When he signed from Rangers Boys Club in the summer of 1994, Barry Ferguson was not only a Rangers fan but a younger brother of a previous Gers player, Derek, who had starred for the club in the 80s. He made his first team debut at the age of 19 in season 1996 /97, when he played in the final, meaningless, fixture at Tynecastle with the title already having been won three days earlier. So, technically, Ferguson was part of the squad of players who won 9-in-a-row.
It was the following season, however, when manager Walter Smith started to play him in more games, to the delight of the crowd that could see they were watching a special talent in midfield. To the fans’ disappointment, though, due to injury, and loss of form, the youngster only played 11 matches as the manager, no doubt tried to protect him, ensuring that he wouldn’t suffer from burn out later on.
With the arrival of new manager, Dick Advocaat, however, things changed dramatically for Ferguson who’d been harbouring thoughts of having to move on to another club to further his experience of first team football. The Dutch coach, observing the team in the months before taking over, had realised that Ferguson could be a great play-maker in his new midfield and so when he arrived he made this clear to the player and anyone else who cared to listen. His faith in Ferguson inspired him to produce a series of outstanding displays that meant he was considered a regular in the side and an established talent.
In that first season, when The Treble was won, Ferguson was immense. Fit, enthusiastic and determined, he gave his all for the team. He was a midfielder whose desire shone through accompanied by the vision and passing skills to make him an invaluable member of the side. He chased and tackled the opposition when they had the ball and set up attacks when Rangers had it. The one disappointment for the player that season was that, due to injury, he missed out on the Scottish Cup Final win against Celtic that clinched The Treble. Perhaps he wouldn’t have minded so much if someone could have told him that within 4 years he would be captaining Rangers to another Treble.
In his first two seasons playing for Rangers in Europe he also made a big impact with his displays against various teams. So much so, that Bayer Leverkusen manager, Christophe Daum, valued him at £10 million even before he destroyed them in Germany. Free of injury, his performances at home got better and better too and it was obvious that Rangers had found the new midfield general they needed among a squad of midfielders that consisted of great players such as Albertz, Van Bronckhorst, Tugay and Reyna.
When Dick Advocaat decided to take the captain’s armband from Lorenzo Amoruso following a disappointing lapse in a European match, he surprised everybody by making Ferguson the skipper. Many thought that Ferguson was too young for the burden of such an honour but Advocaat was proved correct as the youngster grew in the job and led his side by example, showing the traditional Rangers’ spirit that brought the side back from the brink on many an occasion. He would become the youngest player ever to captain Rangers to a Treble victory.
Throughout his time at Ibrox there were only two evident weaknesses in Ferguson’s game. One was his discipline that saw him being sent off 3 times, once at Parkhead. This usually came about because of his passion for the club, his enthusiasm and his frustration when things were going badly – not that that happened too often initially. The other weakness had been his scoring record for a midfield man. Hard work, coaching and practice, however, rectified this during season 2002 / 03 when his haul of 18 goals contributed greatly to the Rangers’ Treble success.
Those goals were a mixture of penalties, free kicks and goals from open play. His free kicks had improved so much that when one was awarded with 25 yards of goal, Gers fans expected his effort to be on target, if not in the net. It was such a free kick that equalised in the 2002 Scottish Cup Final against Celtic in what many believe was Ferguson’s finest game. In that match, he had shown all his skills but just as important his grit and energy to ensure that Rangers would come from behind to deservedly take the Cup with a last minute Lovenkrands goal.
His runs into the opposition box improved considerably the following season so that some wonderful goals were the end product of his ability to start a move and then follow it up by reaching the danger area to finish it off. One memorable goal that stands out as an example of this was at Tannadice when Ferguson sent a long, raking pass from his own half for Ronald de Boer to run on to and catch at the opposition goal line. After controlling the ball and looking up, de Boer threaded his pass into the box where Ferguson, who had run half the length of the park, met it and crashed a brilliant shot into the roof of the net. It was goals like this that showed the improvement in Ferguson’s play as he had matured into a classy midfield maestro. The 44 appearances for Scotland, which would have been more but for injury, also proved how great a player he had become.
Just before the start of the 2003 /04 season, Ferguson shocked everybody at Ibrox by requesting a transfer. He stated that he wanted to try his luck in England and meet new challenges. No amount of persuasion by Rangers manager, Alex McLeish or the Chairman, John McClelland, could make him change his mind. Therefore, a bid of £7.25 million from Blackburn was accepted and he went to Lancashire to join former Gers manager, Souness’ club.
However, 18 months later, he returned to the club he loved despite having been successful at Blackburn and becoming their captain. Injury and his wife's homesickness contributed greatly to his decision. His presence in midfield no doubt helped the Gers to their last day title triumph in 2005. In 2008 he became only the third Ranger to lead the club to the Final of a European competition. In the course of that European run he became the Scot with the most appearances (82) in European club football. In 2009 he was involved in an incident of indiscipline at the Scotland headquarters at Loch Lomond and was suspended indefinitely by the SFA. Walter Smith also gave him a 2 week suspension from Rangers and took the captaincy away from him. He only played another 2 games for Rangers but one was in the title-winning match on the last day of the league season and the last one was helping Gers to win the Scottish Cup at Hampden. In the close season he was transferred to Birmingham for £1million to team up with his old boss Alex McLeish. Twice voted the Sportswriters' Player of the Year, he will always be a Rangers legend.
Barry Ferguson M.B.E. played 423 games for Rangers scoring 60 goals. He won 5 League Championships, 5 Scottish Cups and 5 League Cups.
STEFAN KLOS
When Dick Advocaat became the Rangers manager, one of his priorities had to be to find a goalkeeper to replace “The Goalie”, Andy Goram, who had been allowed to leave the club in the summer of 1998. His first attempt saw him buy the third choice keeper of that year’s French World Cup-winning squad – Lionel Charbonnier from Auxerre. The Frenchman, initially, was a hit with the fans and the manager although his brilliance at times could be erratic. Thus, it was rumoured that Advocaat was trying to bring German keeper, Stefan Klos, to the club as a replacement. This became a more urgent requirement when Charbonnier was injured playing in a UEFA Cup match against Bayer Leverkusen. Finnish keeper, Antti Niemi was used as a stopgap but it was obvious that he didn’t enjoy his manager’s confidence.
Advocaat persevered in his attempt at prising Klos away from Borussia Dortmund where he was in the final year of his contract. He had already told his club that he wanted to leave so it became a case of when and for how much? On Christmas Eve 1998, Advocaat’s persistence paid off when the German signed for a fee of £700,000. He was going to be the third keeper that season to try and exorcise the ghost of Andy Goram. If any keeper could do it, then it had to be Klos. He had already won the Champions League with Dortmund when they’d defeated Juventus in the 1997 Final and he’d played at Ibrox when his team had come up against Rangers in the same tournament in season 1994/95 so Rangers were getting an experienced campaigner.
Like Goram, he was relatively small for a keeper, being 5 feet 10 inches tall. Other similarities were that he tended to be a goal line keeper, only coming out for crosses when absolutely necessary and even then, preferring to punch the ball rather than try to catch it. Also, like The Goalie, he was a great shot-stopper, thanks to very quick reflexes and he was a master at staying on his feet for as long as possible when a forward burst through to be one-on-one with him, forcing the striker to decide how to get the ball beyond the keeper. Unlike Goram, however, he wasn’t as comfortable with the ball at his feet or when it came to dealing with passbacks. His kicking was also markedly inferior to Goram’s. All those weaknesses, though, were overshadowed by the brilliance of his saves, his cool temperament and fierce concentration that made him an absolute star with the Rangers fans in spite of his unassuming personality.
From his first season at the club, fans of all teams in Scotland acknowledged Klos as the finest keeper in the country. Like all great keepers, he quietly went about his business, making saves at vital points in matches that ultimately made sure of the points or progress into another round of a cup. Another similarity he shared with Andy Goram was the way he seemed to relish appearing in Old Firm matches and performing at his best. In latter seasons, when perhaps Celtic had the best of most Old Firm encounters, many a time it was the saves of Klos that kept Rangers in the game or, at worst, reduced the margin of defeat – something Gers fans were grateful for.
Klos’ wonderful saves are too numerous to detail but perhaps a description of one might be enough to prove the keeper’s value to Rangers. In season 2002-03, with Gers neck- and- neck with Celtic for the title, it had all come down to the final match of the league season. Rangers faced Dunfermline at Ibrox while Celtic played at Kilmarnock. In the second half, with Gers leading 3-1, Klos pulled off a magnificent save to prevent a 20 yard screamer going into the Rangers’ net. If that had gone in, it’s possible that Celtic would have taken the title by one goal instead of Rangers. He was the unsung hero that day but is recognised as a true hero nowadays.
Further proof of this can be seen in the fact that Alex McLeish made Klos the new Rangers captain following the departure of Craig Moore and the nickname that the adoring Gers fans have seen fit to award him “Der Goalie” – no greater tribute could have been made to a worthy successor to the legend that is Andy Goram.
Half way through season 2004/05, a serious training ground injury cost him his place and McLeish signed Ronald Waterreus, the experienced former Dutch International keeper. When Klos was fit for the start of the next season however, his manager decided that Waterreus should retain the keeper’s jersey and Klos only made two appearances that season before getting injured again in a cycling accident during the close season. New manager Paul LeGuen brought in French keeper Lionel Letizi when Waterreus moved on that summer, leaving Klos as the Gers’ number three keeper in effect, behind youngster Alan McGregor who would soon become the number one at the club. Der Goalie decided to retire at the end of that season after making his final bow on the pitch at the end of the final match at Ibrox sharing the adulation with another Ibrox hero, Dado Prso.
Stefan Klos played 264 games for Rangers. He won 4 League Championships, 4 Scottish Cups and 2 League Cups.
LORENZO AMORUSO
Amoruso would become the first foreign player to captain Rangers to The Treble but few would have believed this possible after such a traumatic start to his Ibrox career. Signed in the summer of 1997 by Walter Smith from Fiorentina for £4 million, the big Italian was seen as the ideal replacement in central defence for the departed Richard Gough. Big, strong, powerful, great in the air and a defender who tried to be constructive by building from the back, Amoruso looked like the archetypal modern defender. He had bags of confidence and liked to blast free kicks that, when they went into the net were spectacular, but when they didn’t, tended to hit row Z in the stand! Gers fans were relishing the thought of the Italian being the rock of the new defence. However, there was only one problem: Rangers’ management knew that Amoruso needed an operation to clear up an Achilles tendon problem but believed he would be fit afterwards for the start of the vital season, when the club went in search of 10-in-a-row. As it turned out, the Italian needed more than one operation and missed most of what should have been his first season. In fact, as soon as it became obvious that he might not play at all, Walter Smith persuaded Richard Gough to return from America and fill the void. So, it was an inauspicious start to Amoruso’s Ibrox career, to say the least.
When Amoruso did make his debut, he did it in what was to become true Amoruso style. In April, in an Old Firm Scottish Cup semi-final at Parkhead that had been made a neutral venue for that game, he came on as a substitute when Gordan Petric had been injured after 20 minutes. Not only did he fit in immediately, it was obvious that he relished such a game. He controlled the Celtic forwards and astonished everybody by nearly scoring twice from thunderous 30 yard shots that would have made his the most sensational Old Firm debut ever. He appeared in the few remaining league matches but was sent off near the end of a game at Pittodrie in a 1-0 defeat that virtually ended the chance of 10-in-a-row.
Gers fans were left wondering what might have been if he’d been available for the whole of that season. However, the best and worst of Lorenzo Amoruso was seen in that brief end to the season. In the Scottish Cup Final, won 2-1 by Hearts, he was certainly at fault for the second goal when he appeared casual and slow to react to the danger that resulted in the goal at the start of the second half.
This casual attitude, in the coming seasons, was often to be Amoruso’s Achilles heel. Too often it appeared that he was over-confident and took unnecessary chances when defending his goal. Sometimes he would be dispossessed in dangerous areas or pass the ball carelessly to the opposition causing a goal or goal chance to be created. His nadir came in a match at Ibrox against Dundee United when a portion of the crowd blamed him for a shambles of a performance and a goal conceded and started to boo him when he took possession of the ball on a couple of occasions. Needless to say, the Italian answered those fans in the best possible way by scoring the winning goal and showing his passion in the way that he celebrated it.
The fans came to appreciate that they would have to take Amoruso, warts and all. He was commanding, a great tackler, brilliant in the air, both in defence and in attack and showed a hunger for success as well as a passion for the club. His errors would always occur and sometimes might be costly but that was the price that had to be paid for the pleasure of watching the extrovert Italian strut his stuff. Dick Advocaat, in his first season, obviously recognised this but had enough confidence in the player to make him the club captain – despite the fact that he had just signed the Scotland captain, Colin Hendry, who everybody thought had been brought to the club to become its skipper.
Long before the end of that Treble-winning season, the Rangers fans had been won over by Amoruso. He could be an inspiring sight as he surged forward with the ball at his feet but he could also give the fans a laugh when things didn’t quite go to plan, as long as no danger was involved. He also put many a heart in the mouth with his antics but it’s fair to say that his hard work and dedication won the affection of the Gers fans. Most felt sympathy for the player when he was stripped of the captaincy by Advocaat but Amoruso showed true character to put that behind him and continue to fight for the team and produce great performances. He obviously was another player who didn’t quite see eye to eye with his manager but despite chances to go to English clubs, he stuck it out and was rewarded when it was the manager who left, to be replaced by Alex McLeish.
The new manager showed his faith in Amoruso and it was as if the player took greater confidence from this and played consistently well despite the fact that he had to get used to various partners in central defence in his last seasons at the club. One thing he had learned was that he was allowed to take fewer of those infamous free kicks now that his skipper Ferguson had become so adept at them. In his final season at Ibrox, it was appropriate that he ended as he’d begun in his first proper season – by being part of a Treble-winning side. The icing on the cake, of course, was the fact that it was his head that scored the only goal in the Scottish Cup Final against Dundee. Negotiations about an extension to his contract at Rangers failed and he moved to Blackburn, little realising that his former captain would be joining him before the new season had started.
Lorenzo Amoruso played 192 games for Rangers scoring 24 goals. He won 3 League Championships, 3 Scottish Cups and 3 League Cups.
MARK HATELEY
In the summer of 1990, Graeme Souness brought Mark Hateley to Ibrox for a fee of £1 million. Despite the fact that Hateley was an English internationalist, had played for AC Milan for 4 years and was coming from Monaco, it took him some time to win over the Rangers fans. His job was made even more difficult by the fact that the fans perceived, wrongly as it turned out, that he was the player keeping hero, Ally McCoist out of the side. At Monaco, Hateley had been out injured for the best part of 18 months so the start of his Ibrox career was always going to be hard anyway as he battled to regain his match fitness, touch and goal-scoring form. By the end of that first season he had done all of that!
As that season had progressed, the fans had started to see the real value in having Hateley as the team’s “target man” although he was much more than this. He was a big, strong, powerful forward who was marvellous in the air but who had a good first touch and was nimble and quick on the ground for such a big guy. With the hard-working Hateley around, defenders never got a minute’s peace as he harried and harassed them for 90 minutes. Goalkeepers, especially, couldn’t have enjoyed aerial tussles with him as invariably they’d come off second best.
By the end of the season Gers fans had started to appreciate the forward but, after the final league game of that season, appreciation had turned to hero worship! Playing Aberdeen at Ibrox, Gers had to beat them to win the title from the Dons. A magnificent first half header from Hateley set the team on its way and an early second half goal from him virtually sealed the match and the title. His Rangers’ career was truly up and running. As mentioned earlier, when Walter Smith became the manager, he paired Hateley with McCoist and neither player looked back.
The two seemed to get on so well both professionally and personally. Each complemented the other in terms of physique, style and ability. They developed a bond, almost a telepathy that resulted in so many great performances and goals. Hateley’s unselfish, combative style set up many a McCoist goal while Ally’s movement and threat also helped Hateley to score so many. In the season when McCoist was absent through having broken his leg, Hateley took on the extra burden of being the side’s main goal threat and succeeded, winning the sportswriters’ and the players’ Player of the Year awards at the end of that season. Despite such accolades, he was curiously ignored when it came to being selected for the England team. Puzzled Scots couldn’t understand why such a valuable forward wasn’t being utilised by the Auld Enemy. However, it was England’s loss. Despite this, his career total of England caps still came to 32.
Who knows what might have happened if Hateley and McCoist had managed to play together in both the drawn matches in the Champions League against Marseille, the eventual winners? Hateley scored in the first Marseille match at Ibrox that McCoist missed through injury while in the crucial return game, Super Ally played but Hateley was missing through suspension, having previously been unjustly sent off against Brugge. Morecambe without Wise, Ant without Dec – it just wasn’t the same!
Hateley epitomised the spirit of the great Gers sides of the 90s. His affectionate nickname was Attila, in homage to the man whose trailing locks accompanied the marauding, deadly performances that were his hallmark. His will-to-win, his energy, his courage and grit helped Rangers win so many tough games. It was fitting that one of the toughest, the one where 9-in-a-row would virtually be won, should have seen his recall. The season before, he had been sold to Queen’s Park Rangers but in March 1997, Walter Smith brought him back to Rangers in the club’s greatest hour of need. As mentioned above, Rangers were scheduled to play Celtic at Parkhead and it was the Celts’ last chance to prevent 9-in-a-row from happening. Rangers were ravaged by injury and needed to show the type of spirit that had seen them get to the brink of 9 consecutive Championships. Mark Hateley, more than any player, embodied that spirit. Many saw it as a gamble bringing the 35 year old striker back, perhaps even just for that one match, but how it paid off!
As he always had done, Hateley rampaged around the park, getting stuck in, upsetting the Celtic defenders and probably terrifying them at the same time. They all knew what a capable striker he could be. For the winning goal, Hateley played his part by jumping up with Celt Annoni, for the free kick punted to the Celtic box. Both missed the ball but Hateley’s leap had disrupted the Celtic defence enough to allow Durrant to run on to the ball and create the winning goal.
Unfortunately, late in the second half of the tousy match, Hateley was sent off, not for the first time against Celtic, when he clashed with Celtic keeper Kerr who had run out of his box to get involved in a flare up between various players. Gers fans thought that Hateley had been harshly dealt with and that the keeper should have been the player to get his marching orders. Nevertheless, the big striker had done his part in the game, ensuring that Rangers would take the points and, ultimately, the title. In his next game for Rangers, he ended his Gers’ scoring exploits by scoring a goal in a 4-0 win against Dunfermline at Ibrox, getting a huge ovation from the Rangers fans who recognised the part he’d played in defeating Celtic and ensuring that the dream of 9-in-a-row would become reality.
Mark Hateley played 222 games for Rangers scoring 115 goals. He won 5 League championships, 2 Scottish Cups and 3 League Cups.
ALEX MCLEISH ( Manager: 2001 - 2006)
It’s fair to say that when Alex McLeish became to new Rangers manager, the fans’ welcome was muted rather than disappointed. It was much the same reaction as had taken place when Walter Smith had taken over from Souness. Back then, the fans had been looking for another “big name” when Smith had been given the job. As the unassuming Smith had gone on to become one of the most successful of Rangers managers, many probably hoped that “Big Eck” could do the same.
After relatively successful spells as manager of Motherwell and then Hibs, McLeish was considered to have served an appropriate apprenticeship in management but many wondered if he was ready to be boss of a big club like Rangers. Rangers fans were hoping that he’d picked up a lot of his managerial knowledge from his old boss at Aberdeen and current mentor, Sir Alex Ferguson. Still, with the team at a low ebb, for the second consecutive season, many fans thought that the only way was up and that McLeish was as good a choice as any to give it a go.
As stated already, by December, 2001, the gap between league leaders, Celtic, and Gers was so great that nobody at Ibrox believed that the title could be regained. So, when McLeish became manager there was less pressure on him than there otherwise might have been. All the fans were hoping for was to see improved performances on the field and perhaps either the League Cup of the Scottish Cup captured by the end of the season. One of the most frequent doubts voiced, however, by some fans, was just how much control did Alex McLeish have at Ibrox? Many preferred to believe that Director of Football, Dick Advocaat, away from the front line, was actually still calling the shots.
McLeish, from the beginning, sought to repudiate such a notion and made it clear that he was in charge of all team matters and would decide which players might be brought to the club in future, with part of Advocaat’s job being to complete the process of bring those players identified to the club. If some weren’t convinced initially, then they soon would be as McLeish, almost from the start, seemed to change the atmosphere around the club. He and Assistant Manager, Andy Watson whom he’d brought with him from Hibs, re-invigorated the players and results began to improve. It was amazing to see the same group of underachieving players transform themselves under McLeish’s guidance. By necessity, the new manager had only those same players who’d been in the shadow of Celtic for the previous 18 months to call on but somehow he instilled the confidence in them that they’d seemingly lacked.
In February, this new-found spirit was given its biggest boost to date when Rangers had to overcome Celtic in the CIS League Cup Semi-final at Hampden. The previous season, Celtic had beaten Gers 3-1 at that same stage of the competition so the Rangers fans were looking for revenge. Thanks to a 30 yard Bert Konterman shot that fairly screamed into the Celtic net, Rangers deservedly won by 2-1 and went on to defeat First Division, Ayr United in the Final by 4-0. With his first trophy won, vanquishing Celtic on the way, McLeish had some breathing space while he tried to sort out his squad of players.
As well as improving league results until the end of the season, without admittedly making up much ground on Celtic, progress was made in the Scottish Cup and, in the Final, it was Celtic, once again, who stood between Rangers and the acquisition of both cups that season. Having managed to stay undefeated against Celtic since McLeish had become manager, Rangers fans went to the final with higher hopes than they had a few months earlier for the CIS Semi-final.
In an exciting match, Rangers took the lead in the first half, then went behind before captain Barry Ferguson’s free kick brought about the equaliser in the second half. A sensational, last minute winning header from Peter Lovenkrands deservedly won the Cup for his side that had shown great spirit and skill to overcome a formidable Celtic team. After only half a season in charge, Alex McLeish had brought to Ibrox the two trophies that were still up for grabs by then. No Rangers fan could have asked for anything more.
However, the following season they got it! An unbelievable Treble was the result of McLeish’s first full season in charge at Ibrox. Thus, in his first 18 months in the job, he’d won 5 out of the 6 available domestic trophies – and the one that was missing wasn’t a feasible target when he had arrived at Ibrox anyway! Just as remarkable was the fact that it had been done with the same players, apart from the addition of £6million, Mikel Arteta from Barcelona and a Bosman player, Australian, Kevin Muscat from Wolves.
All season, Rangers slogged it out toe-to-toe with Celtic for the Championship, leading the table for practically the whole of the season. The one blemish on the season was a first round exit from the UEFA Cup at the hands of Czech minnows, Viktoria Zizkov but, perhaps that was a blessing in disguise at the team had no distractions from domestic success for the rest of the season.
The League Cup was retained after a nail-biting finish to the Final when, with Rangers leading 2-1, John Hartson missed a last minute penalty that could have pushed the match into extra time although minutes previously Celtic had been reduced to ten men with the sending off of Neil Lennon. In the Championship, a shock Celtic win at Ibrox at the end of April kept the Parkhead men in the hunt. Then, of course, on that last unforgettable day of the season, the Old Firm went into their last matches equal on points and equal on goal difference. Rangers were top by virtue of having scored a goal more so as long as they equalled the Celtic score-line at Kilmarnock, they would win the title.
Celtic won 4-0 but ended up in despair as the news filtered through to them that, at Ibrox, Rangers had thrashed Dunfermline 6-1 to take the League Championship by one goal. One goal or not, it was a thoroughly deserved win from a side that had won 31 of its 38 games, only losing 3 times and scoring 101 goals in the process. Now, all that was left was to complete The Treble. This was done a week later when a solitary goal, a header by Lorenzo Amoruso, was enough to beat Dundee and lift the Scottish Cup for the 31st time, to share Celtic’s record number of wins at that point.
A barren season unfortunately followed, mainly due to the players who had left the club, as stated previously, with inadequate replacements being responsible for the club’s lack of success. The manager’s job was said to be under pressure by the various sportswriters. However, he regrouped and with a flood of new signings the following summer and in the January transfer window, he created a side that not only won the CIS League Cup but snatched the League Championship from Celtic on the final day of the season. McLeish had emerged a stronger manager, having survived the intense pressure when he was allegedly only one defeat away from the sack in October.
Unfortunately, throughout the following season, the spectre of the sack hung over McLeish once again as a disastrous start saw the league title disappear well before Christmas. Even worse, Gers were struggling to become second in the table due to the resurgence of Hearts. A promising Champions League campaign however probably saved the manager’s job – until March when David Murray announced that McLeish would be leaving at the end of the season and his place taken by Paul LeGuen, former manager of Lyon whom he guided to three consecutive French titles until he left to work for tv channel CanalPlus.
McLeish’s finest achievement that season was in taking Gers to the knockout stages of the Champions League – the first Scottish team ever to do so. His team unluckily went out 3-3 on the away goals rule to Villarreal of Spain. A blank domestic season in which Rangers could only finish third in the league though was to cost him his job at Ibrox.
RICHARD GOUGH
In 1990, when Graeme Souness eventually sent his erstwhile skipper, Terry Butcher, to Coventry, perhaps his decision had been made easier by the fact that Butcher’s replacement as captain was to be Richard Gough. Like Butcher, Gough was a powerful inspirational defender who was brilliant in the air at both ends of the park. In fact, Gough was far more deadly than Butcher when it came to scoring goals. He even managed to score goals with his feet as well as the traditional headers from set pieces.
Born in Stockholm but brought up in South Africa, Gough, thanks to his Scots dad, was eligible to play for Scotland and eventually, before a fall-out with manager Andy Roxburgh, he amassed a total of 61 caps while playing for 3 different clubs. Gough would play at the top with Rangers for another 5 years after this so it’s fair to claim that, but for his disagreement with Roxburgh, he would have earned the magical 100 caps. When Souness had been appointed Gers manager in 1986, he first got to know Gough better while both men were on World Cup duty in Mexico. Suitably impressed by Gough’s ability and dedication, Souness tried to buy the player from Dundee United but Jim McLean refused to sell him to Rangers and eventually he was bought by Spurs and made their captain – quite a testament to how impressed they were with their newcomer.
Souness, however, was a stubborn character and refused to give up on the player he rated so highly for his ability and character. In 1987, he became Rangers’ first £1 million signing. At Tannadice, Gough had played mainly as a right-back but although he started in that position at Ibrox due to the fact that Butcher was partnered by Graham Roberts at that time, he would soon play in central defence, thanks to Butcher’s broken leg that season and the departure of Roberts at the end of that poor season. The following season, Gough would be voted Scotland’s Player of the Year by the sportswriters, recognising the influence he had exerted on the Rangers side.
Central defence was where Gough’s talents were most effective. As stated already, he was supreme in the air but quick and agile on the ground. His tackling was accurate and aggressive but his marshalling of his defence made sure that the other defenders were alert to any dangers. A model professional, he was a fine athlete and kept himself at the peak of fitness. In fact, most would agree that he was a player who improved with maturity. Plus, he was a figure who inspired those around him by his behaviour on the field so, when Butcher fell out with Souness, he was the obvious replacement for the big Englishman in every sense.
This could be seen in his Old Firm debut that was the infamous match when Woods and Butcher had been sent off as well as McAvennie of Celtic. Taking over from Terry Butcher, he inspired his 8 team-mates to hang in when 2-0 down and with a fierce sense of pride helped haul the side back into contention. It was fitting that a last minute equaliser should be prodded into the Celtic net by Gough. In another Old Firm game, the Skol League Cup Final, a month after he’d taken over from Butcher, it was Gough who scored the winning goal in extra time.
These moments should perhaps have been an indication of the type of player and captain Souness had brought to the club. He would go on to cement his place as one of Gers’ greatest ever captains, eventually holding the League Championship trophy when 9-in-a-row was completed in 1997, ironically, at Tannadice. Despite being a wonderfully fit athlete, Gough suffered his share of injuries through his career, picking up more as he reached the veteran stage. On more than one occasion, as at Tannadice, when he was presented with the Championship trophy at the end of a game, he’d be wearing his suit, having missed the match through injury. His bravery and dedication could never be questioned and fans will remember him playing on in matches with his head bandaged up, a la Terry Butcher for England at that time.
A seemingly cool, unemotional man, Gough touched the hearts of all Rangers fans watching him being presented with the league trophy for 9-in-a-row when his tears showed that the feat meant as much to him as it did to the fans who’d been desperate for such an achievement. He’d already announced his intention to go to America to play for Kansas City Whiz but fate played a part in his change of plans. His replacement, Lorenzo Amoruso, was injured before the start of the following season and wouldn’t play until the Scottish Cup Semi-final at Parkhead in April so manager Walter Smith sent an SOS to his trusted lieutenant who came back to play one final season at Ibrox. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out as the team ended with a blank but it was no fault of Gough who had a fine season personally.
Richard Gough played 427 games for Rangers scoring 34 goals. He won 9 League Championships, 3 Scottish Cups and 6 League Cups.
PAUL GASCOIGNE
When Rangers signed “Gazza” in the summer of 1995 from Lazio for a fee of £4.3 million, it was probably the biggest coup ever seen in Scottish football. Here was the English hero of Italia 90 and the midfielder acknowledged by English fans as the most talented player of his generation coming to Scotland – and he wasn’t even at the veteran stage yet! Rangers knew they were getting a world class performer to join their other one, Laudrup, but manager Smith also knew that the two players were chalk and cheese when it came to their personality. Gascoigne brought genius and madness with him as well as a lot of baggage for the media to latch on to whereas Laudrup was the model professional with the stable and happy homelife.
In Italy, injury and the alien football culture had caused Gascoigne’s career to stall somewhat so he was ready for returning home. Few could have suspected that “home” would turn out to be Govan! From his arrival at the stadium, Gazza captured the hearts of the Gers fans and fired their imagination. Before a ball had been kicked, young fans were copying his hairstyle and getting their hair dyed blond like his, much to the despair of their mothers, no doubt. His cheeky, happy-go-lucky persona made him an attractive new hero for the fans to worship but it was on the field that his talent generated most admiration.
A modern midfield player, he combined strength with skill. His surging runs would create many a goal, sometimes scored by himself. He showed great vision and had a variety of passing skills that meant he could open up defences at will. Excellent ball control and an instant first touch gave him the time and space to set off on a penetrating run that sometimes became almost a mazy dribble through the opposition. He used his upper body strength to ward off any challenges and sometimes, too, his elbows – a tactic that caused some controversy at times. A genuine goal-scoring midfield, creative player who got himself ahead of forwards into scoring positions, Gascoigne was very difficult to mark. No wonder he would eventually amass 57 caps for England.
His greatest weakness was his discipline. A tendency to retaliate against opponents who spent the whole match trying to stop him illegally and a penchant for dissent made referees show him the yellow card too easily. Famously, one even booked him once when he had dropped a yellow card that was later picked up by Gazza. As the player returned it to the ref, jokingly pretending to book him, the ref called him back and showed him the yellow card for real! To his credit, Gascoigne merely smiled at the official as he walked away with yet another unjust booking.
Gascoigne’s first season at Ibrox was simply sensational. He thrilled and entertained the fans, caused all sorts of controversy, basically won the match for Rangers that sealed the title and won the sportswriters’ Player of the Year award. In fact, the entertainment and controversy started with a pre-season friendly against Steaua Bucharest when, after it had been suggested by Ian Ferguson beforehand as a celebration, he scored a goal and pretended to play the flute in front of the Gers fans at Ibrox. Cue condemnation from the media in the Sunday papers next day. The Englishman had a lot to learn about football politics in Scotland. Although he eventually did get clued up, it didn’t ever curb his mischievous and controversial behaviour both on and off the field.
Throughout his first season, Gascoigne’s brand of football magic and fun lit up Ibrox and the other stadia of Scotland. He controlled matches, set up goals and scored some memorable ones himself in that time. Space doesn’t permit the detail needed to thoroughly capture his achievements during that season. However, even some snapshots of his deeds might just bring back wonderful memories of the fans who witnessed his exploits.
In his first Old Firm league game at Parkhead, he scored a brilliant second goal in Gers’ 2-0 win. With the ball in the Rangers’ box, it was cleared upfield to Salenko on the halfway line. He passed it out to the right for McCoist to run on to and his pass into the centre was reached by Gascoigne who had started his run from his own penalty area when the ball had originally been cleared. How he got from one end to the other in a few seconds defied belief. Not only that but he controlled the ball and coolly dispatched it to the side of keeper, Marshall.
In the crunch match at Ibrox against Aberdeen, when a Gers’ win would seal the title, Rangers were a goal down before Gazza took on the Dons’ defence single-handedly to equalise before half-time. A penalty and another stunning goal gave Rangers the necessary victory and 8-in-a-row. His second goal will never be forgotten by fans who were there that day. Collecting the ball deep in his own half, he went on one of those characteristic, lung-bursting runs of his. Straight through the centre of the Dons defence he ran, shaking off one opponent after another before passing a shot into the corner of the net.
As often as not, his great technique saw Gascoigne passing the ball into the goal rather than blasting it. This was seen at its best in the following season’s League Cup Final at Parkhead against Hearts who had come from two goals behind to equalise in the second half. With Rangers looking for inspiration, it was Gazza at his best who provided it. His two goals exemplified his movement, vision and skill perfectly as he passed the ball into the net once he had made the space to try it.
In a league match at Ibrox against Celtic, with a couple of minutes left and Gers leading 1-0, a Celtic header smacked off the bar. The ball was swept up the field quickly in a series of quick passes and when Albertz curled a lovely cross into the box from the left, there was Gazza diving in, to head it into the net and seal a Rangers’ win. As usual, he had run the length of the pitch to finish off the move.
In a league game that season at Ibrox against Hibs, Rangers thrashed the visitors 7-1 and although Durie scored 4 of the goals, it was Gazza’s that fans remembered. Picking the ball up just inside the Hibs half, he went on a mazy dribble, waltzing past 5 Hibs players before tucking the ball away confidently. Such solo efforts weren’t unusual. In fact they were his trademark. With a genius like Gascoigne in the team, anything was possible.
Unfortunately, his playing rhythm and form was interrupted all too frequently in the latter part of his second season by injury and suspension. Having said that, he was part of the side that won 9-in-a-row that memorable evening at Tannadice. Although he still scored unforgettable goals and gave performances that were out-of-this-world, they became less frequent. With a loss of form and personal problems piling up, he was allowed to leave the club for £3.5 million to Middlesbrough before the end of the season that saw the club fail in its quest for ten-in-a-row. Many Gers fans believed that letting him leave when he did, reduced the chances of a Gers’ title win that season.
Gazza was gone but the memory lingered. He was, and still is, a Rangers’ hero, rightfully taking his place in the Greatest Ever Rangers team and in the Hall of Fame.
Paul Gascoigne played 103 games scoring 39 goals. He won 2 League Championships, 1 Scottish Cup and 1 League Cup.
ANDY GORAM
A year after his arrival at Ibrox, Hateley, one of Gers’ greatest strikers, was joined by the club’s greatest ever goalkeeper, Andy Goram. Over the coming years, while one was banging in goals at one end, the other would be saving them at the other. Lancashire lad, Goram had started out playing between the sticks for Oldham and, thanks to a Scots grandparent, even gained his first Scottish cap while playing for them. He would eventually make another 42 appearances for Scotland. A move from Oldham to Hibs saw him spend the next 4 seasons there until Walter Smith signed him to replace Chris Woods, a victim of UEFA’s 3 foreigner only rule in those days. It certainly was a case of being in the right place at the right time. And Goram would continue being in the right place at the right time while guarding the Gers’ goal. His saves and personality made him a Rangers legend who was voted Rangers’ greatest keeper by the fans and was elected to the Hall of Fame.
Bearing these accolades in mind, it’s ironic that his start at Ibrox was inauspicious, to say the least. In an early league game at Tynecastle, he was at fault for letting in the only goal of the game as he watched a long-range effort that looked to be going past, slam into his goal. Then, even worse was to follow a month later when he should have saved the away goal scored by Sparta Prague at Ibrox that put Rangers out of the European Cup. However, despite those disappointments, Goram drew strength from them and soon had the fans convinced that he was worthy of taking over from Chris Woods who had been Rangers’ best keeper in a generation.
At only 5 feet 11, Goram was relatively small for a goalkeeper but his sturdy build meant that he could take care of himself in a crowded penalty box. Due to his size, he stayed on his line when crosses were put in more than most keepers and, when he did come for a cross, his favoured method of dealing with them was to punch the ball away to safety. If this was a handicap, it never seemed like that to the fans who could only admire him for all his other qualities.
He was quick on his feet, with the quick reflexes that any top keeper must have. His confidence spread itself to the rest of his defence and the defenders must have felt safe in the knowledge that he was behind them should a forward break through. This was perhaps where Goram was seen at his best. In a one-on-one situation, he would stay on his feet, making himself look as big as possible to the onrushing forward and make him decide how he was going to get the ball past him. Invariably the striker didn’t! A dive at the forward’s feet, an outstretched palm, a leg in the way – the ball stayed out one way or another. By the time he’d established his reputation, he must have held a psychological edge over any striker bearing down on his goal.
Season 1992 / 93 was probably his finest. In that Treble-winning season, Rangers enjoyed a 44 game unbeaten run and almost made it to the final of the first Champions League. Goram was instrumental in all of that playing brilliantly in those European matches and especially against Leeds at Elland Road. Domestically, he was practically unbeatable, keeping 25 clean sheets that season. Not surprisingly, he was named as the sportswriters’ Player of the Year. A knee injury ruined the following season for him and it’s fair to surmise that Rangers might have completed back-to-back Trebles if Goram had played in the Scottish Cup Final when a mix up between David McPherson and substitute keeper, Ally Maxwell, caused the solitary goal that gave the trophy to Dundee United.
Once he started to pick up injuries and had problems with his knees, his fitness could suffer and he had a tendency to put on weight that led to some fans nicknaming him “The Flying Pig”. It didn’t seem to influence his effectiveness though as he was adored by the fans. Still, at one point in his Ibrox career, Walter Smith was so disappointed in Goram’s physical condition that he put him on the transfer list. This gave him enough of a fright to get back to peak conditioning so that his performances improved and returned to their former level.
The only people disappointed by that were probably Celtic fans and, in particular, Celts’ manager, Tommy Burns. This was because it almost seemed that Goram saved his most stupendous performances for Old Firm matches. Time and again, when Gers were on the rack, especially in games at Parkhead, Goram would pull off unbelievable saves that would inspire his team-mates and deflate the opposition. Invariably he would keep his side in the game until a Gers forward would score a goal and snatch the points. Then, it was almost as if the Celtic players knew that they would never get the ball past Goram. The late Tommy Burns once summed up his frustration and admiration for Goram’s abilities when he said, “ When I die, they will put on my tombstone, ‘Andy Goram broke his heart’”.
If 1992 / 93 was Goram’s greatest season, few would disagree that his greatest single save came in an Old Firm match at Ibrox in November 1995. In a marvellous league match that ended 3-3, with the game ebbing and flowing, ace Celtic striker, Van Hooijdonk, from a couple of yards out, volleyed a cross goal-wards. Never was Goram’s anticipation and quickness of foot seen better than in the way he got across his goal-line to somehow paw the ball away when the thousands of Celtic fans behind him were jumping up to celebrate a goal.
Such saves live in the memory forever. It was saves like this that earned Goram his nickname of The Goalie – a simple nickname that somehow said it all about the way the Rangers fans felt about Andy Goram.
Andy Goram played 258 games for the club. He won 5 League championships, 3 Scottish Cups and 2 League Cups.
GRAEME SOUNESS ( Manager: 1986 – 1991)
As stated above, the appointment of Graeme Souness as Rangers’ player-manager in April, 1986 astonished all of Scottish football. Souness had had no previous connection with the club, had spent all his professional career outside of Scotland and had no managerial experience. Despite all of this, it was seen as something of a coup for Chief Executive, David Holmes, to have lured the man from Sampdoria for a fee of £300,000. Gers might have been getting a novice manager but, in his dual role, they were getting a classy and experienced midfield player. Many believed that even if the boss’s hat didn’t fit Souness, his ability on the field would pay dividends for the club.
Optimism increased with the news that Dundee United’s experienced and much-admired coach, Walter Smith would become Souness’ Assistant Manager. Since Souness had little knowledge of the current Scottish game this was seen as a vital move in ensuring that he would settle into his new job with as few errors as possible being committed. Smith, with his wealth of coaching experience, would also be able to deal with the day-to-day training of the players. One of the words commonly used to sum up Souness at that time was “winner”. He had enjoyed a trophy-laden career at Liverpool, winning all there was to win, including the European Cup and, on the field, his desire to succeed showed itself in his crunching tackles and ability to drive his side on. Nobody doubted that the same commitment would be shown in his new role as manager.
Once he had got into his stride as manager, other words would be used to complement that of “winner” when people were trying to describe his managerial style. Professional, committed, determined, authoritarian, stubborn, abrasive, confrontational were the most frequently used ones. The players at Ibrox quickly learned that if you didn’t do things Souness’ way, then you wouldn’t be around for very long. Having been appointed just before the end of the season, Souness and Smith had the chance to appraise the players they’d be taking charge of and decide which would be discarded. With the financial backing of majority shareholder, Lawrence Malborough, it quickly became evident that Souness would be spending money, big money in those days, to perform major surgery on the underachieving team.
Souness’ intentions were revealed early on when, after signing largely unknown striker Colin West from Watford for £175,000, he secured the services of England goalkeeper, Chris Woods, from Norwich for £600,000, then a record for a keeper. As if that wasn’t enough, he still had the biggest surprise up his sleeve and surprising football people seemed to delight Souness. The acquisition of England captain and centre-half, Terry Butcher, from Ipswich for £725,000 astonished every Scots fan and shocked most English ones. It seemed barely credible that such a high profile English player would desert England to ply his trade in Scotland. It was to be the start of Souness’ policy of signing high quality players from wherever they played. At a stroke, he had reversed the century old trend of the best Scots players leaving to “better” themselves in England. The prestige of Souness, the fact that he had moved to Scotland to play as well as manage, the possibility of European football, the tremendous stadium and the high wages were all factors that lured English players to Ibrox in Souness’ early days there.
Souness, like any manager who knows his stuff, realised that a new spine of the side would have to be created and that the defence, especially, would have to be strengthened. Thus, the arrival of Woods, Butcher and West were the first pieces in his jigsaw. He offered £650,000 to Dundee United for their young Scots defender, Richard Gough whom Souness had played with during the World Cup in Mexico months before but United refused to sell the player to Rangers and eventually he was sold to Spurs. That season, in December, from Spurs, Souness would sign another experienced England defender in Graeme Roberts but Gough would not be forgotten.
As his rookie season started, Souness had cause to feel pleased with the way things had gone. He had secured most of the signings he’d wanted and prepared his players well. However, if he hadn’t realised it before, he soon would that every match Rangers play is like a cup final for the opposition. Furthermore, Souness’ image and his big spending had fostered an even more resentful feeling among some players and managers that meant teams would be getting “stuck into” Gers as never before. This all kicked off in the opening league game at Easter Road when a tousy affair had seen Hibs take the lead and a frustrated Souness lash out at George McCluskey. A huge melee took place in the centre circle and, at the end of it, Souness was sent off for his role in sparking off the trouble in the first place. The new Ranger had learned a valuable lesson.
Nevertheless, as Souness learned and his team started to gel, the future looked bright at Ibrox. By October, he had won his first trophy by defeating Celtic in the Skol League Cup Final and by Christmas they were the league leaders. So strong had Rangers been defensively, that a record 12 consecutive clean sheets had been kept by keeper, Chris Woods until January when a shock 1-0 Scottish Cup exit at the hands of Hamilton, bottom of the Premier League, broke the sequence. That result was the most disappointing one in the manager’s first season in the job. However, he kept faith with his players and trusted them to keep up their good work in the league – which they did. In the penultimate league game of the season, at Pittodrie, Rangers only needed a draw to clinch their first Championship in 9 years. Unfortunately, the manager wasn’t on the field to see this happen as he’d been sent off again in the first half. Fittingly, it was a fierce Terry Butcher header that had put Gers into the lead and enabled them to hold on for a draw despite having been reduced to 10 men. How the Rangers fans celebrated when they invaded the Pittodrie pitch and congratulated the players – something that would be unthinkable nowadays.
So, in his first season in management, Souness had regained the title and won the League Cup as well as introducing quality players and instilling a new mood among the players who’d already been at the club when he’d arrived. The fans had been impressed as shown by the fact that the average home gate had risen from the previous season’s 24,000 to 36,000 for 1986 / 87. And, remarkably, he’d done it all in one season!
Off the field too, Rangers had started to create policies and sponsorship deals that would increase revenue in order to fund the type of signings that Souness would be aspiring to in the future. Despite such a great start to his managerial career, the next season would let Souness experience the downside of management. Despite acquiring the long-sought-after Richard Gough, Souness’ defensive plans were ruined when skipper Terry Butcher broke his leg in November and Gers eventually slumped to 3rd place in the league. Souness had to be content with merely winning the Skol Cup again.
Nevertheless, Souness’ exciting signing policy continued unabated and along with Gough, quality, experienced Englishmen would arrive in the form of Ray Wilkins, Trevor Francis and Mark Walters as well as Scots such as John Brown. These would be supplemented in his third season by others such as Gary Stevens, Ian Ferguson, Kevin Drinkell and Trevor Steven. This season would see Souness’ strongest Rangers side yet regain the Championship and retain the Skol Cup for the third consecutive year. A stunning 5-1 win against old foes, Celtic, was perhaps the highlight of this season for many Rangers fans. At the start of his stewardship of Rangers, Souness had been of the opinion that a win against Celtic was the same as against any other side, merely gaining two points in the league. By the 5-1 match, however, Souness had come to appreciate the fans’ point of view that beating the other half of the Old Firm wasn’t just another victory.
In his fourth season with the club, Souness had his biggest surprise yet for Scottish football fans – apart from his own resignation near the end of the following season. Just before the season started, he shocked just about everybody by signing former Celt, Maurice Johnston who appeared to have signed a contract to re-join his old club. Discovering that the deal was far from done, Souness moved quickly to lure Johnston to Ibrox from his French club, Nantes. What made the whole affair more astonishing to Scots football fans was the fact that, in signing Johnston, from under the noses of Celtic, Souness would be breaking with Rangers’ unofficial sectarian policy of not knowingly signing Catholic players. Johnston would become Rangers’ first high profile Catholic player of the modern era causing more angst among Celtic fans than Gers ones in the process. Souness had stated from the beginning that he would sign players on merit alone regardless of colour or creed and here he was putting that policy into stunning effect.
This signing paid off handsomely as Johnston scored 19 goals in competitive matches and seemed to complement the striking prowess of Ally McCoist, long the goalscoring hero of Ibrox. Johnston’s goals, especially those against Celtic, saw him accepted quickly by the Gers fans and the future for the striking duo of McCoist and Johnston looked bright. Then, the following season, Souness signed Mark Hateley from Monaco and everything changed. Souness’ stubborn streak was emphasised when he decided to pair Hateley with Johnston, leaving McCoist on the bench, to the disgruntlement of the fans. Despite pressure from the fans and sportswriters to re-instate McCoist, the manager kept faith with Hateley who took quite a while to settle in at Ibrox and win over the fans. Most couldn’t see that the big Englishman was the first pick and the only decision left was whether it would be Johnston or McCoist to partner him. Few appreciated that it wasn’t Hateley who was keeping their hero out of the side.
In what turned out to be Souness’ last season with the club, the Skol Cup was won again, beating Celtic in the final by 2-1 while the league title was retained on the final, thrilling day of the season. By then, however, Souness had gone. With Rangers leading the table from Aberdeen and only 4 games left, Souness shocked everybody by announcing that he’d decided to take the vacant manager’s post at his former club, Liverpool. He wanted to see out the league campaign but Chairman, David Murray decided that it would be better if he left immediately to let the club concentrate on winning the title. Murray stated that he thought his friend and manager was making the biggest mistake of his career by going to Liverpool and that he’d regret his decision but he wouldn’t stand in his way.
Walter Smith was quickly appointed manager and when the penultimate match saw Rangers lose at Motherwell, it suddenly meant that Rangers had to beat Aberdeen at Ibrox on the final day of the season to win the Championship. Two goals in that game created a new Gers’ hero in Mark Hateley and, although Smith was now the manager, every fan knew that it had been Souness’ Championship, his 4th in 5 seasons.
Souness’ departure had shocked Rangers fans as well as most others in Scottish football but, in retrospect, perhaps it shouldn’t have been seen as such a stunning course of action. As well as having personal problems in his family life, Souness had incurred the wrath of the SFA, its administrators and discipline committee members on more than one occasion and it was surmised that he felt he was up against it in his dealings with authority. He had also had many confrontations with members of the Press and frequently sought out individual reporters when he felt aggrieved at articles they’d written. The bitterness of the whole Old Firm sectarian aspect had also depressed him, not to mention being continually under the microscope in such a small football environment. The lure of restoring the fortunes of the Anfield club no doubt also had a big impact on his decision to leave Rangers.
Whatever his reasons, Souness had left the club in a much healthier state than he had found it, setting it on the road to greater success and, eventually those 9-in-a-row titles.
Graeme Souness won 4 League Championships and 4 League Cups.
DEREK JOHNSTONE
For such a versatile player, it’s really amazing that Johnstone still ended up one of Rangers’ highest ever goal-scorers – despite the fact that for quite a chunk of his career he played at centre-half, not to mention the occasional spell in midfield. He must be one of the few Rangers who played in each area of the field except goalkeeper. Even more surprising is that he did this for Scotland also. Nevertheless, despite spending a lot of his time away from the front line, Johnstone was Rangers’ top post-War league scorer until that man Ally McCoist overtook him in the late 80s.
It’s become a cliché in football to talk about certain players having a storybook career, being a real life Roy of the Rovers and the aforementioned SuperAlly was one of those. However, Derek Johnstone had already acted out a similar script in the 70s.
The most memorable feature of Derek Johnstone’s game was his heading ability. It was this that won many a match for Rangers, especially important games. So, it was appropriate that it was this skill that brought him to the attention of the general football public at the tender age of 16. The start of his Ibrox career was truly fairy tale stuff. Although he had made his Rangers debut at Ibrox against Cowdenbeath in a 5-0 win, scoring twice, his real fame started a month later when Willie Waddell and Jock Wallace decided to throw this skinny kid ( he WAS, really!) in at the deep end in the League Cup Final of 1970 against Celtic at Hampden.
It could have been an ordeal for any youngster. Rangers were up against a Celtic side that would win the title for the sixth time in a row that season. It had already won the League Cup for 5 consecutive seasons and, to make the whole attempt at stopping Celtic much harder, Gers’ inspirational skipper, John Greig, would miss the match due to flu. Johnstone had only been told that he would be playing the day before the game and advised to get a good night’s sleep! Whether or not in his dreams he scored the winner the next day is irrelevant – because that’s exactly what he did in reality.
It’s a truism that there is no better way for a newcomer to get the Rangers fans on his side than to score a winning goal against Celtic. So, from the moment Johnstone’s golden head nodded in the winner, DJ became an instant hero. Although still a boy, he was 6 feet tall, with power and determination, not to mention that great ability to leap. He could also shoot with both feet. For a big lad he was mobile without being fast and was good at linking with his fellow forwards and midfield men. When playing at the back he was obviously great in the air but he could also read a game and anticipate danger. His tackling was efficient and as a ball-playing centre-half, he was useful at starting counter-attacks. He was simply a great all-rounder.
In that debut season, he scored 6 goals from 13 starts but that was just the beginning of an avalanche of Rangers goals. Still, even this early in his career, he was showing his versatility. For instance, in the European Cup Winner’s Cup run to Barcelona, Johnstone played as a striker in the quarter and semi finals but in the final itself played at centre-half in place of the injured Colin Jackson. It was this ability that led to sportswriters calling him “the new John Charles” – a reference to the giant Welshman from the 50s who played for Juventus and Wales in both positions with distinction.
Although he became one of the top players of the 70s, Johnstone was only accorded a mere 14 caps, a disgraceful tally for such a prodigious talent. One reason might have been the consistency of the likes of Dalglish and Jordan ahead of him in the International queue. Another possible reason could have been that he preferred to play in central defence and switched between this and up front. However, at the end of season 1977/78, he had scored 38 goals and was the leading domestic scorer in the squad that went to the World Cup in Argentina and yet he still couldn’t get into the side when the team was struggling. Maybe Ally McLeod would have kept his job if he’d given Johnstone a try instead of his favourite, Joe Harper.
If Johnstone had spent his entire career up front, who knows how many goals he would have scored by the end of it? This is especially intriguing when we remember that he had strike partners who ranged from Colin Stein and Derek Parlane to Gordon Smith and that he could have benefited from crosses by Tommy McLean and Davie Cooper.
In his early days at Ibrox, cup wins were the only honours that Johnstone would gain but once Jock Wallace had turned Rangers around, the league title was another honour to be added to DJ’s list. His career was littered with cup-winning goals but also title-clinching ones. For instance, when Rangers won the title at Tannadice in 1976, Johnstone headed the winning goal in precisely 22 seconds. His manager actually missed it as he hadn’t taken his seat in the dug-out at that point! In the Cup Final of that Treble-winning season, DJ headed the first goal against Hearts in 45 seconds! Wallace managed to see that one!
Unfortunately, after the second Treble-winning season of 1977 / 78, Johnstone never seemed to be totally happy at Ibrox. At the start of the next season he handed in a transfer request to new manager, John Greig. He was persuaded to withdraw his request and was made the club captain as well as being allowed to play in central defence from then on. Naturally, from then on, his scoring became less prolific and the player never seemed to be completely happy in this new Gers side. In 1983, he was transferred to Chelsea for £30,000.
Once Jock Wallace became manager for the second time, however, he re-signed a heftier Johnstone but this move wasn’t a success as the player’s best days were behind him and he found himself playing in a struggling team. With the arrival of Graeme Souness as manager, he was given a free transfer, a rather sad end to a glittering Rangers career.
Derek Johnstone played 546 games for Rangers scoring 210 goals. He won 1 European Cup Winner’s Cup, 3 League Championships, 5 Scottish Cups, 5 League Cups.
TERRY BUTCHER
When Graeme Souness was appointed as Rangers player-manager it was seen as a revolutionary step. However, the extent Souness’ proposed revolution only became apparent when he signed England captain Terry Butcher from Ipswich for £750,000. Having already bought England keeper, Chris Woods, Souness had made Scots fans sit up but this sensational signing really posted notice that the new Rangers were going for the highest quality of player. Even more surprisingly, despite interest from Manchester United and Spurs, Butcher had committed himself to Rangers, thanks to his admiration for the manager, the stadium he saw, the prospect of European football and, naturally, the excellent salary on offer.
To capture such a player, fresh from starring for England in the 1986 World Cup Finals in Mexico was not only quite a coup but it also improved the chances of persuading other big names to join the club in the future. Graeme Souness and assistant, Walter Smith, had recognised that the defence of the side they were inheriting simply wasn’t good enough and so their first steps were to rectify that situation and build the spine of a new team. First a new keeper had been installed and then the most important piece of the defensive jigsaw, the centre-half. Terry Butcher was the rock around whom the others would flourish.
And, at 6 feet 4, he really was a rock. A big, brave, powerful “traditional” centre-half, he had the physical presence to hold a defence together and inspire his team-mates. Naturally, he was supreme in the air when defending but was also a great threat to the opposition at corners and free kicks. His timing and aggression in the tackle made it difficult for forwards to get away from him and he showed a fleetness of foot that belied his size. Perhaps, surprisingly for Scots who hadn’t paid much attention to him while he had been in England, he had a tremendous left foot that could send long, raking, but very accurate, passes up to his forwards. With all those qualities that Souness already admired, Butcher was the obvious choice to be his captain on the field.
The Rangers fans took to the quintessential Englishman from the start, recognising that he was a very good defender but also a player who would give his all for the club. It soon became obvious that he was also a great ambassador for Rangers in the way he conducted himself off the field and dealt comfortably with the media. These communications skills were also put to good use when it came to talking his colleagues through certain games.
His first season went like a dream. Playing consistently well, he inspired his new team-mates by leading by example. His will-to-win was evident, as was the manager’s and this was transferred to all the players. When fellow English internationalist, Graham Roberts, joined him in the heart of the defence from December, they formed the most formidable barrier in Scottish football. Roberts also had that steel in his make-up and determination to win that meant he fitted in perfectly from the start.
That almost perfect first season ended with Butcher lifting the League Cup after defeating Celtic 2-1 and, his crowning moment at Pittodrie, in May, 1987 when his towering header put Rangers into the lead in a game they only had to draw to take the title. This they duly did and nobody was treated as more of a hero by the fans than Terry Butcher. However, if Butcher’s first season had been like a dream, his second was a nightmare. Rangers hadn’t started their league campaign well but, in October, it plumbed new depths with a 2-2 draw at Ibrox against Celtic. A last gasp goal by Gough salvaged a point in a match that Rangers had been trailing by 2-0 but it was the discipline aspect that grabbed all the headlines.
In the opening minutes, Gers’ keeper, Chris Woods had been sent off with Celts’ striker Frank McAvennie for a flare up in the box after the keeper had taken possession of the ball. Roberts and Butcher had also been involved but escaped unscathed by the referee. In a way, Roberts’ punishment was to be put into goal as no substitute keeper was available. The tough central defender actually did quite well between the sticks but, by half-time Gers were two goals down. Before halftime, though, Gers had been reduced to 9 men when Butcher had been sent off, rather harshly in the view of most Gers fans.
Although goals near the end from McCoist and Gough saw the home side snatch a draw, the furore over the 3 sendings-off was just about to begin. In the end, the Procurator Fiscal intervened and months later all three who’d been sent off ended up in court! A £250 fine was the punishment meted out to Rangers’ skipper but the feeling was that Butcher probably felt that the result of that match had been a bigger punishment to him anyway.
As if all this and trailing Celtic in the league wasn’t enough, Butcher’s season was to end in November when he broke his leg in a tackle with Alex McLeish while playing the Dons at Ibrox. With Butcher, went any hope Gers had of retaining their title. Significantly, it was the only season in 11 that Rangers failed to take the Championship.
Nevertheless, the following season saw Butcher return and renew what had been his brief partnership with Richard Gough at the heart of the defence. Both men drove the side on to regain the title and almost complete The Treble but for a one goal defeat against Celtic in the Scottish Cup Final. Butcher had an outstanding World Cup for England in Italia 1990 but when he returned he wasn’t quite the same player.
Playing while not fully fit, he looked out of sorts and wasn’t the reliable figure that he’s always been until then. Then, in a 2-1 defeat at Tannadice, Butcher scored a spectacular own goal and was responsible for the other one. It was enough for manager Souness to take drastic action – which he did, dropping his skipper before the Skol League Cup semi-final against Aberdeen in the following game. The captain was furious and had a major row with his manager and stormed off. Not a good idea as the last player to do that, Graham Roberts, had been shipped out of Ibrox very quickly. Richard Gough was given the captain’s armband by Souness and Butcher’s career as a Ranger was virtually at an end.
Wins against Aberdeen and then Celtic in the final to take the League Cup seemed to justify the manager’s decision but most Rangers fans were disappointed about the way it had all ended. Just over a month later, Butcher was sold to Coventry as player-manager in a £400,000 deal. He may only have spent 4 seasons as a Gers player but Terry Butcher had already ensured that he had become a Rangers legend, proven by the fact that he was voted into the Greatest Rangers Team Ever and is now a member of the Hall of Fame. Apart from his performances, his obvious love for the club and his adopted country have ensured that this proud Englishman will always be considered an honorary Scot by Gers fans everywhere. He is currently the manager of Motherwell.
Terry Butcher played 176 games for Rangers scoring 11 goals. He won 3 League Championships and 2 League Cups.
WILLIE JOHNSTON
One of Rangers’ great traditions seems to be that when one tremendous winger is nearing the end of his career, another small, brilliant but younger one is waiting to take over. Thus, it was when Davie Wilson was superseded by the 17 year old Willie Johnston. Although he’d been signed in 1964 from a Fife Junior side, “Bud” as he became known, was actually a Glaswegian. Making his debut for Gers at the age of 17, so spectacular were his performances, that within 6 months he was playing for Scotland in World Cup qualifying matches, becoming the youngest Internationalist since Denis Law with whom he formed a left wing partnership.
As a winger, Johnston was a combination of Henderson and Wilson in that he had electric pace ( faster than either of those two) and a mesmerising dribbling ability. Also, he was more like Wilson in his goal-scoring prowess. Indeed, at various points in his career he’d play on the wing or as a striker through the middle with equal effect and score great goals. Unfortunately, his Achilles heel was his temperament. A short fuse when fouled once too often by frustrated defenders would normally lead Bud to retaliate and end up getting himself sent off. By the end of his career, he would have seen the red card an astonishing 20 times – and most would have acknowledged that he was neither a hard man nor a dirty player!
As well as being brave, skilful and exciting to watch, Johnston was also a character – the type of which we see too few of nowadays in Scottish football. He was the sort who could gleefully pat a defender on the head if he’d just scored an own goal or, a la Baxter, sit on the ball and tease his opponents. He was a player who gave everything and liked to play with a smile on his face, remembering that the game was there to be enjoyed. He liked to acknowledge the presence of the supporters and “play to the gallery” whenever possible. However, all too often his wit and back chat would get him into trouble with officialdom with those dreaded cards being flashed once again.
This lamentable disciplinary record was the only fly in the ointment in his Ibrox career. He was thrilling to watch and a very effective member of the team, making and scoring goals from the mid 60s onwards when, all too often, Rangers were playing second fiddle to Stein’s Celtic. Indeed, not only did he score goals throughout Gers’ journey to eventual success in Barcelona in the European Cup Winner’s Cup in 1972, he even score two of the three goals in the final. He forged a great partnership with Colin Stein who scored the other goal in that game.
However, it seems that both those players were considered to be something of “prima donnas” and too individualistic for the liking of new manager Jock Wallace so, after the Barcelona triumph, they were transferred to different clubs in England. Johnston was transferred to West Brom after yet another suspension – this time a 9 week long affair. There he was the same old Bud, becoming the darling of the fans, thrilling them and causing despair with his ill discipline in equal measures. His international career flourished and he earned more caps while in England than he had at Ibrox. Unfortunately, after 22 caps, his Scotland career ended ignominiously during the ill-fated World Cup in Argentina in 1978 when he was sent home in disgrace after having been found guilty by a drugs test of taking a banned medication.
After West Brom, he went to play in Vancouver for a while then to Birmingham before John Greig, now manager, in 1980, re-signed him for the club. As always seems to be the case, his return to the scene of former triumphs didn’t work out. He played a couple of seasons at Ibrox and still was capable of turning in some brilliant performances but by now these were more infrequent than in his first spell with the club. Moreover, he hadn’t mellowed with age. A month after his first match during this second period saw him yet again ordered off against Aberdeen. Same old Bud! He ended his career playing for Hearts at the age of 39. If his temperament hadn’t changed then neither had his fitness that saw him enjoy such a long and colourful career.
Willie Johnston played 393 games for the club scoring 125 goals. He won 1 European Cup Winner’s Cup, 1 Scottish Cup and 2 League Cups.
JIM BAXTER
If John Greig was rightly voted “The Greatest Ranger” then Jim Baxter, in the eyes of most fans, could rightly be considered The Best Ranger Ever. Sir Bobby Robson called Baxter “sheer genius”, icon Denis Law stated that “ a pass from Baxter was like a guided missile” and auld enemy, Liverpool’s Emlyn Hughes said that he was “ a fabulous, fabulous player”. Even his friend and one time Old Firm rival, Pat Crerand claimed that Baxter’s talent was “ a gift from God”. Baxter won the admiration of practically every player, manager and supporter who ever saw him in his heyday.
God’s gift, innate ability, natural talent – call it what you will, it was not the result of coaching or a strict training regime. After his career, Baxter confessed that his one regret was that he hadn’t taken care of his skills by training as hard and conscientiously as he might have done. He realised, only when it was too late, that your body is your prime asset and its fitness is the foundation for everything else.
As a Fife lad, Baxter had actually supported Hibs, probably because he wanted to be different from all his pals and because the Famous Five attack of the 50s Hibs was an exciting unit to watch. Still, even in his youth Baxter was more interested in playing football than watching it. Like most of his friends he just wanted to play every available minute of every day. Unlike most of them however, it was clear to see that Baxter had natural ability and used it to the full when in possession of the ball. By the end of season 1959 – 60, he had been so outstanding for his local team Raith Rovers, that a move to Ibrox was no surprise. That season he had actually played against Rangers, scoring a goal and looking brilliant in a Rovers’ 3-1 win at Ibrox no less. When he was transferred to Rangers for £17,500 at the end of the season it was a Scottish record. The princely sum of £1,000 was his signing-on fee and, at the age of 21, he was now earning £22 basic per week plus the win bonuses that would be frequent at Ibrox in the early 60s.
For a newcomer, Baxter stood out immediately. His self-confidence and ability meant that he became a star from his first games in a Rangers shirt. He was also lucky in that he was joining what would become, arguably, the greatest Rangers side of all time. His elegance, arrogance, vision and sublime passing skills with his left foot made him not only fit into the Gers side from the start but control it too. Baxter was the maestro, his left foot the baton, conducting an orchestra full of virtuoso performers who composed a symphony on so many memorable occasions in the early 60s. The silky passes of Slim Jim were tailor-made for wingers like Henderson and Wilson not to mention the route through the middle where Millar, Brand and, latterly, Jim Forrest, ran on to score from a defence-splitting passes.
One aspect of Baxter’s image that is undeserved is that he was “lazy”. Agreed, he didn’t cover every blade of grass in the Greig manner and he didn’t track back and tackle or chase anything in sight but he didn’t simply make a pass and then stand back and admire his handy-work. Mostly, he would move for a return pass or stride forward to get involved with the play again. In his Gers side, he wasn’t required to defend. Players such as McKinnon, Greig, Caldow and Shearer were there to do that job. Baxter’s job was to create and not only did he do that but he did it in an entertaining way also.
If his motivation was to entertain the fans on the field, he liked to be entertained off it also. Jim liked to party and only did such training as was necessary to get by. He only did what he had to do in order to be fit enough to produce the goods during a game. Not for him the idea of going back in the afternoons for extra practice, the way some of his team-mates did. He led the George Best lifestyle and was accorded the Best idolisation years before anybody had heard of the Irish genius. Not only did he “do the business” for Rangers, he also did it for Scotland – especially against England, a fact that endeared him to all Scottish fans, not just Rangers ones. He played for his country on 34 occasions and, in particular, in the Scots sides that beat the Auld Enemy in 1962, 63 and 64 but his crowning moment was in the 3-2 win at Wembley in 1967 when he teased and tormented the English World Cup holders, making Scots everywhere feel ten feet tall.
So great was Baxter that he was accorded to honour of playing in the Rest of the World side that faced England in its Centenary match at Wembley in 1963. The following season saw Baxter at his peak and with Rangers going well in the European Cup, the signs were promising. However, in Vienna, in the second leg of their European Cup second round match, disaster struck Rangers and Baxter. With the game all but over and Gers cruising into the quarter-final, following a magnificent Baxter performance, Slim Jim was tackled by a frustrated Austrian and his leg was broken. The loss of Baxter for the quarter-final against Inter Milan was too much for Rangers who went down 3-2 on aggregate. Every Gers fan wondered what might have been if only the great Baxter had been available to play in those two matches. By the end of March, 1965 Baxter was appearing in the team again but he would only play another 8 matches for Rangers before being transferred to Sunderland at the end of that season.
A brief return to Ibrox in 1969, when Rangers were in the shadow of Jock Stein’s Celtic and desperate for a saviour, fizzled out. He was no longer “Slim Jim” and new manager Willie Waddell, believing that he wasn’t the type of influence that he needed around, let him leave. He retired at the ridiculously young age of 30 and died in 2001 but his legend lives on – a true immortal.
Jim Baxter won 3 League Championships, 3 Scottish Cups and 4 League Cups.
IAN McCOLL
Stylish wing-half, Ian McColl, like Bobby Brown, would go on to become the Scotland manager after his playing days were over. Another thing he had in common with Brown was the fact that he moved to Ibrox from Queen’s Park in 1945 to become another lynchpin of the “Iron Curtain”.
Rangers signed him as an 18 year old but he had already been playing for Queen’s Park for almost two years so outstanding a prospect was he. Tall, strong, athletic, he was a defensive right-half who could be relied upon to break up the opposition attacks with his resolute tackling and keen sense of anticipation. He was a hard tackler but he was certainly no “hard man”. His strength was matched by his brains as there was always a thoughtfulness about his play. He was also very proficient at long-range, accurate passing that could convert defence into attack. Cultured and intelligent were just two of the adjectives used frequently to describe his style of play.
He was intelligent both on and off the field because he studied at Glasgow University, taking an engineering degree, incredibly always remaining a part-time player. His natural intellect and acquired football savvy made it inevitable that he would become a manager after he quit playing and this he duly did, becoming the Scotland manager for 4 and a half years in the early 60s when the national side had some of its best players ever. After that he spent some years as the Sunderland manager before giving up the game altogether.
McColl made 14 appearances for Scotland and 526 as a Ranger winning: 6 League Championships, 5 Scottish Cups and 2 League Cups.
BOBBY BROWN
If you could be privileged enough to have a chat with an old timer of a Rangers fan who had been follow, following the club since the late 30s ( and there are still quite a few around) then I bet if you asked him to name his top three Rangers keepers, this would be his order: Goram, Dawson, Brown. Yes, Bobby Brown was that good! His election to the Rangers’ Hall of Fame recently proved that he had not been forgotten by the supporters.
The season following the retirement of the legendary Jerry Dawson in 1945 saw Brown become Gers’ number one. He was a P.E. teacher who played part-time for Queen’s Park and after the War, when he was leaving “The Spiders” he could have signed for Manchester United as Matt Busby was a great admirer of him. However, he chose to sign for Bill Struth, coincidentally on the same day as the club brought in stalwart Sammy Cox, thus adding two vital pieces to what would become known as the “Iron Curtain” defence.
With his curly, blond hair, the good-looking Brown was a striking-looking athlete but his style of goalkeeping was unassuming but so effective. He was reliable with a tremendous concentration, such a necessary quality when you play in goal for a Gers side that does most of the attacking in a match. Agile, with quick reflexes and totally calm, he was the ideal last line of defence behind the “Iron Curtain”. He may only have played 3 times for his country but he actually managed Scotland for 27 games.
Near the end of his time at Ibrox, he discovered how ruthless a manager Bill Struth could be. At the start of season 1952 – 53, the opening day match saw Rangers playing Hearts at Tynecastle in the League Cup. Brown had the proverbial nightmare between the sticks as Rangers crashed to a 5-0 defeat. It was probably his worst performance in a Rangers’ shirt. Despite his years of brilliant displays for the side, Struth promptly dropped him in favour of George Niven and Brown didn’t play another game that season! Niven started off in goal the following season but Brown ended up replacing him for the last two thirds of it. By the next season, however, Niven had established himself as Rangers first choice keeper and by the end of season 1955 – 56, Brown retired.
Having played 323 games for the club, Brown won 3 League Championships, 3 Scottish Cups and 2 League Cups.
JIMMY MILLAR
He wasn’t a pacy player and, at only 5 feet 6 inches he wasn’t a powerful, tall target man, but in the period 1960- 64, Millar scored over 100 goals for Rangers but made many, many more. He was simply one of the greatest Rangers centre-forwards of all time. He joined the club in 1955 from Dunfermline for a fee of £5,000, having turned down the chance to join Preston. His early mentors were greats such as Waddell, Young, Cox and McColl and this former Hearts-daft lad learned the ways of Rangers from them.
Millar was sturdily built and it took quite a thwack to barge him off the ball. He was not averse to doing a bit of barging himself either as most strikers did in those days! Perhaps because he had been converted from being a wing-half, he was a better passer of the ball than most strikers and led the forward line well, linking up with his fellow forwards brilliantly. He could also score goals with both feet and with his head. Considering his lack of height, he was a real handful in the air for most defenders and had the ability to climb above them as if sheer determination alone could outdo them.
One of his most obvious virtues was his bravery and will-to-win. He had that traditional Rangers’ never-say-die spirit. He even helped Gers defeat Celtic in the 1963 Ne’er Day game despite the fact that he’d had to get out of his sick bed, suffering from flu, and catch the train from Edinburgh to join up with his team-mates. Such dedication and spirit is invaluable to any side. Millar had the biggest heart around. He was never one to shirk a tackle and could give and take knocks without fear or favour. This being the case, he suffered numerous injuries throughout his career from a broken collar bone to ligament injuries and everything in between. Unfortunately, these cost him dearly in terms of International representation and he had to withdraw from many Scotland squads. Sadly, he only played for his country twice – a gross injustice for such a fine player.
At the height of his career, Bill Shankly tried to sign him for Liverpool but Rangers rejected the possibility without even informing the player who only learned about the possible move years later from Shankly himself. He never regretted staying with the club though and won many domestic honours as a reward. In the early 60s, Millar had formed a deadly and legendary striking partnership with fellow Edinburgh man, Ralph Brand. What became known to the fans as M and B devastated many a defence, thanks to the understanding that the pair developed over the years. Brand was light years ahead of most fellow professionals in those days and was a deep thinker about the game, its tactics and methods. He encouraged Millar to join him in extra training sessions after most of the others had gone home in order to develop moves to outfox defences. How it paid off! The quick, lithe Brand was the ideal foil for Millar and vice-versa.
During the latter part of his Ibrox career, Millar experimented with a deeper lying role as centre-forward and the extra space enabled him to continue scoring and making many more goals. By season 65 –66, Millar was coming to the end of his Rangers’ career with the brilliant young Jim Forrest taking over at centre-forward. Still, Jimmy had his moments of glory none more so than when he played in his old position of wing-half in the Old Firm Scottish Cup Final Replay of 1966 won by that famous Kai Johansen goal. That night it was Millar who best exemplified the spirit that took the side to victory against a superior team.
In 1967, Millar was transferred to Dundee United. Ironically, one of the young United players who couldn’t hide his admiration for his goal-scoring hero, even at this veteran stage, was a certain Walter Smith who’d become Rangers’ manager in 20 odd years time.
Jimmy Millar played 317 times for Rangers. He scored 160 goals, won 3 League Championships, 5 Scottish Cups and 3 League Cups.
JOCK WALLACE ( Manager: 1972 – 78, 1983 – 86)
Like Bill Struth all those years before him, by the time Wallace became the club’s manager he was already well versed in the traditions of Ibrox and well-known to the players whose boss he suddenly had become. As the hands-on coach, Wallace had obviously gained the respect of the Rangers players already so moving up to the Manager’s Office wasn’t such a dramatic transformation, especially as Willie Waddell was still around and now as General Manager, in effect, his boss.
Although born and brought up in Mid-Lothian, Wallace had been a Rangers supporter from his youth so becoming the manager at Ibrox was the proverbial dream come true. A goalkeeper, he spent most of his career playing in the lower leagues in England and Scotland but this was no handicap. He probably remembered that the greatest Rangers manager, Bill Struth, had been an athlete, rather than a football player. Wallace eventually became the player-manager of little Berwick Rangers, just in time to be there when they knocked their illustrious namesakes out of the Scottish Cup in its biggest upset until then. This success undoubtedly hastened his departure and, a year later, he went to Hearts as Assistant Manager.
A former soldier, Wallace was a strict disciplinarian and believed that supreme fitness was the basic requirement of any football player. Stamina and endurance were prerequisites for any Wallace player and his training regimes set out to produce such men. When Willie Waddell became Rangers’ manager and came to the conclusion that the players were nowhere near fit enough, it was the logical step to bring in Jock Wallace to rectify the situation. Fitness, aligned with spirit and character, was the first step on the path to rejuvenating the Ibrox club. Wallace was proud of his own fitness and would never ask his charges to do what he couldn’t do himself, a fact that created even more respect for him among the players.
After becoming manager, Wallace showed his ruthless and single-minded nature by moving on two of the fans’ heroes of Barcelona: Colin Stein and Willie Johnston. Wallace had decided that they were a bad influence, too individualistic, too “big for their boots” who could not benefit the team in the long run so he had them transferred. Gradually, he built up his own pool of players to create a side that would challenge Jock Stein’s Celtic. In fact, his first success came in the Centenary Scottish Cup Final against Celtic when the famous Tom Forsyth “screamer” from 6 inches won the cup with a 3-2 victory in 1973 – Wallace’s first season in the hot seat.
However, it would be two seasons later before Wallace managed to achieve what every Rangers manager was expected to – the League Championship. So dominant had been the Celtic sides, winning 9 titles in a row, that the format of the league was to be changed after season 1974 –75. Thus, this would be the last season of the old First Division before the advent of the new Premier League, designed to encourage more fierce competition. The irony was that Wallace’s Rangers stopped Stein’s run of consecutive titles without the aid of a new format. Further irony came from the fact that the once discarded and now re-signed Colin Stein scored the goal at Easter Road in the 1-1 draw that brought the championship back to Ibrox for the first time in 10 years! Wallace had now shaped a squad of players in his own image that could succeed where so many in the recent past had failed.
The following season, Rangers created yet another “first” as the first club to win the new Premier League. Not only that but it became a Treble-winning season. A blank season next could be explained by the dreaded injury curse to key players such as Tom Forsyth, before Wallace repeated his Treble feat in 1977-78 after having added three skilful players to his team that had won The Treble in 1975 – 76: Russell, Smith and Cooper. The fact that two Trebles in three seasons had only ever been achieved once before – by a Jock Stein Celtic side - puts Wallace’s success into perspective. “ The Big Man” was at the height of his powers whereas Jock Stein was basically sacked as the Celtic manager, having been replaced by Billy McNeill.
Then, amazingly, Jock Wallace gave it all up. He suddenly resigned as manager and his captain John Greig was catapulted into the manager’s office. The next season would see former playing rivals and Old Firm captains, Greig and McNeill battle it out as managers of their clubs!
Wallace’s resignation was accepted by the Rangers’ Board “with regret”. To his eternal credit, Wallace never did reveal the reasons for his abrupt departure. He loved Rangers too much to cause further controversy and unrest. Rumours abounded such as he was annoyed at the lack of funds allocated to buy new players or that he felt that his true worth hadn’t been recognised by the club either in terms of his salary or status within the club or that his relationship with Willie Waddell had deteriorated. Whatever the truth, it was never confirmed by Jock Wallace who eventually became the manager of Leicester despite the fact that Rangers would always be his only love.
That love and respect was eventually returned in 1983 following the resignation of John Greig. With the club in disarray, following the rejection of the manager’s job by luminaries Alex Ferguson and Jim McLean, Rangers needed a sure hand on the rudder and the character of Jock Wallace was the means by which the Rangers Board hoped to change the club’s ailing fortunes. As with players, the old saying “never go back” would eventually be proved true of managers.
When Wallace took over from Greig early in season 1983-84, Rangers were already well adrift in 6th place in the league race. This, along with the poor squad of players he had inherited, meant that Wallace knew that the league was gone already. His first task was to restore morale and pride in the players and move on the following season. He let the players know that the opportunity was there for any player to stake a first team claim and he also bought in a few such as Bobby Williamson and Nicky Walker. Still, he did manage to win the League Cup in his first season, beating Celtic 3-2 in the Final and repeated this feat the next season when Celtic were beaten 1-0.
In the league, however, nothing really changed. The quality and depth of squad was not there and inconsistency saw Rangers fall to 4th and then 5th place by the end of Wallace’s second full season in charge. It was inevitable that the Board would sack him. That came as no surprise. The shock, though, was that Rangers appointed its first ever player-manager – and that man was Graeme Souness.
Jock Wallace won: 3 League championships, 3 Scottish Cups and 4 League Cups.
WILLIE WOODBURN
Woodburn’s tragedy is that the way his career ended usually gets more attention paid to it than the actual career. A Draconian sine die ban from the SFA in 1955 virtually ended his footballing career. On the plus side, he was 35 at that time so he had enjoyed a long and illustrious playing career that wasn’t really tarnished by his ban as the huge majority of fans and pundits recognised how unnecessarily brutal his punishment had been. Nevertheless, it still managed to take the focus away from this player’s brilliance.
Rangers signed Woodburn, a Hearts fan, from Musselburgh Athletic in 1937 at the age of 18 and by season 1939 – 40 he was a fixture in the side at centre-half. He would go on to become the pivotal figure in the wonderful “Iron Curtain” defence that served Rangers so well for so many years. Tall, muscular, agile and athletic, “ Big Ben” was supreme in the air but also mobile on the ground with a great sense of balance that gave him the ability to tackle strongly or use his anticipation and vision to intercept danger. He had a fierce will-to-win and drive about him that could lead to him taking it out on his colleagues, never mind his opponents but he was never considered by anybody as a “dirty player”. Perhaps, surprisingly, he was assured in possession of the ball and would pass his way out of defence rather than merely hoof the ball upfield in the style of most defenders of that era. In truth, he played more like a modern central defender in the mould of a Frank de Boer but with much more power in the air and on the ground.
A big advantage he had over most fellow defenders and opponents was the fact that hours of practice as a schoolboy had helped him become a two-footed player and be comfortable with the ball at his feet. Most observers at the time considered him a “stylish” player, especially for a defender, so it is particularly galling that modern fans who never saw him, probably only think of him as some kind of “hard man”.
His final sending off had only been his fifth one – a less-than-startling statistic for modern players. It was always presumed that his severe ban was more for the violence of his last offence than for the number of times he had been up before “the beaks”. So what was his heinous offence? In a match at Ibrox against Stirling Albion, with Rangers in control and winning 2-0, he was fouled by Paterson and twisted his leg as he fell to the ground. Woodburn had always been known for his short fuse and believing the foul to have been deliberate, he got up and gave the offender a “Glasgow kiss”.
The head butt was not a form of conduct looked on kindly by the middle class gents who ran the SFA so a harsh punishment might have been expected. However, nobody expected the indefinite ban that was issued. Although it was lifted two and a half years later, by that time, Woodburn was 38 and out of the game. It had been an ignominious way to have his career ended, leaving such a peerless centre-half devastated.
Woodburn won 24 caps for Scotland and his medal tally at Ibrox in 325 matches amounted to: 4 League Championships, 4 Scottish Cups and 2 League Cups.
DAVIE COOPER
Apart from that of Jim Baxter, Davie Cooper must have had the most effective left foot ever used by a Rangers player. It was the cause of so much torment to opposition players through the years and of such adulation to the Rangers fans that when his testimonial match against Bordeaux was played on a Friday night, inside Ibrox was a sell-out crowd with 5,000 fans locked outside the gates. Years later Cooper would be elected to the Hall of Fame and be included in the composite Gers side that was considered Rangers’ Greatest Ever.
Incredibly, and tragically, less than 7 years after that Testimonial, Davie Cooper was dead. On 23rd March, 1995, a short time after his 39th birthday, he died of a brain haemorrhage in Glasgow’s Southern General Hospital, a mile or so away from Ibrox Stadium. The day before, at Clyde’s Broadwood Stadium, he had been coaching youngsters along with former Celt, Charlie Nicholas, when he had become ill and been taken to hospital. His sudden death devastated football fans everywhere.
It was Jock Wallace who had signed the magical winger in the summer of 1977 from Clydebank for £100,000 and what a bargain that was! He was not only buying a brilliant left winger but a Rangers fan to boot. If you examine Cooper’s time at Ibrox however, it could be claimed that, as well as being one of Gers’ greatest players, he was also one of its unluckiest. He started as a Rangers player in a great side that would go on to win The Treble that season and, by the end of his time at Ibrox, he would be playing in another brilliant Rangers team that dominated under the management of Graeme Souness filled with players such as McCoist, Butcher, Gough and Wilkins. Unfortunately, in between, for too much of his time, Cooper played in a succession of mediocre Gers sides going through the worst spell in the club’s history.
Arguably, Cooper’s first season was his best. He played in every Rangers’ competitive match, bar one – a league game in March. Thus, he played in 54 games and won each of the domestic honours at the first time of asking. He was helped no doubt by the fact that he had taken an instant liking to Jock Wallace and realised that his manager had confidence in his ability and trusted him to perform. Wallace gave Cooper the freedom to do his own thing and how it paid off!
It quickly became obvious that although Cooper was an individual talent, a genius on the ball, he fitted in perfectly with the overall team pattern. He struck up a great understanding with midfield man, Bobby Russell and complemented the play of Tommy McLean on the opposite flank. Although he didn’t possess the dangerous pace of some wingers, Cooper’s skill made him more than capable of getting away from defenders. He had tremendous ball control and a great first touch that gave him time to size up the situation before making his moves. He twisted, turned and could change direction before seemingly gliding past players as if they had been mesmerised – just like the fans.
Furthermore, all this was done with that magical left foot that was capable of blistering drives that threatened to rip the net apart at times, whether from open play or free kicks just outside the area. It could also be used to send others through with sublime passes, reminiscent of those made by Baxter over two decades previously. Especially effective was Cooper’s reverse pass that was normally clever and disguised enough to open up the best of defences. All these qualities were used to the full in that initial season when The Treble was won thanks to Cooper’s ability being utilised by the running power of Smith and McDonald, coupled with the passing skills of McLean and Russell and the predatory instincts of Derek Johnstone.
Unfortunately, after that great season, it has to be admitted that over the next 5 years, Cooper was an under-used and underachieving genius. In the sterility of the early 80s, Cooper all but carried the Rangers teams. In the big games, the fans recognised that Cooper was the one man the opposition feared and that he was the brightest hope for achieving a result. In most vital matches, fans went into Ibrox knowing that if Cooper could turn it on, their side might win. Of course, no player can be brilliant in every match or even every important one, plus wingers are notoriously inconsistent performers. However, even when Cooper didn’t perform at his best, he still fulfilled a function in that the opposing defenders had to make sure that his threat was given due attention and respect thus making space and maybe opportunities for other Rangers players to do some damage. In some important games, Cooper’s very presence was incalculable even if his performance wasn’t.
In his early years at Ibrox, the Press dubbed Cooper “The Moody Blue” due to his apparent shy, taciturn nature that meant he avoided talking to reporters or courting publicity. Too often he came across as a dour, uncooperative type but his team-mates and friends knew that he was just the opposite. Later on, his “Moody Blue” tag would be gone forever as Cooper grew in confidence, feeling more at ease with the Press and showing his true nature. Eventually, he’d make numerous appearances on television as a pundit, giving viewers valuable insights and charming them with his smile, sense of humour and laid-back personality.
For such a brilliant winger, it’s amazing that Cooper only made 22 appearances for Scotland after having been capped first by Jock Stein in a friendly against Peru. Probably it’s true to say that Cooper’s ability, while recognised by various Scotland managers, was grossly under-used. McLeod, Stein, Ferguson and Roxburgh all failed to utilise Cooper properly on the International stage. Probably, inconsistency was one of the reasons – a more common problem for International managers who only see their players once in a while. His greatest moment for Scotland was undoubtedly when he equalised with a penalty against Wales in Cardiff to give Scotland a play-off place in the 1986 World Cup Finals in Mexico. The cool attitude of The Coop was exactly what was needed in that pressure situation when a miss would have been disastrous.
As Graeme Souness continued to bring class players to Ibrox, including great wingers like Mark Walters, Cooper’s appearances in the side became more and more sporadic. So, after 12 years with the club, he left for Motherwell, for a fee of £50,000, believing that he still had something to offer a team. His new manager was someone who knew exactly what Cooper could provide for his team – Tommy McLean. An unexpected swansong, however, came in 1991 when Cooper won yet another Scottish Cup winner’s medal in helping ‘Well to beat Dundee United in a thrilling final. It’s safe to say that Rangers fans were almost as delighted with the result as ‘Well’s, thanks to the priceless memories they had of Davie Cooper.
Davie Cooper played 540 games for Rangers scoring 75 goals. He won 3 League Championships, 3 Scottish Cups ( + 1 with Motherwell) 7 League Cups.
JERRY DAWSON
Until Andy Goram was voted the greatest Rangers goalkeeper of all time, most older Gers fans would have accorded that honour to Jerry Dawson – “Prince of Goalkeepers”. Few people seem to know that his real first name was James and that he was tagged “Jerry” as a nickname, after the England and Burnley keeper of the same name who had played some years prior to him.
A Falkirk man, he was signed by Rangers in 1929 from Camelon Juniors and, as understudy to the great Tom Hamilton, it took him until season 1931 – 32 to start making regular appearances for the first team. Indeed, his first Old Firm match was, tragically, the one at Ibrox in which Celtic’s keeper John Thomson was killed in an accidental clash with Sam English. Whereas Celtic lost a legend that day, Rangers found one. Throughout the 30s and early 40s Dawson was unquestionably the Rangers’ last line of defence.
Dawson was a keeper who inspired confidence in his defenders thanks to his genial personality and his qualities as a goalkeeper. He was unflappable, commanded his penalty box and had the type of quick reflexes that only the best keepers can display consistently. Alert, mobile and utterly dependable, he was a rock in the Rangers’ defence that kept the back door closed while the brilliant forward players used their skills to win matches.
He played 14 times for Scotland leading up to the Second World War and by the time he moved from Rangers, after 16 years, he had amassed 5 league titles and 2 Scottish Cup medals. When, in 1944, he broke his leg, considered the worst injury a footballer could suffer in those days, many thought that he wouldn’t make a come-back but he did. He was back in action the following year and fittingly played his final match against the famed Moscow Dynamo side that visited Ibrox in 1945 – opposite another wonderful keeper, “Tiger” Komich. After this match, he signed for his local club, Falkirk, and played there until he retired in1949.
One of the indisputable Rangers’ greats, Jerry Dawson died in 1977, still revered by Rangers fans the world over.
JOCK SHAW
Jock Shaw might only have been 5 feet 7 inches, weighing in at 11 stones but, as his nickname suggests, he was a most formidable defender. “Tiger” Shaw sums him up. This referred not only to his tackling ability but a steely determination that meant no cause was ever lost while he was still on the pitch. He was one of the great Rangers captains - and there have been many - skippering his side to that first Treble among other triumphs. His 16 years at Ibrox saw him retire at the age of 42 with two other top division clubs wanting his signature as a player!
He was another player in the Struth mould. Fit, speedy, gritty and reliable, his durability and hard-tackling made him an unwelcome obstacle in the way of any winger. He was the seemingly indestructible right-back in the famed “Iron Curtain” defence and looked the equal of brilliant players such as Woodburn and Young. It goes without saying that bravery and determination were also qualities that endeared him to his manager and the fans.
Apparently, during one Ne’er Day Old Firm game at Celtic Park, in a clash with Celtic legend, Charlie Tully, he sustained a bad injury that meant him having to be carried off the field for his leg to be examined. He could barely move the damaged leg but he pleaded with Bill Struth to be allowed to return to the action and help out his team-mates. Struth, always one to take care of his players, refused to allow this and merely told him that the remaining ten would just work that little bit harder to make up for his loss. Rangers won the match 4-1.
Shaw’s haul of medals came to 4 League Championships, 3 Scottish Cups and 2 League Cups. He only played 4 times for Scotland but captained his country on each occasion.
WILLIE WADDELL
In March, 1936, the 15 year old Willie Waddell made his debut for Rangers Reserves against Partick Thistle. Doing likewise was the 16 year old Willie Thornton who, in the future, would often be on the scoring end of a Waddell cross. Few realised then that the young Waddell would leave his mark on the club in such an indelible manner. Waddell would not only become an International right-winger for Rangers but also, eventually, its manager, general manager and managing director. He was also the spiritual architect of the modern Ibrox Stadium.
One of the great Rangers’ traditions that has never seemed to get the Press coverage it deserves has been the club’s ability to produce great wingers who thrill the vast crowds that watch them. Rangers has always had brilliant wingers – of all creeds, nationalities and types. Scottish, English, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, South African are among those who have sped down the wings. Generally, the wingers were to be categorised into two kinds: the “tanner ba’” sort like Willie Henderson who used trickery, pace and great ability to twist and turn with the ball seemingly stuck to their feet, bamboozling defenders or ones like Willie Johnston whose sheer pace got them past their opponents. Of course, in between you had players who combined many of those qualities such as Alan Morton, Alex Scott, Tommy McLean, Brian Laudrup, Mark Walters to name but a few.
Waddell was the latter type of winger who used power and pace to get into the danger area and send over wonderful crosses for his forwards. His determination, bravery, will-to-win and fitness also made him one of the greatest wingers to have played for Rangers. He was instilled with the Rangers’ spirit right from the start and when he became manager of the club he made sure that the Rangers’ traditions that he’d learned under the tutelage of Bill Struth were continued. Waddell believed, like Struth, that no man was bigger than the club.
He certainly had confidence in his own ability, even at an early age. When he made his first team debut in 1938 at Ibrox against the mighty Arsenal, not only did he play well but he also scored the only goal of the match. He was 17. In all, he would go on to play 558 games for Rangers, scoring 143 goals – a good rate for an out-and-out winger. At his peak, Waddell was a winger who could never be left unguarded for a moment. To do so, was to risk a counter-attack with him breaking quickly down the wing before sending over a precise cross that would be converted by the likes of Thornton. His determination and courage meant that even a hard-tackling back who tried to intimidate him would fail. Waddell would simply roll up his sleeves and come back for more while “wiring in” when he had the chance to get his revenge. As the old Rangers song said, " How can you buy Willie Waddell?"
SCOT SYMON ( Manager: 1954 – 1967 )
When he was appointed, James Scotland Symon became only the third manager in the 80 odd year history of Rangers. Born in Perthshire, he had already been imbued with the Rangers’ ethos, having played at left-half for the club since joining from Portsmouth in 1938. As a determined, brave and classy player throughout his 9 years at Ibrox, he became a favourite of Bill Struth who probably recognised qualities in him that would lead to him becoming a very good manager after his playing days were over.
When he became the manager of East Fife at the age of 35, he immediately transformed the fortunes of that club. In his first season, he gained promotion for the Fifers to the top division. After that first season playing with the big boys, Symon’s side had finished fourth in the table behind Champions, Rangers. It was quite an achievement!
In his 6 seasons at Methil, Symon worked wonders and gave the fans some precious memories. His greatest achievement was no doubt winning the League Cup, having knocked out Rangers in the semi-final. A few months later, his team played Rangers in the Scottish Cup Final but lost out to a Gers side intent on avenging its earlier shock defeat. It was inevitable that a bigger club would covet the manager and Preston North End installed him to rejuvenate their club. In his only season at Deepdale, he took Preston to an English Cup Final at Wembley but, by then, Ibrox was calling him.
His old club needed him with the departure of the ailing Bill Struth. Indeed, he was practically hand-picked by Struth to be his successor. The Grand Old Man of Ibrox obviously wanted to ensure that the new man would continue with the traditions and successes that he had established over the previous 34 years. Struth said of Symon:
“ He is a man of indomitable courage, of unbreakable devotion to a purpose, a man, indeed, who became a true Ranger.” Few doubted that this man, reared in the Struth Ibrox tradition, would fail his mentor.
In fact, under him, things continued as normal at Ibrox. He was truly a Struth apostle and did things the way they had always been done. While the trainers such as Davie Kinnear, worked with the players, Symon would stand on the sidelines, occasionally shouting instructions. Standing there in his hat and coat, he was to be one of the last of the “old school” managers. His methods worked throughout the 50s and early 60s but then a new type of manager was being seen more frequently – the “track suit” manager. Unfortunately, one particular “track suit” manager was Symon’s immediate opponent – Jock Stein who would revolutionise Celtic, making them the top dogs in Scotland well past Symon’s sacking.
Like Struth before him, Symon knew a player when he saw one and understood how that player should fit into his side. He believed that the main part of his job was to identify quality players, acquire them for the club and blend them with the other quality stars he had already. This policy bore spectacular fruits when the Rangers side of 1960-63 was at its peak. Many older Gers fans still believe that this side was Rangers’ greatest ever but more of that later.
Again, like Struth, Symon wasn’t a man of tactics. He left his players on the field to decide how the team should play, how they should deal with the opposition as the match unfolded. His job wasn’t to coach them or lay down tactics but to form a team pattern and supply the players whose quality would overcome their opponents. This he did admirably – until the arrival of Stein at Celtic.
Scot Symon was the opposite of Stein. Symon was a quiet, dignified, honest, seemingly rather aloof type of individual who kept his distance from his players and, crucially, the media. In his business suit, he looked every inch the middle-class “perfect gentleman” that his players respected. Meanwhile, at Celtic Park, a track-suited Jock Stein was coaching his players on the training ground and learning about modern tactics by visiting the training complexes of such foreign coaches as Herrera at Inter Milan. A working-class hero in the making, Big Jock would be lionised by the football press and become as much of a star as any of his players. The emergence of Stein and the ageing of the team of the first half of the 60s, in addition to the departure of Baxter, would combine eventually to lead to Symon’s downfall at Ibrox.
By 1967, Symon’s teams were struggling to keep up with Celtic. The writing was perhaps on the wall when the greatest shock defeat in Rangers’ history occurred in January of that year. Little Rangers, Berwick, knocked their more famous namesakes out of the Scottish Cup in the first round. The entire country was stunned but nobody more so than Scot Symon. He said that this defeat was “ the worst result in the club’s history”. Rangers’ two strikers that day, Jim Forrest and George McLean, for failing to at least equal the solitary Berwick goal, were made the scapegoats and told they would never play for the club again. They were later transferred to other clubs. Both, especially Forrest, were young men, not even in their prime and the decision to get rid of them was undoubtedly wrong but it is believed that there was pressure from the Board to take this course of action emphasising just how humiliating the Berwick defeat had been for the directors as well as everybody else at the club.
This particular decision came back to haunt Symon and Rangers a few months later. Despite a poor showing in the Scottish Cup, Rangers had been progressing well in the European Cup Winners’ Cup and actually made it to the Final in May, 1967. Unfortunately, this led to an even bigger disappointment than the Berwick debacle. It shouldn’t have been a surprise however as the odds had seemed stacked against Rangers from the start. They were playing Bayern Munich, about to become one of the top clubs in Europe. They were virtually playing them at home, in Nuremberg to be exact. They were playing them only a week after Stein’s Celtic had become the first British club to lift the European Cup adding to the pressure the club was under to be successful. What’s more, having got rid of their two top strikers earlier in the season, Rangers were forced to play a centre-half, Roger Hynd, at centre-forward and against the great Franz Beckenbauer at that!
Despite all these handicaps, Rangers took the final into extra time before a solitary strike saw the Germans lift the trophy. It was to be another 5 years before Rangers got their hands on that cup. Afterwards, thinking back on one glaring miss by temporary striker, Hynd, Chairman John Lawrence stretched out his hands and claimed that, but for that distance, he might have been awarded a knighthood in a similar fashion to Celtic’s Sir Bob Kelly after his club’s Lisbon triumph.
If that result cost Lawrence a knighthood, then, ultimately it would cost Symon his job. After Nuremberg, it was recognised that new training methods and tactics would be required at Ibrox so bright newcomer to management, Davie White, the Clyde manager, was hired to “assist” Symon but it was obvious that White was being groomed to be Symon’s successor. Nobody could have guessed just how soon!
The following season, Symon had used the money furnished by the Board to buy new blood for his team. Players such as Alex Ferguson, Orjan Persson and Eric Sorensen arrived but were limited successes. Ironically, when the axe fell on Symon, in November, Rangers were top of the table and looking a better side than the previous season’s one. When the Board terminated his contract, few Rangers fans objected to the action but they did query the way that it had been done. Instead of a face-to-face meeting, John Lawrence sent a businessman friend to speak to Symon at the businessman’s home, indicating the Board’s wishes. The dignified and appalled Symon felt betrayed and the majority of fans felt that a loyal club servant had been shabbily treated. Symon didn’t even get the chance to clear out his desk let alone say his goodbyes to the players. The only times he ever visited Ibrox from then on were in his capacity as Partick Thistle manager. Symon’s dismissal had not been one of Rangers’ finest hours.
ALEX MCDONALD
It has become a bit of a cliché these days, but “Doddie” as he was known, really was the fan who ended up living the dream. Like later Rangers hero, Ian Durrant, he was brought up not far from Ibrox, in the Kinning Park area of Glasgow. Always a Rangers fan, he is still considered a true “blue nose” whose popularity among the fans has never waned. In November 1968, he was signed by Davie White who paid St Johnstone £50,000 for his services and what value for money Rangers got McDonald had a relatively slow start in his Ibrox career due to the fact perhaps that as a local boy he was desperate to do well and that his new manager didn’t utilise his abilities to their advantage. However, once Willie Waddell became manager things changed and Doddie started to show his true worth. As a player he was energetic, passionate, tenacious, combative, fiery and incredibly fit. The Jock Wallace training regime was responsible for that fitness and, once again, the longevity of his career.
Throughout his career, McDonald showed tremendous reserves of stamina, an essential feature of his play since he seemed to cover every blade of grass, especially when surging from his own penalty area into the opposition’s. Also, despite his lack of height, his grit and determination made him an ideal ball-winner in midfield. A brilliant sense of timing was also invaluable as it enabled him to make runs into the opposition box and often finish the move off with a goal.
Surprisingly, for a small man, he was a great header of the ball and, despite his reputation as being a bit of a terrier, he had a fine touch with the passing ability to bring others into the game. It’s probably safe to say, though, that his biggest asset was his knack of scoring important goals in the big games. These generally came about due to his ability to make perfectly-timed runs into the opposition penalty box, almost sneaking past defenders, to get on to the end of an expert chip from players like Tommy McLean. McDonald’s “blind side” running resulted in many a vital goal. Maybe his lack of size helped him to lose markers although you’d have thought that after years of watching his trademark runs, opposition managers and players would have been on the alert for them. Apparently not!
McDonald’s industry and determination were qualities that Waddell wanted all his Rangers players to show in matches but he wanted his players to be disciplined too. Unfortunately, McDonald’s greatest weakness was his fiery temperament that resulted in him being sent off on more than one occasion. Waddell tried to channel McDonald’s aggression that, for a midfielder, was an attribute, as long as it could be controlled. On the whole, it was. After a sending off against Celtic it was 5 years before his next one!
McDonald’s first major honour was taking part in the 1970 League Cup Final against Celtic, a match won by the header of the 16 year old Derek Johnstone. Doddie wasn’t to know then that 5 years later, he’d score the winning goal against Celtic in the final of that same competition. Memorable as those cup wins were, neither could compete with his experience of being part of the Gers side that won the European Cup Winner’s Cup in Barcelona in 1972. After that European victory, he’d be an integral part of the side that would win 2 Trebles in 3 seasons a few years later.
McDonald, throughout his Rangers’ career, managed to score goals in the finals of Scottish Cups and League Cups but he could also do this on the European stage scoring against great sides of the calibre of Juventus and Ajax. Even top class defenders were obviously caught out by his tremendous runs into the box. This expertise could have been used more often in the international arena. He should certainly have gained more than his solitary cap, even though the Scots side of the 70s was littered with brilliant midfield players.
In 1980, for a fee of £30,000, McDonald left Ibrox to become the player / manager of Hearts, to be followed soon afterwards by Sandy Jardine as his assistant. Their management skills almost brought off The Double for the Tynecastle side. Later, McDonald would become one of the best managers that Airdrie ever had, taking the club to two Scottish Cup Finals, only losing out to Rangers and Celtic respectively – no mean feat. His management style had been in keeping with his playing one. He’d been energetic, enthusiastic, committed, determined and combative – all those qualities that would see him enter the Rangers’ Hall of Fame in due course.
Alex McDonald played 503 games for Rangers scoring 94 goals. He won 1 European Cup Winner’s Cup, 3 League Championships, 4 Scottish Cups, 4 League Cups.
JIMMY SMITH
Jimmy Smith is one of the least known of the true Rangers greats but a player who deserves far greater respect than he was ever accorded until his death in 2003. Smith’s tragedy was that, as in the case of Dougie Gray, the final years of his career at Ibrox took place during the Second World War when matches played and goals scored were not considered “official”. Smith scored a total of 73 league goals alone during the War, making his career league total 300 – 63 and 67 ahead of McCoist and McPhail respectively. Even omitting his wartime strikes, Smith still is the third most prolific league goal-scorer in the club’s history. Nobody has scored more goals for Rangers than this man.
Built like a heavyweight boxer, standing over 6 feet and weighing around 14 stones, Smith was a fearsome forward to have to defend against. As you might expect, this tank of a man was adept at using his power to the side’s advantage. He was considered one of the greatest exponents of the shoulder charge and the less-protected keepers of his era knew that better than anyone. Smith might have been a battering ram but he also had a deft touch and could link up well with his fellow forwards.
Although he joined Rangers in 1928, having only played a dozen games for East Stirlingshire but scoring 16 goals, it wasn’t until March, 1929 until he made his first team debut at Hamilton. At that time the great Jimmy Fleming was holding down the number 9 shirt so it wasn’t until 1930 – 31 season that Smith took possession of it. In fact, this had probably been helped by the successful close season tour of North America that Rangers had made prior to that season. During that tour, Smith had scored 18 goals in 14 matches and no doubt had convinced Bill Struth that he was ready for first team duty. He never looked back. He ended up winning 6 league championships and 3 Scottish Cups.
Apart from a couple of seasons when the prolific scorer Sam English was creating a record of 44 league goals until the John Thomson tragedy blighted his career, Smith was a fixture in the Gers side. He managed 41 league goals in season 1933 – 34, 36 goals the next season and 31 in each of the following two seasons. What a forward to have playing beside Bob McPhail!
DOUGIE GRAY
Dougie Gray had the misfortune to join Rangers from Juniors, Aberdeen Mugiemoss in June 1925, just before the most disastrous season in the club’s history when the side finished 6th in the league championship. However, that one season was an aberration in the defender’s career as well as in the history of Rangers. In his following 22 seasons with the club, Gray would go on to win 11 League Championships and 6 Scottish Cups. He also played for Scotland on 10 occasions.
He was a fine player, if not a legendary one, but his fame continues due to his longevity. He is still the club record-holder for league and cup appearances with a massive total of 667. If all matches are counted, he played in an awesome 940 games. His was a glittering career that few have surpassed.
For a defender in those days, he was not a huge presence. He was a right back of moderate stature whose mobility, quick thinking and vision allowed him to make interceptions rather than fierce tackles in order to prevent the opposition threatening his goal. At the time, it was said of him that he had cleared more shots off his goal-line than any defender known to the fans until then. His defending was always composed and resolute. Like all the Gers players of his era he had the mental strength to do his utmost for the team and battle on, no matter what.
It was a pity that the last few years of his career spanned the Second World War when league titles and goals scored etc were traditionally excluded from the official records. When he retired at the end of season 1946 – 47 who could have thought that, almost 60 years later, he would still be the Ranger who had played most games for the club?
BRIAN LAUDRUP
To show the esteem in which Brian Laudrup is held by Rangers fans, you need only remember that he is the only foreign player to have been voted into the Greatest Ever Rangers team. Before arriving at Ibrox, Laudrup had played in his native Denmark, Germany and Italy so he was an experienced campaigner but, the fee of £2.5 million paid to Fiorentina, was to become one of the greatest bargains in Gers’ history as the Dane went on to play the best football of his career at Ibrox.
To describe Laudrup as a tremendous left-winger is simply inadequate. He was so much more than a winger. A natural athlete, he was hard-working and dedicated plus he had all those qualities in a forward that simply terrify defenders. Pace, terrific acceleration and sublime ball control coupled with vision made him a nightmare to play against and a joy for Rangers fans to watch. Having said this, at almost 6 feet tall, he wasn’t in the mould of the traditional Rangers’ “tanner ba’” winger. He was the sophisticated modern version of it. With Laudrup in the side, Gers fans thought that it was possible for their team to beat anybody. Not only was he a productive player, setting up chances for his team-mates with quality crosses and cut-backs and scoring fantastic goals himself, but he was an entertainer. The fans just loved watching him run at the opposition and bamboozling defenders with his skill and speed. A mazy dribble from Laudrup was something to live in the memory indeed.
His ability to twist and turn might have been a great asset but so was his coolness under pressure. Even in the penalty area it always looked as if his control and intelligence gave him that extra edge in finding space or a colleague to pass to. When he raced infield, waltzing past one defender after another, it must have been a sobering sight to the opposition, knowing that, at any time, he could unleash a powerful shot that would be unstoppable. No wonder he ended up with 82 caps for Denmark.
In an Ibrox career of many highs, perhaps two especially should be identified. His most memorable performance must be the Scottish Cup Final of 1996 at Hampden when, almost single-handedly, he destroyed Hearts. Not only did he score two of the 5 goals that day, but he also set up the others that constituted Gordon Durie’s hat-trick. Normally, a hat-trick in a final would see that player named man of the match but in that game it was the genius of Laudrup that had lit up the old stadium. The words “Laudrup’s Final” would bring back happy memories to any Rangers fan in years to come.
If that match saw Laudrup’s greatest performance, then his most memorable and important goal would be seen the following season at Tannadice when, ironically, it was a goal from Laudrup’s head, rather than either talented foot, that would ensure that Rangers would win their 9th consecutive Championship that night. Headers had been one of his few weaknesses but he bulleted that one in as if he were Mark Hateley! That goal might have been the most significant in his Ibrox career, but there were so many others.
He was a curse to Celtic in his time with Rangers, scoring quite a few memorable goals in league matches at Ibrox, Parkhead and, in the league and Scottish Cup at Hampden. As Celtic’s O’Neill discovered one night at Parkhead, one slip against the man could be costly. With the score 0-0, O’Neill literally slipped as he tried to control the ball, in the centre of the park, just inside his own half. Laudrup pounced on it and raced away from the defence, straight up the middle. Then from 18 yards out he smashed the ball into the net for the goal that would win the points that night.
In his 4 seasons at Ibrox, Laudrup won the sportswriters’ Player of the Year award twice, in 1995 and 97. In the other two seasons he was plagued by niggling injuries that caused him to miss quite a few matches. Besides, the season between his two awards, saw the accolade going to his team-mate, Paul Gascoigne whose performances had been stunning so he had no need to feel disappointed. At the end of his third season, he changed his mind about leaving Rangers to go to Ajax and stayed for another season but even the brilliant Dane couldn’t inspire a jaded Rangers side to capture the longed-for 10-in-a-row. At the end of that season, he signed for Chelsea but left behind some golden memories of one of the most skilful players ever to have worn the blue jersey.
Brian Laudrup played 150 games scoring 44 goals. He won 3 League Championships, 1 Scottish Cup and 1 League Cup.
DAVIE MEIKLEJOHN
As perhaps was suggested elsewhere on this site, in the description of the dramatic 1928 Scottish Cup Final, Davie Meiklejohn was one of the great Rangers captains. His stature and character combined to make his an inspiring leader of men and a formidable presence in the side. A local man, born in Govan, he signed from Maryhill Juniors and gave his all for the club. He was Struth’s ideal lieutenant on the field. He played at right-half or, when the occasion demanded it, centre-half and his ability to read a game as well as tackle made him a difficult obstacle for opponents to circumvent.
Uncompromising, determined, resolute, vigorous are all adjectives that were used to describe his style but he was so much more than just a hard defender. He had a footballing brain and a composure that meant he was a natural leader on the park, a player remained unflustered and who could drive his team-mates on to victory. Another, later Rangers’ legend, Willie Thornton, said that Meiklejohn was “ the greatest player I’ve ever seen.”
His courage, dedication, selflessness and self-belief all came together in that moment when he assumed the responsibility of taking the vital penalty kick in the 1928 Scottish Cup Final against Celtic to end the “Hampden Hoodoo”. He was the John Greig of his time and no higher praise can be given than that. After 17 years, he played his final league game against Hearts at Ibrox in 1936. In all, he had played 635 times for the club, scoring 54 goals and winning 12 league titles as well as 5 Scottish Cups. He was capped 15 times for Scotland and captained his country twice against England. He was the sort of captain that every team needs but few are lucky enough to possess.
SANDY JARDINE
How many Rangers fans know that Jardine’s first name is actually William and that the “Sandy” nickname arose from the colour of his hair? Whether or not they know this, they all will know that Jardine is a true Rangers legend. Even more remarkable for a “modern” player is the fact that Sandy became a fans’ hero while playing in the unglamorous position of right-back, rather than a striker or “flair” player. An Edinburgh lad, Jardine signed for the club in 1964, unfortunately for him, just at the end of that great era when a Baxter-led Rangers dominated the domestic scene. He would know the good times and the bad with Rangers such was his exceptional length of service with the club.
He played for Rangers from 1965 – 82, finishing with a total of 674 games, a figure only eclipsed by his team-mate John Greig and old-timer, Dougie Gray. Indeed, Jardine served under 5 Rangers managers: Symon, White, Waddell, Wallace and Greig himself. Another tribute to Jardine’s longevity is the fact that he is one of only 4 players to have won the Scottish Sportswriters’ Player of the Year award twice but, even more remarkably, he is the only one to have achieved this with two different clubs and with the longest gap between them. Jardine won this particular award first in 1975 and then in 1986 while playing with Hearts. That year’s award saw him honoured as its oldest recipient too.
Jardine was signed by Scot Symon as a wing-half ( that’s a midfielder, to you younger readers) but was played in various positions by various managers before finally finding his ideal spot at right-back by Willie Waddell. Jardine had great skill, speed, stamina, determination and intelligence and eventually became a world class full-back. So good was he that Celtic’s classy Danny McGrain was required to play at left-back for the Scotland side of the mid- to-late 70s. In his 38 Scotland appearances, Jardine seldom put a foot wrong.
Ironically, Jardine’s Rangers debut in February 1967 came about as a result of the worst defeat in Rangers’ history. At 18, he was thrown in at the deep end against Hearts one week after Rangers had been knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Berwick. He did well and never looked back. By the end of that season he’d even found himself up against Beckenbauer and co as Rangers contested the 1967 European Cup Winner’s Cup Final against Bayern Munich. At the end of that match, Jardine actually swopped shirts with Der Kaiser himself. It wasn’t to be the last time they’d oppose each other in a major match.
When Davie White became Rangers manager, for a while, he experimented by playing Jardine at centre-forward, of all places. It wasn’t as strange a decision as it might seem for Jardine could pass the ball, had an awareness of players around him and had a good shot on him. However, at that time he wasn’t mobile enough for that position. Still, by the end of his Ibrox career, Jardine would have amassed 77 goals – a great tally for a player who was essentially a defender.
Nevertheless, it was only when Willie Waddell became manager that Jardine truly flourished. It was he who switched him to right-back and whose fitness regime, supervised by Jock Wallace, increased the fitness and stamina of the players. Even more vital was the fact that Waddell sent Jardine and Willie Johnston to a specialist who coached them in sprint training. So successful was this that Jardine and Johnston eventually took part in professional sprint meetings with Jardine actually winning a 200 metres race for a prize of £25!
The fitness gained under Jock Wallace especially, coupled with his own determination and pride was a vital factor in the great length and quality of Jardine’s career. He became, and stayed, one of the fittest players at Ibrox, no matter his age and he played until he was 39! He is one of the few players to have been part of a Treble-winning team, twice!
Sandy Jardine, even in the modern game, would be considered a class act. His qualities would see him thrive into today’s game as they did in the 70s and 80s. He was intelligent, fast, exciting, reliable, consistent and elegant. A bonus was that he was more two-footed than most players, capable of shooting with either foot. He had mobility and pace as well as stamina allowing him to run up and down the flank all day. He was a wing-back before such a position had been created. As a defender, he could use his speed but also his brain to tackle at the opportune moment, to intercept, to nip danger in the bud. He also had the vision to cover for team-mates in-field when necessary.
As a modern, attacking full-back, this vision and pace were also invaluable as he was capable of creating goals as well as scoring them. For a player who was invariably joining in the Rangers’ attacks, he was seldom caught out by a swift counter-attack as his vision, speed and stamina always seemed to manage to get him back into position to do the defending that was necessary.
Throughout his long service to the club, Jardine endeared himself to the fans with his ability, dedication and loyalty. He gave his all throughout the good and the not so good times at Ibrox. When manager Greig released him after the 1982 Scottish Cup Final defeat, Jardine was 33, his best days behind him. Who could have realised that he’d play on with Hearts for another 5 years becoming their Assistant Player/ Manager? He was a mainstay in that Hearts side that should have won The Double in season 1985/86, cruelly losing out at the death in both competitions.
Despite his heroic status at Tynecastle, however, it’s as a Rangers’ legend that Sandy Jardine will always be remembered, thoroughly deserving of his inclusion in the Ibrox Hall of Fame.
He played 674 games for Rangers scoring 77 goals. He won 1 European Cup Winner’s Cup, 3 League Championships, 5 Scottish Cups, 5 League Cups.
JORG ALBERTZ
In an era when many foreign players came to Ibrox, played and went, German midfielder, Albertz, came, played and conquered. He was elected to the Rangers’ Hall of Fame, a distinction he shares with its other foreign Ranger, Brian Laudrup and generated many wonderful memories of spectacular and crucial goals scored. He became an adopted Scot and the Gers fans took him to their hearts.
An unknown in this country, when he’d been signed in 1996 by Walter Smith for £4 million from Hamburg, Jorg Albertz quickly made his mark with his explosive shooting power that thrilled the fans from his earliest days at Ibrox. Never was a nickname so appropriate - “The Hammer”. His relationship with the fans was cemented by his obvious love for the club, his 100% commitment and the enjoyment he showed while playing.
By the time of the crucial Ne’er Day Old Firm game at Ibrox in his first season, he had already become a firm favourite with the Gers fans but his esteem soared with the free kick he blasted past Celts keeper, Kerr, from 25 yards. The net-bound ball apparently travelled at almost 80 miles per hour while on its way to give the home side the lead. Such strikes weren’t unusual. Albertz goals were normally spectacular whether from dead ball situations or open play.
A big, strapping midfield man at 6 feet 2, Albertz wasn’t cumbersome nor was he a one-trick pony. He worked tirelessly, covering the park from one end to the other, could tackle and win the ball but also had a sublime passing skill that could feed a winger of spray passes to the other side of the field. Many a goal was also scored from a curling, accurate Albertz cross. His general link play, attacking threat and goals scored contributed to the Gers’ title win that brought about 9-in-a-row. If that moment was his proudest then the following season was his most disappointing.
Despite scoring two unforgettably brilliant solo goals in 7 days against Celtic at Parkhead in a Scottish Cup semi-final and at Ibrox in the league, putting his side top of the table, his efforts were to no avail. Rangers threw away the chance for their 10th consecutive title in the few matches remaining and Albertz was harshly sent off in the league match the week before the Cup Final against Hearts thereby being suspended and unable to help Gers salvage a trophy that season.
Despite that, Albertz had performed very well in both his seasons at Ibrox so it was no surprise that when new manager, Dick Advocaat took over, the big German was one of the few stars that he had decided to keep while building his new Rangers. In that initial Advocaat season of 1998 /99, Albertz continued where he’d left off, scoring brilliant goals and endearing himself to the Rangers fans. While on the way to another Treble, his goals entertained the fans and he shone in a midfield that contained Barry Ferguson and Gio Van Bronckhorst – no mean feat! He was by far the most productive midfielder in terms of scoring goals and, indeed, in one match, against Dundee at Ibrox that February, he scored a stunning hat-trick, something that no other Gers player had managed that season.
The following season was another vintage one with great performances and goals against the likes of PSV in Holland and Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup Final when his 30 yard free kick practically shattered the Hampden woodwork before going over the line, following by Wallace and McCann. The Double was completed and, as usual, Albertz had done his part in that achievement.
Despite constant rumours that the German didn’t always see eye to eye with his manager, Albertz seemed a permanent fixture. However, the following season saw him miss more and more games due to a succession of injuries. Nevertheless, he came back before the end of the season and even won a Player of the Month award but his fate had already been decided by Advocaat. His final league game was against Hibs at Ibrox where the fans cheered him off the park, knowing that he was on his way back to Hamburg.
Jorg Albertz played 182 games for Rangers scoring 82 goals. He won 3 League Championships, 1 Scottish Cup and 2 League Cups.
BOB MCPHAIL
During his first season at Ibrox, prolific goalscorer, Bob McPhail was able to tease his new team-mates that he was the only player in the dressing room with a Scottish Cup winner’s medal. This he had won in 1924 when he was an Airdrie star. However, by the end of that first season, by scoring one of the goals in the 1928 Cup Final, McPhail had helped bring to an end that reason for having fun at his mates’ expense.
When Rangers captured the big striker from Airdrie it was quite a coup because half a dozen top English clubs were chasing his signature. A Scottish International schoolboy player, McPhail was a big powerful lad who had won his Scottish Cup medal with Airdrie when he was only 18. He would go on to win 6 more with Rangers as well as help the club to 9 league championships. If Jimmy Smith’s 74 wartime goals are excluded, McPhail was Rangers top league goalscorer of all time with 230 – until the arrival on a certain Ally McCoist at Ibrox who overtook that total in the 90s. His record had lasted for over half a century and he was still alive to see it broken.
When he joined, he had the unenviable task of taking over the number ten shirt from the inimitable Tommy Cairns who had formed such a devastating left-wing partnership with Alan Morton. Soon, though, McPhail’s scoring exploits were creating a new hero for the Ibrox legions. Of course, it was not only his natural ability, dedication and tremendous work-rate that led to so many goals, he was also playing in a brilliant side surrounded by so many great players. With two tremendous wingers in Archibald and Morton supplying the ammunition and another couple of goal-scorers in Fleming and Cunningham who had to be watched by defenders, is it any wonder McPhail managed to score so freely?
As with all truly great strikers, McPhail had the requisite qualities of courage and determination. Before the 1934 Scottish Cup Final against St Mirren, McPhail had been suffering from a groin injury. So vital a player was he that manager, Bill Struth decided that he was fit enough to play provided he was strapped up with a huge bandage – no lycra cycling shorts in those primitive times! McPhail was willing to give it a try but mentioned to his boss that he wouldn’t be able to lift his leg up very high to which Struth replied, “ Maybe so but St Mirren won’t know that!” McPhail played and scored one of the goals in a 5-0 demolition of the Paisley Buddies.
Apart from a few seasons when injury blighted his appearances, bustling Bob guaranteed Rangers 20 –30 goals a season so it’s no wonder that it took the extraordinary striking power of another goal-scoring Rangers’ legend, Ally McCoist, to eventually surpass McPhail’s totals.
COLIN STEIN
Until he arrived at Ibrox in 1968, Colin Stein’s surname was one that had only occasioned a feeling of dread in Gers fans, being associated with the first name Jock, the Celtic manager who had become supreme in Scotland by then. However, from the start of Colin’s career at Ibrox, the fans began to associate better times ahead with that particular surname. Stein’s arrival would eventually mean the departure of Alex Ferguson whose combative style of centre-forward play had been one of the brighter aspects of Rangers’ performances in the previous couple of years. Stein was simply a bigger, stronger, more skilful and more prolific version of Fergie so there was only going to be one winner in the fight for the number nine shirt.
When Rangers signed Stein from Hibs in October 1968 for £100,000, it was the first six figure transfer between two Scottish clubs. If the huge fee put a burden on Stein it certainly didn’t show. In his initial three matches he just missed achieving consecutive hat-tricks. His debut at Arbroath saw him snatch a hat-trick followed by another at Ibrox against his old side, Hibs then in an Inter-Cities Fairs Cup tie away to Dundalk, he scored two goals. What a start! Talk about becoming an instant hero of the fans.
Still, it wasn’t just his scoring exploits that made him a tremendous favourite of the Rangers fans, it was his style and attitude. He was a big, strong, enthusiastic, bustling “old-fashioned” centre-forward who rampaged through the opposing defence. Great in the air, with a good first touch and excellent ball control, he liked nothing better than taking on defenders and would seldom be found in a static position as he roamed from one flank to the other in search of the ball if the passes didn’t come to him. Stein’s tragedy was that the club couldn’t find him a strike partner at the time and he seemingly had to do the work of more than one player up front.
Still, he didn’t complain and just got on with it, always trying his hardest for the team and showing the traditional Rangers’ spirit that obviously endeared him to the supporters. He was a great all round player and his only flaw seemed to be his suspect temperament. Too often he’d be sent off for retaliation, usually after having taken too much punishment from ruthless defenders who could only stop him by foul means.
Typical of his fate was his sending off at Ibrox against Clyde in a league game near the end of season 1968/69. Rangers were 6-0 up with Stein, playing brilliantly, already having scored a hat-trick. As he ran with the ball across the centre circle, a Clyde defender, chasing him forlornly, had three of four kicks at him from behind. Thanks to his short fuse, Stein couldn’t take any more and simply stopped in his tracks, turned around and had a swipe at the Clyde man. Result? Stein sent off while nothing happened to the instigator of the incident!
A 6 week ban was the eventual outcome of the disciplinary hearing, causing Stein to miss the run-in to the league when Rangers dropped 8 vital points to finish second, yet again, to Celtic. Just to rub it in, Stein also missed the Old Firm Scottish Cup Final which saw Celtic win 4-0 and the end of Alex Ferguson’s Gers’ career as he was blamed for not marking Billy McNeill who scored with a header from a corner in the very first minute! Most fans agreed that Stein would have challenged McNeill in such a situation and during the game would have caused the Celtic defence more problems than Fergie ever could.
Colin Stein as well as becoming a Rangers hero, also became a Scotland one, eventually amassing 21 caps. In matches against the “Auld Enemy” he invariably played well and usually managed to cause consternation among the big English defenders. In one World Cup qualifying match against Cyprus at Hampden he even managed to score 4 goals. Of his 97 Rangers goals, however, two still stand out as the most memorable for their sheer importance.
It was Stein who scored the opening goal of the 1972 European Cup Winner’s Cup Final in Barcelona when Rangers defeated Moscow Dynamo 3-2 and it was the same player who headed a great goal at Easter Road in 1975 to ensure that Rangers got the one point they needed to win the league title for the first time in 11 years. This was his first goal since re-signing from Coventry, the club he’d been sold to after Barcelona. After another couple of seasons, during which the young Derek Johnstone had become the club’s top striker, he was allowed to leave the club but Stein left an indelible mark and, now, along with Willie Johnston from that side, he is a worthy member of Rangers’ Hall of Fame.
Colin Stein played 206 games for the club scoring 97 goals. He won 1 European Cup Winner’s Cup and 2 League Cups.
ALAN MORTON
In the Greatest Rangers Team, selected a few years ago by the current fans, illogically, two left- wingers were picked for that imaginary side – Davie Cooper and Brian Laudrup. Obviously due to the very nature of this exercise for the Rangers’ Hall of Fame, the stars from older generations were bound to be at a disadvantage to their more modern counterparts. Great players though they were, most observers would admit that Laudrup and Cooper should not have been picked at the expense of Alan Morton, the greatest of them all.
In terms of money, Morton was the Beckham of his day when Bill Struth, in his first season as manager, finally signed him in 1920 from amateurs, Queen’s Park. He had been at Hampden since 1913 and worked as a mining engineer which he continued to work at throughout his career. His signing-on fee was £3,000 – a massive amount in those days when, as mentioned previously, a car only cost £100 and a house £300. Morton’s weekly wage was £60 – the same as some Gers players were earning over 40 years later!
From start to finish, Morton made a huge impact on Rangers and quickly became the club’s hero. So wonderful a career did he have that when he retired in 1933, Rangers promptly made him a director of the club! It was a just reward for a magician who played 495 matches and scored 115 goals for Rangers working with Bill Struth at his peak throughout those years. Morton won 9 League Championship medals, 3 Scottish Cups and was even revered by Scotland fans having played against England on an astonishing 11 occasions only missing one clash with England ( which Scotland lost at Old Trafford) due to injury. He was a famed member of the immortal “Wembley Wizards” Scotland side of 1928 that humiliated the English on their own patch and his total of 31 Scotland caps must be put into perspective for modern readers. In Morton’s time, generally, only 3 international games were played each season so his final tally was phenomenal.
This brilliant winger had everything: skill, poise, quick reflexes, fast feet, tremendous timing and courage. Apart from this natural ability, as a boy, he’d spent hours practising with a ball, trying to master it so that it would do his will. And how that paid off! He could get past defenders as if they weren’t there before delivering a telling cross or deadly cut-back. He tormented English defenders in the same way that, years later, Stanley Matthews would Scotland ones. It was English sportswriter, Ivan Sharpe, who gave him one of his nicknames that put fear into English players and fans alike – “The Wee Blue Devil”.
Around Ibrox, however, his nickname was “The Wee Society Man”, no doubt stemming from his immaculate appearance as he walked into Ibrox each day for training dressed in a suit while wearing gloves and a bowler hat. He personified the Rangers’ image off the field and, on it, he moved with a grace and skill that generated excitement among the fans and was emulated by many legendary Rangers wingers in the future, but never surpassed. How fitting that the huge oil painting of Alan Morton ( in his Scotland jersey) dominates the famed marble staircase of Ibrox, reminding the various generations of this player’s genius. He served the club loyally as a director until shortly before his death in 1971.
WILLIAM STRUTH ( Manager: 1920 – 1954)
It was Bill Struth, perhaps more than any other single person, who defined the Rangers’ ethos or spirit as it would have been called in his time. He was driven to ensuring that Rangers would become and stay the country’s number one club and a sporting institution that all those connected with the club would be proud of. And how he succeeded! No manager, probably in any country, at any time, has dominated his country’s championship for as long as Bill Struth did. Apart from the winning of trophies and the pursuit of excellence in his choice of players, Struth set the tone for Rangers and its players.
He believed that he was in a privileged position at Ibrox and his dedication to Rangers could never be questioned so he expected no less from his staff. Players were trained to be physically fit specimens with the mental strength to compete to their utmost and win prizes. Coming second best was not in the Struth or Rangers’ philosophy. One thing was always assured – no Rangers side of Struth’s would ever be found wanting in terms of fitness or character and a later manager, Jock Wallace, would ensure that his sides showed the same virtues.
Born in Kinross-shire in 1875, he spent much of his early years living near Hearts’ ground, perhaps resulting in him having a soft spot for the local side. Strangely enough, his background was one of athletics rather than football. In his younger days, he had been a professional runner and always remembered those times as a period in his life when if you didn’t win, you didn’t eat. If that doesn’t inculcate a winning mentality into someone then what could? The rigours of touring the country, having to race for money, certainly helped build his character and shape his outlook on life.
Struth was the perfect age, with experience and gravitas in abundance when he had to take the reins from William Wilton after his tragic and sudden death. When he joined the club in 1914 as trainer, he had already established a fine reputation while trainer of Clyde having made them one of the fittest teams in the country. By the time he became Rangers manager he already had the respect and admiration of his players thanks to his ceaseless drive, energy and expertise in tailoring his fitness regimes to individual players in order to get the best out of them. He had studied anatomy and physiotherapy which helped him understand players’ injuries and conditioning so that he could improve their performances by ensuring they were at their peak for each match.
Struth wasn’t a tactician in football terms. His strengths lay in being able to identify a player whose qualities he could integrate into the side as well as inspiring the players with encouraging words before the match. Struth instilled a will to win into his players, an absolute belief in their own ability. He believed in having a settled team because consistency of selection led to consistency of performance which led to ultimate success. He left the on-field tactics and changes to his senior players who knew how to play the game better than he did and whose judgement he trusted because they were “his boys”. Loyalty at Ibrox was a two way street. The players trusted “The Boss” and gave him their loyalty and had this from him in return.
Struth’s mission was to give his players the best of everything from travel arrangements to hotels and food. In return this man of iron expected them to be fastidious in their dress sense and disciplined in their behaviour both on and off the field. Indeed, Struth had a wardrobe in his Ibrox office that contained various suits allowing him to change when the occasion demanded it. Still, if a Rangers player was to receive first class everything, the least the club could expect in return was impeccable behaviour that enhanced the image of Rangers. The good name of Rangers was always his primary concern. On his desk, he had a sign that simply said:” The club is greater than the man.” Nobody doubted that Struth believed this axiom and that he tried to imbue his players with its spirit.
Struth’s loyalty and concern for his players is perhaps best encapsulated by an incident that happened during the Scottish Cup Final of 1922 when Rangers lost 1-0 to Morton. During the first half, ace striker, Andy Cunningham, broke his jaw. So what did the so-called ruthless Struth do? He went with his player to the nearby Victoria Infirmary and stayed with him, missing the rest of the Cup Final. Such loyalty could only be reciprocated by the players over the next thirty years.
Before he resigned as manager due to ill health, he made sure that the club would appoint the successor of his choice, his protégé and former player Scot Symon. As with everything else, Struth was putting the club first in his endeavour to see it continue as the premier club in the country. He died in 1956, aged 81.
Although he had that fierce determination to succeed, Bill Struth knew that it was impossible to win every game, every championship, every cup. His philosophy, which many would do well to remember nowadays, was that out of adversity, a stronger person or team should emerge. He cautioned that, in the bad times, a sense of “sanity and tolerance” must be preserved in the confident knowledge that Rangers would come back to their rightful place. Under Struth, for most of his wonderful career, that place was top of the pile, keeping ahead of the others. As this former runner once said, “ Let the others come after us. We welcome the chase”.
During the Struth years, Rangers won: 18 League Championships, 10 Scottish Cups, 2 League Cups, 18 Glasgow Cups, 20 Glasgow Charity Cups.
GEORGE YOUNG
Born in Grangemouth in 1922, Young would go on to become not only a great Rangers captain but also a great Scotland one. Gers signed him in 1941, from Junior side Kirkintilloch Rob Roy, when he was only 18 realising that his physique and ability would make him the ideal player to build a defence around. At 6 feet 2 inches, weighing 15 stones, he had the presence of a heavyweight boxer. He was regarded as a “colossus of a man” and, when people called him that, they weren’t just referring to his physical stature. As might be expected, he was very powerful in the air and with those long legs he seemed capable of always stretching one out at the right time to make a tackle. However, he wasn’t just a “stopper” as he displayed a great ability to use a variety of long-range, accurate passing to start up attacks involving Willie Waddell and Willie Thornton in particular.
Although he was really a centre-half, he moved to right-back to accommodate the brilliant Willie Woodburn and big “Corky” looked entirely comfortable in either berth. Early in his career, through the War years, he was normally played at centre-half but once normality returned after the conflict, he became the regular right-back with Woodburn at centre-half. It mattered not. From either position, he commanded the field of play and inspired his team-mates. His nickname came about because of his habit of carrying a champagne cork about in his pocket for good luck. How it worked! Apart from his qualities on the field as a player, Young was Bill Struth’s alter ego on the pitch and as a born leader, he made sure that the boss’s wishes were carried out as well as improvising tactics himself.
His worth for the national team was also unsurpassed. Until the arrival of one Alistair McCoist, Young was Rangers’ most capped played for Scotland. Proof of how invaluable he was to Scotland can be seen in the fact that he captained his country 8 times against England, played in 53 matches, captaining the side in 48 of those while being recognised as Scotland’s skipper for 6 consecutive seasons. By the time he had retired in 1957, he had played in the new era of football involving European competition and under the management of a former team-mate, Scot Symon, a player he had recognised from early days as a potential manager of the club. Young had played 678 matches for Rangers and been a devoted servant from his teenage days.
George Young won 6 League Championship medals, 4 Scottish Cups and 2 League Cups. His place in the Rangers’ Hall of Fame was assured.
IAN DURRANT
Like his good friend Ally McCoist, Ian Durrant is another character that the Rangers fans will never forget. Like previous Gers’ legend, Alex McDonald, Durrant was born and brought up in the Kinning Park area, near Ibrox and nobody was left in any doubt that he was a Gers fan, playing for the jersey. Having come through the schoolboy ranks at Ibrox, it was manager Jock Wallace who gave him his chance in 1985. An energetic, skilful, goal-scoring midfield man, Durrant was every manager’s dream. He was a lovely passer of the ball, covered every blade of grass, like a colt, with his boundless energy and enthusiasm and had the knack of running ahead of his forwards to get into goal-scoring positions. Invariably his technique would see him pass the ball into the net, even from distances of 18 yards and more. Like Alex McDonald in a previous era, Durrant had the innate ability to run on the blind side of defenders and catch them out when the inevitable pass came through to him. Like McCoist, he was a personality who played the game with a smile on his face and who kept morale high in the dressing room with his antics. He was the young player who had the world at his feet, the makings of a Rangers’ and Scotland legend – and then a dreadful injury changed everything.
In October, 1988, at Pittodrie, Aberdeen’s Neil Simpson stamped on Durrant’s knee and changed the course of his career. As he was carried off, nobody could have known that Durrant would miss virtually the next three seasons, after undergoing various operations in America to repair his shattered knee and enable him to play top flight football again. In fact, although he did make a comeback, score more goals and win more medals, even playing 13 times for Scotland, his early promise was never quite fulfilled although he always remained a hero in the eyes of the Rangers fans.
One of the many reasons for his popularity was his ability to score goals against Celtic. Indeed, he scored against Pat Bonner in his Old Firm debut in November 1985 and enjoyed scoring against Celtic on many other occasions. It was his movement and technique that enabled him to score in so many big games. After his terrible injury, he played a memorable part in Rangers’ tremendous Champions League campaign of 1992/93 playing in 9 of the 10 unbeaten matches and scoring brilliant goals against Lyngby, Brugge and in Marseille when his equaliser put Gers within another goal of the European Cup Final.
After that, niggling injuries and new personnel meant that his appearances became less frequent but occasionally still memorable. In fact, in the 9-in-a-row season of 1996/ 97, he had one last unforgettable part to play in Rangers’ history. That March, Rangers travelled to Parkhead to take on Celtic knowing that if they won the game, with so few league matches left afterwards, the 9th consecutive Championship would be theirs. The problem was that the club was suffering an unbelievable injury crisis. So much so that on-loan, Welsh keeper Andy Dibble had to make his debut and Mark Hateley was re-signed from Queen’s Park Rangers especially for this match. When a free kick was punted from the Gers’ half towards the Celtic box, it was Ian Durrant who got away from his marker, got to the ball before the Celtic keeper, Kerr, and flicking the ball over him, allowed Laudrup to bundle it in at the goal-line. How fitting that the local boy and the legendary foreigner should have combined to virtually tie up 9-in-a-row!
Like most of the great 90s side, he left Rangers with the arrival of Dick Advocaat and went to play for Kilmarnock for a while before becoming a coach there. All Gers fans wished him the best of luck. He would always be a hero as well as a fan.
Ian Durrant played 347 games for Rangers scoring 45 goals. He won 3 League Championships, 3 Scottish Cups and 4 League Cups.
DAVIE WILSON
Rangers has always been a club where tremendous wingers have thrived, from Alan Morton and Willie Waddell to Willie Henderson and beyond. Davie Wilson was Rangers’ left-winger after Johnny Hubbard and before Willie Johnston. He was better than both of those and arguably Gers’ best ever left-winger apart from Alan Morton and Brian Laudrup.
At 5 feet 6 he was “normal” size for 60s wingers and two inches taller than Willie Henderson playing on the opposite wing. Despite his fragile-looking frame, the fair-haired Wilson had an inner steel about him and could take the numerous knocks that any winger is liable to suffer, simply getting up after having been pole-axed and getting on with it. He was fortunate in that during his best years at Ibrox he always had another great winger on the right to help relieve the pressure on him to create chances. First it was the powerful Alex Scott to be followed by the tricky Willie Henderson. Still, Wilson did create many chances and, even more so than his fellow wingers, scored goals too.
While Henderson was causing havoc on the right, opening up defences, Millar and Brand would be keeping the defenders in the middle busy which would allow Wilson to ghost in from the left and pounce on any opportunities that came his way. His job was also made easier by having the rest of his left sided beat graced by Eric Caldow at full-back and the peerless Jim Baxter feeding passes through to him.
In style, Wilson was more like Alex Scott than Willie Henderson. He wasn’t a “tanner ba’” type but was fast, direct and mentally one step at least ahead of his opponents. He could be an inspiring sight, this blond-haired winger buzzing down the left, ready to fling over a deadly cross or complete a one-two that would open up the goal. He was also an incredibly versatile forward and in one spell over three seasons he actually played in every forward position. He even played at left-back successfully for club and country.
Still, for an out-and-out winger, his scoring feats would take some beating. He even managed to score 6 goals when substituting for Millar at centre-forward in a 7-1 win at Brockville once. As usual, courage, determination as well as skill were the factors that made him such a success. No wonder the opposition fans detested him as he was such a thorn in their team’s side. It was presumably from this quarter that his nickname of “Polaris” emanated because of his propensity ( as they saw it) to dive, dive, dive in the penalty area! However, Gers fans would claim that he was deservedly awarded so many penalties because foul play was the only way the opposition could stop him at times.
A Glaswegian, Wilson was a Rangers fan from his youth and joined the club at the age of 17. However, it was season 1959 - 60 before he became the first choice left-winger, playing in the European Cup semi-final that season against Eintracht Frankfurt. Having said this, he had actually made his European debut in 1957 when he played in the away leg of the European Cup tie against St Etienne and scored a goal to boot!
Once he had become established in the Rangers first team, Wilson soon became a Scotland fixture also. His worst and best moments playing for Scotland were probably both at Wembley. In 1961, he was in the side that went down 9-3 to England but two years later became a real hero in the Scots’ 2-1 win over the English. Wilson’s contribution was memorable for unusual reasons however. Captain, Eric Caldow had been stretchered off early on with a broken leg and Wilson was moved to left-back as the ten men Scots overcame all the odds to win. Wilson played the game of his life with his cool play and tenacious tackling, even annoying the English players and fans with time-wasting pass-backs etc. It was his finest hour in 22 appearances for his country.
In the hey-day period between 1960 –64, Wilson scored 98 goals in all competitions – a great tally for a winger. He came second only to Ralph Brand in terms of league goals scored. All this in addition to being a very dangerous winger who created so many goals for others. The event that arguably changed his career was an injury – a broken leg to be exact. This happened in a League Cup semi-final in October 1963 against Berwick Rangers and caused him to miss out on the 5-0 defeat of Morton in the Final. He made up for this at least by playing in the 1964 Scottish Cup Final against Dundee and picking up yet another winner’s medal.
However, by then, he was struggling to hold off the challenge from another brilliant but younger left-winger – Willie Johnston who would even appear for Scotland in 1965. Although he eventually did lose his place, Wilson still played alongside Willie Johnston in the triumphant 1966 Scottish Cup Final Replay against Celtic. Right to the end of his Ibrox career, Wilson was still scoring goals for the team. Even by 1967, he scored the only goal of the game in Rangers’ away leg of the Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final against Slavia Sofia, ensuring that Rangers would qualify for the Final.
At the start of the following season, though, he was transferred, like Jimmy Millar, to Dundee United, still only an unbelievable 28 years of age. Maybe he hadn’t been Alan Morton – but, until that time, he’d been the next best thing!
Davie Wilson played 373 matches for Rangers, scoring 155 goals. He won 2 League Championships, 5 Scottish Cups and 2 League Cups.
TOMMY CAIRNS
Signed in December, 1913, inside forward, Cairns would play right into the 20s for the club. In all, he would play 493 matches and score 160 goals, even captaining the side for a while. The single failure in a wonderful Ibrox career was that he never did get his hands on that treasured Scottish Cup winner’s medal, having retired the year before Rangers broke their Hampden “hoodoo” by beating Celtic in the Cup Final.
It’s easy to see why Cairns lasted so long at Rangers, playing under two managers. He came to exemplify the “Rangers’ Spirit” with his never-say-die attitude and tremendous work ethic. He was the type of player that every top class team must have if it is to succeed. He was brave, energetic and wily. His chunky frame and apparently dour play concealed an intelligent footballing brain that never tired of finding ways of unlocking the most formidable of defences. In his early years at the club, he partnered “Doc” Paterson on the left wing. By the way, the winger really was a doctor hence the nickname. However, it was in the 20s that a legendary partnership would be formed with a player who’d become one of the all-time greats – Alan Morton.
Cairns left Ibrox in 1927 and moved on to Bradford City where he spent 5 years. When he retired he was almost 42 years old, an incredible achievement in those days when players were normally thought to be “over-the-hill” at 30! Most fans would agree that Tommy Cairns was a prime example of a “true” Ranger who always put the club before personal glory. What a pity he didn’t win that Scottish Cup medal that he so richly deserved.
JIM BAXTER
If John Greig was rightly voted “The Greatest Ranger” then Jim Baxter, in the eyes of most fans, could rightly be considered The Best Ranger Ever. Sir Bobby Robson called Baxter “sheer genius”, icon Denis Law stated that “ a pass from Baxter was like a guided missile” and auld enemy, Liverpool’s Emlyn Hughes said that he was “ a fabulous, fabulous player”. Even his friend and one time Old Firm rival, Pat Crerand claimed that Baxter’s talent was “ a gift from God”. Baxter won the admiration of practically every player, manager and supporter who ever saw him in his heyday.
God’s gift, innate ability, natural talent – call it what you will, it was not the result of coaching or a strict training regime. After his career, Baxter confessed that his one regret was that he hadn’t taken care of his skills by training as hard and conscientiously as he might have done. He realised, only when it was too late, that your body is your prime asset and its fitness is the foundation for everything else.
As a Fife lad, Baxter had actually supported Hibs, probably because he wanted to be different from all his pals and because the Famous Five attack of the 50s Hibs was an exciting unit to watch. Still, even in his youth Baxter was more interested in playing football than watching it. Like most of his friends he just wanted to play every available minute of every day. Unlike most of them however, it was clear to see that Baxter had natural ability and used it to the full when in possession of the ball. By the end of season 1959 – 60, he had been so outstanding for his local team Raith Rovers, that a move to Ibrox was no surprise. That season he had actually played against Rangers, scoring a goal and looking brilliant in a Rovers’ 3-1 win at Ibrox no less. When he was transferred to Rangers for £17,500 at the end of the season it was a Scottish record. The princely sum of £1,000 was his signing-on fee and, at the age of 21, he was now earning £22 basic per week plus the win bonuses that would be frequent at Ibrox in the early 60s.
For a newcomer, Baxter stood out immediately. His self-confidence and ability meant that he became a star from his first games in a Rangers shirt. He was also lucky in that he was joining what would become, arguably, the greatest Rangers side of all time. His elegance, arrogance, vision and sublime passing skills with his left foot made him not only fit into the Gers side from the start but control it too. Baxter was the maestro, his left foot the baton, conducting an orchestra full of virtuoso performers who composed a symphony on so many memorable occasions in the early 60s. The silky passes of Slim Jim were tailor-made for wingers like Henderson and Wilson not to mention the route through the middle where Millar, Brand and, latterly, Jim Forrest, ran on to score from a defence-splitting passes.
One aspect of Baxter’s image that is undeserved is that he was “lazy”. Agreed, he didn’t cover every blade of grass in the Greig manner and he didn’t track back and tackle or chase anything in sight but he didn’t simply make a pass and then stand back and admire his handy-work. Mostly, he would move for a return pass or stride forward to get involved with the play again. In his Gers side, he wasn’t required to defend. Players such as McKinnon, Greig, Caldow and Shearer were there to do that job. Baxter’s job was to create and not only did he do that but he did it in an entertaining way also.
If his motivation was to entertain the fans on the field, he liked to be entertained off it also. Jim liked to party and only did such training as was necessary to get by. He only did what he had to do in order to be fit enough to produce the goods during a game. Not for him the idea of going back in the afternoons for extra practice, the way some of his team-mates did. He led the George Best lifestyle and was accorded the Best idolisation years before anybody had heard of the Irish genius. Not only did he “do the business” for Rangers, he also did it for Scotland – especially against England, a fact that endeared him to all Scottish fans, not just Rangers ones. He played for his country on 34 occasions and, in particular, in the Scots sides that beat the Auld Enemy in 1962, 63 and 64 but his crowning moment was in the 3-2 win at Wembley in 1967 when he teased and tormented the English World Cup holders, making Scots everywhere feel ten feet tall.
So great was Baxter that he was accorded to honour of playing in the Rest of the World side that faced England in its Centenary match at Wembley in 1963. The following season saw Baxter at his peak and with Rangers going well in the European Cup, the signs were promising. However, in Vienna, in the second leg of their European Cup second round match, disaster struck Rangers and Baxter. With the game all but over and Gers cruising into the quarter-final, following a magnificent Baxter performance, Slim Jim was tackled by a frustrated Austrian and his leg was broken. The loss of Baxter for the quarter-final against Inter Milan was too much for Rangers who went down 3-2 on aggregate. Every Gers fan wondered what might have been if only the great Baxter had been available to play in those two matches. By the end of March, 1965 Baxter was appearing in the team again but he would only play another 8 matches for Rangers before being transferred to Sunderland at the end of that season.
A brief return to Ibrox in 1969, when Rangers were in the shadow of Jock Stein’s Celtic and desperate for a saviour, fizzled out. He was no longer “Slim Jim” and new manager Willie Waddell, believing that he wasn’t the type of influence that he needed around, let him leave. He retired at the ridiculously young age of 30 and died in 2001 but his legend lives on – a true immortal.
Jim Baxter won 3 League Championships, 3 Scottish Cups and 4 League Cups.
TOMMY MCLEAN
Tommy McLean must have been one of the most skilful players ever to wear a Rangers shirt. He became a Gers winger but not one who followed in the Ibrox tradition of his predecessors. His style of play straddled two eras and two roles: one, the out-and-out winger, the other the modern, right-sided midfield player. Like the legends before him such as Waddell, Henderson and Scott, McLean was capable of dancing down the wing but he had such an intelligent, perceptive footballing brain that he could never really be classed as a “traditional” Scots winger – apart from the fact that he was only 5 feet 4 inches tall. He may not have had the power of Waddell, the pace of Scott or the trickery of Henderson but his ability, awareness and skill made him capable of being just as effective as a creator of goals as any of those greats in whose footsteps he followed.
Like most brilliant wingers, McLean had excellent ball control but, unusual for a winger, he could pass and cross the ball with either foot. His trademark, precise passes and crosses created numerous chances for his strikers. He was renowned for the accuracy of his passing and this had only come about by constant practice when he was a youngster. Goal-scorers such as Derek Parlane, Derek Johnstone, Gordon Smith and Alex McDonald were the beneficiaries of McLean’s resulting expertise.
Willie Waddell signed McLean from Kilmarnock in 1971 and he knew exactly what he was getting. After all, it was Waddell who had signed him previously when he’d been the Killie manager! Already a Scots Internationalist and League Championship winner while at Kilmarnock, in McLean, Rangers were getting the finished article. The fee of £65,000 was enough to convince Killie to let him go but Rangers got a player who was worth so much more to them.
Like quite a few players, it took McLean a few months to settle at Ibrox and adjust to his new surroundings and methods in training. Coming in at under 10 stones, the weight training didn’t do him any favours and he lost some of his sharpness. However, a chat with Jock Wallace saw his training regime altered to suit his physique and soon the real Tommy McLean was terrorising the opposition defenders once again. Another difficulty was the fact that he was seen by the fans to be taking over from their favourite, Willie Henderson so he had to win them over with his totally different style of play which involved passing the ball more often than dribbling with it.
Nevertheless, the fans eventually accepted McLean as a different kind of winger but no less valuable for all that. Taking part in the Cup Winner’s Cup Final in Barcelona and contributing brilliantly in the previous rounds of the tournament ensured that McLean would be appreciated by the supporters. They could see that in European football McLean’s quick breaks were priceless when dealing with ultra defensive sides such as Torino. Not only could McLean get to the bye line or near it, but his crosses were usually accurate and telling. Although he must have made hundreds of goals for his Rangers team-mates through his vision and accuracy, he also managed to score 57 which is a respectable total for a player who was essentially a creative midfielder of winger.
He retired in 1982 and became Assistant to John Greig before becoming a manager in his own right with such clubs as Morton, Motherwell, Hearts and Dundee United. Later he coached youngsters at Murray Park for a few years. He certainly had a lot of expertise to pass on to younger players.
Tommy McLean played 452 games for Rangers scoring 57 goals. He won 1 European Cup Winner’s Cup, 3 League Championships, 4 Scottish Cups, 3 League Cups.
HERBERT LOCK
Almost 80 years before Chris Woods arrived at Ibrox, another English international goalkeeper graced the stadium. His name was Herbert Lock and he became the first Englishman to be directly transferred to Rangers from an English club, Southampton in this case. Joining in 1909, he spent ten years at Ibrox and became a rock in the defence, especially in the early part of his career. In his first three seasons, he only missed 3 out of a possible 112 league games. After this, however, injury started to take its toll causing him to be absent for lengthy periods, his place taken by John Hempsey. Having said this, in the final season of this period, Lock did play in all but 7 of Gers’ league games as they swept to the title once again.
Lock’s injuries should have been no surprise because he was an incredibly brave keeper with lightning reflexes. In fact, some fans at the time considered him to be on the reckless side, in terms of his own personal safety. A daring personality, he was expert at foiling forwards who had managed to run through on goal, leaving themselves one on one with the keeper. Invariably, just as the forward was about to shoot, Lock would throw himself at his feet to block the attempt. In such a manner, the legendary John Thompson of Celtic would be killed years later. Lock was luckier in that his injuries were never fatal as was the case when this happened in a game against Thistle in 1912 although it caused him to miss the remainder of that season. He once went ten games without conceding a goal.
ANDY CUNNINGHAM
A couple of years after Tommy Cairns had signed for Rangers, he was joined by Andy Cunningham who, for a time in the 70s, would be revered as the “oldest living Ranger”. The Ayrshireman was already an established Scottish international when he was brought from Kilmarnock in the spring of 1915, Cunningham would eventually score 163 league goals, enough for him to be number 7 in the top ten of Rangers’ league scorers. He played a total of 447 games for Rangers and scored 201 goals in all matches. He also played 12 times for Scotland and when he left Ibrox he moved to Newcastle United.
Although tall and powerful, he was also an elegant, graceful forward who always seemed calm and collected in the hustle and bustle of a penalty area. Not only did he have a fierce shot but he was good with his head also. He could play as a centre-forward or, like Tommy Cairns, he could perform as an inside-forward who could score goals although he also had a more skilful approach than Cairns making him the ideal foil for him in the side. By 1920, Cunningham was an integral part of a magnificent forward line that was admired by fans all over the country: Archibald, Muirhead, Cunningham, Cairns, Paterson. He also survived to become part of an even more renowned forward line that helped break the infamous "Hampden Hoodoo" and win the Scottish Cup for Rangers in 1928: Archibald, Cunningham, Fleming, McPhail, Morton.
Few deserved his cup medal more for Cunningham had been in two losing finals prior to this and in the 1922 Scottish Cup Final against Morton had suffered a broken jaw and been taken off after only 25 minutes play. It was fitting that such a fine player should avoid the fate of Tommy Cairns and complete his set of domestic medals with Rangers.
ALLY MCCOIST
Put quite simply, Ally McCoist is the most prolific goal-scorer in the history of Rangers. 15 years as a Rangers star gave him the platform to achieve his huge number of goals but who knows what the tally might have been but for a broken leg and the fact that he had turned down Rangers twice before he arrived at Ibrox?
From East Kilbride, Ally had always been a Rangers fan but when manager, John Greig, tried to sign him as a schoolboy, he declined and, instead, found his way into the St Johnstone team in 1978 at the age of 16. A couple of years later and Ally was attracting the attention of bigger clubs by banging in over 20 goals for the Saints. Once again, Greig tried to sign him but, this time, it would cost money for the privilege so £300,000 was offered. Unfortunately for Gers, Sunderland offered £400,000 and Ally was off to Weirside at the age of 18.
Sadly for McCoist, but not for Rangers, his time at Sunderland, a struggling side, was not the happiest on the field. By the summer of 1983, he was ready to come home and John Greig finally signed him for £195,000 – probably the best bit of business Greig ever did for the club as its manager. Despite at last playing for his boyhood club, things didn’t go as planned in his first two years at Ibrox. Indeed, within less than two seasons, he’d be playing under a new manager, Jock Wallace, and trying to impress him. Despite a match-winning hat-trick in the 1984 League Cup Final against Celtic, for many months after that, McCoist had still to convince the Rangers fans that he was the real McCoy, if not McCoist. He had won over his manager but many fans remained sceptical.
Ironically, by the time the fans had become worshippers of the man, another manager in the form of Graeme Souness had to be convinced of the striker’s worth. By now, he had picked up the nickname Super Ally and had been capped for Scotland by the time of Souness’ appointment. He was scoring goals by the barrow-load and, as if that wasn’t enough to make him the fans’ hero, he had an engaging personality that perhaps was a factor in his ability to score goals. McCoist was a bubbly, chirpy, extrovert character who always played with a smile on his face. He was always ready to joke with his team-mates, opponents and fans alike. If he missed a chance he had the ability to grin and bear it, shrug it aside and be ready to pounce on the next one. He never seemed afraid of missing chances and certainly never hid in a match. An intelligent, educated, witty and articulate man, his press interviews and television appearances merely extended his popularity so that even opposition fans whose team suffered at his hands - or should that be feet? – found him a likeable personality.
Only 5 feet 10 in height and weighing 12 stones, Ally was not a physical forward although he could handle himself in the penalty box as all great strikers must be able to do. He was brave, alert, quick off the mark and brilliant at getting into the right place at the right time to finish off moves with a goal. When he scored with his head, it was not the type of soaring header that players like Mark Hateley would later become renowned for. McCoist’s headers normally came about because his anticipation and quick reflexes enabled him to get across his marker or in front of him allowing him the deadly header. Ironically, or perhaps not, as McCoist matured he seemed to score with more headers and better ones at that!
During his time at Ibrox, he apparently went through over 40 striking partners in the course of breaking his various scoring records. Most would agree though, that his pairing with Mark Hateley was the most successful one. Having said that, the season before Hateley’s arrival had seen McCoist create a great double act with Mo Johnston. It was in this season, 1989/90, that McCoist broke the Premier Division scoring record and, by scoring two goals in the final Old Firm match of that season, he overtook Derek Johnstone’s post-War Rangers’ record of 132 league goals. This productive partnership, however, was dissolved after a season when manager Souness decided that the best strike combination for Rangers was one of Hateley and Johnston.
Thus started McCoist’s most frustrating time at Ibrox when, with typical humour in the face of adversity, he nicknamed himself The Judge, an allusion to all the time he was spending on “the bench”! At least he had the consolation during this time of knowing that the Gers fans were on his side – and letting Graeme Souness know it! When he did come off the bench, McCoist invariably scored a goal and always showed the necessary industry and spirit that would make it harder for his manager to ignore his claims for a starting place. Two fantastic, match-winning goals against Aberdeen at Ibrox were typical of McCoist’s substitute performances, eliciting no praise from Souness.
When Walter Smith became Rangers’ manager, McCoist’s fortunes changed once again. Smith decided that a McCoist-Hateley pairing was his preference and Ally never looked back. He was just about to enjoy the greatest season of his life at that point. In season 1991/92, he scored 41 goals which brought him to a career total of 200 for the Scottish League. His spectacular season resulted in him being awarded both the Scottish sportswriters’ and players’ Player of the Year awards as well as winning the European Golden Boot for being top league scorer throughout Europe. Had he peaked? Not a bit of it! The following season was Rangers’ Treble one and Ally’s goals made a huge contribution to that achievement.
Once again, he won the Golden Boot award with 34 goals in 34 league games and his total in all competitions was 49. This record was even more remarkable considering the fact that he broke his leg that Spring while playing for Scotland in a World Cup match in Portugal. Who knows how many goals could have been added to his tally if he’d played until the end of the season? That injury actually cost him his place in the Scottish Cup-winning side of 1993, clinching The Treble at Parkhead. In fact, this tournament was never a lucky one for Ally, with only one winner’s medal to his name. The following season, with Gers poised to complete back-to-back Trebles, McCoist was injured in the warm-up before the Final against Dundee United that Rangers lost by 1-0. The presence of Super Ally might just have got Rangers the goal they so desperately needed in that match. In the only other two Rangers’ Finals after that, McCoist, due to injury, missed out on the 1995 /96, 5-1 win against Hearts but played in the 97 /98 Final that was won 2-1 by Hearts, his final match for the club.
Even in that last game, the McCoist “Roy of the Rovers” story might have been repeated for a thrilling finale. With Hearts leading 2-0, McCoist scored, giving Rangers a lifeline with around 10 minutes to get the equaliser. The tide had turned and it looked like coming. Then, in the final minute, McCoist racing through the middle was fouled right on the 18 yard line. Everybody, including McCoist thought that ref, Willie Young had given the deserved penalty kick and Rangers the chance to put the game into extra time. Imagine the horror when the referee, who’d been 20 yards behind the play, awarded a free kick to Gers all of one inch outside the box! Thus, went Super Ally’s last chance to save Rangers with a goal near the end of a game the way he had done in so many matches in the previous 15 years.
Having recovered from that 1993 leg break, he suffered numerous niggling injuries that reduced his appearances in the final seasons of his career at Ibrox. It’s fair to say that his total of goals would have been even greater had he played more often in the side that had the genius that was Brian Laudrup creating goals throughout that time. At least he had enjoyed the help of Mark Hateley while banging in all those goals. This partnership, at its peak, was the most prolific in Gers’ history. In a 2 season spell, especially, they scored over 140 goals between them. Apart from complementing each other in size, ability and style, it was almost as if they’d developed a telepathic understanding between them. They might have been the only Rangers’ strike combination that could arguably have been put in the same class as the Millar and Brand one of the early 60s.
By season 1995 / 96, McCoist had created a new Rangers’ scoring record when he surpassed the legendary Bob McPhail’s league total of 233 and, although injury restricted his appearances in his veteran seasons, he could still do the business as witnessed when he scored the opening goal against Celtic at Parkhead in a 2-1 Scottish Cup semi-final victory in 1998. For the first half of that season, injury and the incredible scoring exploits of Italian hit-man, Marco Negri had kept McCoist out of the side but when Super Ally had replaced the injured Negri in the new year, he scored 16 goals in 26 games. Indeed, his final goal against Celtic saw him equal Jimmy McGrory’s Old Firm match total, only surpassed by the feat of R.C. Hamilton’s haul 100 years previously!
By the end of his glittering Rangers career, he had become the club’s most prolific striker and one of the greatest characters to have entertained the fans at Ibrox. His smile and celebrations after scoring a goal will never be forgotten. He remains the player with the most Scotland caps ( 61) while playing for Rangers.
McCoist's latest reincarnation has been to become the Assistant Manager of the club to Walter Smith. As a fans' banner declared on the first appearance of the new management team at Ibrox, " When duty called, you came!"
Ally McCoist played 581 games for Rangers scoring 355 goals. He won 9 League Championships, 1 Scottish Cup and 9 League Cups.
ALEC SMITH
Left winger, Alec Smith was an Ayrshire man but this didn’t stop him from turning down the chance to join Kilmarnock who wanted him before Sunderland came in with an offer. Apparently, the English club wouldn’t agree to pay him the £3 a week that he wanted so instead of joining either club, he played a trial with Rangers in a friendly against the, then, English giants Notts County, holders of the F.A.Cup, and starred in a 3-1 win at Ibrox. A mere 18 year old, he was signed and went on to play for 21 seasons for the club and end with a tally of 20 Scotland caps - no mean feat in those days when basically only the Home countries played each other once a year. Smith was perhaps the first of the great Rangers left wingers and deserves to be considered as an equal of later ones such as Alan Morton, Davie Wilson, Willie Johnston, Davie Cooper and Brian Laudrup. He was an ever-present in the "Perfect Gers" team that won all of its league matches in the 1898 / 99 season.
Like all the best wingers, the unselfish Smith had an abundance of skill with brilliant ball control, great pace and the ability to deliver the type of crosses that centre-forwards dream of. He played 20 times for Scotland and won every trophy possible while at Ibrox. A few years after he retired, although his successor on the left wing, Alan Morton, was arguably an even better winger, Rangers fans never forgot the telling contribution made by Alec Smith throughout his Rangers career.
TOM FORSYTH
Fans of all clubs have always had a special place in their hearts for the sort of player who used to be known as the “iron man” of the team. This usually meant that he was the type of player who’d be hard, ferocious, the kind who’d tackle a rhino – and win, thanks to his strength, determination, fearlessness. He was also usually the guy who wore his heart on his sleeve and genuinely seemed to play for the jersey, rather than merely kiss it. Tom Forsyth was such a player.
The Rangers fans who adored his style christened him “Jaws” – a nickname he detested – in homage to the film that had been the blockbuster of the 70s and the fact that his tackles could bite your legs. However, this nickname didn’t reflect at all the ability of the man. He was always a fair, honest player with more skill than he was given credit for, especially in his passing. After all, he’d started out a midfield player at Motherwell before being converted to a central defender at Ibrox by Jock Wallace.
A Glaswegian, Forsyth was delighted to sign for Rangers in October 1972 for a fee of £40,000. He already had one Scotland cap and his move to Rangers would help him garner many more. Jock Wallace obviously believed that Forsyth was the player who could best complement Colin Jackson in central defence and how it worked! His strength in the tackle, mobility and reading of the game made him the ideal foil for Jackson. However, in his first season, it was ironic that his most memorable moment came from scoring a goal.
This happened in the Centenary Scottish Cup Final of 1973 when he scored the winning goal from all of 6 inches to give Gers a 3-2 victory over Celtic. He’d certainly been a talisman for the club as he hadn’t played in a losing Gers side since his arrival so he wasn’t going to let an Old Firm Cup Final spoil his record. Every Gers fan who saw will remember his goal forever as the ball had bounced off one post then the other before Forsyth scraped it over the line with his studs before running away deliriously in celebration.
That was a dream start to Forsyth’s Rangers career but in the coming years he’d also be part of the team that brought the league title back to Ibrox in 1975, after an 11 year gap, before going on to win 2 Trebles in 3 seasons in 1975/76 and 77/78. Forsyth’s contribution in the winning of those Trebles can’t be underestimated. His defensive expertise allied to a determination, strength and will to win combined to make him a formidable barrier to opposing forwards. It is significant that the barren season in between those Trebles saw Forsyth miss almost a third of the league games played due to various injuries.
If Forsyth is remembered by Gers fans for his 73 Cup Final goal, then he is best remembered by Scotland fans for one particular tackle. This happened at Hampden in 1976 when Scotland played England. With Scotland winning 2-1 and only a minute to go, ace English striker Mick Channon was put through by a great pass threaded through the defence. Channon was bearing down on goal, just inside the penalty area, with only the keeper to beat, when Forsyth caught up with him. Thankfully, Forsyth was the master of the legal sliding tackle and his, from behind, resulted in the ball being swept away to safety just as Channon was about to pull the trigger. Perfect timing and technique had saved the day. An error on Forsyth’s part would have resulted in either a goal or a penalty.
If that had been his finest moment in a Scotland game, then the pinnacle of his international career must have been when he captained his country against Switzerland, also in 1976. He would eventually amass 22 caps, including being unfortunate enough to be part of the squad that failed so miserably in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. Unlike some of the others, however, nobody could ever have accused Tom Forsyth of not giving his all for the cause.
By the early 80s Forsyth’s best days were behind him as he picked up niggling injuries more and more frequently. By March 1982, he had to retire due to injury and eventually joined former team-mate, Tommy McLean as his Assistant Manager at Morton before the pair managed Motherwell and then Hearts. He is rightly installed in the Rangers’ Hall of Fame.
Tom Forsyth played 326 games and scored 6 goals. He won 3 League Championships, 4 Scottish Cups and 2 League Cups.
R.C.HAMILTON
Perhaps the first great Rangers star to wear the number nine shirt, Robert Cumming Hamilton, or “RC” as he became affectionately known, was a scoring phenomenon. He is still eighth in the all-time scoring chart of Rangers league goalscorers with 155 strikes. A Highlander from Elgin, he moved to Glasgow where he graduated from Glasgow University, later becoming a schoolteacher. Initially, he played for Queen’s Park but after a year at Hampden he joined Rangers and never looked back. Well, actually he did because he had two spells with Rangers and played at various times for Fulham, Hearts, Morton and Dundee.
In only his second season with the club, he had the honour of captaining that great Rangers side of 1898 – 99 that won the title by winning every match and he played in all 18 of them. His 21 goals were instrumental in achieving that feat. Even in the previous season, his goals tally had been 18 in 15 appearances. It was no wonder that he became the captain so quickly. His intelligence, all round ability and lethal right foot shooting from even great distances made him a invaluable member of the side. In one Scotland match at Ibrox against Ireland, he scored 4 goals in an astonishing 11-0 victory.
His first three seasons with the club at the end of the decade showed his natural goal-scoring ability. Here is his goals tally for that period:
1897 – 98: League goals = 18 + 8 Scottish Cup + 5 other cups. Total = 31
1898 – 99 League goals = 21 + 4 Scottish Cup + 3 other cups. Total = 28
1899 – 00 League goals = 17 + 6 Scottish Cup + 6 other cups. Total = 29
JOCK DRUMMOND
Take all of Nicol Smith’s admirable playing qualities and characteristics as a man – and then double them. That’s maybe the best way to think of left-back, Jock Drummond. Even his name conjures up an image of a hard-tackling, tough, fierce competitor who was inspirational to his team-mates and utterly reliable. Ironically, considering his reputation and playing style, he was the last outfield player to wear a cap while playing – because it kept his head cool. Maybe Fernando Ricksen could try that! I suppose in more modern times, only Nuno Capucho could have got away with wearing a cap. One look at Drummond’s craggy, moustachioed face would probably be enough to terrify most modern wingers.
Drummond, born in Clackmannanshire, joined Rangers from Falkirk and after his career was over actually became a Falkirk director. He gained 14 caps for Scotland and had the honour of captaining his country as well as his club. After ten years of service, the club granted him a benefit match – against Celtic – and he collected just over £47 in appreciation of his sterling service to the club.
ERIC CALDOW
Caldow was one of the great Rangers captains who also skippered the Scotland side, playing 40 times for his country. The fascinating aspect of his career is that it spanned two completely different footballing eras. When he started at Ibrox, he was joining such Rangers’ greats as Waddell, Woodburn and Young but, by the end of his career, he was the father figure to the likes of Baxter, Henderson and Willie Johnston. Football styles had also changed from the 50s to the 60s and Caldow seemed at ease in both eras. He would eventually play 407 games for the club and score 25 goals.
As a left-back, Eric Caldow was an intelligent, “cultured” defender as opposed to a hard man type. His tremendous speed, awareness and positioning made it very difficult for even the best wingers to get past him as Real Madrid’s legendary Ghento admitted after having played against him. Although only 5 feet 8 in. and 11 stone, Caldow was a resilient player whose balance and compact frame increased his effectiveness. His intuition and timing in the tackle were more integral to his style than tough tackling. He was brilliant at manoeuvring opponents away from the danger areas without even resorting to a tackle unless it was necessary.
Another bonus was his temperament. A cool, calm, dignified player he was ideal captain material. He never lost his temper, no matter the provocation and never seemed to have a hair out of place at the end of a game. He truly led his side by example. In his long career, he was never booked – a remarkable feat for a defender!
Between 1957 – 63, he only missed two of Scotland’s games while amassing his 40 caps. His tragedy was that he looked certain to overtake George Young’s number of record caps for a Rangers player when his career was virtually brought to a halt. In the 1963 Wembley match that Scotland ultimately won, Caldow suffered a leg break when he was tackled by England’s bruiser of a centre-forward, Bobby Smith. In fact, his leg had been broken in three places! In those days, a broken leg was just about the most serious injury that a footballer could suffer and thus it proved with Caldow. After a long spell out, he never really regained his form or his position in the Rangers’ defence and was transferred in 1966. He is now, deservedly, in the Rangers’ Hall of Fame.
Eric Caldow won: 5 League Championships, 2 Scottish Cups and 3 League Cups.
NEILLY GIBSON
Another Rangers’ hero who deserves a greater profile in the club’s history is Neilly Gibson who, in effect, was the Jim Baxter of his day but for his on-field persona only. The fans, football scribes and, especially the players, both team-mates and opponents thought Gibson the best player in Britain at that time. English football writer, Ivan Sharpe who later dubbed Alan Morton “The Wee Blue Devil”, said that Gibson was “the greatest half-back of Victorian times”. Various English and Scottish international players of the era stated that Gibson was the greatest player they’d ever seen, played against or with.
A native of Larkhall, Gibson joined Rangers, at the age of 21, in November 1894, was in the first eleven after a few months and stayed there for ten years. He had played for his local club before becoming a member of the Royal Albert side and so well did he do for them that soon a host of clubs were trying to sign the emerging talent. He seemed to be the complete player, not only a great team player but one who was also a crowd-pleaser.
Despite a slight frame, he could tackle and hold his own against much bigger and stronger opponents. Having started his career as a winger, he soon found that the half-back position was more suited to his abilities and from then on he thrived. He was one of the first “artistic” players that the Scots were to produce in the early days of the game. A great first touch and masterful ball control enabled him to do almost anything on the pitch. His skill with the ball set him above most of his contemporaries as he could bring it under control instantly and juggle with it until the watchers tired before he did! Apart from this, his passing was lethal and could open up any defence while thrilling the crowd with his skill in doing so. Ball control, vision, passing ability and a touch of arrogance made him the archetypal Scottish footballing hero.
A few months after his Rangers’ debut, he was capped for Scotland against Ireland, the first of 16 appearances for his country, before some weeks later appearing against England at Goodison Park. Despite a 3-0 English victory, it was Gibson that most of the 55,000 English crowd left the ground talking about. His skill had simply mesmerised them, allowing them to see how the beautiful game could be played. His finest moment for Scotland would come in 1900 when he was part of the side that thrashed England 4-1 at Celtic Park.
In his ten years with Rangers, he won 4 consecutive League championships, barely missing a game over that time, as well as 2 Scottish Cups. He was a member of the immortal side that had the “perfect” league season, winning every match in 1898 – 99 and he played in all 18 games.
PAUL GASCOIGNE
When Rangers signed “Gazza” in the summer of 1995 from Lazio for a fee of £4.3 million, it was probably the biggest coup ever seen in Scottish football. Here was the English hero of Italia 90 and the midfielder acknowledged by English fans as the most talented player of his generation coming to Scotland – and he wasn’t even at the veteran stage yet! Rangers knew they were getting a world class performer to join their other one, Laudrup, but manager Smith also knew that the two players were chalk and cheese when it came to their personality. Gascoigne brought genius and madness with him as well as a lot of baggage for the media to latch on to whereas Laudrup was the model professional with the stable and happy homelife.
In Italy, injury and the alien football culture had caused Gascoigne’s career to stall somewhat so he was ready for returning home. Few could have suspected that “home” would turn out to be Govan! From his arrival at the stadium, Gazza captured the hearts of the Gers fans and fired their imagination. Before a ball had been kicked, young fans were copying his hairstyle and getting their hair dyed blond like his, much to the despair of their mothers, no doubt. His cheeky, happy-go-lucky persona made him an attractive new hero for the fans to worship but it was on the field that his talent generated most admiration.
A modern midfield player, he combined strength with skill. His surging runs would create many a goal, sometimes scored by himself. He showed great vision and had a variety of passing skills that meant he could open up defences at will. Excellent ball control and an instant first touch gave him the time and space to set off on a penetrating run that sometimes became almost a mazy dribble through the opposition. He used his upper body strength to ward off any challenges and sometimes, too, his elbows – a tactic that caused some controversy at times. A genuine goal-scoring midfield, creative player who got himself ahead of forwards into scoring positions, Gascoigne was very difficult to mark. No wonder he would eventually amass 57 caps for England.
His greatest weakness was his discipline. A tendency to retaliate against opponents who spent the whole match trying to stop him illegally and a penchant for dissent made referees show him the yellow card too easily. Famously, one even booked him once when he had dropped a yellow card that was later picked up by Gazza. As the player returned it to the ref, jokingly pretending to book him, the ref called him back and showed him the yellow card for real! To his credit, Gascoigne merely smiled at the official as he walked away with yet another unjust booking.
Gascoigne’s first season at Ibrox was simply sensational. He thrilled and entertained the fans, caused all sorts of controversy, basically won the match for Rangers that sealed the title and won the sportswriters’ Player of the Year award. In fact, the entertainment and controversy started with a pre-season friendly against Steaua Bucharest when, after it had been suggested by Ian Ferguson beforehand as a celebration, he scored a goal and pretended to play the flute in front of the Gers fans at Ibrox. Cue condemnation from the media in the Sunday papers next day. The Englishman had a lot to learn about football politics in Scotland. Although he eventually did get clued up, it didn’t ever curb his mischievous and controversial behaviour both on and off the field.
Throughout his first season, Gascoigne’s brand of football magic and fun lit up Ibrox and the other stadia of Scotland. He controlled matches, set up goals and scored some memorable ones himself in that time. Space doesn’t permit the detail needed to thoroughly capture his achievements during that season. However, even some snapshots of his deeds might just bring back wonderful memories of the fans who witnessed his exploits.
In his first Old Firm league game at Parkhead, he scored a brilliant second goal in Gers’ 2-0 win. With the ball in the Rangers’ box, it was cleared upfield to Salenko on the halfway line. He passed it out to the right for McCoist to run on to and his pass into the centre was reached by Gascoigne who had started his run from his own penalty area when the ball had originally been cleared. How he got from one end to the other in a few seconds defied belief. Not only that but he controlled the ball and coolly dispatched it to the side of keeper, Marshall.
In the crunch match at Ibrox against Aberdeen, when a Gers’ win would seal the title, Rangers were a goal down before Gazza took on the Dons’ defence single-handedly to equalise before half-time. A penalty and another stunning goal gave Rangers the necessary victory and 8-in-a-row. His second goal will never be forgotten by fans who were there that day. Collecting the ball deep in his own half, he went on one of those characteristic, lung-bursting runs of his. Straight through the centre of the Dons defence he ran, shaking off one opponent after another before passing a shot into the corner of the net.
As often as not, his great technique saw Gascoigne passing the ball into the goal rather than blasting it. This was seen at its best in the following season’s League Cup Final at Parkhead against Hearts who had come from two goals behind to equalise in the second half. With Rangers looking for inspiration, it was Gazza at his best who provided it. His two goals exemplified his movement, vision and skill perfectly as he passed the ball into the net once he had made the space to try it.
In a league match at Ibrox against Celtic, with a couple of minutes left and Gers leading 1-0, a Celtic header smacked off the bar. The ball was swept up the field quickly in a series of quick passes and when Albertz curled a lovely cross into the box from the left, there was Gazza diving in, to head it into the net and seal a Rangers’ win. As usual, he had run the length of the pitch to finish off the move.
In a league game that season at Ibrox against Hibs, Rangers thrashed the visitors 7-1 and although Durie scored 4 of the goals, it was Gazza’s that fans remembered. Picking the ball up just inside the Hibs half, he went on a mazy dribble, waltzing past 5 Hibs players before tucking the ball away confidently. Such solo efforts weren’t unusual. In fact they were his trademark. With a genius like Gascoigne in the team, anything was possible.
Unfortunately, his playing rhythm and form was interrupted all too frequently in the latter part of his second season by injury and suspension. Having said that, he was part of the side that won 9-in-a-row that memorable evening at Tannadice. Although he still scored unforgettable goals and gave performances that were out-of-this-world, they became less frequent. With a loss of form and personal problems piling up, he was allowed to leave the club for £3.5 million to Middlesbrough before the end of the season that saw the club fail in its quest for ten-in-a-row. Many Gers fans believed that letting him leave when he did, reduced the chances of a Gers’ title win that season.
Gazza was gone but the memory lingered. He was, and still is, a Rangers’ hero, rightfully taking his place in the Greatest Ever Rangers team and in the Hall of Fame.
Paul Gascoigne played 103 games scoring 39 goals. He won 2 League Championships, 1 Scottish Cup and 1 League Cup.
WILLIAM WILTON ( Manager: 1899 – 1920)
A youthful William Wilton, a native Glaswegian, was devoted to football and was attracted by the enthusiasm and ambition of Rangers so, in 1883, he paid the required dues to become a member of Rangers Football Club. He was a keen and robust player but didn’t have enough skill to make the Rangers first eleven so had to be content with turning out for the reserves, The Swifts. It soon because obvious to his colleagues that his talent was more for the organisational and administrative side of the game and he soon became The Swifts’ match secretary.
In the initial years of the club, it was run by various committees and the post of manager didn’t exist. Indeed, a “selecting committee” picked the team for each match and their choice was discussed and ratified (or not) by the “general committee”. Although match secretary for The Swifts, Wilton wasn’t a member of the “selecting committee” but he did contribute to most other aspects of the running of the club and became adept at presenting proposals for progress as well as advocating his case. Such was the status he achieved that, by May 1889, by a large majority of members, he was elected match secretary at the ridiculously young age of 23. On the other hand, Rangers, at that time, was a club whose players and officials were young so Wilton’s age wasn’t a consideration – just his undoubted ability as an administrator.
Apart from scheduling Rangers’ matches, Wilton’s duties extended to most areas of management including the acquisition of new players to develop the side. It was also he who instigated the Rangers Sports and personally supervised the design and construction of the Ibrox running track around the field of play so that many records would later be created thanks to its excellence. The Rangers Sports became one of the most important events in the British athletic calendar until the early 60s.
One of the major tasks Wilton set himself was the extension and improvement of First Ibrox. His plan to build another grandstand to seat 3,000 fans was passed by the club’s members who had come to appreciate his abilities and trust his judgement completely. By the end of the 1880s, most members believed the club to be in a healthy state both on and off the field. With his ever-growing reputation, it became inevitable that, by the end of the next decade, when Rangers became a Limited Liability Company, the man it would elect as its first manager and secretary would be William Wilton. After all, he had been Rangers manager in all but name prior to this.
Under the guidance of Wilton, Rangers won: 9 League Championships, 5 Scottish Cups, 13 Glasgow Cups and 11 Glasgow Charity Cups
RALPH BRAND
An Edinburgh schoolboy, Brand was spotted by Bill Struth when playing for the Scottish Schoolboys side against England at Wembley in 1952. By 1954, he’d been signed by Rangers, a few months before Jimmy Millar joined the club. However, it wasn’t until season 1960-61 that this famous striking partnership started to play together regularly. Many fans still claim that this pairing was Gers’ greatest ever partnership up front. Perhaps this came about because the two couldn’t have been more different mentally, physically or in style. Both individually were good at their jobs but they also complemented each other perfectly and the M and B pairing became the scourge of defences in the early 60s.
Whereas Millar was stocky and sturdy, Brand was lean, slight and very, very quick. His electric pace could keep him out of harm’s way. He was sharp, fast and brave with a striker’s instincts. An added ingredient in Brand was his mentality. He was a deep thinker about the game and years ahead of his time in terms if diet and taking care of his fitness. He knew that the repetitive lapping of a track in training wasn’t the best way to prepare for games and he voluntarily went back at the end of training to practice further and eventually roped Jimmy Millar in with him to rehearse moves and strategies. Their renowned understanding stemmed from all this practice. Even on their shared train journey from Edinburgh every morning to Ibrox, it was an opportunity for the two to discuss the game and their roles in it.
Like all great strikers, Brand had a great self-confidence and faith in his own ability as well as the necessary mental toughness to succeed. It was these qualities that could see him through the occasional goal drought that all strikers occasionally suffer from. Also, bravery is another indispensable quality that all great strikers must have. His courage can be seen in the various injuries that he suffered through the years: broken wrists, cracked ribs, concussion etc. A meagre 8 caps for Scotland can be explained by such injuries but more so to the presence of the legendary Denis Law who was in possession of the number ten shirt at that time.
Considering his prolific scoring exploits, it’s strange that Brand was never a top favourite with the Rangers fans – even when you consider his tally of goals against Celtic reached double figures. Probably the fans underestimated his prowess, thinking of him as merely a “poacher”. Yet, this disparaging term is itself misleading. It implies that all a goal-scorer has to do is stand around and wait for an easy chance to be tapped into the net! It ignores the ability to drift into the right place at the right time, the quick spurt of pace to get away from your marker, the alertness, anticipation and bravery necessary for all brilliant strikers.
A fit Ralph Brand was indeed a goal-scoring machine. In the period from 1960 – 64, he scored a total of 147 goals in all competitions. Proof of his resilience can be seen in the fact that during this time, out of a possible 136 league appearances, Brand managed to take part in 130. In his final season, 1964 – 65, he only managed 17 league appearances but even then played against World Champions, Inter Milan in the European Cup quarter-final in the San Siro. His last winner’s medal came in that season when he helped the side defeat Celtic in the League Cup Final. At the start of the following season, he was transferred to Manchester City for £30,000 at the ridiculously young age of 28. It could justifiably be claimed that if Rangers hadn’t let him go then, he might have scored the goals that, a couple of years later, would have changed the results of the infamous Berwick Cup loss and the defeat by Bayern in the 67 Cup Winners’ Cup Final.
Ralph Brand played 317 games for the club, scoring 206 goals and winning 4 League Championships, 3 Scottish Cups and 4 League Cups.
TOM VALLANCE
In this era, before leagues were organised, and football very much in its infancy, legendary players were few and far between. Apart from the founders such as Moses McNeil, perhaps the first great Rangers playing legend was Tom Vallance. Aged 17, young Tom had joined The Rangers in 1873, almost a year after its inception and initial matches. Like the club’s founders, he was from Dunbartonshire and captained the team for Rangers’ first 9 seasons.
In a time when people were generally smaller than nowadays, Vallance was considered very tall at 6 feet 2. He may have had a slim build but he was powerful and, equally important in those early years when football was often a brutal affair, he had a mental toughness about him. He played as a full back, wearing the number two jersey for most of his career, taking over the number three at the end of it. He didn’t miss a match in his first two seasons and only three games in his third. A model of consistency with a great spirit, he missed very few matches in total until season 1879 / 80 when he missed half the games played.
Vallance was a talented, all-round athlete, setting a long jump record as well as being a rower of some repute. He also, unusually, showed an artistic side to a sportsman’s nature and had paintings exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy. Nowadays, fans would be amazed to hear of modern players even visiting an art gallery! Talk about a jack of all trades! At some matches, he could even be seen helping to take the money at the gate ( there were no turnstiles then and no big egos either!)
Unfortunately, the two Scottish Cup Finals he played in were losing affairs but he did become the only Rangers’ captain in its first 18 years of existence to lift a trophy when Rangers won the Glasgow Merchants’ Charity Cup in 1879. The highlights of his career may have been his 7 appearances for the Scotland team.
Suffering from a poor season and a Scottish Cup exit just before his final match against St Mirren, away, in 1882, it was a shame that Rangers had to play with only 8 players in a 5-2 defeat. It perhaps showed how low morale had sunk throughout the club. A few days later, Vallance left to take up a position in Calcutta. He was given a fitting send-off by the club at a Glasgow hotel and received 50 sovereigns as a gift. When he boarded the train at Central Station on the first leg of his journey to London, many fans of the club were there to wave farewell.
However, a year later, he was back home suffering from poor health. He joined the club again but his appearances were necessarily limited to a few sporadic ones in charity games only. In September of 1883, he was elected Rangers President but after only a month felt that he had to resign due to a strange occurrence. In that Victorian era, two umpires, one nominated by each team playing, helped the referee to officiate. In the event of a disputed decision, it was the referee who was the ultimate arbiter. Before a game against Dumbarton, a delegation of Rangers players opposed Vallance’s nomination as umpire because they thought that “Honest Tom” would be too honest, too fair and unbiased, to the detriment of Rangers’ chances of winning the match. As a man of honour Vallance resigned.
By November he was President again, those responsible for his insult having apologised to him. He served the club well until May 1889 when he stepped down as President, this time, in more normal circumstances. He should be remembered in any gallery of Rangers’ Greats.
SAMMY COX
A couple of years ago, the legend that is Sammy Cox was inducted into the elite Rangers’ Hall of Fame. You could see how touched he was as he was presented with his honour in front of an audience of adoring former players and fans alike. Despite having emigrated to Canada almost 50 years previously he still had his Scots accent and his first words were “ Once a blue-nose, always a blue-nose!” The fact that he’d come all the way across the Atlantic for that ceremony proved that! His attitude sums up the idea that Rangers is a family and one that never forgets its heroes.
Cox was an Ayrshire man, born in Darvel, and, during the Second World War, as a teenager, played as an amateur for Queen’s Park, Third Lanark and Dundee. In 1946 he was transferred to Rangers – just in time to become a mainstay of what became one of the greatest Rangers sides of all time and the one famous for the “Iron Curtain” defence. Cox could play at either left-back or left-half and was the equal of those other legends ( all of whom are in the Gers’ Hall of Fame) that made up that unforgettable and largely impregnable defence: Brown; Young, Shaw; McColl, Woodburn, Cox.
Although he was a great tackler, Cox may not have been as powerful as team-mates like Young, Shaw or Woodburn but he was an intelligent, skilful player whose technique, timing and sense of anticipation and positioning made him a formidable opponent who complemented the others in that “Iron Curtain”. It must also be said that the Gers team of that era wasn’t simply a tremendous defence but also had gifted attacking players. For instance, the “forward line” that won the Scottish Cup in 1948, defeating Morton after a replay, consisted of: Rutherford, Thornton, Williamson, Duncanson and Gillick. Not a bad other half of the team! Incidentally, in those halcyon, post-war days, a combined crowd of 265,199 watched the two games at Hampden.
Cox’s football brain, tactical sense and ability to tackle in a hard but fair manner ensured that few wingers ever got the better of him - and this was in an era of brilliant wingers. From 1949 to 1954 he was a regular in the international team eventually playing 24 times for Scotland at a time when there were fewer caps available to players and he captained the side against England at Hampden in 1954. Even the best English wingers of all time, Stanley Matthews and Tom Finney couldn’t overcome the redoubtable Cox. This is perhaps the best testimony to the man’s ability.
At his peak, Cox rarely missed a match and was one of the few players in history to have won three consecutive Scottish Cup winners’ medals from 1948-50. He was also an integral part of the first Scottish team to win The Treble when Gers did the clean sweep of domestic competitions for the first time in season 1948-49. After ten years at Ibrox, he went to East Fife for a couple of seasons before emigrating to Canada in 1959 - but it didn’t stop him being a blue-nose!
WILLIE HENDERSON
One of Rangers’ most significant aspects of its style of play from its inception has been its utilisation of brilliant wingers, especially very youthful ones. Willie Henderson was such a player. At the age of 18, he was so outstanding that he found himself vying with Scottish Internationalist, Alex Scott, for Rangers’ right wing berth both at Ibrox and for his country. Whereas some Gers’ wingers, like Scott, had relied on pace and power to get past opponents, Wee Willie, as he was affectionately termed, used pace coupled with trickery. His flexibility, his talent for twisting and turning, tying his opponents seemingly in knots was the precursor for Celtic’s “Jinky” Johnstone a few years later. Henderson was the traditional Scots “tanner ba’ player” supreme, bamboozling defenders with his excellent ball control, complemented by his twisting and weaving runs that mesmerised opponents, team-mates and fans alike.
Even in the early 60s, he seemed a throwback from the good old days when such players had been the norm rather than the exception. So good was his tight control that at times it must have seemed as if he had the ball tied to his bootlaces. Perhaps this was just as well for he was so short-sighted that he had to wear contact lenses to be able to see anything at all!
As with all great wingers, Wee Willie was a brave player, always ready to take stick from frustrated defenders and come back for more. Sometimes, he seemed like the ball itself in his ability to be bounced about before getting up after persistent fouls and take on the same defenders. Those opponents who didn’t know him probably thought that at only 5 feet 4 inches tall, he’d be “easy meat”. How wrong they were! In order to even foul him, they first had to catch him! His pace, trickery, bravery and supreme confidence made most defenders’ task a nightmare. Also, although small in stature, he was quite a muscular player and could use this to good effect too.
He didn’t score as many goals as other Gers’ wingers such as Scott and Wilson but he made so many more. He was a far more profitable player in terms of creating chances for his colleagues. His forte was in racing to the bye line, having left umpteen opponents in his wake, before cutting the ball back low, across the face of the goal, for his strikers to run on to and crash the ball into the net. With brilliant forwards like Millar and Brand in the centre not to mention fellow winger Davie Wilson coming in from the back post, it was no wonder that Henderson’s runs resulted in so many goals.
Despite his talent for bobbing and weaving and dribbling round defenders, making them look foolish, Henderson, in the eyes of many, was a superior winger to the later Jimmy Johnstone due to the fact that Wee Willie was more direct and effective. Henderson’s trickery and speed were used simply to get into a position to deliver a telling cross or cut-back. Seldom would you see him beat the same defender two or three times, a la Johnstone, with no progress having been made.
Henderson had joined the club in January, 1961 despite the fact that many English clubs such as Manchester United were desperate to sign him. He only played three matches that season but the following season was his first real spell in the team, battling with Alex Scott for his place on the wing. At 18, he made his debut for Scotland playing against Wales in a Home International match. Probably season 1962/63 was his finest season, making an impact at home and abroad with Rangers as well as doing the business for Scotland. He was a vital member of the Scottish team that beat Spain 6-2 in Madrid in a friendly as well as defeating England for three consecutive seasons eventually amassing 29 caps.
Perhaps Wee Willie’s most memorable hour, however, came near the end of the classic 1964 Scottish Cup Final when Rangers beat Dundee 3-1. With the teams drawing 1-1 with only a couple of minutes left Henderson became the Gers’ hero. His devastating runs and crosses created the second goal for Jimmy Millar and the third for Ralph Brand to win the trophy. A couple of years later he added to his Scottish Cup tally of winners’ medals when he took part in the famous Kai Johansen defeat of Celtic in the 66 Replay. At the age of 22, Henderson had won 4 Scottish Cup medals – quite an achievement!
By that stage, though, injuries were a recurring feature of his career, curtailing his appearances and performances. A bunion operation followed by strains, muscle pulls and many minor ailments seemed to hamper his progress. He soldiered on however and was still capable, on occasion, of producing match-winning performances or goals. Throughout his Ibrox career, he had always been an entertainer and crowd-pleaser but as the years wore on he became less consistent – the bugbear of all wingers. He had been a valuable asset to the club and nobody grudged his eventual move to Sheffield Wednesday in 1972.
Henderson played 426 matches for Rangers winning 2 League Championships, 4 Scottish Cups and 2 League Cups.
WILLIE THORNTON
Striker, Willie Thornton was a year older than Willie Waddell when he made his Gers' debut, playing for the Reserves in 1936. However, perhaps because he was that year older than Waddell, he made his debut for the first team before his friend and future attacking partner. On 2nd January, 1937, he played his first top team game against Thistle at Firhill. The teenager, who would score so many goals for the club during his career, surprisingly started in this match as an outside right, helping his side win 1-0.
Born in Winchburgh, West Lothian, Thornton was a prococious teenager and had already played in a trial match for Rangers when a posse of clubs were anxious to sign him, especially Hearts. Luckily, his brother, Jimmy, was a Gers fan and when he heard of Hearts' serious interest in Willie, he phoned Bill Struth to alert him to that fact. Can you imagine a punter being able to get through to a manager nowadays? The perceptive Struth immediately arranged for Thornton to sign for Rangers before he could be tempted by any other club.
Like Waddell, Thornton was another youngster who quickly discovered what it meant to be a Ranger under Struth. Not only was he to become a great scorer for the club but eventually he'd be Assistant Manager under Waddell in the 70s and later, Public Relations Officer. Apart from spells when he managed Dundee and Thistle, Thornton was a true Ranger for the rest of his life.
Williw Thornton will always be renowned among Rangers fans for his superb aerial ability and, it's true to say that he was a wonderful header of the ball, a player whose timing meant that he met a cross at the optimum moment and ahead of any defender. He also had the heading technique that meant he could bullet the ball towards goal as well as guide it craftily into the net. Due to this ability, it must be said that his quality on the ground has often been underestimated. He was a mobile forward with great vision and the ability to link up the forward line with his accurate, perceptive passing. A good first touch also helped him control the ball and make valuable time for himself inside the penalty box.
Although every inch a gentleman whom nobody would ever take umbrage with during a game, Thornton was a very courageous man as well as centre-forward. He fought during the Second World War in North Africa and Italy and in 1943 won the Military Medal for his bravery during the Allied invasion of Sicily.
Such qualities saw him play 432 matches for Rangers and score 255 goals. At his peak, he was usually good for at least 20 league goals per season. Even now, with 144 goals, he is number 6 in Rangers' top ten league scorers. A paltry total of 7 Scotland caps, even allowing for the interruption of the War, leads one to believe that maybe a committee of Selectors picking the International side wasn't that great an idea at any time in our history. To make up for that however, Thornton did win everything that was there to be won during his career. He was a member of the team that won the first-ever League Cup and, two seasons later, the first Gers side (indeed ANY side) to win the now possible Treble, scoring 34 goals that season. A modest, unassuming man, the quote that best sums up his temperament and career in goalscoring might be this: " I never troubled how they went in - so long as they went in for Rangers." He won 4 League Championships, 3 Scottish Cups and 3 League Cups - a true Ranger.
JOHN MCPHERSON
Born in Kilmarnock, this prolific goalscorer eventually became a Rangers Director. In his 12 seasons as a player, he turned out in every position for the club - even once in goal.His most familiar shirt though was the number 10 one. Apart from helping the club to 5 league titles, he appeared in 3 Scottish Cup winning sides, scoring in 2 of the finals. He played 13 times for Scotland including 4 appearances against the "Auld Enemy", England. On the 50th anniversary of the club's foundation, many Rangers supporters considered him the finest Gers player to that date.
Not only was he a deadly striker, but he was also a great dribbler with the ball who could feint, swerve and elude opponents before unleashing a powerful shot. Despite the passage of over 100 years, McPherson is still in the top 5 of Rangers' scorers against Celtic. In the inaugural league season of 1890/91 in which he was an ever-present, in the crunch match against soon-to-be joint Champions, Dumbarton, he scored a vital goal. It was his first game since his wedding, making him the only married Ranger in that side. To show their admiration for McPherson, the club members had had a collection and gave him £120 on the occasion of his marriage.That would have been enough to buy a house at that time! McPherson should always be remembered as one of the greatest of the early stars of the club
NICOL SMITH
Although he had played a couple of games in the previous season, it was in 1893/94 that the legendary Nicol Smith formed an unforgettable full-back partnership with Jock Drummond who had established himself in the side at left-back the season before Smith. These two formidable defenders would have fitted perfectly into the "Iron Curtain" Gers side of the 50s or rivalled the Shearer / Caldow partnership of the 60s.
At right-back, Smith was what the more polite spectators of the day would have called "robust" or "uncompromising". He was the sort of guy who would have tackled a tank (if they'd been invented then) to help his team-mates. Apparently, he was very good at utilising the shoulder charge, then an accepted and frequently used method of thwarting opponents. However, he was also speedy for such a powerful man and good in the air. His brawn was also complemented by a sense of anticipation and an awareness of danger that saved the day many a time without having to resort to brute strength.
In all, he gained 12 caps for Scotland and, in the ultimate match of that era, played 4 times against England, dominating the English forwards who, as usaul, had thought that they would be too talented for the Scottish defenders.
Smith's glorious career ended tragically half-way through season 1904/05 when he died from a fatal illness on 6th January. He and his wife caught enteric fever and died, leaving behind 4 children. Smith had played his last league match less than two months previously.
INTERESTED IN KNOWING MORE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF RANGERS? WHY NOT TRY BOTH OF THESE GREAT BOOKS, AVAILABLE IN ALL GOOD BOOK SHOPS ( AND SOME BAD ONES TOO) OR THEY CAN BE ORDERED DIRECT FROM THE PUBLISHER.
THE BEST OF THE BLUES by BOB MACCALLUM is published by MAINSTREAM and describes the team of the early 60s: Ritchie; Shearer, Caldow; Greig, McKinnon, Baxter; Henderson, McMillan, Millar, Brand and Wilson. The author celebrates what he considers Gers' greatest side and compares it to the Lisbon Lions - with the Rangers team coming out on top!
RANGERS' TREBLE KINGS by BOB MACCALLUM is published by BREEDON BOOKS and describes the Rangers sides of 1976 and 78 which won The Treble twice in 3 seasons. Bring back great memories of the likes of Greig, Jardine, McDonald, Forsyth, Johnstone, Russell, McLean and Cooper.
TOM VALLANCE 
WILLIE THORNTON
JOHN MCPHERSON 
NICOL SMITH
INTERESTED IN KNOWING MORE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF RANGERS? WHY NOT TRY BOTH OF THESE GREAT BOOKS, AVAILABLE IN ALL GOOD BOOK SHOPS ( AND SOME BAD ONES TOO) OR THEY CAN BE ORDERED DIRECT FROM THE PUBLISHER. 