Although I’ve enjoyed reading this Forum for a number of years as a “visitor” I thought it was about time I signed up and participated with my fellow fans and this thread seems as good as any.
I grew up in the south-west of Glasgow and in boyhood made my way to watch Rangers by the old 23 bus service [Midland Street to Govan Cross] getting off on Paisley Road West and walking to Ibrox. I attended my 1st game in October 1960 and still can recall the thrill of approaching the stadium as an awe-struck wee boy.
When I walked up the cinder and wooden edged steps at, what later came to be more widely known than it was then, as Stairway 13 to the rim of the vast arena that I gazed down upon I was captivated and even the disappointment of Rangers losing [1 nil to what was a very good Dundee team at that time] couldn’t halt my determination to be back as soon and as often as I could.
My Mum had been widowed when I was two years old so it was a case of me going with pals from school and while we weren’t allowed to go the “big” games such as the Old Firm or European matches we settled for going to watch Rangers against the smaller teams and also to Reserve League games which were at the time played at Ibrox when fans watched from the Main Stand Enclosure.
I was lucky enough to see the young Jim Forest, Alex Willoughby, Willie Henderson and Bobby Watson but there many other fine players like Wilson Wood, Denis Setterington and the talented wingers Derek Trail and Craig Watson. In those pre- substitute days it was hard for young players to break through to the First 11 yet several would have graced the subs bench, had it existed, and probably gone on to feature in many more games than they achieved with Rangers.
A few years later I watched Alex Ferguson throughout his time at Ibrox. He was a hard-working, somewhat ungainly in his running style, old-school centre forward who knew what to do with the ball when in front of the goal. He could look after himself on the pitch but in those days you needed to able to withstand the kind of challenges that simply aren’t allowed in football today. He was “all elbows” but as a means of self-protection he needed them to shield himself from defenders and in his role in the team they were almost as useful to him as his boots.
Although I once saw him score with a header from the edge of the 18 yard box at the Copland Road end [in a Fairs Cup game against Cologne as I recall] I don’t remember Fergie as someone who scored “great” goals. He was really much more an instinctive player who took up positions where a predatory forward like him would punish opposing defences, and he regularly did.
He never hid in games and it was obvious that he knew what it meant to wear the blue jersey and so gave his all, as you would expect of someone who grew up as a Rangers fan. He was popular with the fans on the terraces and we all wanted him to succeed. I really believe he would have thrived in a forward line alongside Colin Stein with Willie Henderson and “Bud” Johnston supplying the ammunition from the wings. Davie White, as history shows, didn’t see it that way!
The 1969 Cup Final was a real horror show but it is wrong to scapegoat Alex Ferguson as the whole team under-performed. I remember my grandfather [who had good contacts inside Ibrox] telling me in the days after the game that Fergie wasn’t at fault for losing Billy McNeil. He maintained that although he had been assigned to mark him, Ronnie McKinnon had shouted, as the corner from which the goal was scored was about to be taken, that he would pick McNeil up.
Unfortunately, the ball was whipped in before he got there and it left Fergie looking like he’d failed in his duty. Bad though losing that early goal was, Rangers had plenty of time to recover but failed to hit the form they had shown earlier in the competition and conceded some cheap goals to be 3 nil down at half-time. It's sad that the outcome of that one game is regarded as defining his contribution as a Rangers player and so permanently tarnishing Fergie in so many people’s minds
This brings me to the point I wanted to make about Alex Ferguson, which I learned many years after his playing days had ended when he was already enjoying success as manager of Manchester United, and came from a chap who had been part of the Rangers reserve team squad in the late 1960’s. He would have been a decent player to have been on the books though never made the first team and his entire spell with Rangers was spent with many other hopefuls that didn’t quite make it.
In those days the reserves would head to the St Enoch Hotel to unwind over a few drinks after their home games. It was a venue that, historically, was always associated with Rangers as it was where Cup triumphs were celebrated so its’ allure to the young colts was obvious. Alex Ferguson was then .a member of the First Team squad so would be with the travelling party at wherever Rangers played when they were away from home, generally in the starting eleven.
Yet, when the team coach returned to Glasgow he invariably made a point of joining the young reserve players in their post-match get together when they were chewing over how their game had gone. Fergie wanted to know all about their match, who scored, played well and so on and was a constant source of encouragement to the young aspirants. No other first team players ever did that but the kids in the reserves got a huge lift from him being there and showing genuine interest.
As I said, I was told about this many years afterwards but have no reason to doubt it and I’ve often wondered if that perhaps explained why he was, notably with United, prepared to place his trust in youth players especially those whom he recognised had real talent e.g. the “Class of 92”