Rangers History Ronnie McKinnon - Rangers Centre Half 1962-71

MO_TxTruBlu

MO_TxTruBlu

Well-Known Member
Although he made his debut as a wing half in March of 1961, it would be a year later that Ronnie McKinnon made the Ranger's centre half position, his very own for virtually the next decade.
He would play in Rangers final 7 games of the 61-62 campaign, picking up a Scottish Cup Winners medal v St Mirren.

By the start of the 62-63 campaign, McKinnon along with John Greig and Willie Henderson would establish themselves as permanent fixtures in the Rangers side.
In the following nine seasons, McKinnon would play in all but 20 of Rangers next 306 League Games.

McKinnon was not the typical towering Centre Half that one had come to expect of that position,
instead, McKinnon was a slim 150lbs, 6 ft tall, with blistering pace and a dedication to continually improve his aerial abilities.
Despite being given a torrid time in his first two Old Firm outings against the powerful John Hughes, McKinnon went onto win the League and Scottish Cup double in his first full season, in a Rangers defence that conceded fewer than 30 League goals for, the first time in seven years, since the mid fifties with George Young.
The 28 Goals conceded was a vast improvement on the previous 6 seasons, which had seen Rangers leak on average, 44 League Goals a season.
That 62-63 season included doing the league double over Celtic with a 1-0 victory at Parkhead and a 4-0 romping on New Years day at Ibrox.
The Scottish Cup was secured with that famous 3-0 replay v Celtic that gave birth to the 'Easy Easy' chant.

In the thirty days between April 27th and May 27th of that season, Rangers played a staggering 9 League games and 2 Scottish Cup Finals.(and still won the League with 9 points to spare) Ronnie McKinnon played in 10 of those 11 games.

That season also saw a famous victory for Scotland at Wembley as Jim Baxter scored both goals in a 2-1 win, where captain Eric Caldow received a horrible leg break.
Team mates Henderson and Wilson were also in that Scotland side.

McKinnon's second full season, 1963-64, saw that great Rangers side sweep all before them, as they collected the coveted Treble, for only the second time in history.
Ritchie Shearer, Provan, Greig, McKinnon, Baxter, Henderson, Brand. Forrest, McLean and Wilson,
with Jimmy Millar only making 28 appearances that season.

The trophies continued into the following season, 64-65, as Rangers (led by Jim Baxter) lifted the League Cup with an impressive 2-1 win v Celtic in a classic Final.
This was Rangers SIXTH Consecutive Domestic Trophy.

In Europe. Rangers look destined to fall at the first hurdle again in the European Cup, as they had done the previous season to Real Madrid.
Having defeated Red Star Belgrade 3-1 at Ibrox, in the First Round (first leg), they found themselves down and virtually out as Red Star had built up a well deserved 4-1 lead in the return..until McKinnon struck with a rare goal in the last minute.
here is a report from that game.
"Rangers looked a beaten team when Melic scored a glorious fourth 13 minutes from time.
With only 60 seconds to an inevitable defeat, a corner kick for Rangers, was the last thing that was expected at this stage of the tie. Nevertheless Wilson broke away on the left, jostled with the Red Star right back and won a corner kick. Wilson flighted this vital shot, the goalkeeper failed to allow for the outswing and Forrest, jumping high, headed the ball off the crossbar. McKinnon jumped, lunged with his head, and with perfect placing and power hit the ball into the roof of the net. McKinnon had saved the day."
Rangers would go on to win the Play off 3-1 at Highbury, then beat Rapid Vienna home and away, before losing out narrowly in the quarter Finals to the world club champions Inter Milan (2-3).

Despite their incredible domination, and 6 domestic trophies on the trot in two years, Rangers would lift only two more trophies in the next 7 years of McKinnon's career.
McKinnon picked up a lot of silver medals in that period of 65-71, finishing a runner up 10 times..in 2 League Cups, 2 Scottish Cups, and 5 League Championships, all lost to Celtic!
He also went all the way to the 67' European Cup Winners Cup Final, losing 0-1(aet) to Bayern Munich, in Germany.

The two trophies won in that period was 66' Scottish Cup Final, when John Greig led Rangers to a 1-0 replay win over Celtic, with that Kai Johansen winner.
It would be more than four years before Rangers ever saw silverware again, thanks to a goal from the 16 year old Derek Johnstone.
In the absence of John Greig, Ronnie McKinnon Captained Rangers to the League Cup win in 1970.

Sadly, in the season that Rangers would finally lift a European Trophy, Ronnie McKinnon's career would come to an abrupt end, when he was carried off with a double fracture to his right leg in the away tie to Sporting Lisbon.
Despite not playing in Barcelona in 1972, Jock Wallace insisted that Ronnie McKinnon was given 1 of the 13 Medals that Rangers received, for his great services to the club.

McKinnon made his Scotland debut at Hampden in 1965 (when Manager Jock Stein preferred him to Billy McNeill)in the legendary 1-0 victory over Italy in a World Cup Qualifier, and despite the competition for places from the likes of McNeill, McLintock and Yeats,
McKinnon would start in 28 of Scotland's next 37 internationals between 65' and 71'.
He was Scotland's centre half in the famous 3-2 win at Wembley in 67'.

His twin brother Donnie played centre half for Partick Thistle.

Stats;
Born - Glasgow Aug 20th 1940
Debut - v Hearts, March 8th 1961

Games Played
League .......- 301
Scottish Cup ..- 44
League Cup.....- 83
European.......- 45
Total - 473 Games

Medals won
League Championship - 2
Scottish Cup - 4
League Cup - 3

Scotland...28 Caps.
 
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The McKinnon v McNeill debate

eb8ee1e5fdc049a55779758c6f653829.jpg


Even today it is often discussed, sometimes hotly disputed, as to who was the better centre half during that period.
Here is my take on it.

Billy McNeill was a very good Centre Half, commanding in the air, an inspired Captain, a good leader, and he chipped in with a few important goals over the years.
As a defender, he had his weaknesses though, he was often destroyed by the sheer power, strength and guile of Jimmy Millar,
he was taken to the cleaners a few times, by a speedy two footed teenager called Jim Forrest.
As much as Stein saw the leadership qualities in McNeill, he was smart enough to see his weaknesses as well, and set about playing the unheralded, but vitally important, John Clark behind him, as a sweeper.
Even with all his experience and aerial command, McNeill (along with Jim Craig), could not prevent a 16 year old from out-jumping them both, to head the winner in the 1970 League Cup Final


Ronnie McKinnon was an excellent Centre Half, a cool, composed, determined, intelligent player. He tackled fairly and often, he had great pace, and also knew when to kick the ball clean out of touch, to yon folk up there in the seats.
McKinnon was very good in the air. He read the game very well, and did his job with precision, rarely exposed, he would collect that ball, feed it to Greig, Baxter, Dave Smith, and let them do the rest.

It was Jock Stein (Whilst manager of both Celtic and Scotland) who gave Ronnie McKinnon his International debut, at the expense of McNeill.....and this was no meaningless Friendly, to bring in the untried,
this was a must win World Cup Qualifier at home to Italy.
The previous match had seen Stein go with McNeill in the World Cup Qualifier v Poland at Hampden.
McNeill with 19 Caps had now fashioned Scotland's Centre Half berth as his own, having been selected in all of the last six internationals.
Indeed it was McNeill who opened the scoring, after only 5 mins to give Scotland the lead and well on our way to England 66'.
Unfortunately, two errors in the last 5 mins, gave Poland a surprising, and devastating 2-1 win.
Scotland's next match was a must win, and Stein opted to drop his Captain, and introduce Ronnie McKinnon of Rangers, to International football.
McKinnon did not disappoint, as he and his fellow team mates Greig, and Provan restricted the Italians to zero.
It was John Greig who scored that famous winner in the 88th minute.

Despite the competition around at the time, Billy McNeill, Jackie McGrory, Ron Yeats, Ian Ure, Frank McLintock etc.
Ronnie McKinnon was above all of them, and would get the nod in 17 of the next 19 Internationals that Scotland played between that World Cup qualifier v Italy in Nov 65' until the WCQ v West Germany in April 69'.
And lest we forget, He was very much a part of that fantastic Half Back Line of Greig, McKinnon, Baxter, that annihilated the World Champions 3-2 in their own backyard at Wembley 67'.
Despite McNeill picking up all the trophies, and accolades during that period, there was simply no contest, as to who was the better Centre Half.

After missing out on the Home Internationals in May 69', McKinnon returned to national service in Sept , and would start in all the next 9 Games for Scotland, between Sept 69' and April 71'.
Once again he would miss out on the Home Internationals in May 71', as Frank McLintock, who had led Arsenal to a historic Double, for only the second time it had been achieved so far, that Century, was brought in.
Scotland failed miserably, drawing 0-0 with Wales, losing 0-1 to Northern Ireland at Hampden, and losing 1-3 to the English at Wembley.
McKinnon was back in the Scotland team for the European Qualifier v Denmark in June 71', and for the friendly v Russia.

On November 3rd 1971, Ronnie McKinnon suffered a double fracture of the right leg, in a European Cup Winners Cup tie.
His career was abruptly ended!

During the time that both Billy McNeill, and Ronnie McKinnon were vying for that Centre Half spot for Scotland, the much less decorated McKinnon, won four times as many Caps for Scotland.
Ronnie McKinnon collected 28 Caps, between 1965 and 1971 whilst McNeill won 7 Caps during that well decorated span of his career.
Of McNeill's other 22 Caps, 19 came before McKinnon had played for Scotland, and 3 more came in the 72' Home Internationals after McKinnon was finished.

Billy McNeill got 29 Scotland Caps, in an 11 year International career, from the time he made his debut in that 3-9 Loss to England in 61', until a much more respectful 0-1 loss to England in 72'

Ronnie McKinnon got 28 Scotland Caps, in half that time, between Nov 65' and June 71'.

They were both good, but McKinnon was better, far better!
 
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Great player and servant to Rangers, but the first thing that pops into my head when I hear his name is how his hair was always freshly Brylcreemed and combed when running out the tunnel after half time.
I seem to have had an unhealthy interest in our players' physical appearance when I was a boy.
 
MO_TxTruBlu said:
The McKinnon v McNeill debate

eb8ee1e5fdc049a55779758c6f653829.jpg


Even today it is often discussed, sometimes hotly disputed, as to who was the better centre half during that period.
Here is my take on it.

Billy McNeill was a very good Centre Half, commanding in the air, an inspired Captain, a good leader, and he chipped in with a few important goals over the years.
As a defender, he had his weaknesses though, he was often destroyed by the sheer power, strength and guile of Jimmy Millar,
he was taken to the cleaners a few times, by a speedy two footed teenager called Jim Forrest.
As much as Stein saw the leadership qualities in McNeill, he was smart enough to see his weaknesses as well, and set about playing the unheralded, but vitally important, John Clark behind him, as a sweeper.
Even with all his experience and aerial command, McNeill (along with Jim Craig), could not prevent a 16 year old from out-jumping them both, to head the winner in the 1970 League Cup Final


Ronnie McKinnon was an excellent Centre Half, a cool, composed, determined, intelligent player. He tackled fairly and often, he had great pace, and also knew when to kick the ball clean out of touch, to yon folk up there in the seats.
In spite of being a couple inches short of 6ft, McKinnon was very good in the air. He read the game very well, and did his job with precision, rarely exposed, he would collect that ball, feed it to Greig, Baxter, Dave Smith, and let them do the rest.

It was Jock Stein (Whilst manager of both Celtic and Scotland) who gave Ronnie McKinnon his International debut, at the expense of McNeill.....and this was no meaningless Friendly, to bring in the untried,
this was a must win World Cup Qualifier at home to Italy.
The previous match had seen Stein go with McNeill in the World Cup Qualifier v Poland at Hampden.
McNeill with 19 Caps had now fashioned Scotland's Centre Half berth as his own, having been selected in all of the last six internationals.
Indeed it was McNeill who opened the scoring, after only 5 mins to give Scotland the lead and well on our way to England 66'.
Unfortunately, two errors in the last 5 mins, gave Poland a surprising, and devastating 2-1 win.
Scotland's next match was a must win, and Stein opted to drop his Captain, and introduce Ronnie McKinnon of Rangers, to International football.
McKinnon did not disappoint, as he and his fellow team mates Greig, and Provan restricted the Italians to zero.
It was John Greig who scored that famous winner in the 88th minute.

Despite the competition around at the time, Billy McNeill, Jackie McGrory, Ron Yeats, Ian Ure, Frank McLintock etc.
Ronnie McKinnon was above all of them, and would get the nod in 17 of the next 19 Internationals that Scotland played between that World Cup qualifier v Italy in Nov 65' until the WCQ v West Germany in April 69'.
And lest we forget, He was very much a part of that fantastic Half Back Line of Greig, McKinnon, Baxter, that annihilated the World Champions 3-2 in their own backyard at Wembley 67'.
Despite McNeill picking up all the trophies, and accolades during that period, there was simply no contest, as to who was the better Centre Half.

After missing out on the Home Internationals in May 69', McKinnon returned to national service in Sept , and would start in all the next 9 Games for Scotland, between Sept 69' and April 71'.
Once again he would miss out on the Home Internationals in May 71', as Frank McLintock, who had led Arsenal to a historic Double, for only the second time it had been achieved so far, that Century, was brought in.
Scotland failed miserably, drawing 0-0 with Wales, losing 0-1 to Northern Ireland at Hampden, and losing 1-3 to the English at Wembley.
McKinnon was back in the Scotland team for the European Qualifier v Denmark in June 71', and for the friendly v Russia.

On November 3rd 1971, Ronnie McKinnon suffered a double fracture of the right leg, in a European Cup Winners Cup tie.
His career was abruptly ended!

During the time that both Billy McNeill, and Ronnie McKinnon were vying for that Centre Half spot for Scotland, the much less decorated McKinnon, won four times as many Caps for Scotland.
Ronnie McKinnon collected 28 Caps, between 1965 and 1971 whilst McNeill won 7 Caps during that well decorated span of his career.
Of McNeill's other 22 Caps, 19 came before McKinnon had played for Scotland, and 3 more came in the 72' Home Internationals after McKinnon was finished.

Billy McNeill got 29 Scotland Caps, in an 11 year International career, from the time he made his debut in that 3-9 Loss to England in 61', until a much more respectful 0-1 loss to England in 72'

Ronnie McKinnon got 28 Scotland Caps, in half that time, between Nov 65' and June 71'.

They were both good, but McKinnon was better, far better!
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"A modern day centre half way before his time" is how the older bears in my family often describe him.

Blessed with blistering pace apparently and was outstanding against Greaves and Hurst at Wembley in '67.
 
Remember my older brother had a poster of him (from the Evening Citizen) on his wall. I thought I had seen him play but 1971 was a little before my time
 
i have to disagree with you the McKinnon -McNeill but in my opinion i thought McNeill was the better of the two.just my opinion.
 
funny things you remember ,when he broke into the team he allways seemed to have a sun tan ,great player ,one of my favorites ,McNeill who cares .
 
A super centre half and on his worst day, he was better than McNeill. The Celtic defender couldn`t cope with physical strength and pace whereas Ronnie was both strong and quick.
 
I seen Ronnie score for Scotland v Wales. Rangers end as well.

Something that's always puzzled me. I realise formations were different but Greig was 4 and Baxter was 6. As far as I was aware both were midfield players or wing halfs as they were called then. Clark paired with McNeill. Who paired with Ronnie in the early sixties?
 
Great thread,brings back great memories.Ronnie has always been my favorite Rangers CH of all time.
Too bad bad that younger Bears never got to watch him play.
When we do our favorite Rangers Team of all time he barely gets a mention,sad.
For someone of his stature he was amazing,timed his jumps to perfection,to constantly out jump guys way
taller than him,his positional sense was excellent,and no one could out play him on the ground.
Also enjoyed the Thread on Sasa earlier,my favorite left back all time also.:)
 
I always love your articles about the games and players from the sixties. I was just a little too young to fully appreciate the events of that time and Ronnie's contribution to our great club.

Look forward to reading more from you in the future
 
Woodrow Call said:
I seen Ronnie score for Scotland v Wales. Rangers end as well.

Something that's always puzzled me. I realise formations were different but Greig was 4 and Baxter was 6. As far as I was aware both were midfield players or wing halfs as they were called then. Clark paired with McNeill. Who paired with Ronnie in the early sixties?
Click to expand...

Although we still talked about wing halves, which were a feature of the old 2-3-5 formation, by this time virtually all teams had adopted the 4-2-4 pioneered (I think) by the great Brazilian sides. In effect, one of the half backs (Greig in this case) became a second centre half while the other became one of two "link men" (midfielders). Similarly of the two inside forwards, 8 and 10, one became the second midfielder (Ian McMillan, sometimes Jimmy Millar) while the other was a second striker (Ralph Brand in our case). Greig is a confusing case because he also played in midfield when Dave Smith came into our defence, as well as right back, left back, etc.
 
bluehaddie said:
Although we still talked about wing halves, which were a feature of the old 2-3-5 formation, by this time virtually all teams had adopted the 4-2-4 pioneered (I think) by the great Brazilian sides. In effect, one of the half backs (Greig in this case) became a second centre half while the other became one of two "link men" (midfielders). Similarly of the two inside forwards, 8 and 10, one became the second midfielder (Ian McMillan, sometimes Jimmy Millar) while the other was a second striker (Ralph Brand in our case). Greig is a confusing case because he also played in midfield when Dave Smith came into our defence, as well as right back, left back, etc.
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66 was when I started to take a real interest. As far as I was aware the young Greig was a powerful pushing forward midfield player as his goal v Italy demonstrates.

The veteran Greig while wearing 3 never really pushed forward. Coops first season must have been a nightmare having a right footed fullback who never came past you. That said a glorious treble probably made up for it:D:D
 
Woodrow Call said:
I seen Ronnie score for Scotland v Wales. Rangers end as well.

Something that's always puzzled me. I realise formations were different but Greig was 4 and Baxter was 6. As far as I was aware both were midfield players or wing halfs as they were called then. Clark paired with McNeill. Who paired with Ronnie in the early sixties?
Click to expand...

In the early sixties, I would say no one....I think of us playing almost a 3-3-4 formation as opposed to a 2-3-5, with Shearer McKinnon and Caldow as our defenders, McMillan, Greig and Baxter as our midfielders, with possibly Greig playing a little bit deeper/defensively, allowing McMillan and Baxter to be the creators for our wingers Henderson and Wilson, and our twin strikers in Millar and Brand.

By the mid to late sixties, a lot of teams would play a 4-2-4 formation, and I would say Greig or Dave Smith would be the man that would partner McKinnon in Defence.
Celtic operated Clark as a sweeper behind McNeill to cover his inadequacies on the ground and his lack of pace, McKinnon did not have such weaknesses.

By the early seventies Jackson and McKinnon were a Central Defensive pair in a back Four.
 
Woodrow Call said:
66 was when I started to take a real interest. As far as I was aware the young Greig was a powerful pushing forward midfield player as his goal v Italy demonstrates.

The veteran Greig while wearing 3 never really pushed forward. Coops first season must have been a nightmare having a right footed fullback who never came past you. That said a glorious treble probably made up for it:D:D
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He played right back in that game against Italy.
 
I remember him being described by my old man as having a head like a threeppeny bit - when he jumped for the ball it could end up anywhere
But that was nonsense - to be fair- he was less prone to the odd error than most in that position & I have great memories of him bossing the grey and green in particular
Wonderful central defender that's exactly what we've needed for at least the last 4 seasons
 
I always thought Ronnie McKinnon was the better defender but with Billy McNeill probably scoring more goals than Ronnie, this may have given the impression that he (McNeill) was the better centre half. I agree you could get to McNeill with a physical centre forward like Jimmy Millar or someone with pace like Jim Forrest. All a matter of opinions of course.
 
MO_TxTruBlu said:
In the early sixties, I would say no one....I think of us playing almost a 3-3-4 formation as opposed to a 2-3-5, with Shearer McKinnon and Caldow as our defenders, McMillan, Greig and Baxter as our midfielders, with possibly Greig playing a little bit deeper/defensively, allowing McMillan and Baxter to be the creators for our wingers Henderson and Wilson, and our twin strikers in Millar and Brand.

By the mid to late sixties, a lot of teams would play a 4-2-4 formation, and I would say Greig or Dave Smith would be the man that would partner McKinnon in Defence.
Celtic operated Clark as a sweeper behind McNeill to cover his inadequacies on the ground and his lack of pace, McKinnon did not have such weaknesses.

By the early seventies Jackson and McKinnon were a Central Defensive pair in a back Four.
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I agree with just about all of that apart from the last paragraph. I'm pretty sure that in the early seventies Dave Smith had made the 6 jersey his own and that Jackson did not become a first pick until Ronnie retired.
 
Good stuff.

As an addition I have it on good authority that as well as being a good footballer he was also a bit of a ladies man!!!
 
Great read........................a lot is made nowadays on how much the game has changed and how the stars of the past would find it hard to adapt, but Ronnie McKinnon was a footballing center half with skill, awareness, pace & power who imo would have had no problems adapting to, and doing well in the modern game...............
 
Ronnietheranger said:
Great read........................a lot is made nowadays on how much the game has changed and how the stars of the past would find it hard to adapt, but Ronnie McKinnon was a footballing center half with skill, awareness, pace & power who imo would have had no problems adapting to, and doing well in the modern game...............
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Check the pic of Ronnie and McNeill further up. If you could play football on that today's pitches would be a dream. Ibrox and the midden were like that December to March.
 
Woodrow Call said:
I agree with just about all of that apart from the last paragraph. I'm pretty sure that in the early seventies Dave Smith had made the 6 jersey his own and that Jackson did not become a first pick until Ronnie retired.
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You are wrong!

Season 1970-71
Colin Jackson was virtually an ever present in the Rangers side starting in 52 of the 53 Games we played that season, which is more than any other player did.
Ronnie McKinnon started in 51 of the 53 Games that season.
They were without doubt our Centre Back pairing that season.
No other player played as many Games as these two did in 1970-71
Dave Smith who suffered two leg breaks in a year, only started in 13 Games, and 2 as a Sub.
Of the 13 games he Started, 12 were between Christmas and March, and in all 12 of those Games, Smith wore the No. 10 shirt (operating as a midfielder).

At the start of the 71-72 season McKinnon played 22 games (inc 5 pre-season) before his career ending injury.
Of those 22 games McKinnon was partnered by Jackson in 16 of them, and by Smith in 5 of them, before his injury on Nov 3rd in Portugal (and it was Dave Smith who came off the bench to replace him in that game).
 
MO_TxTruBlu said:
You are wrong!

Season 1970-71
Colin Jackson was virtually an ever present in the Rangers side starting in 52 of the 53 Games we played that season, which is more than any other player did.
Ronnie McKinnon started in 51 of the 53 Games that season.
They were without doubt our Centre Back pairing that season.
No other player played as many Games as these two did in 1970-71
Dave Smith who suffered two leg breaks in a year, only started in 13 Games, and 2 as a Sub.
Of the 13 games he Started, 12 were between Christmas and March, and in all 12 of those Games, Smith wore the No. 10 shirt (operating as a midfielder).

At the start of the 71-72 season McKinnon played 22 games (inc 5 pre-season) before his career ending injury.
Of those 22 games McKinnon was partnered by Jackson in 16 of them, and by Smith in 5 of them, before his injury on Nov 3rd in Portugal (and it was Dave Smith who came off the bench to replace him in that game).
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Brilliant put down:D:D

I was just going on memory. Where do you get all this mate? It's like a history lesson:D
 
Brilliant tribute to a terrific Rangers player.

A few years ago I got hold of a DVD of the entire England v Scotland 1967 game. Jim Baxter got all the headlines and was class in flashes, but I thought Ronnie McKinnon was overall the best player on the park.

His picture was on my wall for years, holding up the 1970 League Cup. First Rangers captain I remember lifting a trophy.
 
Woodrow Call said:
Brilliant put down:D:D

I was just going on memory. Where do you get all this mate? It's like a history lesson:D
Click to expand...

;)

My memory isn't that good,
though I do remember more about the 1960's/70's than I do about say the last 6 or 7 years!

Those stats come from books.

For the record here are the guys who lined up alongside McKinnon the most (at least 100 Games).

..................................................Ritchie

.........Johansen.............McKinnon........D.Smith......................Provan

.......................Greig..........................................Baxter

Henderson...................Forrest..............Johnston...................Wilson

Subs. N.Martin, B.Shearer, W.Mathieson, S.Jardine, A.Penman, G.McLean, J.Millar, R.Brand, C.Stein.
 
Had the pleasure of being on a Founders Trail with him and his pals, and talking to him about the goal against Wales, as a player he was never caught with a ball, it was always safety first and boot it out for a shy.
 
MO_TxTruBlu said:
;)

My memory isn't that good,
though I do remember more about the 1960's/70's than I do about say the last 6 or 7 years!

Those stats come from books.

For the record here are the guys who lined up alongside McKinnon the most (at least 100 Games).

..................................................Ritchie

.........Johansen.............McKinnon........D.Smith......................Provan

.......................Greig..........................................Baxter

Henderson...................Forrest..............Johnston...................Wilson

Subs. N.Martin, B.Shearer, W.Mathieson, S.Jardine, A.Penman, G.McLean, J.Millar, R.Brand, C.Stein.
Click to expand...
Yes, Ronnie McKinnon was an excellent centre half and earned his Scottish cap when there was a genuine competition for places. These days there is a tendency to look around for those players that we should consider signing. But take a look at the team, which MO has listed. There are only three players, Johansen, D Smith and Baxter who were signed from other clubs. The others either came through our youth system or were signed from the Juniors. Of the nine names listed as subs five were transferred in. We had a very strong team back then and for whatever reason, we haven’t been too successful in bringing on our own players for quite a long time now.
 
deedle said:
I thought Ronnie McKinnon was the key player in Scotland's 3-2 victory over England at Wembley in 1967.
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I watched the game again fairly recently and my initial view was vindicated,in that McKinnon along with Bobby Charlton were the best performers on the day. Slim Jim got all the headlines with his keepy uppy and piss taking but Ronnie was better.
 
MO_TxTruBlu said:
;)

My memory isn't that good,
though I do remember more about the 1960's/70's than I do about say the last 6 or 7 years!

Those stats come from books.

For the record here are the guys who lined up alongside McKinnon the most (at least 100 Games).

..................................................Ritchie

.........Johansen.............McKinnon........D.Smith......................Provan

.......................Greig..........................................Baxter

Henderson...................Forrest..............Johnston...................Wilson

Subs. N.Martin, B.Shearer, W.Mathieson, S.Jardine, A.Penman, G.McLean, J.Millar, R.Brand, C.Stein.
Click to expand...

Good side.
 
Alex Venters said:
I watched the game again fairly recently and my initial view was vindicated,in that McKinnon along with Bobby Charlton were the best performers on the day. Slim Jim got all the headlines with his keepy uppy and piss taking but Ronnie was better.
Click to expand...

Denis who had been on the end of the 9 goal hiding wanted to take a load off them. Jim just wanted to rip the piss.
 
dh1963 said:
Brilliant tribute to a terrific Rangers player.

A few years ago I got hold of a DVD of the entire England v Scotland 1967 game. Jim Baxter got all the headlines and was class in flashes, but I thought Ronnie McKinnon was overall the best player on the park.

His picture was on my wall for years, holding up the 1970 League Cup. First Rangers captain I remember lifting a trophy.
Click to expand...


My dad has got that DVD too and I've watched it with him a couple of times.

As you rightly say, McKinnon was outstanding in the game and totally dominated Greaves and Hurst.
 
Well McNeil was a good ch but Ronnie was a better all round player only one player that ever matched him for speed was a player called Lubanskie not sure about spelling. Think Polish. No player got past him when came to speed .
 
What is not well known is that Ronnie played in the Berwick game with broken ribs, forced to by Scot Symon , maybe fully fit, Reid would not have had a kick at the ball.
 
One of my saddest recollections in my time as a Rangers fan, and I've been foie grassed this last six years , was watching Ronnie McKinnon walking out at h/t in a midweek game against Dunfermline, circa Nov 2013ish to make the Rising Stars draw, and there was barely a murmur from the support. (Moshni made it 3-1 with the last kick of the ball thus denying me the sweep money as I had 2-1 on my ticket)

Now I realise punters want their pies and Bovril mid game, but this man made more appearances for us in the 1960s than John Greig, and it was if 'Who he?'

We are beyond shocking at protecting and nurturing our illustrious history.
 
Tomted said:
Yes, Ronnie McKinnon was an excellent centre half and earned his Scottish cap when there was a genuine competition for places. These days there is a tendency to look around for those players that we should consider signing. But take a look at the team, which MO has listed. There are only three players, Johansen, D Smith and Baxter who were signed from other clubs. The others either came through our youth system or were signed from the Juniors. Of the nine names listed as subs five were transferred in. We had a very strong team back then and for whatever reason, we haven’t been too successful in bringing on our own players for quite a long time now.
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Very true.
If you look at the players Scot Symon signed in the early 1960's, we would generally only sign one new player every season.
60-61...Jim Baxter, Doug Baillie
61-62...Jim Christie
62-63...George McLean
63-64...no one
64-65...Tottie Beck
65-66...Kai Johansen
During that six year period we also sold the likes of Sammy Baird, Alex Scott, Bill Paterson, Billy Stevenson, Max Murray, Ian McMillan, Ralph Brand and Jim Baxter.
By the mid 1960's we had also lost the services of stalwarts such as Bobby Shearer, Eric Caldow and Harold Davis.

That was a whole team we lost in Shearer, Caldow, Davis, Paterson, Stevenson/Baxter,
Scott, McMillan, Murray, Brand and Baird.

That was 12 Players out, and only 6 in (of which only 3 could be considered a success).
We replaced most of those players from within the club with the likes of
John Greig, Ronnie McKinnon, Davie Provan, Willie Henderson, Jim Forrest and Willie Johnston who all had fantastic Rangers careers.

You have to remember there was no 'Transfer window' back then, and you could sign a new player at any time in the season (up until March, i think).

In 1966, Symon signed two new players in Dave Smith and Alex Smith.

In 1967 we showed our intentions by introducing Four new players to the team in Erik Sorenson, Andy Penman, Alex Ferguson and Orjan Persson .
That same year though, we had lost the services of Billy Ritchie, Jim Forrest, George McLean, Jimmy Millar and Davy Wilson.

Even when Davie White came in and when we needed a complete overhaul, White only bought Colin Stein and Alex MacDonald, then brought Jim Baxter back on a Free transfer, in his two year tenure.
 
wee bud's pit boots said:
One of my saddest recollections in my time as a Rangers fan, and I've been foie grassed this last six years , was watching Ronnie McKinnon walking out at h/t in a midweek game against Dunfermline, circa Nov 2013ish to make the Rising Stars draw, and there was barely a murmur from the support. (Moshni made it 3-1 with the last kick of the ball thus denying me the sweep money as I had 2-1 on my ticket)

Now I realise punters want their pies and Bovril mid game, but this man made more appearances for us in the 1960s than John Greig, and it was if 'Who he?'

We are beyond shocking at protecting and nurturing our illustrious history.
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My opinion is the HT stuff should be dumped. Everyone is in the concourses and at times it's embarrassing. I know I am. I'd imagine it's the same at most grounds across the country with Wembley being number one. Loads of the dear seats empty 15 minutes into the second half.
 
Woodrow Call said:
My opinion is the HT stuff should be dumped. Everyone is in the concourses and at times it's embarrassing. I know I am. I'd imagine it's the same at most grounds across the country with Wembley being number one. Loads of the dear seats empty 15 minutes into the second half.
Click to expand...


But the point I was mainly trying to get across, is that as a support, we didn't acknowledge Ronnie McKinnon on that night. Really sad.

My big thing is, we do not promote our history and heritage.

A hundred years from now, the filth will still be talking about wee stinky. That's an absolute.

While we are talking about Baxter or Morton or wee Henny is up for debate.
 
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