Today I'm once again going back 35 years to 2nd August 1986 and a pre-season testimonial match for Paul Miller, Tottenham Hotspur's central defender against Rangers.
I have to say that I'm not a fan of testimonials and, like Friendlies, I tend to avoid them. Generally they're not especially competitive, the sides involved often having a few "guests" playing for them and there's sometimes sentimentality allows the beneficiary of the Testimonial to score. My plea for mitigation as far as this fixture went is that, in Scotland's Rangers, it featured a side that we just don't often get the chance to see in England. Rangers brought literally thousands of fans to the game (hence Paul Miller's decision to select them as opponents) and both sides treated the game as part of their build up to the new season so it was always likely to be competitive.
Paul Miller was at Spurs for 10 years from 1977 to 1987 and this was the reason that he was awarded a testimonial or benefit match. In all Miller made 208 League appearances for Spurs before going on to finish his career at an array of clubs including Charlton Athletic, Watford, AFC Bournemouth and Swansea City. Miller was part of the Tottenham team that won the FA Cup in 1981 and 1982 and the UEFA Cup in 1984 and was affectionately nicknamed "Max" by Spurs supporters after 1930's music hall comedian and Cheeky Chappie Max Miller. I wonder how many of those fans had ever seen Max Miller on stage?
Rangers hadn't won the Scottish League title since 1978 but, under former Spur Graeme Souness, they would go on to become Champions later that same season. It was my first time seeing Rangers and I recall an intimidating atmosphere outside White Hart Lane that day. The match itself, played in front of an attendance of 16,365 finished 1-1 with Clive Allen scoring for Spurs and Campbell Fraser getting the Rangers goal. On the day, both sides fielded strong teams with the Spurs side including Clemence, Roberts, Mabbutt, Falco, Ardiles, Hoddle, Hughton, Ruddock and, of course Miller. Rangers' side included Souness, West, McCoist, Durrant and Cooper.
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