He was the man who became known as The Goalie and was one of the finest custodians ever to pull on a Scotland jersey.
Andy Goram, who has died of cancer at the age of 58, excelled in football wherever he travelled, whether in his early days with Oldham, or in Scotland during 138 appearances for Hibs and 184 for Rangers where he was voted their greatest-ever keeper in a fans’ poll.
A larger-than-life character with a whole-hearted approach to sport, he represented Scotland 43 times and was selected for their squads at the 1986 and 1990 World Cups and the European Championships in 1992 and 1996.
Yet, while football brought him fame and fortune and cemented his reputation during Walter Smith’s managerial career at Ibrox, Goram was passionate about another pursuit, which also brought him international recognition.
And, whether he was wielding a bat against a women’s side at Freuchie, bowling at Uddingston or finding himself in the line of fire against the touring Australians at Hamilton Crescent in 1989, cricket was one of his lifelong loves.
‘Cricket is something I grew up with’
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, I regularly talked to Goram about the game and he provided occasional columns for Scotland on Sunday, which he wrote himself with a pencil on a little jotter. These resembled school essays and he was determined to choose the right words and get his message across.
He was enthusiastic about how the game had allowed him an escape from the often merciless scrutiny which surrounded those in the Old Firm gaze.
And he told me that his footballing achievements, including being an integral part of Rangers’ nine-in-a-row championship-winning team or being called up for Scotland by Alex Ferguson, had never taken precedence over his belief that cricket was actually his first love.
He said: “Sure, I have been in the Champions League, turned out for Scotland with 50,000 or 60,000 spectators in stadiums across the world, and been in the goalmouth at Old Trafford [he was signed on loan by Manchester United in 2001] with a crescendo of noise echoing all around me.
“But these were no more enjoyable than locking horns with Allan Border, Merv Hughes and the other Aussies in that packed ground in Glasgow.
“The strange thing is that, prior to coming to Scotland, I had no idea that cricket was such a big deal, but there again, why shouldn’t it be?
“I will never forget the buzz around the crowd when the Australians came to Scotland. I had been at a dinner with them on the Friday night and we had all got on like a house on fire and they seemed a nice friendly bunch of blokes.
“Anyhow, next day, when I walked to the crease to this huge cheer from the 5,000 supporters, Merv was bowling, so I said ‘Hello’ and I imagined that he would be the same genial chap from the previous evening.
“Some hope! Straight away, he was fired up and in my face and he sent down a bouncer which nearly took my head off. Then, when I looked up, he was standing directly in front of me, bellowing: ‘You should have stuck to f***ing football, mate. You’ll soon be wishing you were back at f***ing Easter Road’.
“Later on, when we met in the pavilion, I asked: ‘What the hell was all that about?’ But he just gave me a big smile and a slap on the back, asked me what I wanted to drink, and we were best mates again.”
Goram relished these contests and turned up at Freuchie for a match to celebrate the club’s centenary in 2008 where, despite being in his mid-40s, he took to the field – and returned soon enough with plenty of new friends.
There was no big fuss made about him and nobody looking to catch him out – apart, of course, from the rival fielders – for another of the myriad tabloid controversies which blighted his life in football’s goldfish bowl. Instead, he could relax and enjoy the camaraderie of being with fellow enthusiasts and engaging in a pursuit he had played since he was a young boy.
He told me: “I began playing when I was 10 or 11 and I have never lost a fraction of the excitement and anticipation which cricket generates.
“There is no fighting, no bad blood or anything like that. Just a bunch of folk who are nuts about the game on the pitch, enjoy a few beers in the clubhouse and offer it 100%. You don’t have to be a world-beater, there’s a place for everybody and I should know; I’ve had more clubs than Tiger Woods!
“Off the top of my head, I’ve played for Lancashire Schools, Saddleworth, Penicuik, Uddingston, West Lothian, Freuchie and Scotland [he won four caps] and turned out in various charity matches all over the country, but I’ll go wherever there is the chance of a game”.
As if to illustrate that point, Goram was among the big names at the Public Park in Freuchie when they organised a special charity game in 1988.
Just three years after their famous triumph in the National Village Cup at Lord’s, Dave Christie and his team were involved in an annual fundraising contest which attracted a mixture of sports stars and TV luminaries to Fife.
Goram, who at the time was still at Hibs, was joined by, amongst others, the Hearts goalie, Henry Smith, Scotland’s Grand Slam-winning rugby duo, Keith Robertson and Iain Paxton, Dunfermline FC manager, Jim Leishman, and the Take the High Road actors, John Stahl and Ian Agnew.
I asked him a few years later why he enjoyed these occasions so much and he looked astonished at the question.
‘I’m just another guy with a bat or ball’
He said: “Professional football is very rewarding and I’m grateful for what it has given me, but you can’t relax or take it easy when the chips are down. There’s pressure on you all the time and not just when you are playing.
“When I was at Hibs, I knew that I couldn’t go into some places in Edinburgh or I would get pelters. It was the same at Rangers when I was in Glasgow. You learn to deal with it, but it’s never much fun for the people around you and I know that has bothered some of those closest to me in the past.
“That doesn’t happen in cricket. Wherever I’ve gone, there have been some keen battles on the field and a few afternoons where things got a bit tasty, but it was all in perspective. And we had a good laugh about it afterwards.
“That is very important to me. The fact that nobody is making a big deal of me when I am in my cricket whites. To them, I’m just another guy with a bat or a ball. Some of my happiest memories are of being in clubhouses just talking to people, hearing their stories and chewing the fat about cricket.”
Whatever demons Goram might have had, he was able to exorcise them once he had walked to the crease or into the pavilion.
Scottish cricket – and the wider world – mourns his passing.
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