With six points separating the top five in the Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League and talk of a serious challenge for the title from Hibs or Dundee United, Gareth Friel looks at the last time a side from outside Glasgow took the Old Firm to the wire...
Three of the last five SPL title have been decided on the final day, with 2004-05 providing one of the most thrilling finishes in Scottish football history, Scott McDonald's double for Motherwell against Celtic in the closing stages handing Rangers an astonishing title victory.
But few final days can have been set up as perfectly as in 1991.
The season as a whole was an eventful one - four players (Terry Hurlock, Mark Walters, Mark Hateley and Peter Grant) were sent off in an explosive Old Firm Scottish Cup last eight clash while the final itself was a classic, Motherwell edging past Dundee United 4-3 in extra-time.
And just when Rangers looked to be heading to a third successive title for the first time since 1945, manager Graeme Souness stunned the club by quitting to take over at Liverpool with five game remaining.
Assistant Walter Smith was handed the reins and just when it looked like he was leading the Gers to a comfortable title win, they went down to a shock 3-0 loss at Motherwell.
That meant they and Aberdeen headed into the final day locked on the same points and with the same goal difference - and in an amazing quirk of fate the pair were to meet at Ibrox in a title decider.
The Dons needed just a point having scored two goals more than their rivals - and they were confident of getting it having not lost any of the previous three league meetings that season.
Joint-bosses Alex Smith and Jocky Scott had masterminded a run of 11 wins in 12 games - but inexplicably changed formation for the trip to Glasgow, electing not to opt for the three forwards that had served them so well until then.
Instead of starting with Willem Van der Ark, Hans Gillhaus and Eoin Jess, Smith and Scott opted to bring in midfielder Peter Van de Ven for Van der Ark and went with just the two strikers.
Although they started brightly and had a couple of half-chances before Mark Hateley opened the scoring, the plan backfired. The Dons collapsed after the opening goal and Rangers eased to a 2-0 win to clinch the third of their eventual nine successive titles.
There's little doubt Aberdeen opted to play for the draw - had they gone for the jugular against a team just thrashed 3-0 by Motherwell it could have been a different story.
Although strangely it may well have been the third Well goal the week before which cost Smith and Scott. Aberdeen were 2-1 up against St Johnstone when the third goal went in at Fir Park. Had the scoreline stayed at 2-0, the Dons would have went into the final game having to win at Ibrox - and would surely have lined up in their tried and tested formation.
Such seemingly minor incidents can have an incredible impact.
Had Aberdeen won the title, they would have had the chance to compete in the newly-created Champions League, and who knows where that financial boost would have taken them.
We have to bear in mind that they had been a force in Europe during the 1980's under Alex Ferguson, could the same have happened again?
Rangers' nine-in-a-row would never have happened and shorn of offering Champions League football, would they have been able to bring in the likes of Alexei Mikhailichenko in the summer of 1991?
And how long would Walter Smith have lasted as manager if, on the back of losing a title that looked in the bag, he had suffered a similar defeat in the UEFA Cup as he did to Sparta Prague in the European Cup the following season?
No side from outside Glasgow has come as close to winning the title as Aberdeen did that day in May 1991.
Hearts mounted a very credible challenge in 1998 but won just one of their last six games and finished seven points adrift of champions Celtic.
Those seasons, along with Hearts' brief challenge in 2005-06, rank alnogside the most exciting I have experienced, if only as it was a refreshing change to the status quo.
Here's hoping Hibs and/or Dundee United can keep their challenge going for as long as possible this season, the SPL could do with a boost to it's credibility outside Scotland.
Send us your opinions on the 1990-91 season in Scotland. Send your feedback to gareth.friel@bskyb.com
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