Former Oldham Athletic goalkeeper Andy Goram has passed away from cancer at the age of 58, Rangers FC has announced.

In May, Goram announced that he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and vowed to "fight" it, but Rangers FC has today announced that he has tragically lost that battle.

The legendary keeper who was born in Bury in 1964 kickstarted his career at Oldham Athletic, playing 195 games from 1981 to 1987 when the club was in England’s Second Division.

He then moved to play for Edinburgh side Hibernian in 1987 and would captain the team for many of his 138 appearances.

Goram was then sold to Rangers for £1 million four years later.

There, he played for the Ibrox side between 1991 and 1998 where he made 260 appearances and helped Rangers win five Scottish Premier League titles, three Scottish cups and two league cups.

Goram was awarded the Scottish Football Writers’ Association and SPFA player of the year awards following the season 1992-93 where Rangers narrowly missed out on reaching the Champions League final but won a fifth consecutive league title after completing a domestic treble.

Born to a Scottish father, Goram represented Scotland at the 1986 and 1990 World Cups, as well as the Euro 92 and 96.

The keeper enjoyed brief spells at Notts County and Sheffield United before signing for Motherwell in 1999 for three seasons, helping them finish fourth in the Scottish top flight the following year.

He was also on loan at Manchester United in their title run-in when the team won the Premier League title in 2000-01 before a spell with Coventry City and a return to Scotland with Queen of the South, helping the Dumfries side win the Scottish Challenge Cup in 2002.

Goram then retired in 2004 and turned to coach goalkeepers at Motherwell, Clyde, Hamilton Academical, BSC Glasgow, Dunfermline Athletic and Airdrieonians.

Sadly, Goram was diagnosed with Level 4 oesophageal cancer and revealed it had spread to his liver, right lung, three vertebrae and ribs only months ago.

At the age of just 58, doctors told Goram that he only had six months to live.

A statement on the Rangers FC website said the club was “deeply saddened to announce the death of our legendary goalkeeper Andy Goram following a short battle with cancer”.

Paying tribute to Goram, the club said: “His performances in the inaugural UEFA Champions League in 1992/93 were outstanding, as Gers defeated English champions Leeds United to qualify for the tournament, before coming within a whisker of reaching the final.

"Goram was also something of an Old Firm specialist, and as the decade progressed and clashes between the two became more and more important, he was often the difference between the two sides with some astonishing saves.

"In a 1999 supporters’ poll, he was voted the Greatest Rangers Goalkeeper of all time, and after retirement, was still a regular face around Ibrox on matchdays and still wowed the crowd with some memorable appearances in legends teams." 

The statement continued: "Indeed, his spell at Palmerston with Queens saw him become the first player to complete the set of Scottish medals when he claimed a Challenge Cup medal to go alongside winners’ prizes in the Scottish top flight, Scottish Cup and League Cup.

"Internationally, Goram won 43 caps for Scotland and was the first-choice goalkeeper for both Euro 92 and Euro 96 in Sweden and England respectively for the Scots.

"He is a member of the Scottish Football Hall of Fame and was named both the Scottish PFA and Football Writers’ Player of the Year in 1992-93 – arguably the strongest campaign in Rangers’ history.

“Goram also won international caps for Scotland as a cricketer and remains the only person to have played a first-class international match at cricket as well as a major international football match for Scotland.

“The thoughts of the directors, management, players and staff are today with Andy’s family, and would ask that their privacy is respected at this sad time.

“Funeral details will be communicated in due course.”