It has become part of the Graeme Souness legend, an act so bristling and bold that only he would contemplate it, let alone pull it off.

Exactly 20 years ago the former Liverpool and Rangers icon charged on to the pitch following a hostile Istanbul derby and planted a giant flag of his team, Galatasaray, by the centre circle of their bitter opponents, Fenerbahce.

Crazy, thrilling, provocative and dangerous, no incident summed up better the mass of contradictions that have made Souness a spellbinding character throughout his career as a world-class player, captain, manager and now television pundit.

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Graeme Souness plants the Galatasaray flag in the Fenerbahce pitch after a Turkish Cup final in 1996

Souness revealed he was motivated by comments made by a Fenerbahce official who called him a 'cripple'

He ran half the length of the pitch with the giant flag, which had been handed over by Galatasaray fans

GALATASARAY v FENERBAHCE: A BRIEF HISTORY The Istanbul derby began way back in 1909 but it wasn't until the 1930s that it started to become truly ferocious. A game in 1934 was abandoned after a fight broke out between opposing players and that set the tone for meetings since. The fixture's darkest moment came in 2013, when a teenage Fenerbahce supporter was stabbed to death after a game. The occasion was dubbed 'Black Saturday' by the Turkish press. Translated from Turkish, the clash is widely known as the 'Intercontinental Derby', which hails from the two clubs' origins from either side of the Bosphorus. Advertisement

The sight of Souness running out after that game in 1996 still inspires love and loathing in football-mad Turkey.

He'd already had open-heart surgery four years earlier so you'd have thought his reaction to a cup win for Galatasaray on enemy territory would have been to jump on the team bus and get away safely. Not a bit of it.

Dressed in a bright red tracksuit top – you couldn't miss him – Souness ventures out and heads towards the middle of the pitch in something between a trot and a sprint, carrying an absolutely massive Gala flag wrapped around the pole.

Once he gets to the halfway line, it takes four attempts to bang it into the hardened the turf before it plants properly. And Souness departs smirking, while thousands of Fenerbahce fans holler their anger and disapproval, nearly sparking a riot.

The incident has secured Souness' legendary status among Galatasaray fans ever since. In 2014 before another Istanbul derby, they re-enacted it, with a giant image of Souness with his flag beamed out from the big screens.

The Scot ran past officials, players and staff near the centre circle in the middle of the pitch

As a flare landed beside him, Souness lifted the flag above his head before jamming it into the turf

The brazen act achieved legendary status for the former Liverpool midfielder among Galatasaray fans

When I went there one of their vice-presidents had asked in the papers "what are Galatasaray doing by signing a cripple?" I saw this guy's face. I thought "I'll show you who's a cripple" and it wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done. Graeme Souness

Souness has since said he hadn't planned the move but that revenge lay behind it.

Speaking on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football programme, he said: 'When I went there one of their vice-presidents had asked in the papers "what are Galatasaray doing by signing a cripple?"

'He was talking about me because about 18 months earlier I had open-heart surgery. We won the cup, in their stadium, and the big flag is handed over. All our players had the chance to wave it.

'They handed it to me, I handed it to another player and went down to the halfway line to get the cup. I went back up towards the halfway line, looking up at emptying stands and unbelievably I saw this guy's face.

Souness was manager of the Turkish club for a single season in 1995-96 before returning to England

The Galatasaray fans recreated the Scotsman's iconic flag-planting using choreography in 2014

SOUNESS AT GALATASARAY Graeme Souness spent a year in Istanbul from 1995 to 1996 after more than a year without a job in football. He won the Turkish Cup with Galatasaray - the prelude to his flag episode at Fenerbahce which ensured he remains a legendary figure at the club despite only holding his position for a season. The Scot then returned to England to take charge of Southampton. Advertisement

'I thought "I'll show you who's a cripple" and it wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done. When I planted it and turned around... I quickly realised there were a number of supporters trying to get on to the pitch.

'I managed to get out of there relatively scot-free. Relatively.'

Now 62, Souness can look back on a glittering career with Middlesbrough, Liverpool, Sampdoria and Rangers as a player, and Rangers, Liverpool, Galatasaray, Southampton, Torino, Benfica, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United as a manager besides winning 54 caps for Scotland.

In that time, he won an incredible 29 trophies yet is possibly still best remembered for the flag by the Bosphorus. Given his famous competitive spirit and desire to fight back when attacked, you imagine he isn't even too displeased about that.

Souness spoke of the experience in Turkey and his actions on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football programme