Season 1973-74

dh1963

dh1963

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The brilliant thread about 1967-68 had me thinking about one of the first seasons I went to a lot of games, 1973-74.
I was still wee, and my main memories of Derek Parlane being our main goalscorer and some terrible results. One in particular was losing at Ibrox to Arbroath.
We ended the previous season beating celtic in a classic Cup Final, and just failing to win the title after an amazing unbeaten run which had us all super confident we had overtaken the filth as the number 1 team. The following season we brought home the league flag in convincing style. But 73-74 was rotten. Never really in the title race. Dumped out the cup at home by Dundee. Harry Hood scored a Hampden hat trick to beat us in the League Cup semis. And well beaten in Europe by Monchengladbach.
Yet the core of the team were the same as the men who dominated Scottish football in the following years. Jardine, Greig, Jackson, Forsyth, MacDonald, McLean, Johnstone, Parlane. Can anyone remember better than me why it all went so wrong that season?
 
I don’t know why, but whenever I think of that season it’s always Doug Houston that is first to pop into my mind.
 
Here's a wee snippet from a 'Trip Down Memory Lane' article I did for the mag many years ago.

We are talking about an era circa 30 years ago and it’s amazing how much I had forgotten.

For instance, the League Cup had group stages before the knockout rounds. In 1973 we lost a home tie with Celtic 1-2 but replied with a 3-1 victory at Parkhead (MacDonald, Parlane and Conn replying to an early Lennox opener for Celtic). This was the game where Jimmy Johnstone was sent off for the sixth time in his career after a clash with Doddie. Ever the gentleman, John Greig was the player to calm Jinky down and console him before he took “the long lonely walk”.

Another match of note was Rangers 4 Clyde 0 on 30.03.04 where the opener by Derek Johnstone was Rangers 6,000th goal in League competition and the second goal by John Greig was Rangers 10,000th goal in all competition (how fitting it should be him – if there is someone up there then I am sure he made it so). Both were presented with commemorative plaques at Ibrox 3 days later before a 3-0 victory over Dunfermline

I was amazed to read that 16-year-old Alex O’Hara was making a major impact in 1973 with quite a few early season goals, alas a promise that unfulfilled. Derek Parlane was the guy scoring goals for fun.

Player of the day in a 0-1 reverse to Celtic was Derek Johnstone. “For 90 minutes the young pivot not only took everything the Celtic attack could throw at him but found time to carry the ball out of the danger area and set up counter-attack. The tall Ranger, who has done some good work for his club as an attacker and defender, showed his World Class..” Despite a blank trophy haul, I remember there being a sense of something building and couldn’t wait for the following season to start.
 
jaws73 said:
Here's a wee snippet from a 'Trip Down Memory Lane' article I did for the mag many years ago.

We are talking about an era circa 30 years ago and it’s amazing how much I had forgotten.

For instance, the League Cup had group stages before the knockout rounds. In 1973 we lost a home tie with Celtic 1-2 but replied with a 3-1 victory at Parkhead (MacDonald, Parlane and Conn replying to an early Lennox opener for Celtic). This was the game where Jimmy Johnstone was sent off for the sixth time in his career after a clash with Doddie. Ever the gentleman, John Greig was the player to calm Jinky down and console him before he took “the long lonely walk”.

Another match of note was Rangers 4 Clyde 0 on 30.03.04 where the opener by Derek Johnstone was Rangers 6,000th goal in League competition and the second goal by John Greig was Rangers 10,000th goal in all competition (how fitting it should be him – if there is someone up there then I am sure he made it so). Both were presented with commemorative plaques at Ibrox 3 days later before a 3-0 victory over Dunfermline

I was amazed to read that 16-year-old Alex O’Hara was making a major impact in 1973 with quite a few early season goals, alas a promise that unfulfilled. Derek Parlane was the guy scoring goals for fun.

Player of the day in a 0-1 reverse to Celtic was Derek Johnstone. “For 90 minutes the young pivot not only took everything the Celtic attack could throw at him but found time to carry the ball out of the danger area and set up counter-attack. The tall Ranger, who has done some good work for his club as an attacker and defender, showed his World Class..” Despite a blank trophy haul, I remember there being a sense of something building and couldn’t wait for the following season to start.
Click to expand...

Hard to believe DJ would still have been a teenager at the start of that season. In a decade of umpteen heroes, at the time he was my idol.
 
hibs league cup qtr final away played in the wed afternoon i think..... 0-0 after a 2-0 win at home.
 
dh1963 said:
Hard to believe DJ would still have been a teenager at the start of that season. In a decade of umpteen heroes, at the time he was my idol.
Click to expand...

We might have missed DJ's goals but he could well have been a world class centre-half (I seem to remember himstating that was his preferred position)
 
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jaws73 said:
We might have missed DJ's goals but he could well have been a world class centre-half (I see to remember himstating that was his preferred position)
Click to expand...
DJ's form was very up & down that season. Can't be 100% sure but I think he was dropped for disciplinary reasons around Sep/Oct and maybe this was a factor?
Anyway,having finished the previous season as a first pick for Scotland he failed to even make the squad for West Germany 1974.
 
I remember watching on TV in disbelief that Rangers were beaten at Ibrox by Arbroath

was at the Dundee Cup game and Monchengladbach games
 
dh1963 said:
The brilliant thread about 1967-68 had me thinking about one of the first seasons I went to a lot of games, 1973-74.
I was still wee, and my main memories of Derek Parlane being our main goalscorer and some terrible results. One in particular was losing at Ibrox to Arbroath.
We ended the previous season beating celtic in a classic Cup Final, and just failing to win the title after an amazing unbeaten run which had us all super confident we had overtaken the filth as the number 1 team. The following season we brought home the league flag in convincing style. But 73-74 was rotten. Never really in the title race. Dumped out the cup at home by Dundee. Harry Hood scored a Hampden hat trick to beat us in the League Cup semis. And well beaten in Europe by Monchengladbach.
Yet the core of the team were the same as the men who dominated Scottish football in the following years. Jardine, Greig, Jackson, Forsyth, MacDonald, McLean, Johnstone, Parlane. Can anyone remember better than me why it all went so wrong that season?
Click to expand...
that was my first season just turning up and paying at the gate, funny enough I joined the townhead supporters bus next season and the rest is history
 
We always seemed to have two good seasons followed by a bad one in the 70s and 1973/74 was another.

Any other year we'd have qualified as group winners from the League Cup section alone, but this was the one and only season when the top two went through and it was par for the course that we'd lose to them in the SF after we should have left them behind in the sections. But at least Dundee beat them in the final. The Scottish Cup was a nightmare 3-0 defeat to Dundee on a Sunday afternoon, and we never recovered from a shocking start to the league season. Not only did we lose at home to Arbroath but East Fife also beat us at Ibrox. I can't remember why we struggled so much as it was basically the same team that had come so close to a league and cup double the season before, but I do think there was a lot of chopping and changing, so perhaps injuries played a part?

There were some highlights though - not least Derek Parlane's 4 goals at Tynecastle, home and away wins over Ankaragucu in the Cup-Winners Cup, the 3-1 win at the piggery in the League Cup and a fighting performance at home over a fine Borussia Moenchengladbach - but it was ultimately a damp squib of a season. 1974/75 would be much better!
 
I remember the Vojvodina game, would have been my first European game, and beating Aberdeen at Parkhead in the cup semi final in the 68/69 season
Strangely i also remember an interview with Willie Woodburn on the telly before the cup final against the mentally challengeds. He was basically saying that the pride in walking out in a cup final wearing a Rangers jersey was motivation enough to beat that mob and win the cup. Unfortunately it didn't work out that way.
I don't know why that interview stuck in my memory all these years. Certain goals, games or incidents remain whilst others fade, maybe dementia kicking in.
 
Told you dementia was kicking in, meant to post this on the 67/68 thread.
Even though it's about 68/69 season ha ha.
 
jaws73 said:
Here's a wee snippet from a 'Trip Down Memory Lane' article I did for the mag many years ago.

We are talking about an era circa 30 years ago and it’s amazing how much I had forgotten.

For instance, the League Cup had group stages before the knockout rounds. In 1973 we lost a home tie with Celtic 1-2 but replied with a 3-1 victory at Parkhead (MacDonald, Parlane and Conn replying to an early Lennox opener for Celtic). This was the game where Jimmy Johnstone was sent off for the sixth time in his career after a clash with Doddie. Ever the gentleman, John Greig was the player to calm Jinky down and console him before he took “the long lonely walk”.

Another match of note was Rangers 4 Clyde 0 on 30.03.04 where the opener by Derek Johnstone was Rangers 6,000th goal in League competition and the second goal by John Greig was Rangers 10,000th goal in all competition (how fitting it should be him – if there is someone up there then I am sure he made it so). Both were presented with commemorative plaques at Ibrox 3 days later before a 3-0 victory over Dunfermline

I was amazed to read that 16-year-old Alex O’Hara was making a major impact in 1973 with quite a few early season goals, alas a promise that unfulfilled. Derek Parlane was the guy scoring goals for fun.

Player of the day in a 0-1 reverse to Celtic was Derek Johnstone. “For 90 minutes the young pivot not only took everything the Celtic attack could throw at him but found time to carry the ball out of the danger area and set up counter-attack. The tall Ranger, who has done some good work for his club as an attacker and defender, showed his World Class..” Despite a blank trophy haul, I remember there being a sense of something building and couldn’t wait for the following season to start.
Click to expand...
Alex O'Hara I remember that name from back then memory not too good now but I think he was a good player for us was he not ?
 
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