Wolverhampton Town

[Steve1872 4]

http://www.freewebs.com/londonbranchrsc/wolverhamptontown.htm

 

The Gers' first time playing against English opposition in European competition was away back in 1961 when they played Wolves in the European Cup Winners Cup Semi Final.

 

To reach the semi final Rangers had defeated Ferencvaros 5-4 on aggregate and Borussia Munchengladbach 11-0 (that's right eleven!) on aggregate. Now they were going to meet the FA Cup holders who had been English champions twice in the previous three years with them being runners up the previous season by a single point just missing out on winning the double.

 

Eric Caldow captain of Rangers and Scotland in 1961

 

The first leg took place on 29 March 1961 in front of 80,000 at Ibrox. The Rangers side was Ritchie; Shearer and Caldow; Davis, Paterson and Baxter; Scott, Wilson, Baillie, Brand and Hume. It was a strange looking side. Ian McMillan, Max Murray and Jimmy Millar were all unfit. It was a makeshift side with teenager Bobby Hume at outside left, giant defender Doug Baillie at centre forward and Davy Wilson moving from his normal left wing position to inside right.

 

 

The match did not start well for Rangers when Harold Davis was injured after only ten minutes and had to play the rest of the match limping on the right wing. (No sustitutes back then!). Davy Wilson dropped back to right half where he had an outstanding match. In the 35th minute Davy sent a long ball which Wolves English international Ron Flowers misheaded and Alex Scott took advantage of. He moved forward and from the edge of the box hit a great shot past Finlayson in the Wolves goal. Ibrox erupted!

Big Doug Baillie's physical presence was giving the Wanderers side a number of problems as the Gers pressed for another goal. It came just six minutes from time when the brave Harold Davis who continued playing despite being injured and in considerable pain picked up a poor clearance and sent a lovely pass to Ralph Brand who slotted home Rangers second goal to give them a vital 2-0 lead to take to Molineux.

 

 

 

Wolves manager Stan Cullis was confident that his team could overcome this two goal defeat and perhaps this confidence increased when only four days before the return leg England defeated Scotland 9-3 at Wembley. Three Rangers players Shearer, Caldow and Wilson were in the defeated Scottish side. In "The Rangers Scotland's Greatest Football Club" John Fairgreave writes "So, on the morning of the second Wolves-Rangers match, the Black Country expected Rangers fans to slink into town somewhat apologetically. What they saw was an arrogant army that might have been headed by Gengis Khan. That army was at least 10,000 strong. The blue bonnets that came over the border on April 19, 1961, were not concerned with the massacre of Wembley-although they did remember to chant derively, at regular intervals "Haffey, Haffey", the name of the Celtic goalkeeper who had conceded these nine goals against England."

"Many tales were told of the Rangers takeover of Wolverhampton. Some may have been apocryphal. Others were probably quite true. It was said that every pub in the centre of the city had run out of bottled beer long before the kick off. That, for twelve hours, the busy Wolverhampton streets were packed with singing, banner waving hordes. That one police official called Rangers fans the noisiest he had ever known."

 

The Rangers side that played at Molineux was Ritchie; Shearer and Caldow; Davis, Paterson and Baxter; Wilson, McMillan, Scott,, Brand and Hume. In "The Rangers Scotland's Greatest Football Club" John Fairgreave writes "Outside right is not Davy Wilson's best position, but Wolves could not have believed that, as he tormented their defence. Nor has Alex Scott ever made much of a name for himself at centre forward, but his sheer speed had the Wolves centre half Bill Slater, in a daze at times. And Ian McMillan, playing with fantastic energy for one so slight, was invaluable in taking the strain off his defence with a series of immaculate passes. Wolves, however, often looked dangerously like cancelling out the Rangers lead for two distinct spells, one in each half. Physically, they were the much stronger side, and in spite of some impressive individual work by the Ibrox forwards, were able to claim the larger share of attacking play."

"Yet it was Rangers who led at half time. Wolves were taking a breather before launching another assault, when Jim Baxter and McMillan scissored through their defence. McMillan prodded the ball past Slater to Ralph Brand, who ignored an offside claim, for which there was no obvious justification, anyway. Scott, moving to the left, received the pass from Brand, and scored neatly.

A mere thirty seconds later Willie Allison in "Rangers-The New Era" states "The ball arrived at the feet of left half Ron Flowers. Not for years have I seen so vicious a shot as Flowers released. The ball arrowed its way, as we thought, for the net. Then, as though in a dream, we saw Billy Ritchie twist himself with an acrobatic leap and, stretched horizontally, finger-tip the ball round a post. Flowers seemed to shrink and wither in sheer disbelief that Billy had even touched the ball. A second elapsed before the full impact of it hit our players- then they engulfed the smiling Billy in a human wave!"

 

 

Peter Broadbent got the equaliser for Wolves ten minutes into the second half which was the final goal of the match. Rangers won 3-1 on aggregate and were into their first European final. The celebrations had now started! Willie Allison describes as "Wolverhampton had never witnessed such scenes of revelry when the Swiss referee, Herr Deinst, signalled time up. Hundreds of our supporters, delirious with joy, jumped the barriers and tore towards their heroes. This was a night that would seldom come in their lifetime. The players who had won a mighty tactical triumph were carried shoulder high towards the dressing room tunnel with Billy Ritchie the centre of the largest celebrating group. Many had travelled overnight with no chance of sleep and had kept the Wolverhampton locals amused by their parades throughout the town before the match. Yet here they were ready to march back to Glasgow with a song in their lips and telling the world that "There's not a team like the Glasgow Rangers ......." And Wolverhampton agreed."

 

 

Wolverhampton Town

 

A song was written regarding Rangers trip to Wolverhampton called "Wolverhampton Town". You can listen to it on You Tube if you have not heard it before. The words are as follows:

 

I'd been in exile for some years

And my eyes filled up with tears

When the Rangers came to Wolverhampton Town

So I took a trip along

Just to hear some famous songs

When the Rangers came to Wolverhampton Town

 

I stood there all alone

While the boys all down from home

Sang of Rangers that team of great renown

And a sight I'd never seen

When they sang "God Save The Queen"

When the Rangers came to Wolverhampton Town

 

CHORUS -"There's not a team like the Glasgow Rangers"

One of the famous songs they sung

And a sight I'd never seen

When they sung "God Save The Queen"

When the Rangers came to Wolverhampton Town

 

Now on the field below

The boys put on a show

The like they've never seen at Molineux

And the football it was grand

From McMillan, Scott and Brand

When the Rangers came to Wolverhampton Town

 

Now the League Flag must come nearer

With men like Bobby Shearer

The way he played at Wolverhampton Town

And Wolves forever after

Will sing of Jimmy Baxter

For on his head they placed a noble crown

 

CHORUS

 

Now I knew it had to happen

I heard a mighty roar

The famous Glasgow Rangers

They had scored

And the sky was white and blue

Wolverhampton shook right through

The Royal Rampant Rangers had come through

 

CHORUS

 

 

Davy Wilson

[Steve1872 4]

[GovanAllan 0]

Cracking read mate.

[Crimson Dynamo 128]

Enjoyed that. Thanks for posting it

[foggy dewhurst 0]

nice read brought back some good memories for old foggy

[Robert 17]

Outstanding post, thanks. Get quite emotional reading posts like that.

[EDGE 0]

Great read! Thanks

[Steve1872 4]

When The Rangers came to Wolverhampton Town

 

April 19, 2012

 

From all over Scotland they came with their Union Flags and Scottish standards. Soaked to the bone from the torrential rain, 10,000 of them paraded through the streets of Wolverhampton. Despite the weather, many were without coats, but they didnâ??t care. All they wanted to do was enjoy their day away from home and see their team win. Their red, white and blue flags and banners that brightened the grey skies protected them from the elements anyway. The locals â?? bemused and amused in equal measure â?? may not have recognised the songs and chants, but they would surely have appreciated the passion with which they were delivered.

The battle cry of â??We are the peopleâ?? echoed off the red-brick buildings as the procession wound its way through the town centre. It had started early in the morning as the first trains rumbled into the station. By lunchtime, office workers were abandoning their desks and lining the streets to watch the show. In return, the Scots bellowed their anthems: â??Thereâ??s not a team like the Glasgow Rangersâ?? and â??We will follow onâ??. They broke into The National Anthem, and were met with spontaneous applause from the bystanders.

It may have resembled an army, but there was nothing hostile about this invading force. There was alcohol consumed of course, and plenty were in high spirits, but no-one embarrassed themselves or their compadres. It was simply a display of passion and devotion to a football team that was then, and remains to this day, more than a just a club. On the streets of this industrial Midlands town, they were celebrating a way of life. â??The supporters were parading up the streets about ten abreast, waving flags and banners,â?? Rangers defender Harold Davis recalled. â??It was fantastic. They stopped the whole city; there were thousands of people there.â??

April 19th 1961. That was the day The Rangers came to Wolverhampton town.

Three weeks earlier, Wolves had visited Glasgow for the first leg of the battle for a place in the European Cup Winners Cup final. Interest in this cross-border clash of the giants was phenomenal. Rangers had sold out 80,000 tickets and, such was the demand, could easily have sold at least half that number again. The Wolves fans werenâ??t quite so keen to wander north, though, with less than a thousand making the trip.

That nightâ??s Evening Citizen devoted its entire broadsheet front page to the match. The headline â??Guardians of Ibroxâ?? was emblazoned above a montage of pictures of the expected Rangers line-up that had been superimposed over the stadiumâ??s famous iron gates. Injuries to key players like Jimmy Millar, Ian McMillan and Max Murray had hampered Scot Symonâ??s team selection and he was forced into naming an experimental front line, featuring Doug Baillie at centre forward instead of his usual position of centre half.

FA Cup holders Wolves were considered to be a strong, physical team more than capable of holding their own in a battle. In many ways they were similar in style to Rangers. But they too were under strength, with England international Peter Broadbent injured and the Scottish press predicted a win for the Scots.

After just 10 minutes of a tough tackling encounter, Rangers suffered another injury blow, although it was purely down to bad luck. Harold Davis overstretched and pulled a muscle in his leg. After lengthy treatment, he returned to the pitch with his right thigh heavily strapped but in those days of no substitutes, Davis had to soldier on. He was moved to the right wing to keep him out of harmâ??s way and the Rangers front line was reshuffled again.

Davis performed out of his skin to help the cause. â??In those days you had no substitutes so you either finished with ten men or with 11 and the injured player remained on the park. Even if you had a twisted ankle or something, you were better out of the way than actually in the middle of the park.â??

At this stage, even the most optimistic home supporter must have doubted whether a Rangers victory was likely. But 30 minutes into the first half, the Ibrox crowd erupted as Alex Scott scored a superb goal.

After the break, the game flowed back and forth as one team then the other gained the upper hand. Davis refused to remain a passenger on the wing and on more than one occasion tracked back to help out the defence as well as getting involved in attacking moves for Rangers. Wolves exerted more pressure on the Scottish defence as they sought the equaliser and Ritchie justified his selection by pulling off a string of saves. Then with just six minutes to go, Ralph Brand pounced on a mistake by Wolves and smashed home a low, hard shot past the goalkeeper to give Rangers a two goal lead to take to the Midlands.

The Rangers players and supporters were delighted at the win, especially as it had come in such difficult circumstances. Not everyone appreciated the efforts of injury victim Harold Davis, though. â??There was a comment made at the speeches after the game,â?? Davis remembered. â??The opposition manager Stan Cullis said something like, â??If that guy who got injured and played on the wing was seriously hurt then Iâ??m a bloody Dutchman.â?? I ended up on the wing and I made a contribution and he didnâ??t like it.â??

The second leg was to take place four days after the annual clash between Scotland and England in the Home International championship. This year the match was being played at Wembley, and as usual thousands of Scots travelled to London for the match. Many planned to return home via Black Country and take in the Rangers game at Molineux.

Wembley was a disaster. Scotland suffered a humiliating 9-3 defeat. It was now down to Rangers to restore some pride in the Scottish game. Despite the huge prize at stake â?? the finalists would make at least £20,000 from their appearance in the final â?? there were warm words from the English club towards their Rangers before the match. The programme notes for the game showed the respect they had for their Scottish visitors.

â??Since we qualified for one of the comparatively new international cup tournaments we have been privileged to receive on our ground some distinguished clubs from other countries. None of them however have been more welcome visitors to Molineux than the famous Rangers whom we see here tonight. Rangers are among the elite in Scottish football and all of us at Molineux are eagerly looking forward to seeing them.

â??What we can promise is another 90 minutes of hard football in which this time the roars from the terraces will be urging the English side into action just as the tremendous crowd at Ibrox sought to inspire their favourites three weeks ago. Those who were privileged to be there on that occasion will not hurriedly forget either the scene, or the sound, as the crowd roared Rangers into action.â??

The bookmakers were offering odds of 5-2 against Rangers winning, but Wolves had a magnificent home record that season, losing just one of their 17 matches at Molineux.

Molineux was barely a stoneâ??s throw from the town centre and, after congregating for some time for a singsong outside the hotel where Rangers had based themselves, the Scots fans marched to the ground to claim their spot on the terraces. From the start of the match to the end, the Rangers supporters roared on their team, to the amazement of the local fans. The local Express and Star newspaper said the thousands of visitors â??helped give the scene an atmosphere that has not been matched since the famous floodlit specials of â??54.â??

In their famous old gold jerseys, Wolves had the better of the opening exchanges, with Rangers were limited to breakaways. But as the half progressed the Scots managed to gain more of a territorial advantage. Davie Wilson, one of three Rangers players who had appeared against England, was out to make amends for the Wembley fiasco and put in a man of the match performance. Just before half time Alex Scott and Ralph Brand combined to score and send the Rangers fans into delirium. Latching onto a long clearance from the Rangers penalty area, Brand managed to evade the challenge of defender Bill Slater and broke away, before laying it onto the path of Scott, who carefully placed it beyond the â??keeper.

The cheers of the travelling fans were still reverberating around Molineux when Billy Ritchie was forced to pull off a magnificent diving save from a long range shot. The save, which was greeted with almost as big a roar as the goal, broke English hearts. Wolves eventually found a way through with a goal midway through the second half, but they would have needed another two to take the tie to extra time and, despite wave after wave of attack, that never looked likely.

Finally the final whistle blew, and Rangers were in the final. Their fans spilled onto the pitch to celebrate their victory. The tolerant Wolverhampton constabulary stood back and let the delighted Scots enjoy their fun as hundreds of fans hugged their triumphant heroes and carried them shoulder-high down the tunnel. Others danced with joy in front of the main stand before lining up in formation and starting a victory parade back through the streets to the town centre, where the late trains were waiting to carry them back north. â??We had a fantastic result,â?? said Harold Davis. â??Wolves were a great team in those days and that was one of our really good results. We were definitely helped by the fans. The backing of all those supporters was really super.â??

The victory took Rangers into the final of the Cup Winners Cup, the first British club team to reach a major European final. Birmingham City had played in the previous yearâ??s Fairs Cup final, but technically they were a representative team appearing in a competition that was only open to cities that hosted trade fairs. Having overcome teams from Hungary, Germany and England, Rangers now faced their biggest test against the Italians of Fiorentina.

Taken from Follow On: 50 Years of Rangers in Europe

[alexscottislegend 2,090]

In the final we faced Fiorentina who destroyed us with the main tormentor a Swedish winger called Kurt Hamrin.

 

Fantastic piece of montage Steve. thanks a lot. this was the time when I became a gers support er. And this is why we must always be playing in Europe.

[Scott7 5,232]

'Gers and Wolves two terrific teams. Pity Wolves didn't keep it up. I remember listening to the radio commentaries of their matches against Honved and Spartak. Their wingers Hancocks and Mullen destroyed the visitors , two of Europe's top sides.

 

With regard to the song, the tune is fine, the lyrics need to be unshackled - some parts are under terrible strain - and the whole thing needs to be re-recorded by someone who can sing. I tell ye, it'd batter the download charts.