Jörg Albertz

As both a youth player and apprentice, Albertz played for PSV Mönchengladbach and Borussia Mönchengladbach. His first professional contract was signed in 1990 for Fortuna Düsseldorf. When the team from the Rhineland were relegated to the second tier of the Bundesliga, Albertz moved to Hamburger SV where he soon became the public hero of the team. Two seasons later he became the club captain. In 1996, Albertz signed for Rangers for £4 million, and he scored a famous free-kick against rivals Celtic in January 1997 to help them on the way to their ninth-consecutive Scottish league championship title. Albertz earned himself the nickname "The Hammer" for his powerful long-range shots. He scored two more important goals against Celtic, both of a similar nature involving individual runs from midfield, in April 1998, as Rangers closed in on another title and the Scottish Cup, but missed out on both trophies. After the departure of manager Walter Smith in June 1998, he was frequently left out of the starting line-up by the incoming Dick Advocaat. Despite this, he won further championship medals in 1999 and 2000, as well as the Scottish Cup – also in 1999 and 2000 – and the early-season Scottish League Cup in 1996 and 1998. He returned to Hamburg in 2001. After 99 Bundesliga appearances, in which he scored 22 goals, he transferred to Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua in 2002–03. He immediately gained success with them when he won the 2003 league title. In 2003, the Chinese Football…

Rangers

Scottish Premier League: 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000 Scottish Cup: 1998–99, 1999–2000 Scottish League Cup: 1996–97, 1998–99 Shanghai Shenhua

Chinese Jia-A League: 2003 (revoked due to match-fixing scandal) Individual

SPL Player of the Month: May 2001 Chinese Jia-A League Player of the Year: 2003