Campbell ‘Cammy’ Fraser (1984 to 1987)
With the transfer fee being set by ‘tribunal’, Rangers paid £165,000 to secure the services of experienced midfielder Cammy Fraser in the summer of 1984. Along with team mate Iain Ferguson, the pair arrived from Dundee and their combined fee of over £350,000 represented a significant outlay for Jock Wallace as he prepared for the first full season of his second spell in charge of the Club.
It was, perhaps, not surprising that the pair had caught the eye of the Rangers hierarchy. In recent times, Dundee had proved to be somewhat of a ‘bogey’ side. During the previous two seasons, Rangers managed to record just two victories from eight league meetings whilst Wallace had also suffered Scottish Cup heartache at the hands of the Dens Park side just months earlier. Both Ferguson and Fraser had featured heavily (and scored) in those encounters.
The two players could not have been more different. Ferguson, at 21, was an in-form striker and the scorer of spectacular goals....the eye-catching poster boy, so to speak. Fraser, at 27, was an experienced midfielder who had already amassed over 250 league appearances with Heart of Midlothian and hometown side Dundee during the previous decade. He had been part of the Hearts side who had won the Scottish First Division (Championship) in 1979/80, thus securing promotion to the Premium Division.
Cammy was a stylish central midfielder, more than competent on the ball with a good range of passing and a powerful shot. He lacked pace but did have a hard side to his game which was maybe lacking in the Rangers midfield.
Fraser’s first appearance came on 29th July 1984 as Rangers defeated Solothurn of Switzerland in a pre-season friendly. Cammy was on the scoresheet during a 4-2 victory.
His competitive debut arrived on 11th August during an uneventful goalless draw with St. Mirren at Ibrox on the opening day of the 1984/85 league campaign. As Rangers prepared to face the same opposition again at Ibrox on 15th December 1984, the home side already found themselves some 9 points (only 2 points for a win) adrift of Aberdeen in third place. It was Fraser who broke the deadlock against the Paisley side, scoring on the 66th minute. However, with things not going to plan during his debut season and having become a perceived 'easy target' of criticism from the fans, Cammy ‘celebrated’ his goal by gesticulating to the Rangers support situated in the Govan Stand. It was a reaction that cost him two weeks wages.
His ‘v-sign’ salute and suspension problems cast a shadow over a season in which he did manage 39 starts and 2 substitute appearances. His first Rangers goal came in a 2-0 win over Morton at Ibrox and he followed that up just four days later when he grabbed a goal in the 4-0 League Cup SF (first leg) victory of Meadowbank Thistle. If his reaction to scoring against St. Mirren was the low point, the League Cup Final win over Dundee United at Hampden was the highlight. Cammy was in the starting line up as Ferguson grabbed the glory with a trademark finish on the stroke of halftime to deny their old Tayside rivals.
With Rangers rumoured to be tracking their former player Jim Bett in the summer of 1985, it was clear that manager Wallace was looking to inject fresh blood into the midfield. Whilst that may have been more around the likely departure of Robert Prytz, the long terms future of Fraser looked less than certain just 12 months on from his big money move to Glasgow. The emergence of Ian Durrant and Derek Ferguson also provided Wallace with cause for optimism although clearly their inexperience would need to be nurtured.
As the 1985/86 campaign got underway with another 1-0 victory over Dundee United, Fraser was frustratingly sidelined through injury. A calf injury sustained in training on the eve of a two-match trip to the Highlands would keep Cammy out of the side until 4th September where he appeared as a substitute as Rangers made hard work of eliminating Hamilton Academical in a League Cup tie at Fir Park.
Restored to the starting line up for the U.E.F.A Cup win over Altetico Osasuna at Ibrox which is better remembered for the atrocious weather conditions, Cammy kept his place when ex-side Dundee visited Glasgow just days later. Rangers suffered a first defeat of the season and, in truth, the wheels began to come off for Wallace and his side. Just four days later, it was announced that both Fraser and Iain Ferguson were available for transfer.
By the end of October, Wallace had seen his side crash out of two Cup competitions whilst losing to Aberdeen, Hibernian and St. Mirren in the league. Still only 2 points adrift from the top, it had been an alarming slump in form and there were no obvious signs of any upturn in fortunes. As 1985 ended, Rangers could muster just 7 points from their next 8 league fixtures and had fallen to 5th place in a league of 10.
With Fraser almost exclusively sitting on the sidelines, it was becoming apparent that Jock Wallace would also more than likely be heading for the exit door come the end of what was shaping up to be a dismal campaign. A Scottish Cup defeat to Hearts at the end of January pretty much spelled the end for Jock and Cammy found himself back in the side with more regularity following that reversal at Tynecastle. Having appeared only once since being made available for transfer, Cammy came back into the fold on 19th February 1986 as Rangers suffered a narrow defeat at Pittodrie in which Jim Bett (by now an Aberdeen player) was red carded following an altercation with former Don, Dougie Bell.
Cammy would feature in a handful of league matches as the season petered out. There was a personal highlight as he was credited with two headed goals in an incredible 4-4 Old Firm clash at Ibrox. His first, a terrific effort at the Broomloan Road end, brought Gers back into the match after a difficult opening period. Less than half an hour later, he put Rangers 4-3 ahead, making sure team-mate Davie MacKinnon’s own header was going to hit the back of the net. Wearing the number 10 shirt, Cammy made certain whilst pretty much standing on the goal line. Those were Cammy’s only goals of the season. He would play once more for Wallace before Jock’s time at the Club officially came to an end.
The announcement of Graeme Souness as Player / Manager brought far greater significance to the end of season Glasgow Cup Final, played on 9th May 1986. Less than 7 weeks since that classic 4-4 league encounter, Celtic returned to Ibrox with broadly the same squad (9 of their players featured in both matches). The Rangers side was also similar, Dawson and Cooper starting at the expense of Russell and MacKinnon. Cammy retained his place in the Rangers midfield. In front of a capacity crowd, Rangers put down a marker for the start of the 1986/87 defeating their oldest rivals 3-2 with Ally McCoist scoring his second Old Firm hat-trick. Cammy had himself netted a hat-trick in the Final of the 1985/86 competition (during a 5-0 win over Queen’s Park) but that had been very much deemed to be a Reserve side success.
The summer of 1986 would see huge changes at Ibrox with the likes of Derek Johnstone, Davie MacKinnon, Dougie Bell, Eric Ferguson, Andy Bruce, Billy Davies and John MacDonald all being told their Rangers careers were essentially over. Cammy would survive that initial ‘cull' and later recalled travelling to Tottenham Hotspur for a pre-season friendly with Souness telling him that he required a wide right player who was not a winger. According to Fraser “he told me the position was mine if I proved myself against Spurs and he was as good as his word”.
Following the infamous opening day defeat at Easter Road, Cammy would find himself in the starting line up when Falkirk visited Ibrox (Fraser and Derek Ferguson replacing Bobby Russell and the suspended Graeme Souness). He would become an in important part of the side for the remainder of 1986 as Souness and his side began to build momentum towards winning a first league title in 9 years.
Featuring primarily in that wide right of midfield role, Cammy was part of the victorious League Cup Final team to defeat Celtic, earning him his second winners medal in that competition. Ongoing fitness problems for Souness were a factor in Fraser finding more game time than he may ordinarily have anticipated, but Cammy was grasping the unexpected opportunity with both hands.
However, Cammy’s own injury problems were just around the corner and having featured 24 times in the first half of the season, the 4-0 victory over Falkirk on 13th December 1986 would prove to be his final appearance. Having failed to recover from his own issues, Fraser announced his retirement at the age of 30. As a Rangers player, Cammy made a total of 75 first team appearances, scoring 9 goals.
Fraser would later manage to get himself fit enough to make a playing comeback outside of the top flight, initially appearing for Raith Rovers before returning to Dundee and then finishing his senior career with Montrose. He played against Rangers for Raith Rovers in the Scottish Cup ties during season 1987/88, Rangers running out 4-1 winners following a replay.
Whilst managing to win over the Ibrox support before leaving Rangers, Cammy had little association with the Club thereafter. Unlike Iain Ferguson, who would later work in the hospitality suites on match day, Fraser, perfectly understandably, very much views himself as a “Dundee man”.
by Rick Plews
