The Best Goal Ever Scored Against My Club: Ally McCoist’s Overhead Kick For Rangers vs Hibs

Ally MCcoist’s overhead kick was the greatest goal I’ve ever seen scored against my team it also signalled a fan-hood of ifs and buts and what could’ve beens. Up until a year or two before this fateful day and that fateful goal, on my bedroom wall I had posters of some of the stars of that Rangers team, Alan McGregor, Andy Goram and of course Mr. McCoist.

When my uncle heard about my allegiances and the posters decorating my wall he got on the first train from London to Edinburgh and made sure that this seven-year-old knew where his allegiances lay. Not long after that, the posters came down and were quickly replaced with ones of Darren Jackson, Keith Wright and Kevin Harper. They were at the time the string pullers of the Hibernian attacking line who often played with all three up-front.

Two years later and I had been to Easter Road countless times and was a fully-fledged Hibs kid (youth supporters club) and was playing for both my school and club teams. I no longer supported Rangers, but still idolised Ally McCoist. He was always on hand to score and was nippy and skilful and Scotland’s only real decent attacker besides Duncan Ferguson, who while he was a good player, didn’t really have the skill set I desired.

So even though my heart now lay with the Green and white shirts of Leith, when I watched super Ally break his leg in three places against Portugal I was heartbroken for him. At the peak of his career and skills, he was cut down. Only a few years before another legend that I had only had the privilege of hearing about (Van Basten) had to cut his career short because of a similar injury. So surely this could have been the fate befallen to McCoist.

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Anyway as Ally slowly recovered, Rangers were still sitting in fourth while Hibs sat at the top of the table, appearing to have recovered remarkably from the attempted takeover bid which threatened Hibs’ existence from a few years before.

Hibs reaching the final was no huge surprise at this point in this season. Having won the competition against Dunfermline three years before it was still in fresh memory for fans but was something I had been too young to witness. My images of that game were from the Evening News poster with Keith Wright’s winning goal that overlooked my bed.

So Hibs went into the game in rich form but still definitely underdogs in a Glasgow final at Celtic Park. The game was poor at best and the club had not played much worse the whole season. Nevertheless after an Ian Durant goal opened the scoring, Hibs had managed to get back on level terms thanks to a Dave McPherson own-goal. Both teams went into the last quarter of the game level and the match was getting bitty and nervous. Rangers rolled the dice with their hero striker unsure of his fitness and certainly unsure of his match confidence.

Into the fray he went and after hardly even a touch, the ball came into the box from the right side and Ally McCoist with his back to goal just post broken leg and all, throws himself into the air and performas an overhead kick. Something I’m pretty sure he’d never done before. B**tard. Rangers went on to win 2-1, and despite a penalty claim, Hibs didn’t really get back into the game.

Rangers went on to win the Scottish cup and the First division title (as it was known then). McCoist sat out a majority of the rest of the season still recovering his form.

For Hibs it would be another seven years before reaching a cup final and another seven after that before winning one. For all that this was the absolute worst best goal I have ever seen scored against my team.