Inside the best Celtic and Rangers Soccer AM clips as Griffiths turns on style but fresh-faced Tavernier has a nightmare
IT’S the end of an era as Soccer AM confirms it’s big switch-off at the end of this season.
A Saturday morning staple for decades, the TV favourite will end its 30-year broadcast run this summer.
The show has evolved over the years – there are no more Soccerettes for example – and with only 10 episodes left many more features will be permanently canned.
That means the Luther Blissett stand is permanently closed, no more car park shoot-outs and no more hilarious visits to club training grounds.
The show has given many iconic moments including when they dropped into Rangers and Celtic training bases armed with their cameras for some Jimmy Bullard hi-jinks and hilarious challenges.
Young Rangers academy players Ross Lyon and Sam Woods may not be household names, and may never have played for the first-team.
But they ARE members of an exclusive club.
Clyde defender Lyon is the owner of a Crossbar Challenge T-shirt after clipping the frame in season 2014-15 – five years after Woods did the same at the Rangers training ground.
Other times saw Ally McCoist go close – finding the roof of the Hampden net and Simon Ferry’s slide and HEADED effort at Dundee summed up the slapstick side of the show.
The iconic challenge became a regularly recreated feature on training grounds around the country and joined the Showboat and Tubes’ interview segments in TV folklore.
Jimmy Bullard was another figure synonymous with the show and the current host was often travelling the country to meet players and compete in the crossbar challenge’s sister segment – ‘Know the Drill’
His hilarious visit to Auchenhowie saw Josh Windass score a screamer and James Tavernier have a nightmare in front of goal – but the Gers still edged Bullard and ex-pro Dean Windass.
Visits to Celtic weren’t shy on the spectacular either.
Bullard was left open-mouthed as Leigh Griffiths ripped some spectacular strikes past Scott Bain during his six-shot shooting challenge in 2015.
And three years ago Odsonne Edouard and Olivier Ntcham teamed up to defeat the host and coach Damien Duff at Lennoxtown.
Aberdeen youth product Dean Campbell also impressed earlier this year when the TV crews visited Stevenage – and forced a tie-break.
While Livingston also hosted Bullard and boss Davie Martindale pitched the EPL legend against Bruce Anderson.
In another popular clip, host Helen Chamberlain couldn’t contain her laughter as footage a partying Stuart McCall tumbling from the roof of a CAR in Bradford City promotion celebrations, aired.
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