Saluting Heroes Of '49

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By Lindsay Herron

 

RANGERS can boast some fantastic teams in their long history and the class of 1948/49 can certainly lay claim to being one of the best.

 

They became the first Scottish team to complete the clean sweep of domestic honours and today, April 30, is the 60th anniversary of their Treble triumph.

 

Managed by the legendary Bill Struth, Rangers were a formidable force in the immediate post-war era. They boasted the famous Iron Curtain defence - Bobby Brown, George Young, Jock Shaw, Ian McColl, Willie Woodburn and Sammy Cox - and an attacking line that featured Willie Waddell and Willie Thornton.

 

In a fantastic campaign, they claimed the newly introduced League Cup, the Scottish Cup and took the title on an incredible last-day shootout.

 

1949 Treble captain Jock Shaw and Bobby BrownGoalkeeper Brown is one of only two survivors from this famous team - the other being Sammy Cox - and he recalls their achievements with relish.

 

He said: "The fact that we conceded 16 goals less than any other team was an indication of how strong we were at the back and we were also fortunate not to have any injuries.

 

"We were able to field our strongest team in most of the matches and that was significant.

 

"Of course, we had the Iron Curtain defence at that time. Woodburn was peerless. In the all the time I have been watching football I have never seen a better centre half

 

"Jock was a good captain, an out and out Ranger. He was forever shouting in the field. He was a first class left back and an excellent defender.

 

"I had every confidence in him and if I went out for a cross ball I knew that he and George Young would be behind me."

 

Brown played in every match that season and there was an unlikely twist which set Rangers up for the first leg of the "Triple Crown" as it was referred to in these days.

 

Back in 1948/49 and up until the 1970s the early stage of the League Cup was played in sections and it looked odds on that Celtic, in the same group as Rangers, would come out on top.

 

They had won their opening three matches, including a 3-1 win over Rangers, but then lost 4-2 to Hibs and then, incredibly, lost 6-3 at home to Clyde!Torry Gillick scored in the 1948-49 League Cup final

 

It meant that the final section game between Rangers and Celtic would decide who would go through. A crowd of 105,000 packed into Ibrox to watch the cliff-hanger. Goals from Billy Williamson and Willie Waddell gave Rangers a 2-1 win and pitted them against St Mirren in the quarter-final.

 

A 1-0 victory followed by a 4-1 romp over Dundee in the semi-final set Rangers up for a League Cup Final appearance against Raith Rovers in the spring.

 

Given that the Fifers were in the Second Division at that time, Rangers were expected to win comfortably but Brown remembers that was far from the case,

 

He said: "We were lucky to be drawing 0-0 at half-time because we didn't play particularly well and Raith Rovers had had a goal disallowed.

 

"Torry Gillick scored early in the second half and that settled us down and then Willie Paton scored soon after and we were on our way to the Cup."

 

Rangers' path in the Scottish Cup was much more comfortable. They reached the Final with easy victories over Elgin, Motherwell, Partick and then East Fife in the semi, scoring 17 goals and conceding just one.

 

The Final itself proved no difficulty, Rangers seeing off Clyde 4-1. One curiosity emerged from the match. Billy Williamson, who had scored the winning goal in the previous season's replayed Final against Morton, again found the net, giving him the remarkable record of having played in only two Scottish Cup games, both of them Finals, and scoring on both occasions.

 

The second leg of the treble was now safely at Ibrox, but the odds on winning the Championship seemed stacked against Rangers.

 

Willie Waddell in action against Partick ThistleThe race for the title had been a titanic struggle between Rangers and Dundee. Indeed, Rangers lost 3-1 at Dens Park in the January.

 

Rangers produced a fantastic run of 10 straight victories towards the end of the campaign but Dundee still had the advantage going into the final day.

 

The Dark Blues needed a draw at Falkirk in their final match to clinch it while Rangers travelled to Coatbridge needing a win over Albion Rovers and some help from Falkirk. Incredibly they got both.

 

Rangers did all that they could with Willie Thornton scoring a hat-trick as they won 4-1 Albion Rovers. But the news from Brockville Park was astonishing.

 

Dundee had crashed 4-1. The title and the Treble belonged to Rangers. History had been made.

 

Rangers had been given some help from an old friend. Jerry Dawson, who had starred for them before and during the war, saved a Dundee penalty.

 

Brown said: "It was an incredible last day. We knew what was happening at Brockville and it definitely spurred us on.

 

"Willie Thornton scored three great goals for us and we won our game well."

 

There was a bit of decorum in these days and there were no wild celebrations. The players went for dinner to the now defunct St Enoch's Hotel in Glasgow and manager Struth made a speech.

 

Changed days indeed