Russell Martin’s men will be hoping to fare better than the last Light Blues side who played in Graz
Arthur Numan is shown the red card for Rangers against Sturm Graz
Rangers last trip to Graz ended up being a night to forget for Dick Advocaat ’s stellar side.
But the name of Antonio Lopez-Nieto won’t be fading from Arthur Numan’s memory bank anytime soon.
Almost a quarter of a century has passed since the Dutchman’s infamous brush with the Spanish referee at the Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium.
And yet his name remains seared into Numan’s mind, with the burning anger that exploded that night back in October 2000 still to simmer down.
Advocaat’s star-studded Gers squad made the journey to Austria high on confidence having stuck five past Graz in their Champions League opener.
But they ended up slipping to a costly 2-0 defeat after Numan was sent off for two yellow cards.
It was the first of those bookings which proved to be controversial as he was punished for re-entering the field of play without permission – despite having been clearly WAVED on by the ref himself.
And with Russell Martin’s modern-day line-up set to make their own trip to Graz this week looking to bounce back from their opening league phase defeat to Genk at Ibrox, all those memories have come boiling back to the surface for the Rangers legend.
And now he’s revealed how it took the intervention from another Ibrox icon to prevent him dishing out some punishment of his own!
Numan told Record Sport: “I’ll never forget that game. I still remember the referee, Lopez-Nieto. I’ve never been so furious. It was unbelievable! I was off getting treatment after a foul.
“I was on the touchline for one or two minutes, but wanted to come back on as quick as possible. I was waiting and waiting until the referee actually gave me the wave to come on. He was looking right at me and waved. So, of course, I jumped on the park.
“But at that moment, I intercepted the ball. The crowd went nuts, then the referee blew the whistle. He came to me with the yellow card.
Arthur Numan storms off half naked after being sent off for Rangers in Graz
“I said, ‘What the f***?’ He said, ‘You come on the park too soon’. I told him that he waved me on. He said he hadn’t. It was incredible.
“I was furious. Then in the second half, I was involved in another duel, one against one. My opponent [Gerald Strafner] went to the ground but it was not a serious foul, certainly not a bad tackle.
“And then the ref came to me with another yellow. Honestly, I was flabbergasted. A f***ing second yellow card! I was fuming!
“I can remember taking my jersey off as I stormed off the pitch and throwing it to the fourth official. I was so angry.
“I was told before the game that ref had something against Dutch players. He was Spanish and it was something to do with Johan Cruyff when he was the coach at Barcelona and they had Ronald Koeman playing there.
“I don’t know if that’s true but I certainly wasn’t pleased with him after the game. I wanted to storm into the dressing room.
“Thank God for John Greig. He was the one who grabbed me and said, ‘Arthur, stay here’.
“I said ‘I don’t care. I’m going to kick his arse in! Even if I’m suspended for the rest of my life, I don’t care! He said, ‘No, behave, behave!’
“But I was so angry. That wasn’t me as a player. I was usually very calm on the pitch. But this was f***ing ridiculous!”
Graz were expected to be the easiest opponents in a tough group that also included Monaco and Galatasaray.
But in fact, they ended up topping the section as Gers’ disastrous defeat by the Austrian Alps saw them miss out on qualifying for that year’s second group stage due to an inferior head-to-head with the Turks.
Numan had his dismissal overturned on appeal after replays confirmed his claims he’d been instructed to re-enter the pitch.
But he said: “By then it was too late. I was sent-off with six minutes left but we were only a goal down and had to play the final 10 minutes with 10 because of that f***ing a***hole!
“I have always respected referees because it’s the toughest job on the pitch. But what he did was terrible!
“I’ve always felt he should have been banned. If a player does something wrong on the pitch, you miss a few games. So they should also suspend a ref when he does something ridiculous too. It was absolutely shocking.
“It was a costly defeat because we were challenging to go to the next stage. We beat them at home 5-0 and then all of a sudden, that cost us also.
Marco Negri and Ronald De Boer dejected during Rangers clash against Graz in 2000
“If we’d had 11 men on the pitch, we might have got the equaliser that could have seen us through.”
Advocaat’s team was littered with big name talent. But Numan admits it still rankles that Gers glittering line-up didn’t go further in Europe.
He said: “I’d say not making the later rounds of the Champions League is one of the most disappointing things I experienced at Ibrox.
“We really felt we could compete against any side in Europe. The year before we’d faced Bayern Munich home and away and played them off the park both times.
“Around that time, I can remember hearing Fabio Capello saying while he was Roma coach that the one team he didn’t want to face in the UEFA Cup was Rangers. I think that sums up how good a side we were.
“I have some incredible memories but yeah, it hurts we never made the second stage of the Champions League. That’s why I won’t forget that b*****d’s name!”
Rangers are a million miles away from the powerhouse unit they were back in the 90s and early 2000s. But Numan can empathise with the stick Martin is facing.
He said: “In my first two years, we won five trophies but in the third nothing – then you get slaughtered!
“But that’s how it goes at Rangers. You always get honoured when you win trophies. Then you’re a hero.
“But when things are not going well, you’re the villain. Of course, Russell’s team did not win any of the first five league games, so I can understand that the supporters are not happy.
“At a smaller club, they might accept a run like that – but not Rangers. I’m hoping the last couple of domestic results have given the team some confidence back in the dressing room, the spirit that gets them moving forward.”