Whatever Happened To The Toon Assassin?

To jog the memory, we signed him in 1990 when Jim Smith was the gaffa, and he was alleged to be the tough guy of Scottish football.

The tackle in question was when he played for Aberdeen against Rangers. The injury denied Rangers the talents of Ian Durrant and marked out a profound watershed in the young winger's career.

It took place on 8th October 1988 and is still talked of today. Durrant was so bad it caused major problems between the two clubs for over ten years! A relationship that some tell me is still in the minds of the Rangers fans.

Durrant spent 40 days in hospital and it took months of rehabiliation before he could even walk. His whole leg was pinned and reconstructed in a six-hour operation.

Durrant awoke to read the newspapers saying his career was finished, and to add to the moment of dispair, hours later the biggest influence on his career - his father - died.

Simpson was the hate figure of the Rangers fans, so much so he had many death threats and decided to leave Scotland.

Enter Newcastle United. He cost £200,000 and I remember him playing a blinder at Hillsborough in a midweek fixture, but after just one start and four substitute appearances, we never saw him again.

He joined Motherwell the following season, and I often wonder what happened to him.

If anyone out there knows ... please let me know and we will follow this story up with Part 2.

Contact me: Kevnumad@fsmail.net

We have had replies from Daniel Hall; Chris Jones; and this is from John Rennie ...