Season 1963-64 by Alistair Aird ‘Make mine a Treble’ was the cry that rung around the rafters at Ibrox Stadium at the end of season 1963/64. Scot Symon’s celebrated side won all three of the major domestic honours to complete the domestic Treble for the second time in their history. At that point, no other Scottish club had achieved the feat. The season started with Jimmy Millar on the sidelines, but his replacement, Jim Forrest, blazed a trail in the opening weeks of the campaign. Rangers won five and drew one of their six League Cup sectional ties, including 3-0 wins home and away against Celtic. Forrest scored nine times in those six games, including four in a 5-2 win over Queen of the South at Palmerston Park. And when Rangers faced Morton in the Final, Forrest repeated that feat, his four goals added to the one scored by his cousin, Alex Willoughby, comfortably securing the first leg of the Treble. Forrest was on fire in the early league fixtures too. He claimed a hat trick at Firhill against Partick Thistle and scored four goals in a 5-0 win over Third Lanark at Cathkin Park. Those victories were part of a fine start to the league campaign. Nine wins and one draw in the first 10 games suggested another title triumph would be a formality for Rangers, but they were to endure a wretched run as 1963 came to an end. Between 9 November and 28 December, only three wins were registered in the eight games played. And in that run, Hearts won 3-0 at Ibrox, while a hat-trick from a chap called Alexander Chapman Ferguson earned St Johnstone a 3-2 win in Glasgow too. Thus, going into the New Year’s Day game against Celtic, Rangers trailed leaders Kilmarnock by a point. But Jimmy Millar, back from injury, grabbed the only goal of the game at Parkhead, and Rangers were back on track. In the 15 league matches that followed their record was 12 wins, one draw and two defeats, and the last of those defeats came on the final day of the season by which time the title had been secured. Rangers finished with 55 points from 34 games, six clear of runners-up Kilmarnock. The Scottish Cup campaign witnessed wins over Stenhousemuir (5-1), Duns (9-0), Partick Thistle (3-0), and Celtic (2-0). The latter meant that in the five matches played against Celtic, Rangers had a perfect record of five wins. 11 goals were scored and just one conceded. A goal from Davie Wilson – back in team after breaking his ankle against Berwick Rangers in October – saw off Dunfermline Athletic in the last four, and although the Dundee goalkeeper, Bert Slater, had the game of his life in the Final, Rangers were ruthless, winning by three goals to one. Millar scored twice before Brand put the icing on the cake when he scored the third goal in the final minute. But although dominant domestically, Rangers found the going tough in the matches they played against teams outside of Scotland. Real Madrid thrashed Symon’s side 7-0 on aggregate in the opening round of the European Cup, and Rangers also came a cropper when they faced Everton over two legs in a match dubbed the British Championship. The first leg was played at Ibrox on 27 November, and Gair Henderson savaged the home side’s performance in his report in the Evening Times. He reckoned that on such ‘infuriating form Rangers would have trouble winning a JUNIOR championship of Britain title.’ It was hard to argue considering the home side were 3-0 down with less than an hour played! Ralph Brand spurned an opportunity to reduce the arrears when he saw his penalty kick saved by the Everton goalkeeper, Andy Rankin, but Rangers did eventually get on the scoreboard when John Greig tapped the ball into the net after Rankin had spilled a shot from Willie Henderson. And a miserable night was compounded when Jim Baxter hobbled off after 40 minutes. A visit to the Victoria Infirmary the following day confirmed he had a flaked bone in his ankle, an injury that would rule him out the Old Firm match against Celtic on New Year’s Day. The second leg at Goodison Park ended in a 1-1 draw. Billy Ritchie played in every match over the course of the campaign, 56 in total. Jim Forrest was top marksman, netting 39 goals in just 40 appearances.
