Ibrox favourite Terry to be a
part of the same side.
How good a player is he?
Well, bear in mind that he's now
36-years-old and those
matchstick legs of his don't
operate quite as quickly as they
did in his prime. But the brain is
still very active and Arnold's
displays with Ajax have earned
him a recall to the Dutch
national side.
I suppose the best
compliment I can pay Arnold is
that next to former Rangers hero
Jim Baxter he has the best left
foot I've ever seen on a football
field. His x-ray vision set up so
many goals for Ipswich, and in
particular Scottish striker Alan
Brazil, that I've lost count.
A free transfer that enabled
him to negotiate a lucrative deal
with Manchester United was
Arnold's reward for four
trouble-free years in Suffolk
during which he missed just
seven of a possible 168 games in
the strength-sapping First
Division.
Yes, quite a player is Arnold
and six years ago he helped
Ipswich - Terry Butcher and all
- to victory in the Amsterdam
tournament hosted by his
present club which attracted a
total audience of 60,000 over
two nights.
Victories over Ajax by 3-1 and
Standard Liege, in the final, by
2-0 earned Ipswich a giant
trophy which still sits proudly in
the Portman Road boardroom.
The fact that Leeds, Arsenal,
Nottingham Forest and
Liverpool (twice) had all
entered the competition in
previous years without even
progressing beyond the first
stage made victory all the
sweeter.
That same pre-season
Ipswich kept their bank
manager happy with another
cheque drawn on a foreign
bank. This time guilders
became pesetas after their
involvement in the prestigious
pre-season tournament hosted
by Barcelona at their impressive
Nou Camp Stadium.
Without the injured Brazil and
goalkeeper Paul Cooper,
Ipswich lost both their games,
2-0 to Cologne and 2-1 to
Brazilian side Vasco da Gama in
the third place play-off. Two
red-hot soccer nights in front of
140,000 high-temperature
Spaniards.
Butcher, Muhren and Co.
made many new friends in
another summertime special in
Holland. The year was 1979, the
venue Rotterdam and the hosts
Feyenoord in a tournament that
also featured PSV Eindhoven
and RWD Molenbeek.
Big Terry was among the
goals on this occasion, scoring
the second for Ipswich after just
four minutes in the opening
match against PSV. Final result,
3-1, and on to a final which
turned out to be one of the best
games of football I've ever seen.
I reminisced with the Ibrox
skipper recently and he could
recall the highlights as if it were
yesterday, rather than eight
years and hundreds of games
ago. It was that kind of game!
The teams were level at 4-4
after 90 minutes of pulsating
play and just two minutes of
extra time remained when the
referep punished a tackle by
Scottish international John Wark
and gave the host club a penalty
from which they scored the
winner. Action-packed drama,
indeed, and remember this was
only a pre-season warm-up,
although the players and
around 70,000 fans treated it like
the European Cup Final itself!
I could hardly write an article
on Terry Butcher and Arnold
Muhren without mentioning
the pre-season friendly Ipswich
played at Ibrox six years ago
when the pair starred in a
rather one-sided affair.
Ipswich paraded the UEFA
Cup beforehand to a decidedly
mixed reception but by the end
of the afternoon the Rangers
supporters who had seen their
own side outclassed had to
applaud their visitors from
south of the border.
Little did the frustrated faithful
realise that Terry would return
to Ibrox one day to a hero's
welcome and inspire the team
to new heights. Yes, it's a funny
game football.
Here's hoping Butcher,
Muhren and all the other
international stars on parade
this weekend can provide the
football feast to whet the
appetites for a brand new
campaign.
RANGERS MATCHDAY MAGAZINE
PAGE NINE