The Signing of Maurice Johnston

wee bud's pit boots said:
See this us winning 55 has demoralised them. It is absolute p1sh.

Go and ask a yahoo if they are happy with their lot today and I'll guarantee the tainted ten doesn't bother them in the slightest.

It's like us walking out of Ibrox after humping PSV 4-1 in the autumn of 1999. How many of us were thinking back to the May of 1998? Not one of us.

They've became stronger because a wee Dutchman at Ibrox has handed them 60 mill in automatic CL cash in one sodding year.
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We got the same amount of money they did as we were also in the Cl
 
Loved Souness at the press conference side stepping all the questions about the religous element from the press, and just looked upon it as us signing a top player.

From that day on it must have been a mindfuck for the filth knowing that the gloves were off now as any half decent player no matter religion or colour were heading to play for us.
 
I know alot of older bears who never accepted him and never will.

I was young and didn't care. I was glad we were signing the best we could at the time. It was a huge moment for us for many reasons.

The religious element should never have came into question. Everyone forgets John Spencer was playing for us prior to the signing.

At the time of his signing, the world was hugely different, the soviet Union was still a thing. Berlin Wall and Yugoslavia were still here. Its amazing how times have hugely changed in that 33 years. Crazy and mostly for the better.
 
Nearly drowned in a pool in Tenerife when my old man told me. Complete shock but being 8 years old knew he was a top player.

Old man later managed to get tickets for his first Rangers v Celtic at Ibrox from Stuart Munro.

Bedlam in the Main Stand when he scored the only goal in the 89th minute.

Still know people who would rather we still didn’t sign catholics and can’t understand that thinking.
 
My next door neighbour at the time was Celtic daft, so much so that his wee Yorkshire Terrier was called Maurice after MoJo. After Johnston signed signed for us he claimed the dog was actually called 'Morris'. I loved everything about that signing.
 
Got to be honest, I wasn’t a happy camper at the news. “Anyone but him” was my attitude as he was a staunch mentally challenged who never hid his colours. I didn’t get to the stage of burning my season book or threatening to quit Ibrox, but I didn’t like the guy and never really warmed to him. It also didn’t help that he seemed to be keeping Super Ally out of the side.
 
I was working down feegie park in paisley when I heard the news, went to the phone box and called the ticket office for confirmation lol , the guy who answered said yes but he didn’t sound very happy …. He was a great player for us, made us a better team, takes balls to do what he did…. The tramps were raging and still are …
 
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I was only 13 but at that stage I was going to games regularly and knew the score.

I’ve said before that I grew up in the shadow of Hampden and at the time it was only £1 for a kids ticket to the Scotland games (cup finals too) & Johnston was banging in the goals for the National side and I was delighted that he’d signed.

I probably didn’t really appreciate the big F.U to Septic at the time but with the footage of people burning their season tickets etc, I kept the news cuttings that pre-season as I knew it was a big deal.

His first Old Firm was a damp squib as he was probably trying too hard but when he scored that late goal at Ibrox in the November game, everyone celebrated.
 
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Anybody but him was my.initial reaction, in regards to the 'first' RC thing.
When he played for them he was thee hate figure. I had a bit of respect for McClair and Provan but him, wee shite.
A few weeks before at the Scotland England game a chant of Super-Mo went up and as he'd just re-signed for them there was no way I was chanting his name.
A few weeks after he'd signed i was asked how I felt about it.
"As a Rangers fan I support every player that plays for Rangers"
When he scored v dolly I was in the West Enclosure I remember almost nodding at him after the initial goal celebration, nice one Maurees yer now a proper Rangers player we can drop all the religious crap (about him). We did seems the media just can't let it go.
 
I couldn't believe it at first, thought it was a wind up and then it was all over the news.
Once the dust settled, my opinion was he was a great signing, scored in a lot of 2-1 and 1-0 wins for us, so did the business. But to score against the Scum home and away just made it all the better.
I'm happy we signed him.
 
LBALucas1992 said:
Celtic fans moaned that we never signed catholics but when we do they unfailingly point it out and give the players a hard time

You never sign Scottish catholics : we did and you lot abused them.

You never sign practising catholics : we did and you lot abused them.

You never sign celtic-supporting catholics: we did and you lot abused them.

You never sign Irish catholics : we did and you lot abused them.

Your captain will never be a catholic : we did then then you abused him

We've had Scottish, English, Irish, Italian, Croatian, Argentinian, American, German, Colombian, Spanish , etc, etc catholic players and they've ALL been singled out and abused by Celtic fans.

Some have had death threats.

Even when our catholic ex-players come back to Scotland they are universally welcomed as returning heroes by us but universally abused and vilified by Celtic

So the people who get wound up the most when Rangers sign a Catholic are Celtic fans and it seems when Rangers sign a Catholic it actually annoys Celtic fans more than when they dont sign Catholics.

And, incidentally, who also have a reputation for singling out and abusing Jews?

That would allow for a far greater grievance, a chip on each shoulder and a martyr complex all rolled into one.

Yet somehow its Rangers fans who are the bigots?
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Great post. Our media should read this and just think for a second.

Well said sir.
 
Fran Sand Dancer said:
I wasn't alive when Rangers signed Maurice Johnston, through modern eyes it still feels like a significant moment in our history but I don't think anyone who wasn't there can really grasp the feelings of shock that came with it.

To cut a long story short I'm working on something and looking to hear thoughts from people who were around at the time, were you happy with the signing? Did the GIRUY factor outweigh everything else? How did you and those around you react? etc

Cheers in advance.
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i was against this from the start (still am) i never cheered once when he () scored for rangers turncoat bstrd
 
Loyaljohn said:
This is my opinion.
It was like a punch to the gut. Remember back then we had not had a Catholic sign in the then modern times. It was a betrayal of our culture and there were many many supporters flinging their scarf away and swearing they would not set foot back in Ibrox.
It also was a huge betrayal to them as such a high profile player who had been paraded to the media as the great hero returning.

Times have changed since then and it is rightly so accepted that we sign the best we can.

I was of the opinion that it was wrong. Not for MoJo being a Catholic but for who he had played for before. I suppose I was also hoping he would fail in some way and was very disappointed that Super did not get more game time with him being there.

My opinion as I have said.
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John Spencer?
 
Bobby De Niro said:
It’s what I’ve always called my generations JFK moment.

Everyone back then knew where they were when they found JFK was shot.

Every single bear alive when we signed him remembers where they were when the news broke.

It was huge.
It headlined the 6 o’clock news (national news, not Scottish news) on the BBC
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my wife at the time told me he had signed i was still in bed i said don’t talk shite, i got up to watch news (nothing) i tried teletext nothing it was later i found out i was like
 
I went to my local shop for a paper that morning, saw the front page of The Sun, and because it was The Sun I dismissed it as shite.
Then it was all over the news bulletins on the radio and television, and I accepted it was true.
How did I feel at the time? A bit of me thought it was incredible as he had seemed destined to return to the Chamber of Secrets, a bit of me was angry because I remembered his behaviour against us in the League Cup Final and how rhabid he seemed, a bit of me thought we were getting a really good player, and a bit of me was disappointed that Souness had caved into the pressure that we signed one of them.
I was at his debut at Broomfield, by then his signing had been accepted and he got a warm welcome, much to the disgust of the media who were hoping for a bloodbath.
 
Barrymoped said:
The fact you never cheered a last minute winner against Celtic is genuinely mental.
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TBF I knew several who were the same, and bigger bluenoses than most on here

Me? I was pishing myself laughing for a week

The best reaction was Alex Cameron in the Daily Record

His article began

"I congratulate Rangers on signing a catholic
However the signing is thoughtless and provocative"

Apparently we signed the wrong type of Catholic....

I bumped into Cameron in Shawlands a couple of years later and told him it was he that was the bigot and it lost him his usual diatribe every summer, writing the same pish over and over
 
Southside_shug said:
TBF I knew several who were the same, and bigger bluenoses than most on here

Me? I was pishing myself laughing for a week

The best reaction was Alex Cameron in the Daily Record

His article began

"I congratulate Rangers on signing a catholic
However the signing is thoughtless and provocative"

Apparently we signed the wrong type of Catholic....

I bumped into Cameron in Shawlands a couple of years later and told him it was he that was the bigot and it lost him his usual diatribe every summer, writing the same pish over and over
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I’ve still got a scarf from that year, I picked it up on the way to the game with my Dad, I was only 10 at the time, and there were loads tied to lampposts, thrown away, and even burned.

It was madness, I was delighted when he scored the winner, as was my Dad as it was the biggest GRFUY to them imaginable.

I get it was different times back then, but still mental, thank Christ it’s bugger all like that these days.
 
Barrymoped said:
I’ve still got a scarf from that year, I picked it up on the way to the game with my Dad, I was only 10 at the time, and there were loads tied to lampposts, thrown away, and even burned.

It was madness, I was delighted when he scored the winner, as was my Dad as it was the biggest GRFUY to them imaginable.

I get it was different times back then, but still mental, thank Christ it’s bugger all like that these days.
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Is this true ?

I dont remember that happening, was probably in the papers right enough but never seen it myself. Possibly a sun or record set up maybe ?
 
Thornliebank_Bear said:
Is this true ?

I dont remember that happening, was probably in the papers right enough but never seen it myself. Possibly a sun or record set up maybe ?
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It was absolutely true, it happened just across from where the Loudoun is, (though not at the time), at the wee carry out shop on the corner, that’s where I picked mine up as a kid, and 33 years later I still have it. I’ve got no doubt that wasn’t the only place.

When you have people on here saying they quite literally refused to cheer when he scored, even against Celtic, it isn’t much of a leap at all to think scarves were being thrown away and tied to lampposts.

Quite incredible looking back now
 
Cuellar said:
Nearly drowned in a pool in Tenerife when my old man told me. Complete shock but being 8 years old knew he was a top player.

Old man later managed to get tickets for his first Rangers v Celtic at Ibrox from Stuart Munro.

Bedlam in the Main Stand when he scored the only goal in the 89th minute.

Still know people who would rather we still didn’t sign catholics and can’t understand that thinking.
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it’s not the catholic thing for me it was HIM
 
I was at work in Newport when I got a call from my mate in Glasgow. His first words were "Are you sitting down? "
 
Grumpy Old Git said:
The signing of Johnston was a seismic moment in Scottish Football.
Basically Rangers were seen as an exclusively Protestant club playing wise.
For Glasgow Rangers to sign a high profile Scottish RC was a huge culture shock primarily across the city but it would be wrong to say it was universally accepted by the Rangers support although the vast majority of Rangers supporters did.
Indeed season tickets were torn up and a minority never returned.
In the seat immediately below me one of the group did exactly that.
In fairness he was the only one of their group that did that.
Across the city Johnston was reviled by them and still is to this day and perhaps why he moved to USA and stayed there near the end of his playing career.
Being paraded at the piggery in their strip and signing for Rangers a couple of days later did not help.
Johnston established himself as a Rangers player and firmly accepted when he scored against them in the 89 th minute of an Old Firm game when we won 1-0.
Their support were in full voice just prior to Johnston scoring in anticipation of the draw.
They were apoplectic in misery when he scored.
One of my most joyous moments watching Rangers.
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Two.

And our attendances increased that season and next.
 
I remember seeing footage of McMurdo saying MoJo's old man was a Bear. Assume this was true? Did anyone know him, did he go to games etc?
 
I was 16 when he signed, rumours were rife at my school he was signing for us, despite having been paraded by the Tim's.

I was delighted we signed him because he was an excellent player at that time.

It was a bonus for me that the Tim's went into meltdown over it.
 
I worked for RBS at the time was Asst Manager. Boss who was a rabid Tim sent me home because I was even angrier than him.
I still went to games but ignored his goals.
 
Noddy said:
He was definitely a Rangers fan.
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Didn't his dad get battered, after MJ signed, by a group of paedos?

Never liked him, despite being a very talented footballer. Didnt GAF about his religion, couldnt get past the memory of his celebrations in grey/green, playing against us.
 
I see we are still getting the ''paraded by them, signed for us a couple of days later'' p#sh. Attention!!! there were over EIGHT weeks between the two events.
 
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