Season 1966/67 by Alistair Aird There have been countless campaigns in Rangers’ rich history that are lauded and celebrated. Season 1966/67 is not one of them, but with a bit of luck and tolerance, it could well have been. The season started rather erratically. Hibernian were beaten 1-0 in the opening League Cup tie before a Stirling Albion side captained by Eric Caldow were thrashed 8-0. Jim Forrest helped himself to five of the goals. But a 0-0 draw at Ibrox against Kilmarnock was followed by a 4-0 thumping at the same venue against Celtic in the Glasgow Cup. Alarm bells were tolling, and they rung louder when Hibernian won 3-2 at Easter Road in the League Cup ahead of a 1-1 draw against Stirling Albion at Ibrox. A narrow 1-0 win over Kilmarnock in the League Cup at Ibrox arrested the decline – the win was enough to take Rangers through to the knockout stages – and the resurgence continued when the league campaign opened with a 6-1 win over Partick Thistle at Ibrox. George McLean, much-maligned but still a real goal threat – netted four with the other two goals coming from summer signings Dave Smith and Alec Smith (both unrelated). A second Old Firm defeat of the season came next, but after that, Symon’s side only lost one of their next 27 league matches. Embedded in that sequence was a run of 12 straight wins. Incidentally, the only defeat was against Dunfermline Athletic at East End Park, two goals from Alex Ferguson giving the Pars a 3-2 win. On 29 March, Rangers defeated St Johnstone 4-3 at home. The gap between them and Celtic was two points and Stein’s side also had a superior goal average (3.67 to 3.34). But on 1 April, with Celtic facing Clyde in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup, Rangers had a chance to close both gaps when they faced Dunfermline at Ibrox. Alas, a 1-0 defeat all but ended hopes of winning the league. Indeed, Rangers won only one of their last four league matches – the others were drawn – and Celtic retained the title, their tally of 58 points three better than that of Rangers. Such fine margins between success and failure then. But when things are so tight, you need someone to nick you a goal or two to turn those one-goal defeats and draws into much-needed victories. And Rangers had two players – Jim Forrest and George McLean – that were more than capable of doing that, yet inexplicably, the duo were absent during the title run-in. Both Forrest and McLean were both jettisoned from the team in the wake of the humiliating loss to Berwick Rangers in the opening round of the Scottish Cup. Both were made scapegoats as the Rangers chairman, John Lawrence, felt the reason for the defeat was the fact that Rangers couldn’t score. And although they both saw some action in February friendlies against Stoke City and Leicester City, neither played for the first XI in any of the 14 league matches that took place after Berwick. Alex Smith took over from Forrest at centre forward for all but one game, while Dave Smith took McLean’s number 10 shirt. There were other personnel changes post Berwick too. John Greig moved to left-half to cover for Dave Smith which created an opportunity for William Pullar ‘Sandy’ Jardine to come into the team. And the number eight shirt was handed to Alex Willoughby. Willoughby took up the gauntlet that was thrown down. He scored hat-tricks in successive matches against Hearts and Clyde and claimed four goals in a 5-1 win over Motherwell. By the end of the season, he had claimed 16 goals in just 11 league appearances. But when Rangers travelled to Nuremburg to face Bayern Munich in the Final of the European Cup Winners’ Cup, Willoughby wasn’t selected. He had been omitted from the team for the second leg of the semi-final against Slavia Sofia, a match that infamously saw Roger Hynd selected at centre forward on the strength of scoring four goals against Dundee Reserves. Willoughby promptly asked for a transfer. Without Willoughby, Forrest and McLean, Rangers lost 1-0 after extra time in Nuremburg. Their best chance of the match fell to Hynd. Normally a half-back, Hynd passed up the chance, one I’m sure would have been devoured by either of the trio that were left out. Thus, the season ended without a trophy. Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, all three major domestic trophies and the European Cup were claimed. The heat on Scot Symon was intense. Celtic hadn’t just overtaken Rangers, they were leaving them trailing in their wake. However, perhaps had he shown a little more leniency with his forward line then some of that silverware may have been bound for Ibrox instead of Parkhead.
