A rare programme from a Rangers v Aberdeen match 15 years ago has been snapped up for £700.
The booklet, featuring an advert for the film The Pope Must Die, starring Robbie Coltrane, went under the hammer yesterday.
The controversial programme with a full-page advert for the film was pulled by the Ibrox club ahead of their Premier Division clash against Aberdeen FC on Saturday, May 11 1991.
Sporting memorabilia specialist auctioneers Sportingold Limited sold the rare programme which would have had an original cover price of just £1.
The auction description stated: “Understandably there was outrage and Rangers arranged for them to be destroyed. But as usual, it is believed that the printer held some back and it is thought that only six survived.
“The outrage was caused by a full page advert for a Robbie Coltrane film.”
The film stars Coltrane as a lowly priest who is mistakenly elected Pope and then has to avoid being assassinated by the Mafia. It received mixed reviews due to the controversial subject matter and struggled at the box office.
It was not only Rangers FC that refused to carry advertising for the film.
London Transport refused to display the posters advertising the film on their buses and in the underground.
The film’s title also caused distributors problems in America and Canada. It was eventually released under the title The Pope Must Diet.
