, including critical observers,
0:35:07 > 0:35:12who should have been more prescient about it than we were.
0:35:12 > 0:35:14Rangers are the biggest club in Britain, people better realise that.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18We used to think we're a big club, we are a biggest club now.
0:35:18 > 0:35:22Many other clubs copied the Rangers business model.
0:35:22 > 0:35:24But in most cases,
0:35:24 > 0:35:28simply racked up debt to pay for higher transfer fees and wages.
0:35:30 > 0:35:32The age of the foreign import had begun.
0:35:34 > 0:35:36'Here's Larsson, he's done it!'
0:35:39 > 0:35:42I think having foreign players there was exciting for the fans and
0:35:42 > 0:35:45also enriched our game in terms of the way it was going to be played.
0:35:45 > 0:35:47It was more about the money.
0:35:47 > 0:35:51People who support a local club like the idea of organic growth of
0:35:51 > 0:35:55the players coming through the club, rather than being bought in.
0:35:55 > 0:35:56I felt that the clubs,
0:35:56 > 0:36:00including Rangers, went too far in getting foreign talent.
0:36:00 > 0:36:04And clubs were spending, within their own financial contexts,
0:36:04 > 0:36:05stupid amounts of money.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09Look at smaller clubs like Airdrie, they were buying foreign players.
0:36:09 > 0:36:11It's just daft.
0:36:11 > 0:36:16Dundee United were probably as guilty as anybody else of
0:36:16 > 0:36:18bringing too many foreigners into the game.
0:36:18 > 0:36:23They probably took a lot of money out of the club and gave us nothing
0:36:23 > 0:36:25back in return.
0:36:25 > 0:36:27And then I think everybody jumped on that bandwagon,
0:36:27 > 0:36:31and I think it hurt our game quite badly.
0:36:31 > 0:36:36The game here became a dumping ground for second,
0:36:36 > 0:36:39third and sometimes fourth-rate European players.
0:36:39 > 0:36:41And that's because other clubs thought,
0:36:41 > 0:36:43"We have to get foreign players to compete."
0:36:45 > 0:36:48They neglected the talent on their own doorstep and that withered
0:36:48 > 0:36:51a bit and I think that was a bad thing for Scottish football.
0:36:51 > 0:36:58I think if you go back to the period of the escalation of wages
0:36:58 > 0:37:01and the ability to spend to get the big players,
0:37:01 > 0:37:04that has an impact on every major club in Scotland.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07I think that's where the rot sets in. For me, that's where it starts
0:37:07 > 0:37:11to go hopelessly wrong because it led to an escalation of wages
0:37:11 > 0:37:15that were over and above what the economy of Scottish football could afford.
0:37:20 > 0:37:24As the players performed for rapidly expanding wage packets,
0:37:24 > 0:37:26the fans, treated like cattle,
0:37:26 > 0:37:30paid to watch them from behind barbed wire fences.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36After a series of horrific stadium disasters,
0:37:36 > 0:37:39the government stepped in.
0:37:41 > 0:37:45Lord Justice Taylor's report into 1989's Hillsborough disaster
0:37:45 > 0:37:48ordered the clubs to modernise their grounds.
0:37:50 > 0:37:55'Its 100 pages add up to the bleakest and most damning critique...'
0:37:55 > 0:37:57'..scrap their terraces or be shut down.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00'The Taylor report says it's the only way to stop Hillsborough
0:38:00 > 0:38:02'happening again.'
0:38:02 > 0:38:06The change demanded a move from ramshackle terraces to
0:38:06 > 0:38:11all-seater stadia, adding another huge financial burden
0:38:11 > 0:38:13to the already overstretched clubs.
0:38:18 > 0:38:21Rangers had already suffered a horrific stadium tragedy
0:38:21 > 0:38:23years earlier, in 1971.
0:38:26 > 0:38:28In the aftermath,
0:38:28 > 0:38:32the club rebuilt Ibrox to the highest safety standards.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36When they were all spending money on stadiums,
0:38:36 > 0:38:40we could match Man United, or Liverpool,
0:38:40 > 0:38:43or Arsenal, anyone, for transfer fees and salaries.
0:38:45 > 0:38:51At times, the Souness revolution appeared to embrace the political and financial climate of the day,
0:38:51 > 0:38:55with its emphasis on free markets and deregulation.
0:38:55 > 0:38:59However, this was not a philosophy shared by most of Scotland.
0:38:59 > 0:39:04The Conservative party's policies - the poll tax, deindustrialisation
0:39:04 > 0:39:07and mass privatisation - led to bitter hostility.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09MEN SHOUT
0:39:09 > 0:39:11Scab! Scab!
0:39:11 > 0:39:13The national mood was a combination
0:39:13 > 0:39:17of humiliation, bitterness,
0:39:17 > 0:39:22worry, deep anxiety, insecurity,
0:39:22 > 0:39:25perhaps above all, anger.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27Scab! Scab! Get it up ye!
0:39:29 > 0:39:33In 1988, Mrs Thatcher made one of her few visits to Scotland
0:39:33 > 0:39:35when she attended the Cup Final,
0:39:37 > 0:39:41a fusion of politics and football.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44It gave her a chance to appeal to the Scottish voters.
0:39:44 > 0:39:51It gave the football fans a chance to express their opinion of the political changes of the time.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55We were all aware that she wasn't the most popular person in Scotland.
0:39:55 > 0:40:00We lined up in the foyer and she came out and met us before the game,
0:40:00 > 0:40:03so obviously, that tells you that they were
0:40:03 > 0:40:06a bit worried about the reaction that that would get.
0:40:06 > 0:40:10'And there is the Prime Minister, Mrs Thatcher,
0:40:10 > 0:40:12'making her first public appearance.'
0:40:15 > 0:40:19The supporters were given red cards before the Prime Minister arrived
0:40:19 > 0:40:23and held them up as she appeared in the Royal box.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28'And supporters from both sides,
0:40:28 > 0:40:32'making the noise as the presentation party comes out...'
0:40:34 > 0:40:36Thatcher herself,
0:40:36 > 0:40:39knowing she was losing votes in Scotland in the 1980s,
0:40:39 > 0:40:44and trying to find out why this was, became aware it was not simply because of her policies,
0:40:44 > 0:40:48it was because also the Protestant working-class vote
0:40:48 > 0:40:52was no longer overwhelmingly going to the Conservatives.
0:40:52 > 0:40:56That was the first erosion in the sectarian political divide.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05As Scotland's political landscape evolved,
0:41:05 > 0:41:09it began to challenge some of the less edifying traditions
0:41:09 > 0:41:11that had taken root in both society and football.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17Scotland's religious loyalties were also beginning to crumble and
0:41:17 > 0:41:20a more tolerant society was emerging.
0:41:20 > 0:41:24But some football clubs lagged well behind the social momentum.
0:41:25 > 0:41:27The toxicity of sectarianism
0:41:27 > 0:41:31had festered for decades on the terraces.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36CHANTING: Hello! Hello! We are the Billy Boys!
0:41:36 > 0:41:40CHANTING: We're all off to Dublin in the green - fuck the Queen!
0:41:40 > 0:41:44Well, there wasn't that divide in the period before 1900,
0:41:44 > 0:41:47in particular not between Rangers and Celtic.
0:41:47 > 0:41:53It's only later that the sectarian poison enters the sporting arena.
0:41:56 > 0:42:00Irish immigrants to Scotland at the turn of the century adopted Celtic,
0:42:00 > 0:42:02a club founded in the East End of Glasgow
0:42:02 > 0:42:04to help feed the city's poor,
0:42:04 > 0:42:08while Ulster Protestants, brought in during the prewar era
0:42:08 > 0:42:12to work in the city's shipyards, gravitated towards Rangers.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16The religious divide that had only previously existed
0:42:16 > 0:42:19in the confines of worship now found other outlets.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25In the '20s and early '30s, the Scottish industrial economy
0:42:25 > 0:42:27virtually collapsed.
0:42:27 > 0:42:30There was huge levels of immigration,
0:42:30 > 0:42:33a massive sense of depression -
0:42:33 > 0:42:37that is the high point of the sectarian history of Scotland.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41People look for scapegoats and among the scapegoats found were
0:42:41 > 0:42:45people from an Irish Catholic background who were seen to
0:42:45 > 0:42:47be threatening the very essence of Scottishism.
0:42:49 > 0:42:51That is the period in 1923
0:42:51 > 0:42:55when the Kirk publishes its notorious report and pamphlet,
0:42:55 > 0:43:00"The menace of the Irish race to our Scottish civilisation."
0:43:00 > 0:43:04The Kirk addresses the employers of Scotland -
0:43:04 > 0:43:08"please only hire and promote those who are of the Scottish race."
0:43:11 > 0:43:13And Rangers began to adopt -
0:43:13 > 0:43:16as so many other Scottish corporations did in that period -
0:43:16 > 0:43:21began to adopt a Protestant-only policy, in terms of signing.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31Rangers continued with this approach until Graeme Souness was
0:43:31 > 0:43:34appointed player-manager in 1986.
0:43:35 > 0:43:39On the day he joined the club, he sought a different way forward.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44I believe that if you are a Rangers supporter,
0:43:44 > 0:43:47you want to come here and watch them winning every week.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50Whether they be whatever colour or whatever religion,
0:43:50 > 0:43:54if they're doing the business for Rangers, surely that's what the supporters want to see.
0:43:54 > 0:43:56We've got our traditions at Ibrox.
0:43:56 > 0:43:59We don't want to see them broke for the sake of one man.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02Souness or no. We like wur ain traditions.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05I'd like to see him pick whoever he wants as long as they're Protestant.
0:44:05 > 0:44:06LAUGHTER
0:44:09 > 0:44:14In May 1989, waiting in the wings was a one-time Celtic hero,
0:44:14 > 0:44:18contemplating a homecoming to his old club.
0:44:18 > 0:44:20I'm really delighted.
0:44:20 > 0:44:25There was other offers but there was only one team I want to play for and that's Celtic.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30But Johnston had not put pen to paper and signed a contract.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35Behind the scenes, fierce negotiations continued,
0:44:35 > 0:44:37resulting in a series of events
0:44:37 > 0:44:40that reshaped the social and football landscape.
0:44:41 > 0:44:44I remember I was in the house one day and I got
0:44:44 > 0:44:45a phone call from my son.
0:44:45 > 0:44:49"Have you heard any rumours about Mo Johnston signing for Rangers?"
0:44:50 > 0:44:53I remember my reply to him distinctly - I said,
0:44:53 > 0:44:56"There is as much chance of me becoming the next Pope
0:44:56 > 0:44:59"as Mo Johnston signing for Rangers."
0:45:00 > 0:45:04I've come to a really big club, possibly one of the biggest in Europe.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07We can maybe go all the way in Europe, hopefully.
0:45:07 > 0:45:10I'm just delighted to be joining the club.
0:45:10 > 0:45:11It was stunning.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14I was in the room. It was utter bedlam.
0:45:14 > 0:45:18One of the most staggering days I can remember in sports reporting.
0:45:18 > 0:45:23'Mo Johnston will be the first Roman Catholic to play in Rangers' first team.'
0:45:23 > 0:45:26This was an absolutely brilliant signing
0:45:26 > 0:45:29and not just in terms of the shockwaves that it caused,
0:45:29 > 0:45:33but because Mo Johnston was at the absolute peak of his powers,
0:45:33 > 0:45:36he was absolutely on top of his form - brilliant player.
0:45:36 > 0:45:39I believe he's the best centre forward in British football today.
0:45:39 > 0:45:43I knew at the time it had to be done. And it was right.
0:45:43 > 0:45:46It was preventing us going forward as a football club.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49He was a damn good footballer, that's all that mattered.
0:45:49 > 0:45:52It wasn't just the fact that Rangers had signed a Catholic, which was big enough,
0:45:52 > 0:45:54it was the fact they'd signed THAT Catholic,
0:45:54 > 0:45:56in that particular manner.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58I am Rangers through and through.
0:45:58 > 0:46:00And a Protestant through and through.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04You'll no' get me at Ibrox again, that's it.
0:46:04 > 0:46:05Why not?
0:46:05 > 0:46:07Because they signed a Catholic.
0:46:10 > 0:46:14The big thing I remember about the Maurice Johnston signing
0:46:14 > 0:46:16was Graeme Souness's determination
0:46:16 > 0:46:19not to be bound by the sectarian policy
0:46:19 > 0:46:23which had operated in signing terms really until then.
0:46:23 > 0:46:24And that blew that apart.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30Fair play to him. Brave little bugger, he was right up for it.
0:46:30 > 0:46:32He deserves a lot of credit.
0:46:32 > 0:46:36Obviously I've got to look to win the Rangers fans over and I think I can do that.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43This whole thing that there's people burning scarves
0:46:43 > 0:46:46outside Ibrox... your nutters,
0:46:46 > 0:46:50the very few nutters who only saw the religious aspect,
0:46:50 > 0:46:53but they weren't anything like the majority.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56Almost every Rangers fan I knew was absolutely delighted because
0:46:56 > 0:46:58it was one in the eye for Celtic.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04I think he's a little traitor.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07He's a mercenary for money.
0:47:07 > 0:47:09And Rangers are welcome.
0:47:09 > 0:47:14It's a brave signing - the guy's going to get hassle from both sides, Rangers and Celtic supporters.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17'It goes to Johnston. That's a corner.
0:47:19 > 0:47:22'It's getting pretty towsy...'
0:47:22 > 0:47:24It's a brave effort for Rangers bringing him to Ibrox.
0:47:24 > 0:47:29If you're going to sign a Catholic, sign a good one, he must be the best.
0:47:29 > 0:47:31Will you be going back to Ibrox? Certainly.
0:47:33 > 0:47:37It was sort of a signal to Celtic - "Even Catholics want to play for us,
0:47:37 > 0:47:39"that's how good we are now."
0:47:39 > 0:47:41'Johnston.
0:47:41 > 0:47:43'And he's scored!'
0:47:43 > 0:47:46A very, very big watershed for Scottish football
0:47:46 > 0:47:50and a much-needed watershed in so many respects.
0:47:51 > 0:47:55We suddenly realised the world had changed. It was transformational.
0:47:55 > 0:47:59It was very difficult to appreciate what had just happened
0:47:59 > 0:48:01to Scottish football.
0:48:01 > 0:48:03It was a sign for everyone that the club was changing
0:48:03 > 0:48:07not only in terms of being able to bring in
0:48:07 > 0:48:11a higher level of player, but also historical aspects of the club
0:48:11 > 0:48:15that weren't very savoury were going to change as well.
0:48:16 > 0:48:20The context of the Johnston affair was patently important.
0:48:20 > 0:48:25We see evidences in that time of the end of labour market discrimination,
0:48:25 > 0:48:29it's more or less dead by the late 1980s,
0:48:29 > 0:48:31so what Rangers do is fairly typical.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35They are coming in for a lot of criticism, virulent criticism,
0:48:35 > 0:48:37even from ministers of the Church of Scotland,
0:48:37 > 0:48:41so the temper of the times was changing.
0:48:41 > 0:48:45It was also a reflection of these deeper movements,
0:48:45 > 0:48:48sometimes below the surface, in Scottish society,
0:48:48 > 0:48:51which we can also see now as we look back.
0:48:53 > 0:48:57But for many fans, particularly at Celtic and Rangers,
0:48:57 > 0:49:00intolerance is a way of life,
0:49:00 > 0:49:04with a proclamation of tribal allegiances part of the match day routine.
0:49:04 > 0:49:08You must've thought long and hard what you had to do last summer.
0:49:08 > 0:49:10Has it been all worthwhile? Yes, very much so.
0:49:10 > 0:49:13The management have backed me, the fans have backed me
0:49:13 > 0:49:17and most of all, the players have backed me. I'm delighted.
0:49:17 > 0:49:21Club dressing rooms often mirrored the conduct on the terraces.
0:49:21 > 0:49:25The new Rangers team, which now included Maurice Johnston,
0:49:25 > 0:49:29were captured in full voice in this previously unseen footage.
0:49:29 > 0:49:31# ..surrender or you'll die
0:49:31 > 0:49:34# For we are the Rangers Derry Boys... #
0:49:34 > 0:49:35Get in there.
0:49:35 > 0:49:40When I came to Rangers, I got sucked up in it big-time, I really did.
0:49:40 > 0:49:43For the first couple of years, it was fine, you sung the songs,
0:49:43 > 0:49:46attended this, did that, all that sort of thing,
0:49:46 > 0:49:50but I'm one that jumped in with both feet, and went the whole hog.
0:49:50 > 0:49:53# Dundee, Hamilton, fuck your Pope and Vatican
0:49:53 > 0:49:56# If they go to Dublin we will follow on... #
0:49:56 > 0:50:01I remember Rita saying to me one time, "You really want to stand back and have a look at yourself
0:50:01 > 0:50:02"and see what you're doing."
0:50:02 > 0:50:05And I did and I thought, "Wow, what AM I doing?"
0:50:05 > 0:50:07You do get sucked up in it.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10And you do end up calling people names and singing the songs
0:50:10 > 0:50:14and you actually believe it and I thought, "Wow, hang on a minute.
0:50:14 > 0:50:18"It's football, I'm playing for Rangers, I've got my family,
0:50:18 > 0:50:22"I'm not really a religious person, but I'm fine with it."
0:50:22 > 0:50:26But you ended up, "Wow, look at me, I've become a different person."
0:50:26 > 0:50:29And I found that I had to really step back
0:50:29 > 0:50:32and I think was the only Rangers captain not to be a Mason,
0:50:32 > 0:50:33all that sort of thing as well...
0:50:33 > 0:50:37Wow, hang on a minute - where are we going with this?
0:50:39 > 0:50:44Sectarianism reaches far into the soul of Scottish football.
0:50:44 > 0:50:47But it's not exclusive to any one club.
0:50:47 > 0:50:51Arguments may rage about what constitutes sectarian comment.
0:50:51 > 0:50:53Religious or political.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56We love the IRA, we love the IRA...
0:50:57 > 0:51:00To the outsider and to the rest of Scottish football,
0:51:00 > 0:51:03both things look and sound the same.
0:51:03 > 0:51:08Indistinguishable from any other display of intolerance.
0:51:08 > 0:51:13My position is that sectarianism is dying in Scotland.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16And to me it's ironic as a historian that as it dies,
0:51:16 > 0:51:20it's got much more attention in the public domain and in Scots law
0:51:20 > 0:51:22than it ever did in its heyday.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29A decade on from Souness' radical move,
0:51:29 > 0:51:33Rangers' signing policy had moved on significantly.
0:51:34 > 0:51:37I think by the time you've got to Amoruso coming along,
0:51:37 > 0:51:40especially given he ended up captaining the team,
0:51:40 > 0:51:43I mean, a Catholic captain at Rangers -
0:51:43 > 0:51:46the symbolism of that is immense.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49And now I don't think anybody bats an eyelid.
0:51:49 > 0:51:52I don't even think it troubles your bigots any more.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00The Souness revolution transformed and reshaped Scotland's
0:52:00 > 0:52:02social and sporting landscape.
0:52:03 > 0:52:09But his forceful character often fell foul of the football authorities,
0:52:09 > 0:52:13and he, like Fergus McCann, attracted some puzzling verdicts.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20At this point, I've got nothing to say, thanks.
0:52:20 > 0:52:25A six-month touchline suspension quickly escalated to an
0:52:25 > 0:52:30unprecedented two-year ban, leaving Souness with limited options.
0:52:33 > 0:52:37I now feel I've gone as far as I will be allowed to go in trying to
0:52:37 > 0:52:40achieve success at this football club.
0:52:40 > 0:52:43So I feel now would be the best time for me to go.
0:52:46 > 0:52:48It was becoming...too much, it was becoming boring,
0:52:48 > 0:52:51it should always have been about the football club.
0:52:51 > 0:52:56Instead it was about me being in trouble for different things.
0:53:07 > 0:53:12The broader impact of the Rangers revolution under Graeme Souness
0:53:12 > 0:53:14was, I think, aspiration.
0:53:14 > 0:53:18At club level, what you started to see was that the clubs became
0:53:18 > 0:53:21more important to fans than the national team.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24And this idea of the emergence of super-teams that are
0:53:24 > 0:53:27capable of competing in Europe, that can play in the bigger tournaments,
0:53:27 > 0:53:30that can go the finals and win them and whatever,
0:53:30 > 0:53:33became the real measure of success.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36And suddenly when Rangers emerged in their nine-in-a-row period,
0:53:36 > 0:53:38they were the equal of all the big English teams of the time.
0:53:40 > 0:53:45Rangers' dominance of the Scottish game continued for almost a decade.
0:53:45 > 0:53:47Walter Smith took over at the helm,
0:53:47 > 0:53:51with David Murray continuing to bankroll the club's success.
0:53:54 > 0:53:59'The moment belongs to Rangers. The ninth time in a row.'
0:54:01 > 0:54:04The clash of these two very different business models,
0:54:04 > 0:54:08David Murray's lavish spending and Fergus McCann's more prudent
0:54:08 > 0:54:11approach, came to a head in May 1998.
0:54:13 > 0:54:16'The cheers ring round Celtic Park.'
0:54:26 > 0:54:29The cautious business plan had won the day,
0:54:29 > 0:54:32leaving David Murray with a damaged ego.
0:54:32 > 0:54:34But just weeks later,
0:54:34 > 0:54:39he set about restoring injured pride with an ?87 million spending spree,
0:54:39 > 0:54:43ensuring victory for his rivals was only temporary.
0:54:45 > 0:54:49Today's the largest sum of money we have ever spent on a player
0:54:49 > 0:54:51and I'm sure we will eclipse that again shortly.
0:54:51 > 0:54:53We're not happy having lost our championship,
0:54:53 > 0:54:56but we've got to pick up the gauntlet that was put down
0:54:56 > 0:54:58and go and retain the championship.
0:55:01 > 0:55:05For the victor, Fergus McCann, the celebrations were short-lived.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10Thank you very much. It's a great pleasure...
0:55:10 > 0:55:12CROWD BOOS
0:55:13 > 0:55:18You look back now, bizarre - the hostility towards him among certain Celtic fans.
0:55:18 > 0:55:19It seems crazy now.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22Because at the time, he was regarded as being tightfisted,
0:55:22 > 0:55:23he wouldn't release money.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26And on my right hand is Tom Boyd,
0:55:26 > 0:55:28the captain of Celtic football club.
0:55:28 > 0:55:29CROWD BOOS
0:55:29 > 0:55:31I couldn't get my head around that -
0:55:31 > 0:55:33there should be a statue to Fergus McCann
0:55:33 > 0:55:34outside the front of Celtic Park.
0:55:36 > 0:55:39We're sitting here, haven't signed a player in over a year.
0:55:39 > 0:55:41There's no ambition in this wee man.
0:55:41 > 0:55:46While I was there, it wasn't always people saying I'm an hero by any means.
0:55:46 > 0:55:50People were saying, just spend the money, Fergus.
0:55:50 > 0:55:52One principle I just followed there was,
0:55:52 > 0:55:56do not do bad deals just because everybody wants you to do the deal.
0:55:57 > 0:55:59Don't do bad deals.
0:56:00 > 0:56:03Don't pay ?10 million for a ?5 million player.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11'I'm a professional footballer who plays for money.'
0:56:11 > 0:56:14'Who is the worst person you could imagine?'
0:56:14 > 0:56:17'You must not ever deprive people of their football loyalties.'
0:56:17 > 0:56:20'Wow, look at me, I've become a different person.'
0:56:20 > 0:56:22'I don't even think it troubles your bigots any more.'
0:56:22 > 0:56:23'The rebels have won.'
0:56:23 > 0:56:25CHEERING
0:56:25 > 0:56:28'Our ambitions hold no bounds.'
0:56:31 > 0:56:33Football had been transformed.
0:56:33 > 0:56:37The landscape of the game in Scotland had been changed
0:56:37 > 0:56:40out of all recognition. And some major figures had emerged.
0:56:43 > 0:56:47But the increasing focus was on everything except football.
0:56:47 > 0:56:49Absurd amounts of money.
0:56:49 > 0:56:53A voracious media, inflated egos,
0:56:53 > 0:56:57resulting in a future mired in hubris and incompetence.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04The two men who had fought a business war both on and off the pitch
0:57:04 > 0:57:07came together with a shared desire to lead the way
0:57:07 > 0:57:09and further modernise the game.
0:57:09 > 0:57:14Rangers and Celtic are the biggest clubs and I think we are both showing a responsible attitude.
0:57:14 > 0:57:16There aren't really any other serious options...
0:57:16 > 0:57:18We must help the whole of Scottish football.
0:57:20 > 0:57:26In August 1998, the next major stage of the modernisation plan began,
0:57:26 > 0:57:29with the newly-formed Scottish Premier League.
0:57:29 > 0:57:32The new championship had a multi-million pound
0:57:32 > 0:57:36television deal in place, ensuring increased revenue for the clubs.
0:57:36 > 0:57:40The fraught relationship between money, football and television
0:57:40 > 0:57:43was to have a major influence on the next chapter
0:57:43 > 0:57:46in the history of Scotland's game.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51'The Scottish Premier League is underway.'
0:57:57 > 0:58:00'Hugh Dallas has been hit by something.'
0:58:01 > 0:58:07Gretna was an absolute Ponzi scheme, it was a con of the worst kind.
0:58:07 > 0:58:12We have entered into commercialism, we have made a deal with the devil.
0:58:12 > 0:58:14Morale, understandably,
0:58:14 > 0:58:19is not good and there is significant unrest within the dressing room.
0:58:19 > 0:58:23David Murray told me he was convinced that Craig Whyte was the answer.
0:58:23 > 0:58:27If Craig Whyte was the answer, I don't know what the question was.
0:58:27 > 0:58:30The big house must stay open!