Greatest Ranger Ever?

Jeff Holmes

Description

Davie Meiklejohn had few equals in British football between the wars. According to his admiring contemporaries, he was 'a tactical genius', 'ahead of his time' - 'the greatest ever Ranger'. Fast-tracked by manager William Wilton, the former Maryhill junior was part of a title-winning side in his debut season. There would be many more championships to celebrate for this born leader, though Rangers' failure to lift the Scottish Cup for 25 long years became a music-hall joke - until May, 1928, when Meik led his team to a hoodoo-busting 4-0 rout of arch rivals Celtic. In 1931 the tragic on-field death of Celtic keeper John Thomson saw Meiklejohn at his dignified, inspirational best. He enjoyed international adventures, a post-playing career in journalism and a twelve-year stint as manager of Partick Thistle - yet at the height of his fame, Meik lived in a modest two-bedroomed flat, no more than 100 yards from Ibrox.

Informations

• Publié par: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 15 octobre 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781785310171
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2014 Pitch Publishing A2 Yeoman Gate Yeoman Way Durrington BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
Jeff Holmes, 2014
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the Publisher.
A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library
Print ISBN 978-1-90962-649-2 eBook ISBN: 978-1-78531-017-1
--- Ebook Conversion by www.eBookPartnership.com
Contents
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Prologue
Decision day for young Meik
Tragic end to a glorious season
The honeymoon is over
Meik caps a great season
Three out of four ain t bad
A new challenger emerges
League champs, but Scottish remains elusive
An injury-ravaged campaign
Meik survives horror bus crash
Season has a silver lining
The wait is finally over
Gers go Stateside
Wing king Alan is very much alive
Four-midable Gers sweep the boards
Gers stars brush with death
Meik wins a tenth league medal
Meik stunned by Thomson tragedy
Mr Popular!
Little continental action for Meik
Clean sweep for the Light Blues
Lucky 13 for skipper
On tour with Scotland
Old Firm battle for supremacy
National pride
Meik s big anti-climax
On the write track
In the hotseat
A tragic end
Epilogue
Career stats
Photographs
For my brother-in-law John Taylor (formerly Allanach) 1967-1979
Acknowledgements
T HANKS are due to Kenny McDonald for proofing and much more; to Richard McBrearty and David Miller of the Scottish Football Museum, and my father-in-law Jim Gahagan, for the use of photographs. To Brian Reilly and Freddie Duda Jnr of Maryhill Football Club for assistance. To my wife Elaine, children Derek and Carey, daughter-in-law Jayne and grandson Josh, and friends Willie Brown and Jamie McGregor - thank you for the constant encouragement.
To Paul and Jane, and all at Pitch Publishing, for their continued faith, and to Duncan Olner for another wonderfully eye-catching cover.
And last, but by no means least, to lifelong Rangers fan - and my stepbrother - Andy Madden, gone, but certainly not forgotten.
Introduction
J OHN GREIG was voted the Greatest Ever Ranger in a poll of supporters in 1999. It was a tough call given the number of exceptional players who have flourished in light blue during the last five or six decades. I voted for Greig; it was hard not to. The status he enjoys on the south side of Glasgow since making his debut for Rangers in 1961 is unrivalled, but was the vote a fair reflection on those who have played for one of the most famous clubs in the world or should it have been called The Greatest Ranger in Living Memory?
Naturally, Greig was a popular winner: A legendary, wholehearted one-club man who served Rangers with great distinction, and in every capacity going. Greig ticks all the boxes. He won three trebles and captained Rangers to European Cup Winners Cup glory in 1972. He is a genuine contender, as are countless others, but in my mind it s nigh-on impossible to pin such a weighty accolade on any individual, especially as Rangers Football Club has been in existence for over 140 years - but we can certainly have a stab at it.
Davie Meiklejohn and John Greig played in totally contrasting eras but share many a similarity which, I believe, allows the inevitable comparison. The tale of the tape, as it were. Both were born leaders and played at right-half for a significant part of their careers. Greig also played at inside-right and latterly at left-back. After starting out as a right-back in youth football, Meik blossomed into a right-half of genuine quality before eventually playing some of his finest games at centre-half. Like all good players he was versatile and filled many other positions in times of need.
Both Meik and Greig proudly represented Scotland on a number of occasions. Greig amassed 44 caps while Meiklejohn played for his country 15 times, although his opportunities were restricted given Scotland played far less games during his era; just the Home International series and the odd challenge match against foreign opposition for the stars of yesteryear.
Meiklejohn s rise to prominence on Edmiston Drive was frighteningly quick. He started off the 1919/20 season with Maryhill Juniors and ended it with Rangers, and a Scottish League First Division winners medal. The buffer was a handful of games for the Gers second string. Perhaps manager William Wilton s preferred maxim was, If you re good enough, you re old enough.
I started watching Rangers in the early 1970s and was a massive Greig fan. That adulation continued until he hung up the boots in 1978. I have watched just a short film of Meiklejohn in action, which hardly supplied the ammunition required to make a valid case for the Govan man over Greig, but having researched this book for around two years I ve read enough comment and match reports to know that Meiklejohn was a colossus: a giant among men.
Contemporary players, managers and reporters sang his praises with alarming regularity; they spoke of his indomitable spirit, determination and undying love for his team but, more importantly, they spoke of his talent, his tactical nous and his composure on the ball when collective backs were against the wall: someone who could put his foot on the ball and make a pass, which reminded me of the late Jim Baxter (another contender?).
Whenever Rangers or Scotland travelled abroad, everyone wanted to speak to Meiklejohn. It didn t matter a jot that he was in Berlin or Vienna, New York or New England, everyone knew Davie Meiklejohn. No worldwide web in those days, but he still managed to become a global name long before the days of David Beckham!
When there was talk of him retiring from the international scene, one reporter commented, I ve heard it rumoured that Meik is finished with representative football. If I were a selector I d place a pistol at the back of his neck and drive him to Hampden! On another occasion, just after a starring role for the Scottish League against the English, Daily Record reporter Waverley said, It isn t too much to say that we won because we had a Meiklejohn, and England lost because they didn t!
We could chat all day, but let s allow the following chapters to do the talking on behalf of the man I believe to be the Greatest Ever Ranger. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you The Case for Davie Meiklejohn .
Jeff Holmes, October 2014
Prologue
H E WAS once labelled the greatest ever Ranger by Ibrox legend Willie Thornton. It was quite a compliment from a man who knew the game inside out. But David Ditchburn Meiklejohn stood out from the rest - as a great motivator, incredibly versatile and, more than anything, a tactical genius.
Born a stone s throw from Ibrox, in nearby Govan, Meik chose football over the shipyards, a decision which didn t sit too well with his parents but one legions of Rangers fans would become thankful for in many hours of need over almost two decades.
Despite being known as the thinking man s player he was never shy at putting his head in where it hurt, and was injured on numerous occasions as a result.
But if ever there was a moment which defined Meik as a true leader, it arrived on Saturday 14 April 1928. Winning the title hadn t presented the talented half-back with too many problems, as borne out by 13 championships in his 17 seasons with Rangers, a phenomenal record, but quite clearly annexing the Scottish Cup had become a thorny issue for both player and club with some even suggesting that a Scottish Cup hoodoo - or curse by a disgruntled traveller - hovered over Ibrox.
Rangers hadn t won the cup for 25 years, since 1903 to be precise, and on that occasion it had taken three matches - two of them at Celtic Park - to dispose of Hearts. That was the fourth time the club had won the cup since the inaugural final of 1874, but given their almost total domination of the league it was a mystery as to why they hadn t accumulated many more national trophies.
Old foes Celtic were their opponents in 1928, in a match played at Hampden Park in front of 120,000 fervent supporters. During those 25 barren cup years, Rangers had lost five finals, twice to Celtic, but still Meiklejohn was convinced this could be their year.
And how many players, with such an incredible career behind them, would be capable of looking back years later and focusing on one particular moment from a lifetime of great memories? Not too many, I would imagine, but that s exactly what Meiklejohn did. Perhaps the 1928 Scottish Cup Final had become indelibly etched in his psyche.
With 11 minutes of the second half gone - and the game still goalless - Rangers were awarded a penalty. The majority of Gers players turned their back, refusing to even contemplate stepping forward.
As skipper of the team, Meik insisted that responsibility should rest with him and placed the ball carefully on the spot. He paused for a few seconds before taking no more than a couple of steps back, and with that he rushed forward and thumped the leather past a despairing John Thomson and into the net - the cue for half of the stadium to erupt in unbridled joy.
Later, he would say, I never felt so scared in all my life, for I realised that failure on my part might lead to yet another cup final defeat.
For ten minutes afterwards I was in a trance. I have only a hazy recollection of that period, and now feel that if Celtic had realised my condition, and played on it, I would have been clay in t