Whether it’s the mix of jubilation and disbelief from the away end at the news of Motherwell’s improbable late turnaround, to the sight of Barry Ferguson grabbing Alex Rae by the shoulders, ball still in play, as the realisation crept in, the few minutes between agony and ecstasy live long in the memory.
The protagonists were certainly on the pitch that day – both at Easter Road and Fir Park – but there were also those behind the scenes who assisted in the making of an afternoon now famously known as Helicopter Sunday.
John Mckenzie, an ex-Army Air Corps and Canadian Air Force helicopter pilot, was tasked with piloting the helicopter carrying the league trophy, and it’s a day that he won’t forget for the rest of his life.
“I knew a few days before that I would be flying it,” he recalls in an exclusive interview with the official Rangers website.
“We tend to know what is happening a week in advance. There are 16 helicopters and we can see which jobs are attached to which pilot.
“You can see even this year there was the potential for a Helicopter Sunday style [in the Scottish Championship] a few weeks ago, but that didn’t happen.
“We knew a week before, but you would never have gambled any money on what happened actually happening.
“I remember checking the weather in the morning, getting in early, and making sure that I was there.
“As pilots we’re fanatical about the weather and timings.
“When I’m flying some of the wealthiest people in the world when they come to Scotland – and I can’t give out names – we’re fastidious in making sure there are no mistakes, which tends to relate to fuel, air traffic and every eventuality.”
The helicopter was stationed at Cumbernauld Airport, equidistant between Easter Road, Edinburgh, and Fir Park, Lanarkshire.
Indeed, it all appeared to be going according to script when Chris Sutton fired Celtic ahead just shy of the half-hour mark and Martin O’Neill’s side were within touching distance of a second successive league championship.
Motherwell were only seven days removed from a chastening 90 minutes at Ibrox, where the Gers were four up inside 57 minutes and on a mission to take the title fight to the final day.
The Steelmen were winless in their previous six league outings and had recorded just the solitary victory since March 5th. Any hopes of a turnaround appeared entirely far-fetched.
With that in mind, Mckenzie and those he was carrying inside the helicopter began to firm up their plans for the trophy drop-off in north Lanarkshire.
“The landing site for Fir Park was Strathclyde Park,” he continued.
“As much as I would like to land in the middle of a stadium with fans, it doesn’t happen for obvious reasons!
“I knew that it was looking like we were going to Strathclyde Park, but I knew that if we had to go to Prestonfield [in Edinburgh] then I wouldn’t have to start pulling out bits of paper to work out where I was landing.
“It was all organised and that’s why when it happened, I had to go straight there because there can be no messing around.
“Nowadays we all have the Flight Radar app so everyone would be watching it.”
And yet with two minutes of regulation time remaining at Fir Park, the script was ripped up.
A hooked finish from 12 yards out from Motherwell forward Scott McDonald looped beyond the outstretched Rab Douglas and restored parity in Lanarkshire.
40 miles east, Rangers – and hosts Hibernian – were content to play out a 1-0 victory earned thanks to Nacho Novo’s second-half strike.
News of Motherwell’s leveller filtered through to the visiting support in Leith and, suddenly, an afternoon destined to end in a hard luck story was set for the most dramatic of conclusions.
When McDonald netted just two minutes later to complete the turnaround, the league trophy was on its way to Easter Road.
“The goals all came very quickly, then all hell broke loose,” Mckenzie recalls.
“I was like, ‘okay, right, are we sure?’ because I couldn’t hear and air traffic wasn’t telling me. So off we went to Prestonfield.
“Anything could have happened right until the very last second; there could have been goals at either side. But I don’t think anyone was thinking like that.
“It was a case of getting there as quick as I could. If there was a rope to climb down, then everyone in the back would have been out of the helicopter.
“There’s footage of everyone just about tripping running out of the helicopter and I’m trying to keep the safety hat on!”
The occasion occupies a special place in the history of Rangers. Supporters can share exactly where they were when the day flipped upside down.
At Easter Road, Marvin Andrews gave thanks; Shota Arveladze danced. Back in the helicopter, Mckenzie reflected for a quiet moment.
“What happens is that I’m in the thick of it then all of a sudden I’m in a quiet place, in the middle of a field, when everyone has left me,” he added.
“I’m originally from Dingwall and was born next to Victoria Park. But there is a large Rangers following in the town, so I became, among a few people, known for Helicopter Sunday.
“It continues to grow now. I knew, and I still know now, that these things can’t be recreated.”
THE events of Sunday, May 22, 2005, when Rangers improbably clinched the league title on a pulsating final day, became known as ‘Helicopter Sunday’.
To commemorate that famous afternoon in the club’s history, RTV Studios presents ‘Keep Believing – The Story of Helicopter Sunday’, a deep-dive into that memorable campaign and how the direction of the league championship dramatically pivoted towards Easter Road.
As well as experts, hear from those who were involved that afternoon, including Alex McLeish, Barry Ferguson, Alex Rae and Marvin Andrews, whose unwavering belief underpinned the title success.
“I heard this roar from the Rangers fans, and I thought ‘normally I only hear that when we score’, but it was because Motherwell had scored,” McLeish reflected.
“Essentially, that was us champions at that moment, and the shivers that I got is hard to describe.
“As a manager, and I certainly had good moments as a player, but the sound of that roar goes right down the spine.”
While you’re there, why not check out the back catalogue of captivating RTV Studios content here?
‘MoJo’, the most shocking transfer in football, tells the story of Maurice Johnston’s Rangers signing in the summer of 1989 and the shockwaves it sent across Scottish football.
‘Coop: The Davie Cooper Story’, meanwhile, delves deep into the career of the man many consider to be the greatest Rangers player they’ve witnessed, charting his early days at Clydebank, to the years of glory and disappointment at Ibrox, as well as his swansong at Motherwell before his untimely death.
There is also the excellent ‘One Night in May’, where Neil McCann, Lorenzo Amoruso, Sergio Porrini, Jonatan Johansson, and many more, discuss the famous title triumph at Parkhead.
You can enjoy all this content, and more, with a RangersTV subscription, starting from £6 a month.
Full List Of RangersTV Studios Features: