Celtic fan Tony Roper has told how a quick thinking Rangers man saved his bacon after he boarded the wrong bus following an Old Firm game.
The BAFTA winning writer, actor and playwright had just found fame following various TV roles at the time and had left the match and found himself sitting among a bus full of Gers fans.
He thought he could be in trouble because he was known to be a Hoops fan.
He said: “At the bus stop, dozens of Rangers fans got on.
“They started battering the roof and windows and singing their songs.
“I was getting quite well known at the time. It was also well known that I was a big Celtic fan.
"I thought: ‘Oh no! I’m in big trouble here!’ I looked out of the window so none of them recognised me.
“Then one came and sat in the seat next to me.
“He said to me: ‘You at the game?’ I had my hand covering my face and I told him: ‘No, not today’.
“He looked at me and said: ‘You’re Tony Roper aren’t you? Oh, you’re in big trouble!’
“I can’t tell you how frightened I was.
“But he gave me his scarf and said ‘put that on. I’ll talk to you and get you through this’.
“That was what he did.”
And the unknown Gers fan refused any reward.
Tony said: “By the time we got to the city centre all the Rangers fans had got off.
“I told him: ‘You saved my life. Give me your address. I’ll send you a couple of quid so you can have a night out on me’.
“But he wouldn’t hear of it. If there were more supporters like him there would be a lot less trouble.
“It wasn’t the first Old Firm game I went to but it is the one that I remember more than any other because of the sheer terror I felt afterwards.”
Rangers and Celtic are due to meet for the first time this season on Sunday with Celtic having bagged the last eight league titles.
