FORMER Rangers duo Colin Stein and Iain Ferguson will watch tonight's UEFA Cup final with memories of their own experiences of the big European stage flooding back.
The players are in an elite band who have represented a Scottish club in the fina
l of a major European tournament so know better than most how the current crop of Ibrox stars will be feeling as they face Russian outfit Zenit St Petersburg at the City of Manchester Stadium tonight.
Former Hibs star Stein was a goalscorer in the triumphant 1972 Rangers side that defeated Moscow Dynamo 3-2 to lift the Cup Winners' Cup in Barcelona while ex-Hearts striker Ferguson was a key member of the Dundee United team that reached the UEFA Cup final in 1987 only to lose out 2-1 on aggregate to IFK Gothenburg.
The fortunes of Scottish sides in European finals have been mixed down the years with several glorious failures interspersed with occasional success.
Whatever happens tonight, though, the current crop of Rangers players have helped to not only raise the profile of their club but also football in Scotland.
And, although Stein and Ferguson experienced vastly- contrasting emotions at the end of their respective finals, both agree that simply getting to this stage will change the lives of the Rangers players forever.
"Having not played football for ten years now it's great to have memories like that UEFA Cup run to look back on," said Ferguson, whose United side lost the first leg of their final 1-0 in Sweden before drawing 1-1 at Tannadice.
"I fondly remember the run more than the final itself because obviously we lost but I'm proud of having a UEFA Cup medal. Not many people get to say that.
"We beat Barcelona along the way and played some wonderful football and scored some great goals.
"That's one of the things people remember just as much as how far we went.
"I still get people talking to me about what we achieved all the time and I'm regularly asked for my autograph and about my memories because it's something that has stayed with the fans as well as the players."
Stein said: "They are terrific memories and nobody can ever take those away from me.
"The reaction we got from the supporters both during and after the game was unbelievable. Every time we scored there were hundreds of fans on the pitch and you could see how happy they were.
"That night it was almost all Rangers supporters except maybe half a dozen Russians so we knew we really had to do it for them and it will be mainly Rangers fans there tonight too.
"Even today I get asked about the game at supporters' functions and 36 years on it's just as important to people. Tonight is a chance for the Rangers players to become legends and if they can win the tournament they'll never be allowed to forget what they've achieved."
Rangers' run to the final in Manchester has led to parallels with the route taken by Stein's side more than three decades ago.
Both teams defeated Sporting Lisbon while they also got the better of Italian and German opposition before facing a Russian side at the final hurdle.
And Stein, who will tune into tonight's match on television from his Linlithgow home, is keeping his fingers crossed that the manner in which Walter Smith's men have reached this stage will prove to be a lucky omen.
"All the similarities are definitely there between how the two teams got to the final so hopefully the result in the final will be the same too," said Stein.
"Rangers have been the underdogs right through the tournament and that was probably the case with us until the final itself when we were expected to win.
"Until that stage we had some really hard games against top teams like Sporting Lisbon, Torino and Bayern Munich but we played as a team and got our tactics spot-on.
"The current Rangers side have also played a certain way but it's a results business at the end of the day and if you don't lose many goals then you won't lose many games.
"I read quotes from Fiorentina and Bayern saying this and that about Rangers but they aren't in the final and Rangers are so that says it all.
"You have to play to your strengths and if Rangers go all the way and lift the trophy then Walter Smith should be applauded rather than criticised.
"I actually fancy them to do it and the fans can have a big part in proceedings the same way they did when we won the tournament all those years ago."
While Stein can look back with a sense of satisfaction at events 36 years ago with a winner's medal proudly in his collection, Ferguson, even 20 years on from their two-legged game with Gothenburg, conceded that he can't help wondering 'what if' from time to time.
And the striker, who also enjoyed European success in his time with Hearts, grabbing the winner in a famous 1-0 win over Bayern Munich at Tynecastle in 1989, insisted it's important that Rangers come off the pitch tonight with no regrets.
"Was the final the highlight of my career?" pondered Ferguson. "I don't know ... we lost the game after all.
"I have so many great memories but you can't help but wonder what could have been had this or that happened differently.
"The Rangers players don't want to have any regrets after the match tonight.
"Ultimately, despite the pride, there is a bit of a bad taste that we ended the season with nothing. We had such a good team so to end up with nothing at the end of it all makes it quite poignant. It's easy to say we deserved something but we didn't get it and that's the bottom line.
"Gothenburg basically did to us what we'd done to other teams throughout our run and scored an away goal. As soon as they did that it made things doubly difficult because we had to score three goals against a very good team.
"To score three goals in a UEFA Cup final is always hard but Gothenburg were a decent team as well.
"Back then there weren't four English and Spanish teams in the Champions League which meant you had a lot of very good teams in the UEFA Cup.
"I think that really makes what we did a fantastic achievement as we weren't a club that were even the size of a Celtic or Rangers.
"Like Rangers tonight we'd played 60-odd games that year and the task just caught up with us I think – it was one step too far. Gothenburg had really good players, who went on to play in England and Italy so they were a good, quality side.
"I know the Rangers team tonight have played a lot of games as well but I hope they can do it – I'd like to see them go all the way.
"Getting there for us, and for them, is a major achievement, but at the end of the day, it's all about winning and the Rangers players will be aware of that.
"It's a one-off game for them whereas for us it was two legs. Most people think they are playing a side with better players so hopefully the fact it's a one-off, and that there will be a huge number of their fans there can swing it for them."
The full article contains 1283 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
