The midfielder had signed for Partick Thistle two years earlier following a four-season stint at Rangers that saw him make a scoring debut at the age of 16 before drifting in and out of the team.
O’Hara, now 63-years-old and happily retired, was thrust into the limelight when he was given his first competitive start in a League Cup game away to Falkirk in August 1973, finding the net in a 5-1 win.
His maiden first team appearance had actually come the week before when a strong Arsenal team -including Alan Ball and Charlie George – came to Ibrox to mark Rangers’ centenary with a friendly.
O’Hara would go on to register a number of other highlights over the next four years. He played in a handful of Old Firm games, scored in a European Cup tie, and claimed the winner when Rangers played Motherwell on Boxing Day in 1976 – the club’s last match on this date for 11 years.
Having grown up as a fan he admits he “lived the dream” during that time. But O’Hara also concedes it all unfolded too fast for a 16-year-old kid who had lost his father years earlier.
He said: “It probably all happened too quickly for me. It was a lot for a 16-year-old boy to take in. And my Rangers career ended up petering out before it really got started.
“My father wasn’t around by that point. He had died early in his life and I think I missed having that fatherly figure to put an arm around you and guide you.
“But my teammates were all brilliant with me. Most of them had won the Cup Winners’ Cup just the year before so they were household names. But they all looked out for me the best they could.
“Guys like John Greig, Colin Jackson – who was a hero of mine – Willie Mathieson, Peter McCloy, Alex MacDonald, Derek Johnstone, Derek Parlane, Colin Stein and the rest were all great with me.
“A lot of them were guys I’d grown up watching and admiring, especially Greigy. He was a legend! I went to games when I was younger with friends and always remember thinking how good it would be to emulate what these guys were doing.”
O’Hara did get that opportunity almost straight after leaving school. He added: “I had signed for the club a few years earlier on an ‘S’ form. I trained with them at night time and they oversaw your development during that period. And if you progressed well enough you would get a chance with the club itself.
“So I left school and went in to Rangers as an apprentice. And I got in to the first team quite quickly which came as a big surprise. I was a Castlemilk boy coming in on the bus for training every day – I’m sure there won’t be too many footballers using public transport nowadays! But when you’re that age you just accepted that as the normal thing to do.”
His debut competitive appearance at Falkirk came as a shock as he only thought he was being taken along for the experience.
He recalled: “I scored that night which was obviously amazing. But I don’t recall ever being named in the squad. I was just told to turn up and come on the team bus. I thought I was just being taken along to get a feel of how things happen on a matchday. The next thing the manager was telling me I was playing. I had to double check he had actually said my name! I couldn’t believe it.
“I came on as a sub that night in front of about 60,000 fans. Arsenal had sent a strong team up for it, the likes of John Radford and Charlie George. They ended up winning 2-1 and Derek Parlane scored for us.
“Those two matches flew by in a blur for me. I was maybe just too young to grasp the significance of it.
“I got in the team pretty quickly after that, then bounced back out and was on the periphery most of the time. There was a pretty vibrant Reserves setup back then and we won the treble twice when I was there. And when I played I was the Reserve team captain which was a great honour.”
There were European nights to savour too, including a Cup Winners’ Cup strike against Ankaragucu of Turkey and one in the European Cup against Bohemians.
O’Hara recalled: “I got a couple of goals in Europe which was nice. The Bohemians one was the night the bus got attacked with bricks and rocks. Jock Wallace got one right at the front of the bus but Jock being Jock he just shrugged it off as no big deal. That was just typical of him.”
The Boxing Day winner was another highlight, especially after sacrificing his Christmas dinner the day before.
He added: “I remember that game against Motherwell and it was great to get the winning goal. From memory we trained on Christmas Day to prepare for it but that came with the territory of being a footballer. It was part of the job that you trained and played when you had to.
“So even on Christmas Day you had to be careful with what you ate and drank, especially if you had a match the next day. Working on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day was just part of the routine.”
O’Hara left for Firhill in 1977 and spent seven successful seasons at Thistle before moving on to Morton, Hamilton Accies and then Glenafton.
He admitted: “Thistle was great for me. I played every week there and as a team we did pretty well. And getting into the Thistle Hall of Fame was a nice moment too and much appreciated. I’m doing the half-time draw at Firhill in the next few weeks so that will be nice to go back.”
Glenafton marked the end of his professional playing career but he kept pulling on the boots for another 25 years with the Giffnock North Old Crocs – where teammates included a certain former Rangers manager.
He explained: “It’s an over-35s team and we had some decent players over the years including Ally McCoist, Owen Coyle, and Gerry McCabe. And I really enjoyed that experience. It was great fun even just as a hobby. I think in my lifetime I must have played more than 1000 matches now which is a decent tally!
“I was playing regularly until about two years ago and then I had a bit of a knee injury. But I still do a bit of refereeing which is great fun. You see things from the other side now – some of the abuse you get is unbelievable! It makes you think back to when you were playing and how much stick we used to get refs.”
O’Hara still attends Rangers matches on occasion and kicks every ball from the stands. He laughed:
“I got to play in three or four Old Firm games and those were always special. I remember looking around the stadium before the first one and thinking there was nothing like that in the world. And that will stick in my mind for all time.”