Scot Symon (1954 to 1967)
As Bill Struth approached the end of his tenure as Rangers Manager, he had identified his potential successor as Scot Symon who as a determined and spirited wing-half had played for the Club from 1938-1947. James Scotland Symon duly took up his position as the third Manager of Rangers on 15 June 1954.
Symon had managerial experience at East Fife, whom he guided to promotion to the top flight in his first season and thereafter to League Cup Final success and a Scottish Cup Final appearance. He took over as Manager of Preston North End in 1953, taking them to the FA Cup Final.
His appointment as Rangers Manager was universally accepted, but there was clearly a lot to be done. He was taking over an ageing team and there was much disenchantment among the fans - only the Glasgow Cup had been won in Struth’s final season in charge.
Symon, like Struth, was no tracksuit Manager, observing from the sidelines whilst the trainers put the players through their paces. He followed the tried and trusted management methods and kept to the traditions of Ibrox and the high standards expected of Rangers and the players.
In his first season, Rangers were eliminated from both Cup competitions and finished third in the League, not helped by the SFA’s draconian sine die suspension of Willie Woodburn, but with younger players including Bobby Shearer, Eric Caldow and Alex Scott establishing themselves alongside the more senior players, Rangers were crowned League Champions in Season 1955/56, ahead of Aberdeen in second place.
Rangers retained their title in 1956/57 after a monumental struggle with Hearts, and the Season also saw the Club’s first European Cup venture, albeit losing out to Nice in a first round play-off.
1957/58 was a barren Season and by then only George Niven and Eric Caldow remained from the Struth era, but Rangers were League Champions again in 1958/59, and the side which would dominate Scottish football in the early 1960s was beginning to take shape.
In the following Season, Rangers League form appeared to suffer as a result of their exploits in reaching the European Cup semi-final, where they suffered a painful defeat at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt. However, the Scottish Cup was won for the first time in the Symon era, with goals from Jimmy Millar securing a 2-0 victory against Kilmarnock.
In 1960, the side considered by many to be the best ever had emerged, including the incomparable Jim Baxter, signed by Symon from Raith Rovers for the princely sum of £17,500. This was the team of Scott, McMillan, Millar, Brand and Wilson. Although undeniably knowledgeable of the game, Symon was not one for minute tactical preparation - he got good players and played them in their best positions. He relied on the players’ ability to work things out - Millar and Brand would form a telepathic partnership through hours working together on the training pitch.
In 1960/61 Rangers regained their League title and won their first League Cup under Symon, who also became the first Manager to take a British team to a European final, losing to Fiorentina over two legs in the inaugural European Cup Winners Cup.
1961/62 saw Rangers relinquish their League title, but win both the League Cup and Scottish Cup, and by the following Season young players Willie Henderson, John Greig and Ronnie McKinnon were regulars, Rangers winning a League and Scottish Cup double. In 1963/64 Symon’s team won the domestic Treble, the second in the Club’s history.
Although things looked rosy, some key players were reaching the end of their careers and in 1964/65 Symon could not get the consistency of selection he had previously enjoyed. Matters were not helped by a leg-break suffered by Jim Baxter 20 seconds from full-time in a European Cup tie in the Prater Stadium, Vienna after one of his greatest-ever games for the Club. Rangers without Baxter would lose narrowly to Inter Milan in the quarter-final. Although the League Cup had been won, Rangers finished fifth in the League and Baxter left for Sunderland.
The resurgence of Celtic under new Manager, Jock Stein, gave them the League title and League Cup in 1965/66, and whilst Rangers salvaged their season by beating their old rivals 1-0 in the Scottish Cup Final replay with Kai Johansen’s famous goal, things were looking ominous. In Stein, Celtic had a younger, tracksuit manager, media-savvy, whereas Symon seemed a symbol of a past era, a reserved man, an easy target for the Press when things were not going well. Season 1966/67 saw matters coming to a head.
Defeats to Celtic in the Glasgow Cup, League, and League Cup Final early in the season piled the pressure on, and left the Scottish Cup as Rangers last hope of domestic silverware, but the first round humiliating exit at the hands of Berwick Rangers, managed by their goalkeeper Jock Wallace, on 28 January, 1967 meant there would be “hell to pay”, and the scapegoats were forwards Jim Forrest and George McLean, neither playing another competitive game for the club.
Rangers, despite these setbacks, progressed to the final of the 1967 European Cup Winners Cup, played less than a week after Celtic’s European Cup win in Lisbon. The pressure on Symon and Rangers was huge, the more so with their opponents being Bayern Munich and the Final in Nuremberg, West Germany. Cruelly, Rangers lost 0-1 to a goal scored in the 19th minute of extra time and given Rangers obvious lack of firepower up front, the absence especially of Jim Forrest was lost on no-one.
Whilst in West Germany, Symon invited the Clyde Manager, Davie White, to be his Assistant Manager for the following season, and the Board approved some significant spending on the likes of Alex Ferguson at £65,000, a then Scottish record fee. The side was being assembled by big-money transfers, whereas Celtic were pursuing a successful youth development policy along with smart low-budget transfers. The balance was tipping more and more away from Symon and Rangers.
On 1 November, 1967, 4 days after a drab 0-0 draw with Dunfermline at Ibrox but with Rangers still sitting top of the League, the Scot Symon era came to an end, news of his sacking having been conveyed to him by a third party not directly connected to the Club. He had paid the price for being Rangers Manager at the time when Celtic had their greatest side.
Under Scot Symon’s management, Rangers had won -
6 League Titles
5 Scottish Cups
4 League Cups
1 Domestic Treble
and reached 2 European Finals.
by David Plews
Scot Symon (1954 to 1967)
As Bill Struth approached the end of his tenure as Rangers Manager, he had identified his potential successor as Scot Symon who as a determined and spirited wing-half had played for the Club from 1938-1947. James Scotland Symon duly took up his position as the third Manager of Rangers on 15 June 1954.
Symon had managerial experience at East Fife, whom he guided to promotion to the top flight in his first season and thereafter to League Cup Final success and a Scottish Cup Final appearance. He took over as Manager of Preston North End in 1953, taking them to the FA Cup Final.
His appointment as Rangers Manager was universally accepted, but there was clearly a lot to be done. He was taking over an ageing team and there was much disenchantment among the fans - only the Glasgow Cup had been won in Struth’s final season in charge.
Symon, like Struth, was no tracksuit Manager, observing from the sidelines whilst the trainers put the players through their paces. He followed the tried and trusted management methods and kept to the traditions of Ibrox and the high standards expected of Rangers and the players.
In his first season, Rangers were eliminated from both Cup competitions and finished third in the League, not helped by the SFA’s draconian sine die suspension of Willie Woodburn, but with younger players including Bobby Shearer, Eric Caldow and Alex Scott establishing themselves alongside the more senior players, Rangers were crowned League Champions in Season 1955/56, ahead of Aberdeen in second place.
Rangers retained their title in 1956/57 after a monumental struggle with Hearts, and the Season also saw the Club’s first European Cup venture, albeit losing out to Nice in a first round play-off.
1957/58 was a barren Season and by then only George Niven and Eric Caldow remained from the Struth era, but Rangers were League Champions again in 1958/59, and the side which would dominate Scottish football in the early 1960s was beginning to take shape.
In the following Season, Rangers League form appeared to suffer as a result of their exploits in reaching the European Cup semi-final, where they suffered a painful defeat at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt. However, the Scottish Cup was won for the first time in the Symon era, with goals from Jimmy Millar securing a 2-0 victory against Kilmarnock.
In 1960, the side considered by many to be the best ever had emerged, including the incomparable Jim Baxter, signed by Symon from Raith Rovers for the princely sum of £17,500. This was the team of Scott, McMillan, Millar, Brand and Wilson. Although undeniably knowledgeable of the game, Symon was not one for minute tactical preparation - he got good players and played them in their best positions. He relied on the players’ ability to work things out - Millar and Brand would form a telepathic partnership through hours working together on the training pitch.
In 1960/61 Rangers regained their League title and won their first League Cup under Symon, who also became the first Manager to take a British team to a European final, losing to Fiorentina over two legs in the inaugural European Cup Winners Cup.
1961/62 saw Rangers relinquish their League title, but win both the League Cup and Scottish Cup, and by the following Season young players Willie Henderson, John Greig and Ronnie McKinnon were regulars, Rangers winning a League and Scottish Cup double. In 1963/64 Symon’s team won the domestic Treble, the second in the Club’s history.
Although things looked rosy, some key players were reaching the end of their careers and in 1964/65 Symon could not get the consistency of selection he had previously enjoyed. Matters were not helped by a leg-break suffered by Jim Baxter 20 seconds from full-time in a European Cup tie in the Prater Stadium, Vienna after one of his greatest-ever games for the Club. Rangers without Baxter would lose narrowly to Inter Milan in the quarter-final. Although the League Cup had been won, Rangers finished fifth in the League and Baxter left for Sunderland.
The resurgence of Celtic under new Manager, Jock Stein, gave them the League title and League Cup in 1965/66, and whilst Rangers salvaged their season by beating their old rivals 1-0 in the Scottish Cup Final replay with Kai Johansen’s famous goal, things were looking ominous. In Stein, Celtic had a younger, tracksuit manager, media-savvy, whereas Symon seemed a symbol of a past era, a reserved man, an easy target for the Press when things were not going well. Season 1966/67 saw matters coming to a head.
Defeats to Celtic in the Glasgow Cup, League, and League Cup Final early in the season piled the pressure on, and left the Scottish Cup as Rangers last hope of domestic silverware, but the first round humiliating exit at the hands of Berwick Rangers, managed by their goalkeeper Jock Wallace, on 28 January, 1967 meant there would be “hell to pay”, and the scapegoats were forwards Jim Forrest and George McLean, neither playing another competitive game for the club.
Rangers, despite these setbacks, progressed to the final of the 1967 European Cup Winners Cup, played less than a week after Celtic’s European Cup win in Lisbon. The pressure on Symon and Rangers was huge, the more so with their opponents being Bayern Munich and the Final in Nuremberg, West Germany. Cruelly, Rangers lost 0-1 to a goal scored in the 19th minute of extra time and given Rangers obvious lack of firepower up front, the absence especially of Jim Forrest was lost on no-one.
Whilst in West Germany, Symon invited the Clyde Manager, Davie White, to be his Assistant Manager for the following season, and the Board approved some significant spending on the likes of Alex Ferguson at £65,000, a then Scottish record fee. The side was being assembled by big-money transfers, whereas Celtic were pursuing a successful youth development policy along with smart low-budget transfers. The balance was tipping more and more away from Symon and Rangers.
On 1 November, 1967, 4 days after a drab 0-0 draw with Dunfermline at Ibrox but with Rangers still sitting top of the League, the Scot Symon era came to an end, news of his sacking having been conveyed to him by a third party not directly connected to the Club. He had paid the price for being Rangers Manager at the time when Celtic had their greatest side.
Under Scot Symon’s management, Rangers had won -
6 League Titles
5 Scottish Cups
4 League Cups
1 Domestic Treble
and reached 2 European Finals.
by David Plews
