Jim Forrest: Dealing With An Injustice

[Guest JCS]

I am pursuing Jim Forrest's 'case' with the club, and will shortly be writing to our Chairman, Walter Smith to support my contention that Jim Forrest should be considered for the Rangers Hall of fame. I would very much welcome constructive comments and opinions.

 

In the introduction to his wonderful book, â??The Official Rangers Hall of Fameâ?, Lindsay Herron proudly tells the reader that, â??more than 800 players have pulled on the Light Blue jerseyâ? since the club was founded in 1872. He quickly goes on to advise the reader that,

 

â??There are, however, a number of players from this group who stand head and shoulders above the rest; men who have shaped the destiny of the club and brought glory and fame to Ibrox through their effortsâ?

 

The Hall of Fame is resplendent with the â??jewelsâ?? that have sparkled for our great club since the Founding Fathers first had their vision of a great Glasgow team â?? a vision that quickly became the â??Famous Glasgow Rangersâ?? and the institution, and worldwide phenomenon, it is today.

 

The select group of players honoured in the Rangers Hall of Fame are lionized, and forever immortalised, in Lindsay Herronâ??s great book, and Iâ??ve no doubt that most Rangers fans â?? young and old alike â?? could name a fair few of them. From Peter and Moses McNeil, two of our most revered Founding Fathers, to Rangers legends such as former captain and Scotland stalwart, John Greig, the mesmeric Davy Cooper and former scoring sensation and current Rangers manager Ally McCoist.

 

There are currently 90 legends in the Rangers Hall of Fame, and the simple objective of this story is to persuade you that there should be 91; and that number 91 should be former striker, and prolific goal scorer, Jim Forrest.

 

Now, let me say at the outset that Jim Forrestâ??s goal scoring achievement speaks for itself, and he is an outstanding candidate for the Rangers Hall of Fame. But I must confess that I was totally â??won overâ?? and convinced to make this case, by the persuasive and enthusiastic presenters of Rangerschat, Ian and Fox, who argued fervently that Jim Forrestâ??s contribution to Rangers Football Club between 1962 and 1967 should be recognized and rewarded with a place in the Rangers Hall of Fame.

 

Jim Forrest, a Glasgow lad born and bred, was brought to Rangers as a schoolboy, at a time when the successful team of the early 1960s was breaking up. He made his debut for Rangers on 17 November 1962 in a 4 â?? 0 thrashing of Falkirk and, thereafter, regularly wore the famous number 9 shirt for Rangers, ultimately displacing Jimmy Millar (1955 â?? 1967) who was himself a prolific goal scorer. Jimmy Millarâ??s partnership with Ralph Brand remains one of the most potent Rangers striking partnerships of all time; so trying to emulate the famous Millar and Brand partnership was never going to be an easy task for any newcomer, and it was clear that Jim Forrest had a massive task on his hands.

 

However, he quickly established himself as a deadly and prolific goal scorer, netting a total of 145 goals in his 163 games for Rangers, as he established a potent striking partnership with George McLean. He scored 57 goals in the 1964-65 season, just 2 goals short of the record for most goals scored in a season in British football, and he still holds the record for the highest number of goals scored for Rangers in a League Cup match, having scored 5 in the 7-1 thrashing of Hamilton on 30 October 1965.

 

Jim Forrestâ??s goals-to-game ratio is, quite simply, sensational, and is not far off a goal a game at 0.89. Thatâ??s a goal-to-game ratio that any player, any team and any manager in the modern era would die for!

 

Contrast Forrestâ??s goal scoring ratio with Rangers hero, and current boss, Ally McCoist whose goal per game ratio is 0.61, and Jim Forrestâ??s goal scoring exploits are placed in a very impressive perspective indeed. Even when compared with his contemporaries, and with later Rangers legends, Forrestâ??s strike rate is far superior.

 

Rangers Striker â?? Years at Rangers â?? Games Played â?? Goals Scored â?? Goal -To-Game Ratio

 

Billy Simpson 1950 â?? 1959 239 163 0.68

Ralph Brand 1954 â?? 1965 317 206 0.65

Jimmy Millar 1955 â?? 1967 317 162 0.51

Davy Wilson 1956 â?? 1967 373 157 0.42

Derek Johnston 1970 â?? 1983 546 210 0.38

Ally McCoist 1983 â?? 1998 581 355 0.61

Mark Hately 1990 â?? 1995/97 222 115 0.52

 

In addition to his goal scoring prowess, Jim Forrest won 5 international caps for Scotland, also winning the Scottish Division 1 title twice (1962/63 and 1963/64), the Scottish League Cup twice (1963/64 and 1964/65) and the Scottish Cup in 1965/66.

 

But unfortunately for Jim Forrest, a long an illustrious career at Ibrox was not to be, and his spell at the club was brought to an inglorious and untimely end when Rangers were unceremoniously dumped out of the Scottish Cup by lowly Berwick Rangers in January 1967. The entire country was shocked by that unbelievable result and, as a 14 year old at the time, I vividly recall watching the very brief highlights of the game (in black and white), and wondering how on earth the Mighty Rangers could be knocked out of the Cup by the minnows of Berwick? To say I was devastated would be a gross understatement. At that time, the world, quite literally, had come to an end for this 14 year old Rangers fan!

 

The Rangers manager, Scot Symon, described the defeat as â??the worst result in the clubâ??s historyâ? and, under significant pressure from the Rangers board, immediately dropped Jim Forrest and George McLean, his two main strikers in the Berwick game, and transferred them to other clubs. Forrest and McLean were, undoubtedly, made the scapegoats for the worst Cup exit in Rangersâ?? history, and young Forrest was particularly distraught by a decision that was, not only, wrong, but one that almost everyone believed to be unreasonable and totally unfair.

 

However, Symonâ??s decision to â??sackâ?? Forrest and McLean came back to haunt him just a few months later when Rangers were beaten by Bayern Munich in the final of the European Cup Winners Cup on 31 May 1967. Having got rid of the clubâ??s two top strikers in February, Rangers were forced to play Roger Hynd, a centre-half, at centre-forward against a powerful Bayern side that included the great Franz Beckenbauer.

 

Jim Forrest was the proverbial â??sacrificial lambâ??. Treated abominably, in circumstances where â??headsâ?? were required to roll in atonement for the â??Berwick â??disasterâ??, his Rangers career was blighted and prematurely ended. Yet in the time he was with the club, his goal scoring exploits became the stuff of legend. Who knows what further heights he might have scaled had he remained at Rangers. Perhaps he would already be one of the â??chosen fewâ?? in the Rangers Hall of Fame? The fact that he isnâ??t is an injustice that now requires to be remedied. Perhaps now, however belatedly, the club will consider the immense contribution made by Jim Forrest.

 

As the stats above testify, he was a goal scorer â??par excellenceâ?? His service to the club and the number of games he played would have been significantly greater but for the fateful decision of manager Scott Symon. But, perhaps, in 2013, that injustice can be balanced by the honours he won at Rangers, his international appearances for Scotland and his exceptional ability as a prolific goal scorer.

 

Now is the time for Jim Forrest to become the Rangers Hall of Fame player number 91.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

There are worse players in it already I suspect. Great read mate.

 

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[Doc 280]

Never saw the man play but my dad raved about him. Reckoned he was one of the best he'd ever seen, From the account above, JF deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Good luck with your efforts.

[Bluedell 5,335]

Never seen him play, but you make a convincing argument.

[the wasp 0]

,Being old. Enough to have watched every RAngers striker since Billy Simpson,l can tell you,although Colin Stein remains

 

 

my all- time favourite,Jim Forrest was easily by far the most prolific scorer.

 

we fact about Forrest and McLean being fired.Scot Symon was ordered by then owner John Lawrence to fire them.

 

'

[Tom Davison 0]

The great thing was that Jim Forrest, along with a young fellow, called Alex Willoughby, came through the ranks of our club and made fine contributions. Over recent years, perhaps we have lost our expectancy of the young fellows making good in our first team and instead have developed a "who can we sign attitude." Jim Forrest was a smashing player and the decision to discard him was shameful.

[the wasp 0]

The great thing was that Jim Forrest, along with a young fellow, called Alex Willoughby, came through the ranks of our club and made fine contributions. Over recent years, perhaps we have lost our expectancy of the young fellows making good in our first team and instead have developed a "who can we sign attitude." Jim Forrest was a smashing player and the decision to discard him was shameful.

 

Willoughby and Forrest were cousins,if I remember correctly.

[Guest JCS]

Thank you all for the valuable comments. I will draft my letter to Walter Smith this weekeend and I will include some of the comments posted here and on RM. Please continue to post. Any additional information would be most welcome.

[chilledbear 16]

I never realised Forrest wasn't in the HOF.

 

I see it as a waste of a good idea, but Jim Forrest probably deserves it more than some.

[alexscottislegend 2,068]

That the decision to get of him was hasty was further emphasised when he found a new lease of life at a good Aberdeen side as a fleet-footed right winger, supplying the likes of Joe Harper. Think Scot Symon was himself fired at the end of season 69?