Dortmund follow in the footsteps of Munich and Monchengladbach in Ibrox vanquishing

Derek Johnstone and John McClelland prepare for a corner in the famous victory over Dortmund (Picture Courtesy of Old Rangers Pics)

 

It is fair to say that Rangers have a decent record against German sides in European competition. Of all the stronger footballing nations we have travelled to, Germany is arguably where Rangers have fared best.

Our first encounter against a German side came in season 59/60 when we met Eintracht Frankfurt in the semi-final of the European Cup.  We were dealt a harsh footballing lesson by the Germans on this occasion – beat 12-4 on aggregate – and denied the opportunity to take on the mighty Real Madrid at Hampden in the final as a result.

We got some payback the following season when we defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 11-0 over two legs in the quarter-final of European Cup Winners’ Cup – with the bulk of the goals coming in an impressive 8-0 home victory. This campaign would see Rangers go on to become the first British club to reach a European final, losing over two legs to ACF Fiorentina.

We would meet German opposition twice in 1966/67 European Cup Winners’ Cup campaign where we would reach our second European final. We famously lost to Bayern Munich in the finale in Nuremberg, but we had overcome Dortmund again earlier in the competition.

Rangers would gain revenge for the ’67 defeat by Bayern five years later in the semi-final of the European Cup Winners’ Cup, in what is arguably the greatest result in the club’s history when we defeated the Bavarians, who included the likes of Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller, 2-0 to reach the European Cup Winners’ Cup final in Barcelona. Obviously the result over Moscow Dynamo in the final carries the achievement and the glory of actually winning the tournament, but the victory over a Munich side that would go on to dominate European football for years, winning three consecutive European Cups between 1974 and 1976, not to mention provide the bulk of the German international side that would win the 1974 World Cup, sits as arguably the best result secured by any Scottish club in Europe.

There has also been the notable defeats of Bayer Leverkusen by Dick Advocaat’s side in the Uefa Cup in 1998 and the defeat of Werder Bremen on our way to the Uefa Cup Final in 2008.

We seem to be attracted to German sides in European competition and so it would be the case again in 1982 when Rangers were drawn against Borussia Dortmund in the first round of the Uefa Cup. Over the two legs Rangers would yet again overcome their more glamorous Bundesliga rivals.

Rangers earned a good result in the away leg in Germany, where they secured a 0-0 draw and gave themselves a great opportunity of finishing the job off in Glasgow and progressing to the next round.

That is how things would play out in the second-leg at Ibrox, but not without a few scares during another great European night in Govan.

Borussia started well and very nearly scored in the first minute of the match after Heinz Eggeling hit a shot straight at Jim Stewart in the Rangers goal. A few minutes later Stewart had to save Rangers again when he ran off his line to stop Turkish internationalist Erdel Keser from running straight through on goal.

After the early scares, however, Rangers settled and slowly started to build momentum – but even then they had to be wary of Dortmund’s ability to hit on the counter-attack.

Towards the end of the first-half Robert Prytz brought out a tremendous save from Eike Immel in the Dortmund goal. From the save, however, Rangers found themselves exposed to yet another counter-attack and Jim Stewart was called into action again, diving at the feet of Keser to prevent the Germans from scoring the crucial away goal they so desperately wanted.

The nerves which surrounded the occasion for Rangers were settled somewhat when they took the lead on the night and in the tie just before the break, thanks to a goal from Davie Cooper.

Davie Cooper opened the scoring and provided the assist for the crucial second goal.

 

Robert Prytz was involved in some good work on the left-hand side and sent over a cross into the box which was nodded down by Derek Johnstone to Bobby Russell. Russell took aim and his shot was deflected across the face of the goal to Davie Cooper who poked the ball into the empty net against a backdrop of claims of offside from the Dortmund defence.

The second-half was more of the same, with Rangers mostly dictating but very aware of the fact that one goal would be enough to see the Germans go through. That made for a tense second 45 minutes and more than one scary moment.

Early on in the second-half Jim Stewart would be called into action again, denying Siegrief Bonighausen the goal that would offer the Germans parity on the night and a route to the next round via the away goals rule.

Then Derek Johnstone came close with a great header which pulled out a fantastic save from Dortmund keeper Immel. The game and tie was as finely balanced as could be and things would not be settled until the 87^th minute thanks to Derek Johnstone.

Davie Cooper was again involved in some good work on the right wing, dummying his opponent and going past him to the byline before sending in a fantastic cross with his right foot, which was usually reserved for the prime purpose of standing on. The cross was met by Derek Johnstone at the back post and slammed into the net past the helpless Immel to give Rangers the breathing room in the tie they had so craved.

Dave McKinnon was one of Rangers star performers on the night.

With a two goal lead and only a few minutes to play, there was no way back for the Germans and Rangers would progress to the next round, much to the delight of the sell-out 44,500 crowd crammed into Ibrox.

It had been a fantastic performance and result on the night, with Dave McKinnon, Robert Prytz and Jim Bett worthy of special mentions for their outstanding contributions.

After getting past a German side in the first round Rangers deserved a break in the second-round draw. But fate was to send them to Germany again, this time to face Cologne, a side which included the infamous Harald Schumacher within its ranks, who is best remembered for his shocking challenge on Patrick Battiston in the 1982 World Cup semi-final in Seville between France and Germany.

Rangers would win the first-leg of the tie against Cologne 2-1, thanks to goals from Johnstone again and Ulsterman John McClelland. The Ibrox crowd made their feelings regarding Schumacher well known, booing the keeper loudly on the night.

However Rangers would suffer a crushing 5-0 defeat in the second-leg in Germany and exit the competition at the second-round stage 6-2 on aggregate.

The million pound man comes to Govan

Trevor Francis turns out for Rangers debut against Dunfermline – 12 September 1987.

In these days of £200m transfer fees and wages that resemble the turnover of a medium sized company, it is hard to imagine that back in annals of footballing history the first million pound transfer in this country would cause shock and a decent amount of outrage.  But that is exactly what happened in 1979 when Trevor Francis signed for Nottingham Forest.

Brian Clough would claim that the deal was for £999,999 – in an attempt to ease the pressure and expectation that would come for Francis as the first British million pound player. But with VAT and other sundries, the deal would reach an outlay of £1.18m.

Francis and Clough at the press conference to announce the million pound move.

Francis was presented to the media in bizarre fashion after completing his historic move – with Clough wearing a bright red sports jacket and holding a squash racket, and treating the whole thing as an inconvenience on his social commitments for the day.

Francis would famously score the goal that won Forest the European Cup in Munich against a Malmo side that contained Robert Prytz within its ranks. But that golden moment aside, the general feeling is one of Francis buckling under the burden of the huge transfer fee and failing to reach the heights expected of him at Forest.

He would move to Manchester City in 1981, before moving again to Italy and Sampdoria in 1982. Two years later he would be joined by Graeme Souness in Italy, where a friendship would blossom and the seeds for Francis eventually moving to Ibrox in 1987 were sown.

Souness and Francis at Sampdoria.

Francis signed for Rangers from Atlanta in 1987 for a fee of £75,000. Some way off the huge money that Forest paid eight years previously – and some way off the money Rangers were spending at that specific time. But Souness knew the player well and felt he was getting a bargain. Francis made his debut for Rangers against Dunfermline at Ibrox on 12 September, 1987.

Now aged 34, the club had decided to protect themselves a little and put the veteran on a then unique ‘pay-as-you-play’ deal. After this impressive debut there was a feeling he would earn well as he put in a marvellous performance in front of 39,749 spectators on a gloriously sunny early autumn day at Ibrox.

With one eye on the impending journey to Kiev to face Dynamo in the first round of the European Cup, Rangers re-introduced Terry Butcher to the starting line-up, who had been out recently through injury. A few weeks later his season would be over after a leg break against Aberdeen.

Rangers, and particularly Ally McCoist, were on rampant form on the day and the first goal came as early as the fifth minute which set the tone for the rest of the match. Ian McCall won the ball in the middle of the park and sent Robert Fleck through on the inside-left channel. Fleck held the play up, beat his man and sent the ball into the box where McCoist would head it in off the post.

The game then became about Trevor Francis as he showed the Ibrox crowd a little of what had made Brian Clough spend all that money all those years ago. Time and again he caused havoc on the right wing, putting in a tremendous shift and ensuring his debut was a success.

Rangers didn’t need to wait too long for goal number two, with it arriving just before the half-hour mark.

Derek Ferguson, who would put in another classy display on the day, sent a lovely pass into the box for McCoist who lobbed Westwater from close in. Rangers were 2-0 up and on easy street.

There is little doubt that 87/88 was the season that McCoist truly came to the fore. Always a consistent goal-scorer, he had somehow not managed to convince many of his wares. This would be the season that would change and he would make the number nine jersey his own for a few seasons thereafter.

Rangers went in at half-time 2-0 up, Dunfermline looked like they knew already there was no way back.

The second-half continued to be the procession to the Pars’ goal that the first-half had been, with Rangers having more than one chance to extend the lead. But the third wouldn’t arrive until the 79^th minute – thanks to that man McCoist again.

Souness, who had come on to replace Durrant, picked up a loose ball and sent a perfect curving pass through to McCoist who ran in on goal and put the ball past the helpless Westwater for the third time. His hatrick completed, the goal brought McCoist’s tally for the season to 14 in seven games – not to mention two goals on international duty. The day was meant to be about the arrival of Francis, but the limelight had been stolen slightly by the Rangers number nine.

Cooper came on to replace McCoist with ten minutes to go. Souness deciding to protect his goal-scorer for critical forthcoming Euro tie and allow Cooper, who was ineligible for the trip to Kiev, a run-out in the final few minutes.

Cooper’s first contribution nearly brought the debut goal for Francis the whole crowd was hoping for. Delivering a defence splitting pass that put the Englishman in on goal, Francis blasted his effort high-and-wide into the Copland Rd stand and the chance was gone. The goal-scoring wasn’t complete though.

On the 85th minute came what was arguably be the moment of the match when the player-manager got in on the act with a goal of outrageous beauty.

Picking up a weak clearance around 20 yards from goal, Souness pulled his foot back and set himself up to shoot. Two despairing challenges came in to block the effort, but Souness simply touched the ball past the despairing defenders, walked in on Westwater and passed the ball into the net with a neat left-foot finish and to make the final score a convincing 4-0.

Souness was delighted with the result and the contribution of his new signing commenting: “He did well, didn’t he? He’s an experienced player and he’ll get better. He’ll prove to be a real asset for us”.

Unfortunately that wouldn’t be the case and Francis struggled at Ibrox in his short career there, being moved on in March 1988 with only 18 appearances under his belt an no goals to his name.

His greatest moment would come in the Skol Cup final victory against Aberdeen, scoring his penalty in the shootout and putting the supporters through the emotional wringer by famously taking a one-step run-up before despatching it past Jim Leighton.

The game against Dunfermline had an interested spectator in Valeri Lobanovski, the Dynamo Kiev coach, but he found the trip mainly unhelpful stating: “The opposition was weak, so it wasn’t the match to assess Rangers properly”.

He found out the hard way over the next two weeks just how good Rangers were as Rangers out the favourites for the competition to the sword in dramatic fashion.

Wallace returns to haunt Rangers again

Rangers keeper Jim Stewart thwarts Motherwell’s Bruce Cleland. (Picture courtesy of @oldrangerspics)

Football has always enjoyed a habit of allowing fate to hand out head-to-head scenarios that have that wee bit extra spice. Where a game looks like it will initially be just a routine fixture, the footballing gods have frequently found a way of adding an edge to proceedings. This was definitely the case on 4 September 1982, when Rangers travelled to Fir Park for their opening league fixture of the 1982/83 campaign.

For John Greig and his troops the trip to Fir Park wouldn’t just represent a game against the newly promoted Lanarkshire side – it would represent a game against a Motherwell side now managed by former Gers manager Jock Wallace in his first game in Scotland since returning from Leicester.

Rangers were trying to improve on the relatively poor season of 81/82 where the club had finished third, won the League Cup and lost the Scottish Cup Final to Aberdeen in a 4-1 extra-time drubbing.

Rangers had been busy in the close-season, securing Craig Patterson from Hibs, Robert Prytz from Malmo and Dave MacKinnon from Partick Thistle in an attempt to invigorate what had been considered an ageing squad. Sandy Clark would also arrive from West Ham.

Despite the new arrivals all the focus was on a face from the past in Wallace on the opening day, the man who had dramatically walked out on Rangers four years previously after securing a famous treble. John Greig, Wallace’s captain throughout his time in charge at Ibrox, had been handed the job of managing Rangers after Wallace’s sudden exit and was still in charge at Ibrox, which added that little bit extra to what was an already interesting fixture. Wallace and Greig shook hands warmly before proceedings – although there was undeniably an awkwardness between the pair.

In the build-up to game Big Jock said: “I’ve been away from Ibrox for four years and it’s difficult to say how I feel about facing them. But the last time I managed a team against them was at Berwick – don’t forget that”.

The clash between Wallace and Grieg added to the occasion and that was reflected in the crowd, which was a healthy 19,159. In fact such was the size of the crowd that there was an overspill at one end of the ground, with many supporters spilling over the barriers and onto the park. The game itself was a cracker, producing four goals and a late comeback by the newly promoted side.

Wallace and Greig in happier times during their time together at Ibrox.

Rangers started well and had a very early chance when a Cooper corner was met by Colin McAdam, only for Motherwell goalkeeper Hugh Sproat to make a point-blank save. However Rangers wouldn’t wait too long before they took the lead.

Seven minutes in, John MacDonald was put clean through on goal and was fouled by Alex Forsyth. New signing Prytz stuck the penalty away and Rangers were off to a flyer.

Rangers continued to push and could have gone 2-0 up when Sproat came out of his box to head a clearance which landed at the feet of Robert Prytz about 35 yards from goal. The Swede reacted quickly, but his long-distance lob into an empty net went slightly over the bar. With no other goals scored the sides went in at half-time with only the one goal between them.

Robert Prytz puts Rangers 1-0 up and scores his first league goal for Rangers. (Picture courtesy of @oldrangerspics)

Rangers continued to push for the killer second goal in the second-half and after 65 minutes it seemed like the points would be heading to Ibrox.

Davie Cooper picked up the ball on the left-hand side and ran at two defenders, going past one and nutmegging the other before laying it off to Ian Redford who fired home and put Rangers into an apparently unassailable lead.

Rangers had other chances to put the game to bed. John MacDonald was creative down the left-hand side, beating two defenders before cutting in and lofting ball over Sproat, only for his effort to be headed off the line. The headed clearance didn’t go far and eventually found its way to Cooper who also attempted to loft the ball beyond Sproat, only to see his effort come off the bar. Rangers would rue missing these guilt-edged chances.

With 15 minutes to go the game would be turned on its head as Motherwell struck back and set up a very interesting end to the game. A long-ball into the box seemed harmless enough, but the Rangers defence switched off and Cleland, who had started the game on the bench and had not long entered proceedings, beat Jim Stewart to the ball and made the score 2-1.

From a seemingly untouchable position, Rangers suddenly found themselves in a game – and all those earlier missed opportunities now looked like they could be costly. And so it would be.

With 11 minutes remaining, Rangers conceded again. A free-kick thrown in from the right-hand side was met by Joe Carson, whose header went in off the post. Rangers had blown their lead and now faced the real prospect of dropping points on the opening day of the season.

Despite all their efforts, Rangers couldn’t find a winner. Even when Motherwell were reduced to ten men in the closing minutes, after goalscorer Joe Carson was dismissed for kicking John MacDonald, Rangers failed to muster the goal which would have secured the victory.

After the game John Greig was obviously frustrated at the result and commented: “We produced a lot of good things and the team did well, and I thought we had done enough to win. We dominated the match and should have had it well a truly sewn up.

“Somehow though, we allowed Motherwell to get two goals, and they were only in our penalty box area on a few occasions”.

An obviously emotional Wallace said: “I was pleased with the way we fought back after losing two daft goals”.

Wallace’s stay at Motherwell would last just over a year. Rangers under Greig would struggle again throughout 82/83 and would finish the season trophy-less. A difficult start to the following year’s campaign would see Greig relieved of his duties and Wallace reinstated as the manager of the club he loved.

 

 

 

The End of the Nine Year Wait

Terry Butcher celebrates scoring the crucial goal which brought the title back to Ibrox.

It had been a long wait for Rangers to be in this situation. In fact you would have to go back to April 1978 – when John Grieg was still playing for Rangers – for an example of the last time Rangers were facing the situation they faced on 2 May 1987: knowing that one more win would see them crowned as league champions.

It had been a long nine years since that league win, which would make up part of a famous treble. Rangers had been in the footballing doldrums since. Swept aside by Celtic and the so called “New Firm” of Aberdeen and Dundee Utd.

In those nine years Rangers would regularly finish fourth. Indeed the thought of Rangers being league winners had seemed ludicrous as early as the previous season of 85/86 were Rangers had finished fifth, a massive 15 points behind champions Celtic – whilst also lagging behind Hearts, Aberdeen and Dundee Utd.

European football for the following season was only confirmed on the last day of the campaign, with a 2-0 victory over Motherwell ensuring that we finished above six placed Dundee on goal difference.

To give an idea of how disastrous the campaign had been the gap between Rangers and bottom placed Clydebank was the same (15) as the point difference between Celtic. Rangers would manage only 13 wins in the whole season – a meare seven more than the Bankies. It was grim stuff and the thought of Rangers going from that position to champions seemed impossible. But Graeme Souness arrived in April ’86 – followed by Terry Butcher, Colin West and Chris Woods and all of a sudden there was a sense of optimism around Rangers again.

But even then things did not go entirely to plan initially. Rangers would lose their opening two games of the campaign and by Christmas they lay nine points behind Celtic, the equivalent of a thirteen point gap in today’s terms as it was two points for a win back then.

Then Souness signed Graham Roberts in December and Rangers’ form improved dramatically. Having lost five games in the first 24 matches, Rangers would go on a run of losing just one in the following 20. Celtic were not only caught, but surpassed and when Rangers  travelled to Pittodrie on 2 May 1987 all they needed was a win to secure their first league title in nine years.

The game itself was not a classic in terms of flair and skill. As these encounters so often are it was a blood and guts affair that was more about mettle than skill. Such an environment was perfect for the Rangers player-manager, but the season would end as it had begun for Graeme Souness – with a red card after 31 minutes.

Booked after only four minutes after a heavy tackle on Brian Irvine, Souness would take the long walk 25 minutes later after another stupid lunge earned him a second yellow. With the game tied at 0-0 it could have been a catastrophic act – but Rangers rallied and met the challenge.

Celtic were at home to Falkirk on the same day knowing that a win for Rangers would see them resigned to also-rans. But news from the north-east that Rangers were down to ten could have given them hope, despite them going a goal down to Falkirk after only 40 seconds. Celtic went into the game against Falkirk three points behind. If Rangers slipped up at Pittodrie, Celtic could have closed the gap to a point going into the last game of the season. But the battling spirit now injected into this Rangers squad would see them get the job done – with a little help from Falkirk.

For the second time in the season Souness is sent off.

The big moment came on the 40^th minute when Rangers won a free-kick just outside the box on the touchline. Cooper sent over an inviting cross and Terry Butcher rose to head the ball into the net, with Jim Leighton a stranded spectator. The scenes of celebration were exuberant as Rangers put one hand on the league title trophy.

The lead would only last four minutes, however, as Brian Irvine levelled for the Dons. As Rangers went in at half-time they knew there 45 minutes away from the title as things stood. They were level with Aberdeen and Celtic were a goal down to Falkirk.

The second-half was a bit of a non-event, with Aberdeen coming closest with an effort that hit the post. Celtic had equalised against Falkirk through a Brian McClair penalty but that did not change the dynamics – Rangers were still on course to be champions as long as they matched Celtic’s result.

With three minutes to go the news came through from Celtic Park that Jimmy Gilmour – nephew of Celtic legend Jimmy Johnstone – had put Falkirk 2-1 up. Barring a minor miracle Rangers had secured their 39^th league title.

When the final whistle went, the fans came on to the park in scenes of celebration that mirrored the images from Wembley in 1977 when Scotland had beat the Auld Enemy.

The fans celebrate on the Pittodrie pitch Picture courtesy of @OldRangersPics

Souness was emphatic in his summary, although apologetic about his sending off: “From a personal point of view it was not ideal”, he said. “At the end of the day I have let myself, my players and my family down. I am not proud of that. Watching the second-half from the stand was pure agony, but at the end of the day I was delighted for the fans who have waited so long for this moment. The league will always be my number one priority and once Graham Roberts joined Terry Butcher and Chris Woods at the club, we got the response from the other players.”

Terry Butcher, who has just became the first man to captain Rangers to a league title since John Greig, was equally as delighted: “It’s been a tremendous year. The signing of Graham Roberts was the turning point. He took a lot of pressure off me. And now I have doubles my medal tally in one year”.

Graham Roberts, the man who had proved to be the final piece of the jigsaw in what was a memorable campaign said: “I knew as soon as we caught Celtic we could do it. We knew then we were good enough. Although the nerves showed at times, it was a great finish to the season”

The following week at Ibrox Rangers would be presented with the league championship trophy in front a capacity crowd. They were scenes that had not been seen down Govan way for the best part of a decade. But under Souness, and then Walter Smith, they would almost become an annual event as Rangers would win ten of the next twelve league campaigns.

They Played At Ibrox

Johan Cruyff

A year ago today football lost one of its finest sons – if not the finest. The death of Johan Cruyff, after a short battle with cancer, deprived the world of arguably one the greatest sporting icons in history, with perhaps only Muhammad Ali eclipsing him.

Cruyff was part of a legendary Ajax team that lit up the game in late 60s and, particularly, in the early 70s. Their “Total Football” style would be the template used by the Dutch international side in the 1974 World Cup in Germany, and it should have been one that won it for them.

Famously a goal up in the final against West Germany before any west German had touched the ball, Holland would somehow contrive to lose the final 2-1 to the hosts and go down with the famous Brazil ’82 side as the greatest sides never to win the competition.

Cruyff would also famously move to Barcelona and secure the Catalan club their first La Liga title for 16 years, but it is the golden era with Ajax between 1971 and 1973, when the Amsterdam club won three consecutive European Cup’s and became world club champions by beating Independiente of Argentina 1-0 in the Intercontinental Cup, that Cruyff is most remembered for.

Picture courtesy of @oldrangerspics

 

And it was during this glorious era when Cruyff and Ajax rocked up Edmiston Drive to the famous old ground on 16 January, 1973 to take part in what would become the European Super Cup. The game was officially organised as part of Rangers’ centenary celebrations, and also to offset the lack of European football that season after Uefa’s ridiculous decision to deny the club the opportunity to defend their European Cup Winners’ Cup title after the trouble in Barcelona, which was largely started by the Spanish police’s overreaction to celebrating fans invading the field after the 3-2 victory against Moscow Dynamo.

When the fixture against Ajax was confirmed, the notion was raised that it could represent a challenge game between the winners of the top two European trophies, and so the game became a two-legged affair to decide the winner.

Ajax were officially the best club side in the world at the time and Rangers would learn the hard way just how good they were.

Over 60,000 supporters crammed into see Rangers take on the Dutch masters and they would not be disappointed – even in the face of defeat.

Ajax took the lead on 34 minutes thanks to a goal by Johnny Rep. But even when he wasn’t scoring them Cruyff was usually involved – and so it was on this occasion as he sent the ball through that allowed rep to put the Amsterdam side 1-0 up.

Rangers were up against it and largely chasing shadows for long periods of the first-half, but incredibly they found a way back into the game through Alex MacDonald on the 40^th minute. Alfie Conn the supplier who allowed wee “Doddie” the opportunity to shoot low and hard past the Ajax keeper Heinz Stuy and in off the post.

Rangers it seemed were back in the game, but such was the mastery of this Ajax side, and it’s talismanic leader, parity was held for a mere four minutes before Cruyff struck what could be considered the goal of the night and one that would have graced any occasion.

Cruyff scores at Ibrox in January 1973. Big Derek Johnstone, having being sold a dummy by Cruyff, is out of the shot.

 

Put through on goal but heading wide, Cruyff was set to shoot with his right foot. Sensing the danger, Derek Johnston went in to block him. In a moment of Cruyff mastery, he dragged the ball back away from Johnstone and onto his left-foot, then shot past the now exposed and helpless Peter McCloy.

Rangers made a change for the second-half, with Alfie Conn departing to make way for Tommy McLean and it was a moved that paid dividend for Rangers as they enjoyed their best period in the match and dominated the European and world club champions.

Indeed Derek Johnstone, John Greig, Quinton Young and Derek Parlane all had great chances to score and bring Rangers back into the game and tie, but Ajax weathered the considerable Rangers storm and put the game and tie to bed on 71 minutes when Arie Haan made it 3-1 after running onto a through ball from Barrie Hulshoff.

Despite the result the home support stayed on after the final whistle to cheer their heroes and the firework display that had been arranged as part of the centenary celebrations.

Cruyff heaped praise on Rangers after the game stating: “Our first 45 minutes were the best we’ve played all season. We were well on top then, but in the second-half Rangers really came at us.

“They are a young side. When they get more international experiences they can really go places. I like the full-back Jardine. Greig is good, too. Forsyth impressed me and the substitute McLean is obviously a good player”.

Manager Jock Wallace was blunt in his assessment of the game: “The difference between the two sides was that Ajax took their chances and we didn’t. If we can take them in Amsterdam, I still think we can win. The Dutch team are definitely world class and I was pleased at the way our lads went at them”.

The second-leg would prove no easier on Rangers who would perform well on the night but go down again 3-2 meaning Ajax were crowned as winners of the inaugural European Super Cup – their supremacy in European and world football undeniable and unchallenged. At forefront of that side was the genius that was Johan Cruyff. Iconic, gifted and strongly opinionated to the point of stubbornness in his belief in how the game should be played.

He was a true giant of the game, and the Bears who were lucky enough to witness him display his talent on that cold January night in Govan 44 years ago, witnessed a true giant of the game in action.

 

Centenary/Super Cup Challenge Match 

Ibrox Park, 16 January, 1973

Rangers 1 Ajax 3

Scorers

Rangers – MacDonald (40)

Ajax – Rep (34), Cruyff (44), Haan (71)

Rangers

McCloy, Jardine, Mathieson, Greig, Johnstone, Smith, Conn, Forsyth, Parlane, MacDonald, Young.

Ajax

Stuy, Suurbier, Hulshoff, Blankenberg, Krol, G. Muhren, Haan, A. Murhen, Rep, Cruyff, Keizer.

Referee

McKenzie – Larbert