By Alistair Aird

On Saturday, Rangers will face Celtic in the Scottish Cup Final for the 16th time. Both teams have won seven of the previous finals, while the trophy was withheld in 1909 following the infamous Hampden Riot. On four occasions – 1909, 1963, 1966 and 1971 – replays were required.

After the sides met in the 1966 final, it would be seven years before they met again at that stage of the competition. And the ‘Centenary Final’ proved to be a memorable occasion that witnessed one of the most iconic goals in Rangers’ history. This is the story of that match.

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It was all change at Ibrox in the summer of 1972. In the wake of the brilliant win in Barcelona that brought the European Cup Winners Cup to Glasgow, Willie Waddell moved ‘upstairs’ to take on the role of General Manager, and Jock Wallace took over as manager. Meanwhile, the two goalscoring heroes in the Camp Nou, Colin Stein and Willie Johnston, departed not long after season 1972/73 started.

The departure of Stein may well have raised some eyebrows, but it opened the door for one of the promising youngsters in the Rangers ranks, Derek Parlane.

Born in Helensburgh on 5 May 1953, Parlane had come on a sub to make his first team debut in a 3-0 defeat against Hertha Berlin in December 1970 before making his first start against Falkirk at Brockville on New Years Day 1971. But he was thrust into the limelight when Rangers faced Bayern Munich at Ibrox in the second leg of the European Cup Winners Cup semi-final in April 1972. Drafted in to cover for the injured John Greig, Parlane netted the second goal of the game, launching his Rangers career in the process.

‘When we came back for pre-season training in the summer of 1972, I wasn’t sure where I would fit into the team,’ admitted Parlane. ‘I had come to the club as a midfield player who could also play at centre half. I didn’t think at that point I would spend the season playing as a striker.’

He continued, ‘Big Jock called me into his office a couple of weeks into the season. He had a Rangers jersey over his lap. He told me that he and his coaching staff had been watching me in training and that and the way I took my goal against Bayern Munich suggested I had all the attributes to wear the shirt he was holding. When he threw it across the desk, I was flabbergasted as it had a number nine on it. Steiny, who was my hero, was our number nine, but Jock told me that Steiny was being sold to Coventry City and he wanted me to go and make the shirt my own.’

Stein actually scored a hat-trick in a pre-season friendly against Stjarn Komb in Sweden, and made history too when, on 29 July, he scored Rangers’ first-ever goal in the Drybrough Cup. But after scoring twice in five League Cup matches and making three league appearances, Stein was gone.

Derek Johnstone started each of the first six league games at centre forward before Parlane got his opportunity to don the number nine jersey for the visit to Fir Park to face Motherwell on 14 October. His arrival proved timeous too.

Rangers had comfortably topped their League Cup section and qualified for the last eight, but rumblings of discontent had become audible when the Light Blues won only two of those first six league games. All three league games played away from home were lost too, including a 3-1 defeat against Celtic.

There was also an embarrassing 2-1 defeat against Stenhousemuir at Ibrox in the second leg of the League Cup quarter finals. And hopes of the winning that trophy were dashed when a Rangers side minus John Greig lost 1-0 to Hibernian at Hampden in the last four.

But after Hearts came to Ibrox on 2 December in the league and won 1-0, the only defeats Rangers would suffer for the remainder of the season were the home and away losses to a Johan Cruyff-inspired Ajax in the inaugural European Super Cup.

In the 26 games played domestically, Rangers won 23 of them, including 16 in succession in the league between 23 December and 14 April. And encapsulated in that series of success were the six games that would ultimately lead to Rangers being crowned Scottish Cup winners for the twentieth time in their history.

The road to Hampden started with a 1-0 win over Dundee United in February. Wearing the number six jersey for the visitors was a certain Walter Ferguson Smith and they also had Archie Knox in their ranks. Quinton ‘Cutty’ Young scored the only goal after 65 minutes, but five minutes later, Derek Johnstone was lying prostrate on a stretcher after clashing heads with United’s Stuart Markland.

After spending the night in a Glasgow hospital, Johnstone returned home, but his absence from the team would only be temporary. He missed the following weekend’s league match against Motherwell, then didn’t miss a match for the rest of the season.

Round Four saw Rangers fight out a 1-1 draw against Hibernian at Ibrox. In front of a crowd of 63,889, Johnstone had Rangers ahead at half-time, but Alan Gordon restored parity after the interval.

In the replay four days later, Tommy McLean fired Rangers ahead after only seven minutes. And after Arthur Duncan equalised, the same player despatched a penalty kick beyond the Hibernian goalkeeper, Jim Herriot, to take the Light Blues into the quarter-finals.

A penalty from Derek Parlane and a goal from Cutty Young saw off Airdrie at the stage, and Parlane was at the double at Hampden in the semis to see off Ayr United by two goals to nil.

Standing in the way of a first Scottish Cup triumph since 1966 was a Celtic side chasing a domestic double. Jock Stein’s side had lost 2-1 against Hibernian in the final of the League Cup back in December, but the week before the Cup Final, they had sealed an eighth successive league title.

The resurgence of Rangers since that December defeat against Hearts saw the Old Firm heavyweights slug it out in a breathtaking battle for the championship.

Having won 12 of their first 14 league games, Celtic led Rangers by seven points at the start of December. But the Light Blues managed to overhaul that, and by the start of April, Wallace’s side led the way by two points, although Celtic did have a game in hand and a superior goal difference. But a 2-2 draw against Aberdeen at Pittodrie ultimately proved costly for the Light Blues and allowed Celtic to pip them at the post. The margin of victory was a single point.

But revenge would be sweet for Rangers.

It was announced that the trophy would be presented to the victorious captain by Princess Alexandra, cousin of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. That led to both sides issuing statements through their respective club newspapers. In the Rangers News, Willie Waddell said that the onus was on the supporters ‘to uphold the name of Rangers or Celtic, Glasgow and Scotland’, while in a joint statement in the Celtic View, Jock Stein and chairman Desmond White implored the supporters of their club to ‘remember that any misbehaviour during the National Anthem can do nothing but harm the name of Celtic Football Club.’

Celtic, looking to win the Cup for the third successive season, prepared for the match in Troon and Stein named the same XI that had beaten Hibernian at Easter Road to clinch the League Championship seven days earlier. Meanwhile, Wallace’s Rangers were also unchanged, the manager putting his faith in the side that had beaten East Fife 3-0 at Ibrox:

Peter McCloy, Sandy Jardine, Willie Mathieson, John Greig, Derek Johnstone, Alex Macdonald, Tommy McLean, Tom Forsyth, Derek Parlane, Alfie Conn, Cutty Young

The two teams, watched by a crowd of 122,714, served up a classic.

‘It was a special day,’ recalled Parlane who was celebrating his twentieth birthday. ‘There was royalty there for the first time and the old Hampden was absolutely jumping. My mum and dad were there with my brothers, and it was a wonderful occasion.’

Rangers enjoyed the bulk of the pressure early on, but it was a cagey affair. No one wanted to take any risks, and whenever danger threatened, both sides elected to pass the ball back to their respective goalkeepers. This provided some sanctuary as back in 1973, the goalkeeper was allowed to pick a passback up.

But despite being the better side, it was Rangers who conceded the first goal after 26 minutes. Dixie Deans flicked the ball over the top of the Rangers defence, and Kenny Dalglish thumped it beyond McCloy with his left foot. But they would hold that lead for just nine minutes.

And Derek Parlane remembers the goal as if it was yesterday.

He recalled, ‘Willie Mathieson played the ball down the line to Alex MacDonald in front of the Main Stand. Doddie beat a couple of players and then whipped a great ball into the box. I knew that if I could get myself in front of Billy McNeill and the Celtic defenders, I had a chance of getting my head on it. And when I did, the ball went into the net. The noise that greeted the goal was incredible and the feeling I got after I scored was surreal.’

That goal was number 27 of the season for Parlane, and he would follow that up with a further 22 in what was a turgid season 1973/74. Four of those goals came in one game, Rangers defeating Hearts 4-2 at Tynecastle in January 1974.

In season 1974/75, Parlane was Rangers’ top goalscorer in the league, his 17 goals going a long way to helping Rangers stop Celtic completing a sequence of 10 league titles in a row.

Among his haul for that campaign were five in one match too, his ‘nap hand’ coming against Dunfermline Athletic at East End Park in October. He beat Dunfermline’s Norwegian goalkeeper, Geir Karlsen, in the opening seven minutes, and should have completed his hat trick after 17 minutes but was denied firstly by Karlsen then the Dunfermline left back, Kenny Thomson.

Instead, Parlane would have to wait until later in the game to complete his scoring spree. After having a goal ruled out for offside on 52 minutes, he fired Rangers 4-1 ahead on the hour, then added further goals after 72 minutes and 76 minutes.

But the goals started to dry up for Derek after that. In season 1975/76, Derek Johnstone, who had spent most of the early part of the decade playing at centre-half or in midfield, was moved up front, and he scored 31 goals in 51 appearances. Parlane notched 10 as he vied with Martin Henderson for the right to play alongside the prolific Johnstone.

Parlane netted 19 times in the barren season 1976/77 that was sandwiched by two Treble-winning campaigns, but with new addition Gordon Smith and Johnstone to the fore in season 1977/78, Derek scored only eight goals in 31 appearances. Twenty-two of those appearances were as substitute.

A couple of years later, after scoring 134 goals in 356 appearances for Rangers, Parlane left Ibrox. He joined Leeds United in March 1980 and also had spells with Manchester City, Swansea City, Racing Jet (Belgium), Rochdale, Airdrie, and Macclesfield Town.

*****

The teams were still level at half-time, but barely 20 seconds of the second half had elapsed when Rangers took the lead.

Celtic kicked off and the ball was launched into the Rangers half. It was cleared, and when the ball broke for Young, he fired it forward towards Parlane. Scorer then turned provider when Parlane poked a pass into the path of Alfie Conn who accelerated away from Billy McNeill, advanced into the box and struck the ball beyond Hunter.

The son of Alfie Conn, part of the fabled ‘Terrible Trio’ that helped Hearts win a couple of league titles in the last 1950s, Conn Junior was only 16 when he made his Rangers debut, and he was a Barcelona Bear, having worn the number eight jersey when Rangers won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1972. And in season 1972/73, he had shown he could provide a goalscoring threat from midfield, his Cup Final goal being his 16th of the campaign in what was his 30thappearance.

This wasn’t his first goal of the season against Celtic either. On 6 January, the titans had clashed in the league at Ibrox. Derek Parlane opened the scoring after 23 minutes, following up to score on the rebound after his penalty kick had been saved by Evan Williams. Dixie Deans equalised, though, and the match looked to be ending with honours even until Conn popped up in the last minute to head a Cutty Young cross into the net.

Conn left Rangers in 1974 to become Bill Nicholson’s last signing for Tottenham Hotspur. He became something of a cult hero at White Hart Lane, scoring a hat trick on his full debut against Newcastle United in January 1975. And he also delivered a stellar showing when Spurs defeated European Cup finalists, Leeds United, in their final game of the season, scoring one and claiming two assists as Spurs secured the victory they needed to preserve their top flight status.

But his time in London was blighted by injury, and he returned to Scotland to sign for Celtic, becoming the first player since World War II to play on both sides of the Old Firm divide. He won a League and Cup double in season 1976/77 and another league title in season 1978/79 before finishing his playing career with spells at Hearts, Blackpool, and Motherwell.

*****

Conn’s goal had Rangers ahead for the first time at Hampden, and he perhaps should have earned Wallace’s side a chance to extend their lead when he was fouled in the box. Referee J. P Gordon waved away appeals for a penalty, though, but he didn’t follow suit after 50 minutes when he awarded a spot kick to Celtic.

It was, however, the proverbial stonewaller. The ball was worked across the penalty area to Deans, and his shot was net-bound until John Greig dived across the line to parry the ball away. George Connelly stepped forward and struck the penalty beyond a statuesque Peter McCloy.

The game now swung from end to end. Jimmy Johnstone had the ball in the net but was adjudged to be offside, while the diminutive Alex Macdonald headed a Jardine cross against the post. But a minute shy of the hour mark, Rangers got what proved to be the winning goal, one that remains among the most iconic in their illustrious history.

Tommy McLean flighted a free kick into the box, and Derek Johnstone rose highest to meet it and direct a header towards goal. The ball struck the left-hand post, then rolled along the line and came back into play via the right-hand post. Standing unmarked was Tam Forsyth, but in his eagerness to put the ball into the gaping goal, he almost missed it. Rather than make a clean contact, it was in fact the studs of Forsyth’s right boot that rolled across the top of the ball and imparted sufficient momentum to it to divert it over the line.

Derek Parlane had an excellent view of the goal.

He recalled, ‘I was pretty much right behind big Tam. When the ball came to him, I wanted him to put his foot through it, but he didn’t. Fortunately for us, he got enough contact with his studs to get it over the line.’

Cue scenes of joy and delirium on and off the park!

‘Big Tam charged away like a wild bull after he scored,’ laughed Parlane. ‘He is sorely missed, but what a player he was. He was a great guy, a lion on the field, but a lamb off it.’

Forsyth, the man who would soon be immortalised with the nickname ‘Jaws’, had joined Rangers from Motherwell in October 1972. His league debut came, ironically, at Fir Park, and Forsyth would don the number eight jersey in all but six of the remaining 32 league fixtures. He played in all six of the Scottish Cup ties too.

Injury brought an abrupt end to Forsyth’s first full season as a Rangers player in January 1974, but he was a mainstay in the team that won the league title in season 1974/75 and a couple of Trebles in 1975/76 and 1977/78.

Although he had come to Ibrox as a midfielder, Wallace moved Forsyth back to the heart of his defence, playing him alongside Colin Jackson. They built a formidable barrier to opposition forwards, thwarting many an attack with their solid defending and tigerish tackling.

Injury plagued Forsyth for the remainder of his Rangers career and save for a late cameo in his testimonial match against Swansea City in March 1983, he pulled a blue jersey over his head for the last time on 14 November 1981 in a league match against St Mirren at Ibrox.

Incidentally, that now infamous Cup Final goal was the first of seven he would grab in 384 appearances for Rangers. The others came against Falkirk, Morton, St Johnstone, Dundee, Partick Thistle and Swansea City.

*****

Rangers had chances to make the margin of victory more commanding in the last half hour but spurned them. It mattered little, though, as a shrill blast of referee Gordon’s whistle saw the famous old trophy bound for Ibrox for the first time in seven years.

Princess Alexandra presented the trophy to John Greig, with the Rangers skipper later recalling having to spit on his hands to clean the mud off them before shaking the hand of the Princess.

After the match, the Parlane family headed back home to Rhu whereupon Derek’s dad, Jimmy, decided to invite a few friends round to toast the triumph his son had played a significant part in.

‘My dad only played a handful of games for Rangers and his time at the club was unfortunately interrupted by the Second World War,’ said Parlane. ‘He scored against Celtic, though, and as far as I am aware, he and I are the only father and son to have scored goals for Rangers in an Old Firm match. I was proud of him and looked up to him so to emulate him by scoring against Celtic then having him there at the Cup Final was very emotional.’

He added, ‘We drove back to Rhu where we stayed, and my dad announced that we would have a few of his mates round for a celebration. A few turned out to be about 50! I didn’t touch alcohol at the time, so I had a few Cokes and some orange juice before going to bed. But when I woke up in the morning, I couldn’t remember where my winners’ medal was. I asked my mum, and she knew where it was. She and I went into her bedroom where my dad was still in bed snoring. My mum lifted his pillow, and there was my medal. He was so proud of me that he had slept with it under his pillow. That was a special moment for me, and I still get emotional every time I tell that story.’

For Derek Parlane, the 1973 Scottish Cup Final is up there when it comes to the standout moments from his time at Ibrox.

He said, ‘That was a fabulous day. I have vivid memories, including my goal and big Jock nearly squeezing the life out of me when he came on to the park to celebrate with us at full time! But my best moment will always be my goal against Bayern Munich. It was a sliding doors moment. I often wonder what would have happened if I had come into the side that night and we got beaten and I had had a shocker. Would I still have had the same incredible career after that? But scoring against Bayern got me started and showed big Jock that I could do something up front. My Cup Final goal in 73 is a close second, though.’

Parlane concluded, ‘I’m 71 now and I find it remarkable that I am still recognised by the Rangers supporters all these years later. I’m a modest guy so to achieve what I did at Rangers, make it into the Hall of Fame and be called ‘The King of Ibrox Park’ is surreal for me.’

Although season 1973/74 was dire – Rangers finished third in the league, lost to Celtic in the semi-final of the League Cup and were drubbed 3-0 at home by Dundee in the Scottish Cup – the Scottish Cup win in 1973 arguably laid the foundations for the silver-laden success that was enjoyed in the mid- to late-1970s.

The centenary Cup Final in 1973 is therefore one of the most iconic in the club’s history. It was also the fifth time Rangers had beaten Celtic in a Scottish Cup Final. Alas, their supporters would have to wait another 26 years for their heroes to emerge once again victorious in an Old Firm end-of-season showpiece.