Tommy McLean (1971 to 1982)
On 9th June 1971, Rangers finally got their man when they secured the services of right winger Tommy McLean from Kilmarnock for a fee of £65,000.
Scot Symon had tried to sign Tam for Rangers on leaving school in 1962 but the then Kilmarnock manager, Willie Waddell, convinced McLean his immediate future lay at Rugby Park. It turned out to be sound advice and by the time McLean was 18 he had secured a League Championship medal at Rugby Park, represented his country and gained valuable experience in European competition against the likes of Eintracht Frankfurt and the great Real Madrid side. As Kilmarnock famously defeated Hearts 2-0 at Tynecastle in 1965 to achieve their only ever topflight success, it was young Tommy who provided the assist for the first goal and had a hand in the second.
Fortunately, Tommy would later ignore Waddell’s advice when Chelsea came calling for the talented youngster. By then a football journalist, Waddell tried to convince McLean to make the move from Ayrshire to London and help broker a deal with the Stamford Bridge side. Sensing that the switch from his local village to the bright lights of London would be too much too soon, McLean declined the move much to Waddell’s dismay.
By now in charge of Rangers, ‘The Deedle’ did manage to persuade Tam to join forces with him and, at the age of 24, McLean signed for the Club whilst in Copenhagen on international duty. By the end of his first season with Rangers he had secured a European Cup Winners Cup medal thus ensuring legendary status. His tactical awareness and intelligence on the pitch had proved vital during that never to be forgotten run to Barcelona.
At just 5’4”, Tommy was small in stature but the ability he possessed was second to none. Although Rangers had been blessed with a long line of outstanding players at outside right, McLean was different to predecessors such as Alex Scott, Willie Henderson or indeed, Waddell himself. More akin to a modern day right sided midfielder, Tommy’s great attribute was his pinpoint accuracy with passing and crossing alike. McLean is credited with 57 goals during 450 appearances for Rangers but it would be wonderful to know just how many assists he made for the likes of Derek Johnstone and Derek Parlane down through the years.
McLean’s Gers debut came in the Old Firm clash of 14th August 1971 as Celtic triumphed 2-0 at Parkhead in a League Cup tie. In fact, by the second week of September he had already tasted defeat three times to our fiercest rivals in what had been a less than palatable start domestically. For a player living in the Rangers stronghold of Larkhall the pressure was immediate and even more so as he was deemed to be keeping fans favourite Willie Henderson out of the team. It would be fair to say that the blood and thunder of these particular matches were often not best suited to McLean’s more thoughtful style of play.
The European Cup Winners Cup campaign seemed to offer some solace and Tommy and Rangers began their run with a 1-1 draw with Stade Rennes in France. McLean would make six starts and one substitute appearance from a possible nine as Rangers clinched their only European trophy success to date in what was Tommy’s debut season at Ibrox.
The Scottish Cup was secured in season 1973 under Jock Wallace to give Tommy his first domestic winners medal as a Rangers player. There were plenty more to come as the Treble was secured twice in just three seasons.
Whilst Tommy was in the fortunate position of having won the title with Kilmarnock 10 years earlier, Celtic had secured the next 9 and season 1974/75 simply had to bring an end to that unacceptable sequence. An inspirational McLean display on 4th January 1975 saw Rangers dismantle Celtic 3-0 on a quagmire Ibrox surface. Whilst others toiled, the nimble footed McLean appeared to glide over the top of the mud. After 11 agonising years, there were scenes of jubilation as Rangers secured the required point at Easter Road on 29th March 1975. Tommy appeared in 33 of a possible 34 league matches (32 starts) during that historic campaign, his only goal coming in that afore mentioned Old Firm clash at the turn of the year.
There was an almost constant flow of silverware during the remainder of Wallace’s first spell as manager and Tommy was an integral part in all those big occasions. In season 1975/76 he was in the starting XI as Celtic were defeated in the League Cup Final and, similarly, when Hearts were comprehensively defeated in the Scottish Cup Final (Tommy’s trademark free kick picking out Derek Johnstone for the opening goal famously before it had even reached the 3pm scheduled kick off time).
A second treble was secured in season 1977/78 and, again, McLean was in his usual position. Celtic succumbed to a Gordon Smith extra time League Cup winner with Aberdeen this time taking the position of runner up in the Scottish Cup.
With John Greig having moved into the managerial position in the summer of 1978, Rangers looked to secure back-to-back Trebles for the first time in their history. They came agonisingly close to doing so but the Championship eluded Greig’s side in circumstances from which the new manager possibly never quite recovered. Prior to this, McLean had helped the side win the League Cup once again in an ill-tempered match with Aberdeen. The season ended on a high even if the first two matches of a trilogy of Scottish Cup Final ties with Hibernian had been instantly forgettable. It would be the last on field trophy success for Tommy as a player with Rangers, taking his total to 11 major honours in just 8 seasons.
Tommy would continue to play frequently for a further three seasons and was on the bench as Rangers defeated Dundee United in the replay of the 1981 Scottish Cup Final (having started the first game which ended goalless). His final appearance for the Club came as a substitute in the Final of the same competition 12 months later as Aberdeen over ran an ageing Gers side after extra time. It felt very much like the end of an era.
A great servant to Rangers, Tommy would become assistant manager to John Greig and (very briefly) caretaker manager as well as returning to the Club in later years undertaking a development role at Auchenhowie under Dick Advocaat.
Tommy was a well respected manager in Scottish Football for over 25 years during which time he took charge of Morton, Hearts, Raith Rovers and Dundee United.
However, it was at Motherwell where he would enjoy his greatest managerial success over a ten-year period. Along with former Gers teammate Tom Forsyth, they would sensationally lead Motherwell to Scottish Cup glory in 1991. Ironically, the defeated manager on that occasion was his brother, Jim. The McLean’s of Ashgill, Lanarkshire, were certainly a footballing family, other sibling Willie also having a successful career as player and manager. Fittingly, the Lanarkshire side renamed their South Stand at Fir Park in honour of Tommy McLean.
As a youngster, Tommy played for Larkhall Academy and Birkenshaw Juniors.
A full internationalist for Scotland, Tommy is included in the Hall of Fame at both Rangers and Motherwell.
In recent times Tommy lived in Larbert, Stirlingshire, but has sadly suffered from poor health making him a noticeable absentee during the 50 year Barcelona anniversary celebrations.
by Rick Plews
