Born on this day, Ian McColl of the Iron Curtain

dh1963

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John Miller McColl, known to the football world as Ian McColl, was one of the most admired and respected figures in postwar Scottish football.

Born in Alexandria on June 7th 1927, he attended the Vale of Leven academy then left his Dunbartonshire home in 1943, when he was accepted by Glasgow University to study civil engineering. Once he got there, the teenager's talent for football saw him recruited by Queen's Park, the Glasgow club who were the pioneers of the British game but remained true to their amateur tradition.

McColl swiftly earned a place in the Queen's Park team, at right-half, playing 57 games. Two years later, in June 1945, he turned professional, with Rangers. However, McColl had continued his degree and he was a part-time player during his long career at Ibrox, working for Rangers and FJC Lilley, civil engineering contractors.

McColl was the grandson of William McColl, who played for the Dunbartonshire side Renton in the 1895 Scottish Cup final and was capped by Scotland. Ian made his Rangers debut on 16 August 1945, in a 4-2 win over Partick Thistle and went on to make 647 appearances, 538 of them in competitive matches. He won six League titles, five Scottish Cups and two Scottish League Cups.

McColl was an elegant player, yet his fame was established in the unglamorous trade of defending. He was part of a unit that was dubbed "The Iron Curtain" by the press as they kept out opposition forwards with such ease that Rangers had a defence lauded even more than magnificent attacking players like Willie Waddell and Willie Thornton. This group of men – the goalkeeper Bobby Brown and the full-backs George Young and Jock Shaw, with McColl, Willie Woodburn and Sammy Cox in front of them – played 353 out of 360 League games between 1948 and 1950.

He remained at Ibrox for 15 years, with a highlight being the1948-49 season, when the "iron curtain" defence made possible not just the title but the first treble in Scottish football, and he was a key player in a rare Scottish Cup hat trick when Rangers won the finals of 1948, 1949 and 1950. From 1957 McColl's shrewd captaincy contributed to Rangers' continuing success. McColl scored 15 times for the club and was a member of the first Rangers side to participate in the European Cup, in 1956-57.
Meanwhile, he played 14 times for Scotland from 1950 onwards, helping the team to reach the World Cup finals in 1958, although he was not involved in the matches in Sweden.

By 1960, he had lost his regular place in the Rangers team, but when his successor, Harold Davis, dropped out injured, he stepped in for the Cup final at Hampden, when Kilmarnock were beaten 2-0 - a nice way to bow out, he observed. He then retired as a player.

Amazingly, his next role in football was to be the manager of the Scotland national team. The appointment reflected McColl's international experience – not just his 14 caps, which included 3 against England – but also the fact that he helped out, as a player-assistant, in the successful 1958 World Cup qualifying campaign. However, in those days the role of national manager was merely to suggest players for inclusion – the final selection was made by a committee at the Scottish Football Association.

His managership of Scotland began with a flourish in November 1960, when Northern Ireland were defeated 5-2. Altogether, Scotland won 17 out of 28 matches (with three drawn and eight lost) under his management, an average of 60.7%, surpassed only by the 70% record of Alex McLeish in 2007.

Scotland, under McColl's management, were unlucky not to reach the World Cup finals of 1962 in Chile, being eliminated in a play-off in Brussels against Czechoslovakia, who went on to reach the final in Santiago, losing to Brazil. Other high points were winning the home international championships in 1962 and 1963, when McColl's Rangers colleague, the incomparable Jim Baxter, scored two goals to beat England 2-1 at Wembley, despite the loss of Scottish captain and Rangers full-back Eric Caldow, who suffered a broken leg in the second minute. That same year also saw a 6-2 victory against Spain in Madrid and a 6-1 win against Norway at Hampden Park.

McColl's advice to the committee was good enough to complete a third successive win over the Auld Enemy in 1964, and a 2-2 draw at Wembley in 1965. But a few weeks later he resigned to be replaced by Jock Stein, who combined the role with his job at Celtic.

McColl, though, was still in demand. A month later he took charge of Sunderland, a club then nicknamed "The Bank of England", for their spending prowess. His first large cheque was issued to Rangers for Baxter. The player, however, never hit the heights at Roker Park that he had at Ibrox and he left the club before McColl did, in 1968.

At 41, McColl returned to Scotland and went into business as a civil engineer. He then became a coal merchant and then ran a guest house in Milngavie near Glasgow.

A member of the Rangers Hall of Fame, Ian McColl passed away in October 2008 at the age of 81.

We remember a truly great Ranger on the 93rd anniversary of his birth.
 
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I was privileged to know Ian well in his later years, and he was an absolute gentleman.

Unfortunately, I was too young to ever see him play.

I remember him telling me, among many other things, that from the day Billy Simpson joined Rangers, they got on like a house on fire. He said when playing, he knew exactly where to find Billy Simpson with the ball, without even looking.

It reminded me of the sort of understanding Cooper and Russell had, almost telepathic.
 
My dad was a fan.
His greatest asset was his ball control according the old man.

I have been told by many older Bears that his "piece de resistance" was to be able to bring a high ball down with one foot, and then switch play by sending the pass out wide with his other foot.
 
As Scotland manager, two of his greatest achievements were beating England in three consecutive years (following the disastrous Nine past Haffey game) and Scotland beating Spain 6-2 in Spain, with all the goals scored by different players - the five forwards plus Frank McLintock.
 
Still remember him controlling balls arriving shoulder height with his foot, terrific footballer.
Disagree with the suggestion earlier that he left the hard tackling to others, he could mix it with the best when required, remember Dave MacKay arriving with the reputation of the latest tough guy playing at inside left against Ian, who gave him the benefit of the doubt at first then proceeded to give him a lesson In hard tackling. He was not the only one to learn Ian was not one to upset.
 
Still remember him controlling balls arriving shoulder height with his foot, terrific footballer.
Disagree with the suggestion earlier that he left the hard tackling to others, he could mix it with the best when required, remember Dave MacKay arriving with the reputation of the latest tough guy playing at inside left against Ian, who gave him the benefit of the doubt at first then proceeded to give him a lesson In hard tackling. He was not the only one to learn Ian was not one to upset.

You beat me to it.

My granda always told me about how Ian McColl would trap a ball instantly, sometimes at head height. Just plucked it out of the air.

Possibly Ian McColl and Bobby Brown got the reputation of being the 'nice guys' in that Iron Curtain defence.

Which is a disservice to the other four.
 
Met him often in his later years. He and his wife joined Broomhill Church and he always said hello or good morning. I was running the BB Bible Class at the time.

My dad chatted with him often as well.
 
My dad knew him quite well and I met him a couple of times in the 60’s. I’m sure he had a garage in Alexandria where we lived when I was wee, think it’s still there but changed hands a few times. Always remember how tall he looked and he was always well dressed anytime we met him. Nice man and according to my dad a great football player.
 
Still remember him controlling balls arriving shoulder height with his foot, terrific footballer.
Disagree with the suggestion earlier that he left the hard tackling to others, he could mix it with the best when required, remember Dave MacKay arriving with the reputation of the latest tough guy playing at inside left against Ian, who gave him the benefit of the doubt at first then proceeded to give him a lesson In hard tackling. He was not the only one to learn Ian was not one to upset.

When I said he left the Hard tackling to others, I was comparing him to Sammy Cox, Willie Woodburn and Tiger Shaw. He wasn’t in their class when it came to putting someone into the stand. His main strengths were controlling and passing the ball.(not forgetting Bobby Shearer, when George Young moved to centre half)
 
Thanks to Bearsden Bear, I met Ian McColl and his wife at the Wee Rangers Club.

He was a complete gentleman and it speaks volumes that he attended the event despite declining health.

The only glimpse I got of him playing was when he came on at half-time in a 'match' between the 1949 and 1964 teams at half-time in game in 1976. I thought he looked the most impressive player on the park!
 
Still remember him controlling balls arriving shoulder height with his foot, terrific footballer.
Disagree with the suggestion earlier that he left the hard tackling to others, he could mix it with the best when required, remember Dave MacKay arriving with the reputation of the latest tough guy playing at inside left against Ian, who gave him the benefit of the doubt at first then proceeded to give him a lesson In hard tackling. He was not the only one to learn Ian was not one to upset.
He could certainly tackle with the best of them.
 
He did a bit of building work for my old boss , was always pleasant and good to talk to . Liked a round of golf .Very nice guy .
 
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