Never forget: Filip Sebo

GLASGOW, UNITED KINGDOM - DECEMBER 14: Filip Sebo of Rangers is challenged by Marko Lomic of Partizan Belgrade during the UEFA Cup Group A match between Rangers and Partizan Belgrade at the Ibrox stadium on December 14, 2006 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
GLASGOW, UNITED KINGDOM - DECEMBER 14: Filip Sebo of Rangers is challenged by Marko Lomic of Partizan Belgrade during the UEFA Cup Group A match between Rangers and Partizan Belgrade at the Ibrox stadium on December 14, 2006 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

There are several players who Rangers fans will never forget about, and not for good reason.

And when you are one of 13 players signed in the space of one summer, he can be easy to be forgotten about.

However, this man did plenty over his short spell at the club to ensure he would live long in the memory.

Someone once told me, not all heroes wear capes some wore 23 on the back of their top.

Yes, 17 years ago to this day, Filip Sebo arrived at Ibrox from Austria Wein in a deal worth £1.85m, which would make him the most expensive signing of Paul Le Guen’s short spell in charge of Rangers.

Such a fee at the time heightened expectations of the then-22 year old striker, especially during a period where Dado Prso’s body was beginning to break down on him and Nacho Novo was struggling for form.

Hopes for Sebo as he would have a relatively decent start to his Rangers career, scoring on his first full start away to Hibs before netting a last minute winner at home to Aberdeen.

Unfortunately though, this would mark the end of the goals for Sebo in competitive fixtures in a Rangers jersey, as he became more well-known after for his frustratingly erratic finishing, where more of his shots on goal would end up in Row Z than in the back of the net.

Such was his shooting ability than a recurring theme of high school football matches at the time was any bad miss in the game being met with loud cries of ‘SEBBBBBBOOOO!!’ from the other end of the pitch.

He’d also be featured in a prominent sketch in the 2006 Hogmanay edition of the Scottish Football satire show Only An Excuse, where he’d be referred to as the long lost son of Desperate Dan.

Despite his struggles, he’d build up a level of sympathetic support from the Rangers fan base, mainly due to his all-action, 100% effort approach to his displays despite his shooting boots alluding him.

It was this approach to his play that led to him playing a crucial role as the lone striker in Walter Smith’s first Old Firm win of his second spell in charge of the club in the 1-0 victory at Parkhead in March 2007.

His future appearances under Smith afterwards though would be few and far between, featuring in just nine minutes of action in the remaining eight leagues.

There was a glimmer during the pre-season of 2007 that his Rangers career may have hope just yet when, with a full head of hair as opposed to his signature shaven look, he scored the second goal in a 2-0 friendly win over Chelsea that ranks up there as one of the most popular goals scored at Ibrox at the time.

Just weeks later though, he’d be heading for the exit door to France, signing a one-year loan deal with Valenciennes before making the move permanent the following year.

His post-Rangers career would also take him to Slovan Bratislava and Petrzalka, before retiring in 2016.

In total, he finished his career with 73 goals in 259 appearances, playing 15 times for his national side Slovakia.

His lasting legacy at Rangers will go down as being more comical than impactful, but he is certainly a player us as fans will never forget for years to come.

Long live, Filip Sebo!