Towards the end of that season rumours had begun circulating that the club were close to securing one of the biggest names in world football. The rumours turned out to be true. On the 10th of July 1995 Paul Gascoigne was paraded at the front door at Ibrox to the supporters who had turned up hoping to catch a glimpse. Gazza-mania began to sweep through the country as the £4.3 million deal was completed with Lazio. Having just bought my first season ticket the prospect of seeing Laudrup and Gascoigne linking up seemed too good to be true.
Despite our domestic success we were not a particularly great team to watch during season 1993/94 (6IAR): truth be told we were pretty ordinary. The aforementioned signing of Laudrup, the next season, went a long way to improving that. However, our central midfield was still not great and sorely lacked in creativity. Stuart McCall and Ian Ferguson would run through brick walls for the cause but they couldn't offer the creative spark we needed. Ian Durrant and Trevor Steven were both struggling with injury and form and Alexei Mikhailichenko was still being shunted into the wider areas of midfield where most believed he was not at his best. Young prodigy Charlie Miller had broke through but was still learning his trade and Neil Murray was...well, Neil Murray! Safe to say the signing of Gascoigne had come at the perfect time in the area of the team where it was needed the most.
In his first season Gazza managed to score 18 goals, fittingly leaving the last three for a special performance in the last game of the season at Ibrox to secure the Championship. Having kick-started his career, and now enjoying his football, he was easily back amongst the best midfielders in Britain. Despite the great domestic showing, he didn't live up to expectations in the Champions League. With the exception of a great goal against Steau Bucharest, he gave often subdued performances with a sending off in Dortmund the low point.
And for all that great start domestically, the controversy was never far away. He became hounded by referees as our rivals got hysterically worked up by the use of his elbows. A classic old-school battle against Aberdeen at Ibrox led to an enquiry by the Procurator Fiscal and Strathclyde Police - with Gazza at the centre of it. A chest ‘butt’ on John Inglis and an ‘elbow’ on Paul Bernard had been reported despite referee Rowbotham not booking him. A pathetic Scottish media witch-hunt ensued. Paul was given a one match ban for bringing the game into disrepute but the refs and the media still went after him.
Thankfully, Gazza didn't let it affect him on the park. He was the runaway winner for both player of the year awards and was breathing new life into a midfield that badly needed it. The imaginary flute playing, booking of refs and wonder goals against Hibs and Aberdeen gave us some great Ibrox memories that year. He looked to have reached peak form and in the final game at Ibrox that year, gave one of the greatest individual performances I've ever seen. Simply put, Paul Gascoigne was worth the season ticket money alone that season.
Gascoigne had been tremendous in the 2-1 victory in Scottish Cup semi against Celtic and ended the season by giving a superb performance (that became completely overshadowed) in the 'Laudrup Cup Final' against Hearts. With both Laudrup and Gascoigne ending the season in seemingly peak condition, things were looking bright for the push towards 'nine'.
He began season 1996/97 with a few injury problems but eventually made his first start of the season against Dundee Utd at Ibrox. In typical Gazza fashion he scored the winning goal, executing a beautiful 'Cruyff turn' at the edge of the box before stroking the ball home with his left foot. Another poor European performance, this time at Grasshoppers, was partially made up for when he scored a late diving header to win the first Old Firm game of the season at Ibrox.
Unfortunately the darker side of Paul's character became evident in October 1996. He attacked his wife at a Loch Lomond hotel and was sent off in the Amsterdam Arena for a stupid kick that cost us any chance of getting a result. As we filed into Ibrox for the next game day against Aberdeen it was clear that this was an awkward occasion. By pushing the self-destruct button, Gazza had badly let down a number of parties. He had beaten his wife, cost us a gubbing in Amsterdam and despite this, we knew we had to get behind him and hope he pushed us onto the title. He gave a great performance, considering the circumstances, and scored a wonderful free kick. We weren't cheering on the wife-beating Paul Gascoigne that day; we were cheering on the one who we hoped would help win us the title. Football fans tend to be the biggest hypocrites on the planet and I doubt that any other support in the world, in the same situation, would have reacted differently than we did at that time.
Thankfully Gazza focused on his football and turned in some outstanding performances soon after against Motherwell and Celtic: The pick of the bunch being the double-whisky inspired 2nd half showing that won us the League Cup final against Hearts. He battled through the flu in a 3-1 win against Celtic at New Year to put us nine points clear but shortly after he picked up an injury that kept him out until the last few games of the season. His next start was the crucial game at Tannadice that won us the title. Sadly my lasting memory of him that night was refusing to come off when we were trying to make a sub. Nothing could ever ruin that night but it was perhaps a glimpse at the lack of discipline under Smith that turned out to be so costly the next year. His contribution to that Scottish Championship win was massive and he had provided some real moments of magic that will live long in the memory. Even more impressive was his ability to get over his personal problems and continue to perform at such a high level.
Looking back at season 1997/98 is still painful, even after thirteen years. We had a squad that should have won the league out the park and were up against a Celtic team that were weaker than the previous sides under Burns. Despite giving some fantastic performances, he appeared to be out of control at that time. It certainly didn't help matters when it seemed that our players could do as they pleased off the pitch, so long as they did the business domestically. We had all become obsessed with winning a tenth title in a row and Walter's announcement that he was going - coming shortly after the Gothenburg and Strasbourg shambles - eventually influenced Gazza's decision to move on when the time came.
Newspaper reports in March of a three day drinking binge in New York with Chris Evans and Danny Baker seemed to mark the end of this time with us. Shortly after David Murray accepted a bid from Middlesbrough for £3.8m and Paul Gascoigne’s career with us was over.
We ended up losing the league by just three points and, with hindsight; perhaps you could make an argument for saying the sale cost us the title. Yes he was out of control but, just as he had before, surely Gazza somewhere, somehow would have inspired us to make up those points between March and May?
I'm delighted Paul is coming back up to do the draw against St Mirren this Saturday and you could argue it'll be worth the ticket price alone to see the reception he gets. His career with us brings back memories of brilliant highs and painful lows. He was a footballing genius, the best midfielder I've seen play for the club and I'd even agree with Tommy Burns' line that his contribution to season 1995/96 was the difference between the two sides. It's incredible to look back at that time and see that we never lost a game against Celtic in which he started. He certainly didn't do it in Europe for us, but he wasn't alone there. But he rarely seemed to let us down on the big occasion domestically and bailed us out at times when we needed it the most.
Gazza's mental demise in recent years has been difficult to watch, especially given that it appears partially self-inflicted. It won't be the same Gascoigne out there who was carried shoulder-high, holding the match ball aloft, after winning the league against Aberdeen. His demons eventually got the better of him but I'm glad to hear that he's getting better and is working hard to put his life back together again.
Chanting 'There's only one Paul Gascoigne' will be sadly ironic on Saturday as it seems there is far more than one. I'm sure most will be chanting about that one we all remember so fondly from those special seasons with the club. Let's hope he stays well and gets back on his feet. He deserves our support.
Thanks for the memories Paul.
A version of this article first appeared on the blog http://thechurchoflaudrup.blogspot.com/