Colin Stein (1968 to 1972) & (1975 to 1977)
It was on 31st October 1968 that Rangers signed Colin Stein from Hibernian for a Scottish Record fee of £100,000. Even in those days, there was great reluctance from Scottish sides to sell directly to Rangers and, as a consequence, the Easter Road side had been prepared to setttle for a fee of £10,000 less if Stein’s destination was to be Goodison Park with Everton. However, Colin remained resolute and forced through his move to Glasgow where we would prove to be one of our greatest ever centre forwards.
Colin’s Gers debut arrived just two days later at Gayfield when he scored a hat-trick in four second half minutes as Gers defeated Arbroath 5-1 in the league. Incredibly, he was to follow this up with another hat-trick on his second appearance as previous employers Hibs were thrashed 6-1 at Ibrox.
Perhaps Hibs did have a point in not wishing to sell Scotland’s hottest property to Rangers at any cost.
His third match saw him score ‘just’ twice as Dundalk were defeated 3-0 in the Fairs Cities Cup and by now he was well on the way to becoming a fans favourite. With 8 goals in his first three games he was absolutely flying and whilst he did not find the net in his 4th match (a 1-0 reversal at St.Mirren), he was back on target in his next three games versus Clyde, Airdrieonians and Raith Rovers respectively.
As we entered into 1969, it was not a particularly happy start to the year for the combative Colin who was red carded in a 3-3 draw with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. A second red card on 15th March during a 6-0 win over Clyde would prove to be a pivotal moment in season 1968/69. Despite having completed another hat-trick, he would eventually retaliate and see red after some awful treatment inflicted on him during the match. It would, conveniently for Celtic, cost him a place in the title run-in and Scottish Cup Final through suspension and Rangers would fall short in both competitions. Allied to a semi-final defeat to Newcastle in the Fairs Cup, it would mean that Colin would finish his debut season empty handed despite 18 goals in just 29 starts.
Unfortunately, it was a case of more of the same in season 1969/70 as the Club once again finished the season trophyless. The goals continued to flow, 27 in 49 appearances, but they could not save manager David White who was replaced with former player, the legendary Willie Waddell.
Under Waddell, Colin’s quest for a first winner’s medal ended in season 1970/71 as Rangers clinched the League Cup following 16 year old Derek Johnstone’s iconic header against Celtic.
Colin would himself score an Old Firm goal little over two months later but it was one that quickly became of inconsequence. The events of 2nd January 1971 would prove to be the darkest day in the history of Rangers Football Club as 66 fans tragically lost their lives.
Along with his great friend Willie Johnston, Colin would earn legendary status the following season when he famously scored in Rangers’ European Cup Winners’ Cup Final success of 1972 in Barcelona. Stein scored 5 goals during our victorious European campaign including home and away doubles in the controversial second round tie with Sporting Lisbon.
Somewhat surprisingly, Colin left the Club just a few short months later (as season 1972/73 got under way) to to join the sky blues of Coventry City.
However, by February 1975 he was back in the blue of Rangers and his first goal of his second spell will never be forgotten. A bullet header from a Bobby McKean cross at Easter Road on March 29th 1975 secured Rangers our first League Championship success in 11 long years and ended Celtic’s own quest for ten in a row.
In his two spells, Colin scored a total of 97 goals in 206 appearances winning 2 League Cups in addition to the Cup Winners’ Cup.
His second league cup winner’s success also came in a 1-0 win over Celtic, this time Alex MacDonald scoring the only goal of the game during our treble winning season of 1975/76.
A first hero to many, Colin remains as popular as ever with the Gers support and can be found working at Ibrox on matchday.
by Rick Plews
