" I'm not proud of my behaviour" Colin Stein

One of my heroes.

A goal in a winning European final, and the goal that sealed our first title in eleven years. Not a bad CV.

Still remember standing on the terracing at the Celtic end with my old man watching that bastard Mulheron having three boots at him before he snapped and retaliated. Old Kelly finished the job.
 
The ref told him after the game,if he had stayed down after the first tackle he would have booked Mulhearn,you can imagine Colins response.
That's mental,he is saying the first tackle was a foul and a booking yet did nothing.The knock on effect could have cost us the league and Cup that season.
 
It was in the last couple of minutes of the second half.
The first assault on Colin came just inside the Rangers half and continued all the way to goal line at the Rangers end, where Colin let Mulherron pass him before toe ending him up the hole.
Colin after realising he had went to far finished on his hands and knees in front of the Rangers fans in the Copland Road end.
That's how I remember it, I was in the west enclosure near the tunnel that day.
 
Brings back a memory for me mate

My old dad when I was young - used to tell me he was that fast that he could score with his head from his own corner kicks - and I believed him :)
Your Dad was right. How could you ever doubt your Dad:)
 
That's how I remember it, I was in the west enclosure near the tunnel that day.
Your description of this incident is correct until you describe Stein’s retaliation. It was not a wild kick in the rear end. It was no more than a heavy tap on the heel or ankle and Mulherron collapsed as if he had been shot. And the ordering off gave Sir Robert Kelly, Celtic Chairman and Chair of the SFA Disciplinary Panel, the opportunity to apply a six week suspension which he knew would put Stein out of the Scottish Cup Final v Celtic. Sporting integrity again, eh?
 
Although I know who he is, I’m afraid he was slightly before my time. What player would you say he is comparable to, from recent history? (Doesn’t have to be a Rangers player).

He is similar to Morelos in the way that he is targeted by defenders whose repeated actions are then ignored by the refs but who are only too happy to punish the retaliation When it eventually comes.
 
Your description of this incident is correct until you describe Stein’s retaliation. It was not a wild kick in the rear end. It was no more than a heavy tap on the heel or ankle and Mulherron collapsed as if he had been shot. And the ordering off gave Sir Robert Kelly, Celtic Chairman and Chair of the SFA Disciplinary Panel, the opportunity to apply a six week suspension which he knew would put Stein out of the Scottish Cup Final v Celtic. Sporting integrity again, eh?



You are wrong. :eek:
He nearly lost his boot up Mulherron's arsehole.
 
I'm too young to have seen him play - did his discipline improve as he said he hoped?

Three sendings off in a season is quite a record for a striker - was he a dirty player with Hibs or just combative and unlucky?
 
I'm too young to have seen him play - did his discipline improve as he said he hoped?

Three sendings off in a season is quite a record for a striker - was he a dirty player with Hibs or just combative and unlucky?
Stein was an uncompromising old fashioned Centre Forward whose style of play was extremely combative but I wouldnt say dirty. He was also hard as fuckin nails.
 
I was 12 when Stein signed. He's always been my favourite striker.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Colin Stein, Jock Stein and Frankenstein :)):)):))
Glad you posted that one, it was running through my mind while reading posts. Lex MacLean's gag along with.."Whit's your greatest ambition in life Hughie?" T...Hughie "tae see the Rangers win the European cup!"...Lex..."Jayzuz Hughie...how long do ye expect tae live !!" Grand old memories, broken hearted when C.S. left for Coventry and Bud to West Brom...
 
A great player and one of my all time heroes. It was great listening to him on the Blues brothers podcast a few weeks back.
 
Before my time but a great Ranger, A goal machine, passion for the club and a fierce competitor, his disciplinary record makes Alfie look like an angel :)
 
My favorite ever Rangers player, kind of disappoints me that he never got a league winners medal.

edit: Also my favorite Armadale player although he was a bit before my time.
 
Your description of this incident is correct until you describe Stein’s retaliation. It was not a wild kick in the rear end. It was no more than a heavy tap on the heel or ankle and Mulherron collapsed as if he had been shot. And the ordering off gave Sir Robert Kelly, Celtic Chairman and Chair of the SFA Disciplinary Panel, the opportunity to apply a six week suspension which he knew would put Stein out of the Scottish Cup Final v Celtic. Sporting integrity again, eh?
Stein was kicked about 3 times, then kicked back in retaliation. As you say, Kelly's behaviour was a disgrace. The media said nothing - just as they will keep quiet over Turnbull's kick out
 
Your description of this incident is correct until you describe Stein’s retaliation. It was not a wild kick in the rear end. It was no more than a heavy tap on the heel or ankle and Mulherron collapsed as if he had been shot. And the ordering off gave Sir Robert Kelly, Celtic Chairman and Chair of the SFA Disciplinary Panel, the opportunity to apply a six week suspension which he knew would put Stein out of the Scottish Cup Final v Celtic. Sporting integrity again, eh?
It was worse than that . The suspension would have put him out of any cup final replay had it been required. As you say it was weeks out back then , not games.
 
It’s worth noting that the hat-trick in his first game was scored over about 5 minutes.

We were making heavy weather against Arbroath until Stein took us from 2-1 to 5-1. Ended 5-2 and IIRC Arbroath got the first and last goals.
Sorry, but it only took him 4 minutes to score that hat-trick, and the game finished 5-1. I was there.

Pernickety Loyal.
 
Here is the article I had published in Follow Follow a good few years ago which sheds more light on his incredible career.

I gave the great man himself a copy of it at a NARSA Convention, and both he and his wife fair enjoyed it. I am pleased to say he autographed my original for me, and I still have it.




Colin, Colin, Colin Stein!




In October 1968, Rangers broke another record, by paying £100,000 to Hibs for their centre forward, Colin Stein – the first six figure transfer between two Scottish clubs.



Hibs, in fact, wanted to accept a £90,000 bid from Everton, but when Colin heard that there was a chance Rangers were in for him, there was only one club he was going to sign for.



I was fortunate enough to see his debut, in an all-ticket clash at Gayfield Park, Arbroath on Saturday 2 November 1968, three days after Rangers had humiliated Dundalk 6-1 at Ibrox in the (what is now) UEFA Cup. I had just started first year at secondary school, and I can remember fans letting off fireworks (for a laugh?) on the terracing, and a Wullie Johnston double putting Rangers 2-0 up by half-time. Dave Smith conceded an own goal, so Rangers were then 2-1 up, but frankly struggling. (We can all think of games when the team 2-1 down seems to have all the initiative, even though they’re still behind.)



Then it happened . . . . BANG, BANG, BANG! A hat-trick from the debutant inside four minutes, Rangers were 5-1 up, and a Legend was born.



Rangers next game was at home against Hibs, and 66,000 turned up, with the memory of Hibs reluctance to sell their top striker to Rangers still fresh in everyone’s minds, and Rangers were in top form, crushing Hibs 6-1, with yet another hat-trick from Stein being the main talking point. The Bears were euphoric!



The next match was against Dundalk away, with the Glasgow bookies getting huge publicity by offering odds against Stein getting a third successive hat-trick. Not being at Dundalk - although I gather a sizeable Rangers presence was! – I am led to believe that Stein scored a double (score 0-2) but was denied his hat-trick by the woodwork.



The main point of this article is to emphasise what a massive influence Stein was on the Rangers side that season – every bit as vital as Larsson was to Celtic. Rangers went on to play some exciting attacking football that season, and a League and Cup double definitely looked on the cards. We beat Celtic home and away in the League that season, with Stein having a goal chalked off in the Ne’erday game at Ibrox, but a John Greig penalty still saw Rangers triumph. Stein’s pace, energy, skill and strength just terrorised opposition defences, and his enthusiasm clearly rubbed off on his teammates.



And so we come to one of the greatest injustices Scottish football has ever witnessed . . .



Rangers are playing Clyde at Ibrox, and it is 6-0 to the Bears (another Stein hat trick) and there are just 90 seconds left. Rangers are shooting into the Copland Road end, and Stein collects the ball more or less in front of the Rangers dugout to commence another attack. Clyde “defender” Eddie Mulherron (later banned for life in South Africa for thuggery committed on the pitch) kicks Stein, but Stein carries on, he still has the ball, so Mulherron kicks him again, and then again, and finally a fourth time, so our Colin (understandably) boots him back, at which point Referee Ian Foote finally blows his whistle, and sends both off.



I can remember the papers the next day giving it the “but he shouldn’t have retaliated” line, when most folk would have retaliated much earlier!



Anyway, the SFA Referees Committee was chaired by one Robert Kelly, the Celtic chairman, and as this was not long after Stein had played in a 6-1 victory over Aberdeen at Parkhead in the semi-final of the Cup, and were due to play Celtic (who were frankly shitting themselves) in the final, imposed a SIX WEEK suspension on him, causing him to miss (a) Rangers run in to the League campaign – which we then lost (b) Scotland’s home World Cup qualifier against West Germany – where we could only draw 1-1, and (c) the Final against Celtic where we lost 4-0, partly thanks to Alex Ferguson’s well documented horror show, as he was Stein’s replacement.



Well, Kelly was delighted!



Stein then came back to play in the Home Internationals, scoring against all three home countries, then hitting 4 goals in an 8-0 Scotland victory, in a World Cup qualifier, over Cyprus.



The man was simply sensational, and if it had not been for that injustice, there would never have been a Celtic NIAR, as Rangers would surely have won the double. Outsiders used to say “One man doesn’t make a team” but, Bears, I can assure you, that season, one man did!



During Stein’s suspension, he commenced legal proceedings against the SFA to fight this injustice, and I thought this was great, and I can still remember, as I had a paper round then, as though it was yesterday, seeing the old broadsheet version of the Daily Express arriving at the newsagent with the sad headline “Stein Drops Case” and yes, I was gutted.



Colin Stein, as we all know, played a vital part in Rangers future, scoring particularly significant goals in Barcelona in 1972 and Easter Road in 1975, after returning (and being sent off at Dens Park for swearing!!! by Rangers-hating referee George Smith – an act which sparked serious crowd trouble) from playing in England, but I always felt that he was never quite the same player (following that evil suspension) as the man who simply ignited Scottish football in season 1968-69.



“We don’t need Eusebio, coz we’ve got Colin Stein!”



BEARSDEN BEAR
 
I had no idea he started his playing career as a full back
Thank phuck someone switched him to up front
He was a joy to watch - an absolute gem of a striker
 
My first Wembley was a Saturday night game.
1969 we got a bit of a doing, but Colin Colin Colin Stein scored Scotland's goal.
And walking down Wembley way singing Colin Colin Colin Stein with plenty of other fans will live with me.
 
My first Wembley was a Saturday night game.
1969 we got a bit of a doing, but Colin Colin Colin Stein scored Scotland's goal.
And walking down Wembley way singing Colin Colin Colin Stein with plenty of other fans will live with me.
And it was great header, from an Eddie Gray cross following a Willie Henderson pass.
 
It was some header mate..
Even the build up to the goal was amazing.. Sandy’s cute footwork that took two Hibs defenders out the game and the cross from McKean was sublime.. The perfect goal and a perfect day..
Happy Days :D
I had my first football heart attack, aka merely bottling it but it seemed like a heart attack at the time, when Jardine missed the penalty.
I was thirteen.
 
The massive suspension the SFA gave him at the end of that season was entirely designed to make him miss the cup final against Celtic.

The fact the Celtic chairman was also a top man at the SFA was not a coincidence.

It's not a recent thing how shameful our football authorities are.
Even then, even with decisions like this, they were claiming conspiracies against them.
 
It gave Kelly and the SFA the chance to ban Stein from the 69 SCF subsequently boosting the mentally challengeds chances. We all know what happened next.
Did we havevany chance in the league at the point of his suspension?
I just read we went twenty games unbeaten but I don’t recall any discussion amongst the uncles that it cost us the league.
 
Still regularly see him in my local Tesco. Was with my eldest one day and pointed out who he was and how important he was and he couldn’t believe it. He took time to speak to him and it was lovely.
 
It was scandalous that the rhat Kelly did not recuse himself from the disciplinary hearing. The conflict of interest was horrendous. Without looking it up I’m sure Rangers were mounting a strong challenge for the title and the lengthy ban meant his season was over. We couldn't recover from the loss of Stein and our title challenge fizzled out. Not forgetting the debacle that was the Cup Final.
 
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