Memories of the bygone days of yore.

[Bill 13,717]

As you get older there are days you look back on as markers in your life, some for obvious reasons of importance but others that somehow just got stuck in your head. One of these for me was a game back in 1964, a memory that has stayed with me like an old friend.

 

I must have seen the Rangers many hundreds of times since but for some reason the game that left the biggest impression on me was one of the first I attended. Maybe it’s not entirely unusual for early impressions to be lasting ones but I swear I can’t remember a thing about other games I went to around the same time.

 

The game in question was a League Cup group match, just a few months before boabie’s Easter Road adventure, and took place on a blazing hot Saturday afternoon in August at Pittodrie. That was back in the days before any of the bitterness that now exists between the clubs. Rangers were generally welcomed in Aberdeen and I recall an Aberdeen fan leaning down to offer a sweetie to this wee boy with a Rangers scarf round his neck. I remember it vividly, as if it was yesterday, a real dingdong battle that Rangers eventually won 4-3. 

 

The combination of heat & noise, the colours and the sheer excitement of an unsegregated support was like a narcotic to a young head and sealed a love affair that’s lasted a lifetime. To my young mind the Rangers players seemed like giants in the sunshine and if I close my eyes I can still see Ralph Brand scoring his second. Great days, when Rangers stood like a colossus over Scottish football.

[Barebear 37]

 I'm a bit younger so my memories don't kick in until the early 80's and I love the idea of documenting something like you have here. I will get my thinking cap on. 

 

I did keep a diary of one entire season when we had Gazza and Laudrup playing. I wrote a wee bit about each game, gave a man of the Match and slotted the Match ticket into the page. I'm sure I could get something from that, although that's back home in Oz and we are in Scotland at the moment so might need to wait a while for that.

 

 

[compo 6,217]

It was Newcastle 1969 we had drawn the first game at Ibrox so off we went a three day jolly as a non drinker i think i was in every pub in Newcastle   with the brother and our cousin big alex a fair amount of brown ale was put away by those two in the last pub before the game it was rangers and united fans all in good humour until someone said the newcastle fans are just like us scots only they have had their brains kicked out thats when it all kicked off punches headers  boots in the nuts i had a great advantage i think i was the only sober person in the place , anyway we made the game only to see us lose by two goals both scored by two scottish players Scott and Sinclair then it was like round two the bottles started flying police with dogs came on only to be chased by our supporters who were as full as welks with the brown ale the only good thing from the whole trip was meeting a rather interesting older woman who  swear was double jointed .

[boabie 230]

RANGERS v NEWCASTLE UTD, Fairs Cup semi first leg, 14 MAY 1969.

This one REALLY sticks in my mind. The reasons will become apparent to anyone after reading.

 

My family had moved out of Glasgow and I was loving our new start in a new estate. As was the habit back then, my dad and I headed through to the match. This time though we were taking 2 neighbours, an Englishman and a Welshman. In Glasgow as usual we picked up my grandad . He'd retired from a working life digging holes for the Gas Board just a few weeks before. Granda made the 10 bob bet with me we'd made for years and years - I took Rangers to win with 2 goals of a start, had the benefit of the draw and my money back if we lost. It was his way of giving me pocket money. Dad parked the car in Elizabeth Street near to the stadium and we headed along to Ibrox.

The game ended up 0-0 and was dreadful. Not because Rangers didn't score or had an off match, in fact we missed several chances to score, but because of the Newcastle teams tactics. Every  time one of their players got tackled they fell to the ground rolling around to hold up the match by obvious time-wasting. It got so bad even the incompetent referee had had enough of it and waved play on after yet another Newcastle player fell to the ground and began impersonating a dying fly. The player got stretchered off and the same tactics continued for the rest of the match.  Andy Penman, normally so adept at dead balls saw Willie McFaul save his penalty.

Game over we began walking with the crowd back to our car.  I was walking in front with my dad and the Welshman while granda and the English fella were a short distance behind. When dad told me to get the car keys from granda I turned and began walking back.  Through the crowd I saw granda stop, put his hand to his chest and then fall face first onto the ground. I ran back and told my dad what I'd seen. Somebody phoned for an ambulance but it was obvious to me that was a waste of time. Dad remained with granda while I directed the Welshman who drove the car to my grannys house. Granny had been infirm for many years but we got her into the car and headed to the hospital. I was sitting in the car with granny when my dad came out and told us granda was dead.

Later I had to direct our Welsh and English neighbours in my dads car back to our home town . Dad stayed in Glasgow that night.

I've wished nothing but ill on Newcastle United since that game. I attended the return match Compo posted about above.

One thing granda always used to say was, "When I go I want to have had a few drinks and seen the Rangers win a good match."  One out of three isn't that bad I suppose.

[compo 6,217]

I wish I hadn't brought that game up now ,sorry .

[boabie 230]

1 hour ago, compo said:

I wish I hadn't brought that game up now ,sorry .

Not at all mate. Long time ago. No problem.

[Bluedell 5,355]

1 hour ago, compo said:

I wish I hadn't brought that game up now ,sorry .

We want to hear more about the double-jointed older woman!

[Tannochsidebear 2,320]

What a great thread this is. It is these types of threads that got me hooked on fans forums in the early days of FF and are always a great read.

 

I have been thinking I was getting a right old git recently with some other life events going on around me, but these stories make me realise I am nowhere near as auld as some of my fellow Gersnetters!!!

 

My attending Rangers matches doesnt start till the same season as Souness arrived as that was when I took on another paper round (the Sports Times final pink on a Saturday night) to earn enough money to go to the games.

 

My stories therefore are not as distant as some of the ones retold in this thread so far, but I have plenty of fairly interesting tales to tell, so I will get thinking about that and post something perhaps over the weekend.

 

Keep them coming bears, this is a classic Gersnet thread in the making!

 

[boabie 230]

Rangers v Celtic, Scottish Cup Final, 5 May 1973.

 

 

Friday, the day before the cup final and a mate and I still don't have tickets for the match. Usually there was a crowd of us apprentices attended matches together but for some reason it was only my mate Tam and me who finished work at 4.30pm and headed off exploring pubs to see if we could find a couple of briefs. The area around the Kingston Bridge used to have a pub on every corner and we visited them all without success before moving further afield and ending up in Gorbals, an area I knew well enough to be careful in.

The Laurieston Bar, a pub I'd never been in but by this time we were beginning to become desperate . Tam called out, "Has anybody got any spare tickets for the game ?"   A guy at the end of the bar who looked about 8 feet tall said, " Whit end ? "  I nearly shit myself.

Turned out we passed the test and left holding a ticket each for the Rangers end. 

I stayed near to Hampden so Tam came over next morning and we sank a few beers each before taking the short stroll to the Ground. The crowd for that Centennial Final is given as  anywhere between 120,000 and 135,000. My memory may be playing tricks here but I seem to remember being outside Hampden  and it bucketing of rain just as a guy shouted out " Two North stand tickets for two Rangers end".  We swapped.

Heading down Somerville Drive along the outside of the North Stand I began to get that sinking feeling. Yep. The sellik end of the stand. I'll say something I've believed since that day - had it not been such a fantastic match my mate Tam and I were at risk of a real doing. At one point Jimmy Johnstone got the ball and I stood up and shouted, " Kill that wee ginger bastard !"  Apart from a few dark looks the only retort I got was, "Ach, that's no very nice, is it ?"  God only knows what would happen nowadays.

The scoring went 0-1, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2 before Tom Forsyths 3 inch screamer hit the net and we won 3-2. I remember John Greig acting as a goalkeeper and pulling off a great save only to have the rhats awarded a penalty as it's apparently not allowed.           

Tam and I somehow ended up in The Penny Farthing pub on Cathcart Road. Anyone who knows the area will know that wasn't a wise decision. We took the hint and headed off to a bar inhabited by human beings. Again, a great match probably saved us from severe damage.

This is probably my favourite match ever. Bayern at Ibrox runs it close but this final had two teams playing to win and we came out on top.  Bayern simply found themselves played off the park.           

 

 

 

Edited April 12, 2018 by boabie

[compo 6,217]

It was one of those dull wet s that glesga excels at mid 60s before we built the cover over the rangers end so rather than getting soaked we went into the shed or Derry stand as some called it passageway 12 were all the Mermaid boys went I knew many of them some nutters but our nutters .

Anyway the games being played the community singing was first class no songs banned then because we were the people back then that's when I noticed a burning smell didn't take long to find the source our alecs fag  had burnt a hole in one of the biggest nutters new crombie a bit of quick thinking needed so I grabbed a can of beer from the brother and extinguished the red embers of the back of his  crombie saving a sore face for the cousin the last I heard about crombie  man was he was doing life so we were lucky .