By David Herd
THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
This midweek, Rangers welcome Kilmarnock to Ibrox Stadium with revenge in mind. Just a few weeks ago, in perhaps the lowest point of Philippe Clement’s time in charge at the club, Kilmarnock gained a deserved 1-0 win at Rugby Park against a toothless, shapeless and clueless Rangers team. No matter the result this time, it’s unlikely that the match will go down in Ibrox history. But there have been a few memorable Ibrox occasions against the men from Ayrshire in years gone by that marked significant milestones in the club’s long history. I’ve tried to select the seven that deserve to be mentioned when these most historic occasions are recalled. They are not all days we would want to celebrate, so it isn’t a Magnificent Seven. In fact, you could say they represent the good, the bad, and the ugly of Rangers history. Here they are, in order of when they happened:
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RANGERS 6 KILMARNOCK 1 – DECEMBER 9 1899
On the pitch, the end of the 19th century was a wonderful time to be a Rangers fan. When the team took to the field to take on Kilmarnock in early December 1899, they had won the previous season’s league title without dropping a point, and they hadn’t lost a league match at home for over two years. Rangers were the dominant force in the country, and were still unbeaten in season 1899/2000 as they marched towards a second successive championship. But this match wasn’t significant because of that great success. It is remembered because of where the match took place.
In 1887, Rangers had moved to the original Ibrox Park, but just over a decade later, the rapid rise in football popularity and big match attendances had already seen the club outgrow their new home. Ibrox had hosted four cup finals and three Scotland internationals in its early years, but the bigger Parkhead had taken over as the venue of choice for these showpiece occasions, bringing Celtic the extra revenue and prestige of hosting such occasions. With Ibrox unable to be redeveloped due to its location, Rangers decided to raise the funds needed to build a new stadium, which was built a stone’s throw away. The new Ibrox Park was due completion in early December 1899, meaning the last ever match played at the original Ibrox was when Kilmarnock visited on 9th December.
On such a momentous day, it was fitting that the team said farewell to their much loved home by delivering a performance worthy of the occasion. Killie had been promoted to the top flight for the first time earlier in the year, and the Second Division champions had enjoyed a decent first-ever season amongst the elite. They were safely in mid-table with no relegation worries, and had even held Scottish Cup holders Celtic to a draw in their first league game against “old firm” opponents. But they were simply blown away. James Wilkie scored a double, as did the legendary goalscorer RC Hamilton. And a thumping 6-1 win was completed with strikes from Johnny Campbell and Jacky Robertson. With the new stadium not quite ready for the next scheduled home match against St Mirren, it was played at Partick Thistle’s Meadowside ground. The second Ibrox then hosted its first-ever match on December 30th, against Hearts in the Inter-City League. And 125 years later, it is still The Greatest Sight I Have Ever Seen.
1899 Goalscorer RC Hamilton
RANGERS 5 KILMARNOCK 1 – APRIL 21 1928
It’s hard to believe, but at the start of season 1927/28, Rangers had only won the Scottish Cup four times in club history, with three of these victories coming between 1894 and 1898. The new season would be the 48th time the club were in the national cup competition, and by the time the final arrived in April 1928 it would be an astonishing 25 years since the trophy had been won. Since the new stadium was built in 1899, the only year in which Rangers had won the country’s most important knockout tournament was in 1903.
Equally incredible, was the fact that in the four seasons that Rangers had won the Scottish Cup, they had failed to win the league title in all of them. This meant that Celtic were the only club at this time in Scottish football history who had won both of the major honours in the same campaign, a fact that their fans were quick to tell their rivals. In 1920, Bill Struth had become the Rangers manager on the untimely death of his predecessor William Wilton, and despite him winning five of the seven league championships since his appointment, the “hoodoo” in the Cup showed no signs of being busted.
But in 1928, it all changed. On April 14th, in front of a record attendance of 114,000 at Hampden, a quarter of a century of pain was washed away with an iconic 4-0 demolition of Celtic in the cup final. After a goalless first half, a penalty by skipper Davie Meiklejohn seemed to lift the burden of history from his team’s shoulders, and further goals by Bob McPhail and Sandy Archibald (2) swept aside their bitter rivals. The celebrations lasted long into the night, and just a week later, the same players had the chance to write more history for themselves. A win over Kilmarnock at Ibrox would retain the league title, and finally deliver a first Double for the club.
Just under 28,000 attended Ibrox on April 21st, eagerly looking forward to club history being made. Prior to kick off, the Scottish Cup was paraded around the track finally decked out in red, white and blue ribbons, and also with a Union Flag bought in Denmark by Mr Struth some years earlier, the manager promising at the time it would only feature at Ibrox on the special occasion of displaying the Cup that had eluded Rangers for so long. The manager named an unchanged team from the Cup Final, and it was very soon obvious that the players fully intended to put in a performance worthy of the occasion.
After an early scare when Kilmarnock struck the crossbar, Rangers powered in front on 11 minutes. Andy Cunningham fed the flying Alan Morton, and the Wee Blue Devil’s pinpoint cross was rolled home by prolific centre forward Jimmy Fleming. The goal settled any nerves that may have existed, and within 5 minutes it was 2-0. This time a Morton cross was only parried by Kilmarnock goalkeeper Clemie, the ball landing at the feet of man of the match Cunningham, and the veteran inside forward lashed the ball home.
A third duly arrived via a long range Cunningham drive, and the Double party was now starting. Before the hour, Fleming completed his own double to make it 4-0, and although a Dougie Gray slip allowed Harry Cunningham of Kilmarnock an easy goal with 15 minutes to play, there was never any chance that Rangers would be caught. The icing on the cake was duly delivered when Bob McPhail and the magnificent Morton exchanged passes to carve open the Kilmarnock defence, with Morton slipping the final ball through to Jimmy Fleming for his hat-trick. A goal worthy of winning any trophy.
At the final whistle, a Rangers team who had carved their unique place in the history of their great club took the acclaim of their supporters before being greeted in the dressing room by Chairman Joseph Buchanan and manager Struth. The manager praised them to a man, spoke of his pride in their achievements and of this being a great day for this great club. He ended his short dressing room address by reminding the players that this was the standard expected in season 1928/29!
1928 Goalscorer Andy Cunningham
RANGERS 2 KILMARNOCK 0 – MARCH 14 1964
By the 1960s, the double had been replaced by the treble as the ultimate season of domestic success. Struth’s team of 1948/49 became the first side to lift the League Cup, Scottish Cup and League Championship triple crown, and by season 1963/64 they remained the only team to have achieved the feat. By now, Mr Struth had handed over the baton of Rangers manager to Scot Symon, and the former East Fife and Preston boss was proving to be a worthy successor to the great man. He had built a Rangers team who were beyond doubt the dominant team in a hugely competitive time for Scottish football, and a team still revered to this day.
The league and cup double was achieved in 1963, and when the League Cup was won by thrashing Morton 5-0 in the final, thoughts turned to a treble the following season. But they found themselves up against a determined and consistent challenger in the title race in the shape of Willie Waddell’s Kilmarnock. The great Rangers winger had created a team at Rugby Park who were a match for anyone on their day, and who had come agonisingly close in previous seasons to silverware, reaching three major finals but losing each one. By mid-March, the title seemed to be between the two club, and when Killie came calling at Ibrox there were just two points separating the team with only five more fixtures to play afterwards. It was billed as a “decider”, and 46,000 fans were there to see who would strike the decisive title blow.
The attendance was almost 40,000 fewer than had been packed inside the stadium seven days earlier, when goals by the deadly Jim Forrest and the quicksilver Willie Henderson had defeated Celtic 2-0 in the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup. This had been the fifth Old Firm win out of five fixtures in the season, and further confirmed Rangers as strong favourites to lift that second-ever treble. Now, they needed to justify those odds by beating the one team who stood between them and a 34th league title in club history. And they would need to do it without both of the goalscorers against Celtic, as both Henderson and Forrest had picked up injuries in a midweek win at Aberdeen. In came that reliable “old warhorse” Jimmy Millar to lead the attack, with Symon opting to move Ralph Brand to the right wing to replace Henderson and give his place in the forward line to George McLean.
But this was a Rangers team who simply knew how to win when it mattered, and they shrugged off these injury setbacks. With a strong wind at their backs in the first half, they dominated Kilmarnock, and created several decent chances. It was no surprise after 26 minutes when one of these chances was turned into the opening goal. A slide rule Baxter pass found McLean inside the Killie area, and the former St Mirren inside forward showed great skill and composure to firstly beat his marker then guide an accurate shot past goalkeeper Campbell Forsyth.
Killie now had a mountain to climb, and by half-time it had become Everest. This time McLean was the creator. He got the ball on the right and raced into the area, hitting the goal line. His low and hard cross ball eluded the visiting defenders, and was gleefully knocked in at the back post by that marvellous goalscoring winger Davie Wilson. His wide grin and wild celebration perfectly captured the moment that everyone inside Ibrox knew that another championship was on its way.
Rangers did still have to face into the gale after the interval, and they were forced to defend for long spells. Kilmarnock did have chances, most notably a glaring miss from Bertie Black, who somehow blazed over the bar from eight yards with virtually the entire goal to aim for. But as time ticked on, the resolute and determined Shearer and McKinnon slowly won their battle with their opposing forwards, and by the time the referee ended the game, it was the irrepressible Baxter who was frustrating Kilmarnock with his unique brand of midfield possession football.
Rangers went on to win the title by a convincing six point margin from Killie, and would clinch the treble in a celebrated Scottish Cup final win over Dundee. 1963/64 was the peak of the Symon years, and the peak of perhaps the most entertaining Rangers team of all time. As for Kilmarnock, they only had a year to wait for their silverware drought to end, Waddell’s men lifting the 1964/65 league title on the last day of the season at Tynecastle.
1964 George McLean scores the opener
RANGERS 0 KILMARNOCK 1 – MAY 2 1998
I did say that not all the historic matches in the list were successful ones. But there is no doubt that the last home league game of 1997/98 represents the end of an era at Rangers, the day that 10-in-a-row died. After winning the club’s ninth successive title in May 1997, manager Walter Smith had spent significantly in the summer with expectations not only that “the ten” would be secured but also that progress would be made in Europe after some recent humiliations. But things went totally off the rails.
Humbling defeats in both the Champions League qualifiers and the first round of the UEFA Cup saw Smith lose his job, although his departure was not to be till the end of the season. There was still a reliance on the same ageing players who had served the club magnificently, plus the form and dedication of those two superstars Laudrup and Gascoigne was now at best sporadic. It meant the core of steel and the sprinkling of magic that had carried Rangers to recent triumphs was a shadow of what it was, and it meant a ridiculous number of dropped points in a title race against a Celtic team who were dropping nearly as many.
Gazza had gone to Middlesbrough by the time the run-in was underway, with Rangers finally hitting the front with just four games left when defeating their great rivals twice in a week, once in the cup and once in the league. It looked like they were still going to drag themselves to immortality, but then it all went wrong. Defeat to Aberdeen handed the initiative back to Celtic, and after a fine win at Tynecastle, there was just one point separating the teams going into the penultimate weekend. Rangers faced Kilmarnock at Ibrox on the Saturday, knowing a win would put them back on top and ramp the pressure on Celtic who were at Dunfermline the following afternoon. The title was Celtic’s to lose, but they had stuttered with a draw to Dundee United at home the previous weekend, and their nerves at stopping Ten were as great as Rangers ones for winning it.
It would be the Ibrox farewell for so many greats. Gough, McCall, Laudrup, Durrant and McCoist were all saying their goodbyes, as were Walter Smith and Archie Knox from the dugout. Andy Goram would have been running out of the Ibrox tunnel for the final time as a Rangers player too, but he missed the match injured and was replaced in goal by Finnish stopper Antti Niemi. The stadium was filled to capacity, with the 50,000 all there to both celebrate a step closer to their dream as well as pay homage to this procession of legends. In the end, instead of a party, they attended a wake.
Despite their horrible inconsistency, Rangers hadn’t lost a home league match all season, and defeat looked very improbable early on as the home team dominated. Gordon Marshall’s goal led something of a charmed life in the opening stages, with Albertz, Durie and Gough all coming close. But slowly, frustration started to creep in, mistakes started to be made, and the visitors grew in belief.
It was Killie who had the best chance of the second half, French striker Jerome Vereille fluffing his shot when clean through. Smith threw on all three substitutes – the trio of McCoist, Durrant and Ian Ferguson could boast over 1000 Rangers appearances between them. But the more desperate it got, the more a 0-0 draw looked inevitable. Then, as referee Bobby Tait allowed the match to enter a second minute of added time, John Hendry’s cross was knocked into the Rangers net by the unmarked Kilmarnock substitute Ally Mitchell. The dream had died, Ibrox was silenced, and so many wonderful Rangers careers would end in defeat instead of glory.
Smith led his players and his backroom staff on a lap of honour after the final whistle, but thousands of deflated fans had drifted away and there would be no thunderous ovation for men who deserved nothing less. To add to the frustration, Dunfermline grabbed a draw with Celtic the following day, which meant that Rangers would have sat a point clear on the final day if Killie had been defeated. That final day saw both teams win, and Wim Jansen celebrating the title rather than Walter Smith. Then, to rub salt into the wounds, Hearts upset Rangers in the Scottish Cup final the following Saturday to mean the season ended trophyless. It was the first and only time any full season under Walter would end that way. He would return in 2007 and leave a winner the second time around.
1998 Albertz unable to make the difference
RANGERS 5 KILMARNOCK 1 – MAY 11 2001
After total domination in his first two seasons in charge, Rangers manager Dick Advocaat saw his Ibrox reign come badly off the rails in season 2000/01. New Celtic boss Martin O’Neill assembled a team of physical strength who outmuscled and outplayed Rangers over the season, and they ended up winning all three domestic trophies. The Rangers fans, therefore, had little to celebrate when Kilmarnock were the last Saturday league visitors to Ibrox in a terribly disappointing campaign, but they turned out in huge numbers as it was a day to say goodbye to one of their heroes, a man who will forever be one of the greatest Rangers legends.
That man was Ally McCoist, now of Kilmarnock, but to everyone the Super striker who scored more goals in a Rangers shirt than anyone else in history. He did have another game to play the following Sunday at Rugby Park before bringing the curtain down on his incredible playing career, but this would be his last-ever appearance on the Ibrox turf and it put thousands onto the gate for a game that could only be classified as “meaningless end of season”.
Killie manager Bobby Williamson was an old Rangers strike partner of McCoist, and he decided to leave the great man on the bench at the start as he looked both to the future and also on how best to try to win the points that could help them win a UEFA Cup place for the following season. Advocaat welcomed back Ronald de Boer to the starting eleven, the hugely talented Dutch international having missed almost four months with a knee injury at a crucial time of the season.
The match itself became something of a procession, as Rangers finally showed some of the class that had been absent too often in the previous months. It was de Boer who broke the deadlock after 19 minutes, his powerful header crossing the line before a desperate clearance from a defender. The only criticism of Rangers on the day was how long it took for them to kill off the opposition and turn their superiority into goals, as it took till midway through the second half for the second to arrive. It was substitute Peter Lovenkrands who supplied the ammunition, with the reliable Rod Wallace providing the finish. A few minutes later the game was over, Lorenzo Amoruso nodding home from a corner.
At 3-0, the game was over, and the third goal signalled the start of the chants for McCoist from all four Ibrox stands. But, if Williamson was thinking of giving the public what they wanted, he changed his mind again when Craig Dargo pulled a goal back out of nothing with 20 minutes left. But Killie’s feint hopes didn’t last long. Nine minutes later, Wallace grabbed his second of the day, blasting home a knockdown from Tore-Andre Flo. The big Norwegian then made it 5-1 with a clever finish with minutes left.
Four goals down, two minutes to go, and Williamson had still one substitution he could make. Surely he would now allow McCoist his farewell bow. Incredibly, he ignored his old teammate, and decided not to be seen to give in to what opposition fans were demanding. There were four minutes of added time played by referee Mike McCurry, probably in the hope McCoist would get to take to the field one last time at his spiritual home. But the boos had turned into outright abuse towards Williamson, when the match ended with Ally still listed as “unused”.
Happily, the man who had given the Rangers support countless lifetime memories did finally take to the pitch, with the Rangers manager and his old teammate Jorg Albertz insisting he take his deserved bow. The angry shouts aimed at Williamson changed into that familiar chorus of “Super Ally”, as McCoist took the applause. The stubbornness of his manager would not prevent the Ibrox legions showing their love to him one last time.
2001 Ally says goodbye
RANGERS 0 KILMARNOCK 1 – FEBRUARY 18 2012
A Match not remembered for anything on the pitch, but for the events of the time. On Valentine’s Day 2012, Rangers chairman and major shareholder Craig Whyte put the club into administration. The shockwaves were felt not just in Scottish football, this was headline news across the entire country and beyond. Whyte had been in control of the club for less than a year, his intentional non-payment of tax to HMRC causing the start of a financial meltdown that to this day is still causing hardship to Rangers.
What has transpired since then is a story in itself, but in the days that followed from that announcement made outside the main door at the stadium, fans of the club were both terrified of what may happen and also defiant in their determination to Follow On. The first fixture following administration would be at Ibrox against Kilmarnock, and all remaining tickets were snapped up quickly as the support looked to put their money into the coffers and hopefully make a difference.
Manager Ally McCoist famously gave his “we don’t do walking away” interview in the days before the match, and the stands were packed and noisy for the match. Also in the 48 hours before kick-off, the manager had tried to get former striker Daniel Cousin registered for the game as a free agent to replace the departed Nikica Jelavic, but the SPL decided not to give permission for the player to join, one of a number of judgements the football authorities would make in the months ahead. All this combined to increase the level of defiance come 3pm, and Ibrox was a wall of noise when the teams took to the field.
The match itself was to prove to be the first in a series of crushing disappointments for the Rangers support. The team seemed to have their minds elsewhere, hardly surprising when there was talk of redundancies and pay cuts. Killie manager Kenny Shiels sent out an attacking line-up, and they dominated early on. There had been a couple of near escapes for Rangers before the inevitable opener arrived in 12 minutes. And, typically, it was scored by a Rangers supporter. Dean Shiels, the son of the manager and a player who would go on to wear the Rangers shirt, cleverly danced past a couple of half-hearted tackles before steering a classy finish past Allan McGregor.
From then on, Rangers struggled badly to impose themselves in any way. The better chances were being created by the away team, although Killie goalkeeper Cammy Bell was called into action on a few occasions. McCoist was forced into sending on rookie defender Ross Perry after Doran Goian suffered an injury, then things got even worse when Sasa Papac was sent off by referee Iain Brines for a bad tackle just before the interval.
With ten men and a goal disadvantage, this was an uphill battle for Rangers at any time, but in the current circumstances it looked mission impossible. And so it proved. Lee McCulloch had a goal disallowed by Mr Brines in the second half, but it was mainly 45 minutes of frustration and realisation that it would take more than defiance to get out of the deep hole the club were now in.
The previous Saturday, Rangers had been a point off the top. Now, after the ten point deduction for administration and the points dropped in the match, Celtic had an unassailable 14-point lead. It was a match to forget, but it was time we should always remember.
2012 match programme cover
RANGERS 1 KILMARNOCK 1 – OCTOBER 25 2017
When Rangers returned to the top flight in season 2016/17, it soon became horribly apparent that “Going For 55” was more of a wish than a reality. The gulf between a cash-rich Celtic under new manager Brendan Rodgers, and the newly promoted Rangers built on the cheap by Mark Warburton was enormous. Warburton was gone before the season ended, and nobody could have predicted his successor. For reasons best known only to the interviewing panel at Ibrox, the club decided to give the job of Rangers manager to the unknown Portuguese Pedro Caixinha.
Caixinha arrived from Qatari club Al-Gharafa, with his most successful period in management being in Mexican football. Most supporters were left scratching their heads as to how this qualified the 46-year-old for the biggest and toughest job in Scottish football, and many feared this was a monumental gamble by the club at a time when they had little to gamble with. His initial matches in charge hardly changed that opinion. He presided over the worst home defeat to Celtic in club history, and then the first home defeat to Aberdeen in well over a quarter of a century, as Rangers ended the season third behind runaway winners Celtic and an Aberdeen team managed by former Rangers player Derek McInnes.
Then, in the summer, Caixinha’s transfer strategy raised further eyebrows. He was provided with funds still miles away from what Rodgers could spend, but significantly more than was given to Warburton. He opted to bring in two Mexican players for big fees, Carlos Pena and Eduardo Herrera. He raided his home market of Portugal to sign Daniel Candeias, Fabio Cardoso and Dalcio. Another highly experienced and big name Portuguese arrived in the shape of Bruno Alves. Colombian forward Alfredo Morelos added to the cosmopolitan arrivals, which were supplemented by some homegrown talent in Ryan Jack and Graham Dorrans. Many of Warburton’s signings were discarded, this would be an almost total rebuild.
To be fair, there were a couple of his signings who turned into excellent acquisitions for the club. But results were atrocious. Caixinha presided over the most humiliating European exit ever, an aggregate defeat to minnows from Luxembourg. He won only one of his first four home league games, losing to both Hibs and Celtic. And as Celtic started disappearing over the horizon again, he lost a League Cup semi-final at Hampden to Motherwell. When Kilmarnock came to Ibrox on Wednesday 25 October, his tenure already looked as if it could end at any time.
Killie, under future Scotland boss Steve Clarke were a difficult side to play against. Clarke had them well organised and hard to beat, but the Rangers manager was by now out of excuses and a win was a must. He would also need to watch the game from the stand after being sent off during the Hampden semi-final defeat days earlier. He watched an even first half, with chances at both ends. Rangers suffered a blow when Dorrans picked up a bad injury after a poor tackle. But it was Rangers who grabbed the lead just a minute from the break. The overlapping Tavernier was released by Candeias, and the full-back’s low cross was expertly finished by Morelos. After a small protest outside the ground prior to kick-off, maybe the manager was going to ride the storm after all…
As the second half wore on, it was the visitors who looked the more likely, and it took a couple of wonderful saves by Wes Foderingham to prevent an equaliser. Ex-Rangers hero Kris Boyd was one of the players that Foderingham had denied. It looked like Caixinha would get the win he desperately needed, when in the 90th minute, referee Alan Muir awarded a penalty for a foul by another former Ranger. Kirk Broadfoot was deemed to have fouled substitute Herrera. What followed summed up the Caixinha reign.
As Daniel Candeias was placing the ball on the spot, Broadfoot and Ryan Jack seemed to exchange a few words and went head to head. The ex-Rangers player collapsed in a heap, with the suggestion being Jack had headbutted him. The Rangers man was having none of it, angrily gesticulating to the Killie defender to get up and cut out the play acting. Referee Muir booked both players, but was then summoned by the fourth official. On his return, he decided to cancel the yellow card for Jack and issue a red! It was pandemonium, and in amongst it all, Candeias was still waiting to take the penalty. When he final did get to take it, his effort was weak, no doubt affected by the ridiculous wait. Goalkeeper Jamie McDonald saved it, and then threw the ball out for one last Kilmarnock attack. Ten seconds later, the ball was played across the Rangers goal, and there was another former Rangers man, winger Chris Burke to knock it into the net.
There was hardly time to restart the game, Kilmarnock had snatched the most dramatic and controversial point, and the Rangers fans were unsure who to boo more – the team, the manager, or the officials. What was definite, was that Rangers had dropped to fourth place in the table. The Ibrox board had a decision to make, and they had made it within 24 hours, Caixinha was gone. His time in charge saw Rangers play 26 games, and win just 14 of them. Seven defeats – including three out of three to Celtic as well as those Motherwell and Luxembourg calamities – had sealed his fate. The shortest ever reign as permanent Rangers manager was over, and nobody was surprised it had been an abject failure.
2017 Ryan Jack sent off
That completes this tale of glory and of despair. Of legendary names, and instantly forgotten ones. Who knows when the next historic meeting of Rangers and Kilmarnock at Ibrox will be. I’m hoping this midweek it’s a routine and convincing home win.