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Forward
Billy
Semple
exact date TBC — exact date TBC
14
Appearances
3
Goals
0.21
Goals/game
9
Competitive apps
Billy Semple
Biography

At the age of 21, Billy made his debut for Rangers on the first day of 1968 as Partick Thistle were defeated 5-2 at Ibrox (we would play Celtic the very next day at Parkhead although Billy was not involved in that match). George Niven was in goals for Partick Thistle and the Gers scorers were Roger Hynd (2), Willie Johnston (2) and Andy Penman.
Coincidentally, his first goal for Rangers came precisely two years later against the same opposition who by this time had the legendary Billy Ritchie in goal. Rangers would again run out winners, this time 3-1 (Colin Stein and Willie Johnston were the other Gers scorers).
The following month, Billy would open the scoring in another 3-1 league win this time over St.Johnstone at Ibrox with John Greig scoring the other goals on that occasion.
With fellow wide men such as Orjan Persson, Davie Wilson and Willie Johnston all at Ibrox during Billy’s time at the Club, opportunities in the first team were limited and after 5 years at his boyhood heroes he moved on.
After a spell with Dundee, Billy played in South Africa, USA and Hong Kong.

by Rick Plews

Debut & last match
Competitive debut
Rangers v Partick Thistle 5-2 1 January 1968
First team debut (all)
Rangers v Partick Thistle 1 January 1968
Last competitive
Rangers v St Johnstone 17 April 1971
Last match (all)
Rangers v St Johnstone 17 April 1971
Season by season
Goals & appearances per season
Player details
Date of birth02 November 1946 Bellshill, Scotland
Signedexact date TBC
Signed from1967 from Schools Football
Leftexact date TBC
Left to join1972 to Durban Utd
Career statistics
CompetitionStartsSubGoals
League802
League Cup100
Scottish Cup000
Europe000
Other411
Competitive total902
Archive footage
▶ Video 1
▶ Video 2
▶ Video 3
Data & analytics
Career breakdown
Interactive stats, click to explore
Overall strike rate
21%
3 goals in 14 games
League strike rate
25%
2 goals in 8 games
European strike rate
0%
0 goals in 0 games
D3 donut · Goals by competition
Goal distribution
Chart.js · Appearances by competition
Appearances split
Goal milestones
First & last goals
First goal
BK Frem v Rangers 1968-05-20
Last goal
Rangers v St Johnstone 1970-02-25
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The Rangers Archives

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The story behind the archive — as featured in The Herald Scotland.
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