Courts, the Kray Twins, expensive suits and 'not proven': Celtic legend Frank McAvennie recalls the infamous 1987 derby shame game

There was also Celtic's Peter Grant blessing himself in front of the TV cameras after Billy McNeill's side second goal and the sight of Rangers defender Graham Roberts deployed as a makeshift goalkeeper.

Even that only told half the story of a pulsating 2-2 draw between the two sides played out in what is often referred to as a poisonous atmosphere on October 17 1987.

The mayhem didn't end at the stadium though.

In the aftermath of the bad-tempered and violent match, Celtic's Frank McAvennie and Rangers trio Chris Woods, Terry Butcher and Graham Roberts landed in the dock. All four were charged with a breach of the peace as the game left the dressing room and entered the courtroom.

It's 34 years to the day since Scottish football was rocked as the law intervened following events that happened on the field of play and McAvennie still insists that it was all so avoidable.

Celtic had travelled to Ibrox four points clear of Graeme Souness' Rangers for the highly-anticipated first derby clash of the season.

It was McAvennie's debut in the derby cauldron. It turned out to be a memorable occasion in more ways than one.

Inside 15 minutes, McAvennie deliberately barged into Rangers goalkeeper Chris Woods as he was dealing with a Jimmy Phillips back-pass. Woods exchanged blows with McAvennie while he had a tight hold of his neck.

Rangers and England captain Terry Butcher, who intended to be a peacemaker, then shoved McAvennie away but by this time fellow Ger Roberts had arrived on the scene and a punch was thrown as McAvennie hit the deck. All hell broke loose.

Referee Jim Duncan issued red cards to Woods and McAvennie while Butcher and Roberts were cautioned. Butcher would later join the two in being sent for an early bath after an incident involving then Celtic goalkeeper Allan McKnight.

The Hoops raced into a two-goal first-half lead courtesy of Andy Walker and a Butcher own goal. But Billy McNeill's men were stunned by a Rangers fightback after the break which saw Ally McCoist reduce the deficit before a Richard Gough equaliser made it 2-2 in the last minute.

McAvennie, however, believes the crux of the matter is that the referee's bottle crashed under pressure. 

READ MORE: Paul Byrne on his Celtic heyday and scoring twice against Rangers

"This was my first experience of a Rangers v Celtic game," McAvennie said. "Typical me isn't it?

"The law got involved, it was a load of nonsense. The referee Jim Duncan never refereed a top-flight game again in his career after that as far as I know. He was demoted down the leagues.

"He shit himself and we were the scapegoats in it all. The police should never have got involved. It was handbags at 10 paces and it could have been dealt with a lot easier.

"I remember Billy's (McNeill) last words to me before we went out onto the park. He said 'Frank, don't get involved'. That lasted all of 15 minutes. It was just me being me really.

"I hit goalkeepers all the time especially at the start as you always got a free hit at the beginning. So that is what I did to Chris Woods. I ran into him and barged him.

"I was laughing because the ball went around the post for a corner when it should have been a free-kick to Rangers - I couldn't stop laughing because I had fouled Chris, nothing surer. That's how it all started.

"Chris was shouting in my ear about the decision and the cross ball came over and I just went for it. I've crashed into him again and that's when we all got involved.

"He put his hands up and tried to catch me with his elbow and that was part and parcel of the game back then. That was it.

"Chris had me by the throat and there was a couple of slaps and then big Terry (Butcher) came in and pushed me. It was nonsense. 

"I knew all the boys as I had played against them in England and we were all up in Scotland because English clubs were banned from Europe. It was ridiculous the way it all panned out in the end."

A week later an astonished McAvennie revealed how he was summoned to McNeill's manager's room and told that he was being charged with a criminal offence - breach of the peace alongside the three Rangers stars.

The Celtic striker was incredulous. He learned on the grapevine that all three Rangers players would be represented by a legal barrister. a luxury he had not been afforded by Celtic.

Yet solidarity and help came from the most unlikely source.

McAvennie said: "Big Billy told me a week later that I was to go to court and that I was to go to the police station and get charged.

"All four of us were taken to the police station by Len Murray who is a lawyer. Jimmy Farrell was originally going to represent me in court.

"I heard Rangers had given their players barristers to defend them. I thought 'I can't go up against three barristers' and no offence to Celtic but they were not willing to shell out the fees for a private lawyer.

"It wasn't the gaffer's fault as it wasn't his money but the powers that be were telling big Billy that I wasn't getting a lawyer.

"Interestingly enough, Graeme Souness heard all about this and he offered me a barrister. Imagine that - the Rangers manager offering a Celtic player a barrister to defend him in court.

"He wasn't going to hire a lawyer through Rangers, he was going to do it independently. I always thought that was a wonderful gesture by Souness and really nice of him.

"That's what pushed Celtic to get me a barrister of my own. The gaffer made the point for me and Celtic relented. I ended up getting a guy that was about to become a judge so they were all shitting themselves from him."

READ MORE: Martin O’Neill: Celtic's 6-2 win sparked a revolution and Ange Postecoglou can replicate fast start

McAvennie laughs as he recalls how the trial was nicknamed 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

He joked that the day-to-day coverage cost him a fortune in suits and that he was made to feel more like notorious London gangsters Reggie and Ronnie Kray rather than a Scottish footballer.

McAvennie said: "It was hilarious. That's how preposterous it all was. I thought I was Reggie or Ronnie Kray because the publicity the trial generated was off the charts.

"I felt I had made it big time walking out the car and there was all the paparazzi snapping you as entered and left the courtroom. It was a huge thing.

"The trial was making world news headlines. The press coverage the trial got was unbelievable. I thought I only got that amount of attention when I came out of nightclubs.

"There was an intensity to the trial as you were made to feel like a criminal when we were just four footballers at the end of the day. It cost me a fortune in new suits as well because you cannot wear the same suit to court every day."

McAvennie had further cause to crease his sides when he was found not guilty of any charges at the trial with Woods receiving a £500 fine and Butcher being fined £250 while the case against Roberts was not proven.

The 61-year-old recalled how the verdicts went down like a lead balloon with the Rangers contingent.

While McAvennie stood in the dock smirking, Woods started screaming at him as he explained to Roberts what the not proven verdict meant.

"We were all standing in the dock and I thought if one gets done, we will all get done," said McAvennie. 

"The verdicts were read out: 'Terry Butcher - guilty; Chris Woods - guilty; Francis McAvennie - not guilty; Graham Roberts - not proven'.

"Well I have burst out laughing in the dock and Chris Woods shouted over to me: 'You fucking started this!'

"All the while Graham Roberts is nudging me in the dock saying 'what does not proven mean?' I said to him 'They know you did it but there is insufficient evidence to do you big man'.

"Chris Woods and Terry Butcher got criminal records because of a game of football. It was utter madness.

"In the return game at Celtic Park, the four of us had to go out and shake hands. It is the norm now but back then it wasn't. It was nonsense really.

"I still get on well with all the guys and the Rangers supporters have never once given me any bother."

McAvennie also made a famous quip as Celtic won three and drew once in their four league matches against Rangers and would go on to clinch the League and Scottish Cup double in their Centenary campaign.

He still disputes Peter Grant's claim that he scored Celtic's second goal that day before performing his religious activities in front of the 7,500 congregated in the Broomloan Road stand. It was eventually credited as a Butcher own goal.

"I remember saying after it they couldn't even beat us in court," McAvennie said. "Souness had come in and the Rangers revolution had started.

"The barging into Woods was my way of saying that Celtic were not going to take any crap off Rangers that season.

"I turned out all right for us in the end as we won the League and Scottish Cup double. Although I have chinned Granty (Peter Grant) since as he was claiming our second goal that day at Ibrox.

"Granty ran off blessing himself but I told him I was closer to the ball standing in the dock than he was at Ibrox for his so-called goal!"

Some 34 years on, McvAvennie can look back and smile about it all... even if the overblown response still rankles.

Macca said: "We had top brass police officers and legal eagles and establishment figures all involved and because of a what? A football match between Rangers and Celtic.

"It was an embarrassing episode for everybody."

For the record Francis McAvennie, Christopher Woods, Terry Butcher and Graham Roberts weren't criminals.

They were professional footballers. That's all. The charges should have been laughed out of court.