MARC RIEPER was one of the unsung heroes of Wim Jansen’s squad that won Celtic’s first title in a decade in 1998.
It was a double celebration for the Hoops as they prevented Rangers from claiming 10 in a row.
The spotlight was mainly on Henrik Larsson, bought for a bargain £650,000 from Feyenoord at the start of the season, and the Swede enjoyed superb back-up in the middle of the park from Paul Lambert and Craig Burley bought from Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea respectively.
However, Danish international centre-back Rieper, who cost £1.2million from West Ham, proved to be a dependable anchorman at the back and also helped keeper Jonathan Gould to ease into his Hoops career after replacing Gordon Marshall.
The towering stopper played for AGF and Brondby in his homeland before moving to the Upton Park outfit in December 1994.
THREE CHEERS…goal heroes Marc Rieper, Henrik Larsson and Craig Burley celebrate Celtic’s 3-0 League Cup Final success over Dundee United in November 1997.
After his switch to join the Jansen Revolution, Rieper headed in the opening goal as the Hoops beat Dundee United 3-0 to lift the League Cup, then under the guise of the Coca-Cola Cup, on November 30 1997.
Larsson lobbed in a clever second and Burley rounded off a perfect day with a close-range header.
Rieper took his place alongside Alan Stubbs in central defence on the memorable afternoon of Saturday May 9 1998 in the east end of Glasgow when Larsson and Harald Brattbakk netted the strikes that beat St Johnstone to have the flag flying over Parkhead once again.
Unfortunately, the no-nonsense back-four operator sustained a toe injury in October that year from which he never recovered. He announced he was hanging up his boots in July 2000 at the age of 32.
Rieper scored two goals in 61 appearances for Denmark and, following his retirement, spent a year as assistant coach at AGF before quitting in 2002.
He now owns and runs a hotel in Aarhus and is a member of the board of directors at AGF.
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