Peter McCloy

Kingdom Bear said:
to be fair i only saw the latter end of his Rangers career ... but he was murder and should have been replaced far earlier than he was
Click to expand...

I’m the same, I don’t like to criticise him because he was obviously coming to the end of what was a pretty good career when I watched him.
I do remember actually feeling a bit sorry for him during a friendly in the early 80’s, he had dropped a bit of a clanger and when the ball next came to him a big ironic cheer went round the stadium when he successfully caught the ball.
It’s funny how you remember daft wee incidents like that nearly 40 years ago but can’t remember games from 2 or 3 years back.
 
He's probably the least respected player in our history who had over 500 appearances for the club.

Remembered far more for his mistakes than his good games (and there were too many mistakes in big games), but selected consistently by Waddell, Wallace, Greig and Wallace again. I think he might even have started a game with Walter as caretaker before Souness arrived from Italy.

He has the medals, the appearances, the European trophy and the Hall of Fame membership to show for a great Rangers career, although most fans of my age wouldn't have him anywhere near our best eleven.

Deserves to be remembered more fondly I would say.
 
Last edited:
I only really saw him towards the end of his career when he wasn't as agile as he may have been previously.

However given the length of time he was with us, the number of appearances, who he saw come & go and what he won it is obvious he was a more than decent keeper.

Still the only goalie with a European medal for us which tells us all we need to know and a fully deserved place in our Hall of Fame.

A thoroughly nice guy as well.
 
dh1963 said:
He's probably the least respected player in our history who had over 500 appearances for the club.

Remembered far more for his mistakes than his good games (and there were too many mistakes in big games), but selected consistently by Waddell, Wallace, Greig and Wallace again. I think he might even have started a game with Walter as caretaker before Souness arrived from Italy.

He has the medals, the appearances, the European trophy and the Hall of Fame membership to show for a great Rangers career, although most fans of my age wouldn't have him anywhere near our best eleven.

Deserves to be remembered more fondly I would say.
Click to expand...

I had a look online. He did play under Walter Smith. He played against against St Mirren and Aberdeen away, with Nicky Walker coming back in for the final league game against Motherwell.
 
Southside_shug said:
Met him at Ayr races in January - still a Big Gentleman

There were other keepers brought in to replace him but they had various issues themselves , none other than Stewart Kennedy , who became the international keeper only to have the nightmare at Wembley in the 5-1 pumping
Click to expand...

Every time I hear Stewart Kennedy’s name mentioned I get this image in my head :D

 
I've got a memory of him
(against hiv's at Ibrox- mid 60's I think) - when he dived for a ball which eluded him & it hit the post - in the resulting 'stramash' from the rebound -defenders & attackers were swiping & struggling frantically to get a clean hit on the ball - big Peter calmly picked the ball up off the deck with one hand

I know he wore gloves & I know everyone has different sized hands - but as a kid I couldn't believe it was possible & asked the adults in my household to try it - no one was able to

A pretty silly wee incident that nevertheless lives in your memory



EDIT - As has been rightly pointed out the dates above should read 70's - not 60's
 
Last edited:
I was a wee bit ambivilant regarding the big gas meter, but he was a fairly consistent keeper.

He did have a mistake in him, more so towards the end of his career.

If memory serves Willie Waddell wanted to sign Keith McCrae from Motherwell and went to a 'Well game to see McCrae in the flesh. The keeper gets injured before the game/ in the warm up and the bold Peter plays and has a stormer, the rest is history.

WATP
 
gersandproud said:
I've got a memory of him
(against hiv's at Ibrox- mid 60's I think) - when he dived for a ball which eluded him & it hit the post - in the resulting 'stramash' from the rebound -defenders & attackers were swiping & struggling frantically to get a clean hit on the ball - big Peter calmly picked the ball up off the deck with one hand

I know he wore gloves & I know everyone has different sized hands - but as a kid I couldn't believe it was possible & asked the adults in my household to try it - no one was able to

A pretty silly wee incident that nevertheless lives in your memory
Click to expand...
Your timing is a wee touch off (he signed in 1970) but that paints a great image of the big fella!
 
gersandproud said:
I've got a memory of him
(against hiv's at Ibrox- mid 60's I think) - when he dived for a ball which eluded him & it hit the post - in the resulting 'stramash' from the rebound -defenders & attackers were swiping & struggling frantically to get a clean hit on the ball - big Peter calmly picked the ball up off the deck with one hand

I know he wore gloves & I know everyone has different sized hands - but as a kid I couldn't believe it was possible & asked the adults in my household to try it - no one was able to

A pretty silly wee incident that nevertheless lives in your memory
Click to expand...

I actually remember him doing this with one hand and trying it myself :D
 
dh1963 said:
He's probably the least respected player in our history who had over 500 appearances for the club.

Remembered far more for his mistakes than his good games (and there were too many mistakes in big games), but selected consistently by Waddell, Wallace, Greig and Wallace again. I think he might even have started a game with Walter as caretaker before Souness arrived from Italy.

He has the medals, the appearances, the European trophy and the Hall of Fame membership to show for a great Rangers career, although most fans of my age wouldn't have him anywhere near our best eleven.

Deserves to be remembered more fondly I would say.
Click to expand...

As you say too many mistakes in high profile games.
But a great servant to Rangers. Had a blinder away to
Juventus in 1978 if my memory serves me.
 
It’s funny how you seem to remember his mistakes more than the great saves he made.
He had a few mistakes but way outnumbered by the saves he made. Was a good keeper for us over a long period of time.
Also set up a few goals as well with his huge kick outs. ECWC Final for one. A great servant and ambassador to the club.
 
Kingdom Bear said:
to be fair i only saw the latter end of his Rangers career ... but he was murder and should have been replaced far earlier than he was
Click to expand...


I never saw him play live at all and in the footage I've seen of him he's dropped a few clangers, but what keeper wouldn't over 14 or 15 years?


However, I've also seen him having fantastic games, including in Barcelona, our run to that final and the 1973 SC Final.

All massive games in our history.

He's much maligned on here by some, but he saw off the likes of Neef, Martin, Kennedy, Stewart and Walker etc throughout his career at Ibrox.

Don't forget his assist for one of the goals in Barcelona too. :))

He's also won multiple honours and was part of 2 treble winning sides, not to mention our ECWC side.

He may not have been a Woods, Klos or Goram, but he must've been a decent keeper surely?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
There has been a few threads over the years about the best Rangers keeper/save witnessed. The best save I have seen, and and rarely mentioned, is the one McCloy made in the dying seconds against Juventus in the Stadio Communale in the European Cup 1st round !st leg in 78. It's only rarely mentioned because I think there were tv problems and may only be recalled by the band of about a thousand Bears in the stadium, of which I was one. Rangers down 1-0 to an early Paulo Virdis goal and we were hanging on under unbelievable pressure. From a corner kick a Roberto Bettega header was heading into the top corner when McCloy clawed it back from under the apex of post and crossbar and away to safety. I still remember the Juve fan I was standing next to applauding and shouting "Bravo, Bravo".
Without that save it would have been much harder to achieve one of the greatest nights I have ever witnessed at Ibrox when we beat a Juventus side, that contained nine of the eleven Italian players that reached the World Cup semi-final that year, 2-0 in the return leg.
McCloy was at his peak IMHO in the years 1972 and 73 when he was instrumental in the victory in Barcelona, and the 72/73 league season when we pushed Celtc as close as we had for a few years culminating in that great 3-2 victory in the Centenary Cup Final.
As for Scotland caps, I was at Wembley in 73 and McCloy was due to play for Scotland that day but got injured on the eve of the game and was replaced by Ally Hunter.
 
I was a youngster when watching him play but I can remember my dad saying that trees fell to the ground quicker than Peter could get down to a ball.
 
MearnsUnionist said:
I never saw him play live at all and in the footage I've seen of him he's dropped a few clangers, but what keeper wouldn't over 14 or 15 years?


However, I've also seen him having fantastic games, including in Barcelona, our run to that final and the 1973 SC Final.

All massive games in our history.

He's much maligned on here by some, but he saw off the likes of Neef, Martin, Kennedy, Stewart and Walker etc throughout his career at Ibrox.

Don't forget his assist for one of the goals in Barcelona too. :))

He's also won multiple honours and was part of 2 treble winning sides, not to mention our ECWC side.

He may not have been a Woods, Klos or Goram, but he must've been a decent keeper surely?
Click to expand...
Absolutely... I'm not denying he had a great career and will be regarded as a club legend, rightly so for Barcelona.... But my memories of him are comic book, swinging from the crossbar when Aberdeen pumped us in the Scottish cup final and going down for low shots in instalments.

I think John Grieg left him in between the sticks way beyond his best which is a shame, because he deserves to be remembered as the legend he is
 
I can remember him playing for Motherwell & I think he saved a penalty at Fir park against us.
Shortly after he joined Ranger's with Brian Herron & I think Bobby Watson going in the other direction.
Good keeper for us but I really thought his time was up after the outstanding season Stewart Kennedy had in 74/75, Wembley 75 must have shattered Stewart's confidence.
I emigrated in 1975 & didn't see another league game live for almost 9 years, I did read about some of the clangers in that time but he must have been doing something right to stay on the books all that time.
On an other note is it not Peter's niece that treacle teeth lives with ?
 
Kingdom Bear said:
Absolutely... I'm not denying he had a great career and will be regarded as a club legend, rightly so for Barcelona.... But my memories of him are comic book, swinging from the crossbar when Aberdeen pumped us in the Scottish cup final and going down for low shots in instalments.

I think John Grieg left him in between the sticks way beyond his best which is a shame, because he deserves to be remembered as the legend he is
Click to expand...
McCloy swung from the bar in the 1978 Scottish Cup Final. A game which we won to clinch our second treble in 3 seasons. Hardly pumped.
 
MearnsUnionist said:
I never saw him play live at all and in the footage I've seen of him he's dropped a few clangers, but what keeper wouldn't over 14 or 15 years?


However, I've also seen him having fantastic games, including in Barcelona, our run to that final and the 1973 SC Final.

All massive games in our history.

He's much maligned on here by some, but he saw off the likes of Neef, Martin, Kennedy, Stewart and Walker etc throughout his career at Ibrox.

Don't forget his assist for one of the goals in Barcelona too. :))

He's also won multiple honours and was part of 2 treble winning sides, not to mention our ECWC side.

He may not have been a Woods, Klos or Goram, but he must've been a decent keeper surely?
Click to expand...
I was only 6 at the time but I believe his performance in Turin in 1978 was out of this world.
 
Kingdom Bear said:
Absolutely... I'm not denying he had a great career and will be regarded as a club legend, rightly so for Barcelona.... But my memories of him are comic book, swinging from the crossbar when Aberdeen pumped us in the Scottish cup final and going down for low shots in instalments.

I think John Grieg left him in between the sticks way beyond his best which is a shame, because he deserves to be remembered as the legend he is
Click to expand...


Rangers won the game when he swung on the crossbar mate.

It was the last leg of our Treble in 1977/78.
 
You don't play more than 500 games for Rangers, win a load of medals (including a European competition) and see off a host of rivals for your position without being a more than decent player. He did make some howlers (I always remember one against Porto) but he was a good keeper and a great servant for the club, and a gent into the bargain.

We've been lucky to have some truly great keepers since (Woods, Goram, Klos and McGregor especially), and many before (Dickie, Hamilton, Dawson, Niven and Ritchie off the top of my head) but Peter McCloy deserves to be remembered for what he achieved in the game, which was a lot, rather than the errors that undoubtedly occurred. He probably played on for us longer than he should but that was down to the management at the time. For me he deserves loads of gratitude and respect.
 
Like every goalkeeper Peter had his off days. The swinging on the crossbar in the cup final is probably the most remembered. However his contribution to the Club over the 16 years he played by far outweigh his occasional bloomers. A poor player does not achieve the medal hall the big fella won.
I must have seen the majority of games he played for us and can honestly say he performed admirably in most.
Spoke to him many times when I stayed in Girvan in the late 1970's and found him to be a very nice aproachable guy and no mean golfer to boot.
Thanks for the memories Gas Meter.
 
GEODGC said:
Every time I hear Stewart Kennedy’s name mentioned I get this image in my head :D

Click to expand...


I was on holiday in Tenerife in the summer of 94 with family.

Was drinking in the pub across the road from the hotel when a group of lads came in. Amongst them was a young Rangers player at the time Gregg Shields, who my brother in Law and I noticed instantly and we began talking away to him.

He introduced us to his group of friends , one of which he said "and this is ***** Kennedy.... you might remember him , his dad was a goalie for Rangers"

"Not 5-1 Stewart Kennedy?" was my reply

"Every kunt says that" said the lad , who walked away and never spoke to us the rest of the holiday!!!

:D :D :D
 
I am old enough to have witnessed in the flesh a good chunk of big Gasmeters Rangers career.

I have always held a soft spot for him despite his bloopers (and there were many).

On his day he was a great goalie but unfortunately you just could not rely on him not to gift the opposition a goal.

I recall a game against Dons at Ibrox, at a time when they were the best in the country. Big Peter was playing a blinder, and with 5 mins to go it looked as though game would finish goalless until this aimless ball was crossed into our box. Genuinely was nothing more than a simple catch under no pressure whatsoever but somehow big Peter dropped the ball and it rolled to a Dons player to tap into an empty net for the only goal of the game. That game sums him up for me, great but a mistake waiting to happen.
 
I saw big Peter playing for Motherwell in a game at Cappielow, I'd never seen a goalie kick the ball so far into the opposition half, stuck in my mind from all those years ago.
 
Orangeandblue said:
As you say too many mistakes in high profile games.
But a great servant to Rangers. Had a blinder away to
Juventus in 1978 if my memory serves me.
Click to expand...
His best game was in the replay against Hibs at Easter Road in 1973. Single handedly kept us in the cup,Hibs battered us for 90mins.
Great game in Dussledorf in 1979 too.

Never a favourite of mine though as, like others have said he made too many mistakes.

Keepers should be judged on how few mistakes they make more so than on great saves they do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Latest posts

Back
Top