Post by Stubo on Oct 25, 2017 12:32:22 GMT
25 years-on from his passing, Rangers and Kilmarnock legend Willie Waddell will be remembered ahead of this evening’s game at Ibrox Stadium. Here, we look back on the impact he had at both Ibrox and Rugby Park, and hear from the Light Blues’ Honourary Life President John Greig MBE.
WHEN you look through Rangers’ glorious and illustrious history, many names stand out for the contributions they have made to the club.
Few, if any, however, can match what Willie Waddell put into the Light Blues both on and off the park. A fine winger for the club between 1939 and 1955, his career only ever saw him play at Ibrox, and he would have made so many more than 339 official appearances and scored more than 64 goals had it not been for the suspension of regular football following the outbreak of the Second World War.
Indeed, in those conflict years, he made in excess of 200 (albeit now unofficial) appearances and netted a further 88 times, with that tally including a haul of 25 in season 1945-46.
His honours record as a player is as follows: Four Scottish League titles, two Scottish Cups and 17 caps for Scotland.
He retired from playing in 1956, and took on the manager’s role at, fittingly, tonight’s opponents Kilmarnock in 1957.
After leading the Ayrshiremen to runners-up slots in the 1960 Scottish Cup final and 1961 and 1963 League Cup finals, he then went one better, winning Kilmarnock their only league title to date in 1965 with a final day victory over Hearts at Tynecastle.
It remains the greatest day and achievement in Killie’s history, and since their triumph now more than 50 years ago, only four other clubs have lifted the top division title in Scotland.
He left Rugby Park after that triumph, and worked as a sports journalist – but the draw of Ibrox would prove too strong to resist, and he replaced the sacked Davie White in December 1969 as manager of Rangers.
There was much work to be done, but Waddell, steeped in the values passed down to him by Bill Struth, set about reshaping Rangers into a more credible force.
His first full season in charge got off to a fine start as 16 year-old Derek Johnstone netted the winner in a 1-0 defeat of Bin Dippers fc in the League Cup final. The club also reached the Scottish Cup final that year, but after a replay, Bin Dippers fc prevailed 2-1.
That whole campaign, however, had a huge cloud over it following the tragic events if the Ibrox Disaster on January 2, 1971. 66 supporters lost their lives on Stairway 13, and Rangers’ response to what happened was led and coordinated largely by Waddell.
First he saw to it that the club was represented at each of the victims’ funerals, in most cases by players and former stars.
Then he set about driving through the redevelopment of Ibrox with much of today’s stadium a product of the huge work Waddell put in behind the scenes.
Waddell’s prime concern was safety. He visited club grounds in Europe, such as at Dortmund, and was convinced that all-seater stadiums were the way forward. But it says much for Waddell’s influence that the modern Ibrox still combines the best of the new with the heritage of the old.
At the same time Waddell drove his team to one of their greatest achievements, lifting the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1972 when Rangers beat Moscow Dynamo 3-2 in the Final in Barcelona.
Waddell handed over the reins to Jock Wallace in 1972 and went on to serve the club as general manager, managing director and vice-chairman.
Indeed, right up until his death at the age of just 71 in 1992, he was still on the board of directors.
His legacy lives on at Ibrox in many different ways, not least through the club’s Honourary Life President John Greig.
Greig and Waddell were exceptionally close both before and during their time at Ibrox, and Greig followed Waddell’s lead by fulfilling a variety of different roles during his long association with the club.
Greig, at the time the captain of Rangers in 1969 when Waddell arrived as manager, recalls meeting the new gaffer, and immediately what he set out as the club’s priorities.
Speaking exclusively to Rangers.co.uk, Greig explained: “He came to the club at a time when the club is struggling and I remember we played at Tynecastle on the Saturday, and Willie Thornton was in charge of the team, and after that, he said to all the players not to come down until 2pm on the Monday for the training, but to me to come in at my normal time at 10am to meet Mr Waddell.
“I had been quite friendly with him with me being a player and him being a press man, and he was always very kind and respectful to me, and I knew the man I was going to meet.
“When I walked into his room on the Monday morning, the first thing he said to me was ‘this club is struggling – really struggling, and we are down in the gutter a little bit, but you and I are going to lift it up back up to the top.’
“I always remembered that – especially in Barcelona when we won the Cup Winners’ Cup.
“He became basically like a second father to me. He would talk to me and tell me about things, and I got the impression from quite early on he was grooming me for a position in the club later on in my career.
“He was a Rangers person through and through, and he was a very, very strict disciplinarian. His skill in manipulating things and organising things came to the fore when the Disaster happened, and he did everything he possibly could in what was a very, very delicate situation with the players going to all of the funerals.
“He was determined from that day on the stadium was going to be made into a safe place where not one more supporter would be fatally injured.
“He made every person realise the importance of playing for Rangers Football Club and how much it meant to so many people worldwide.
“We had a big responsibility on our shoulders to try and emulate his words and thoughts. It’s not easy playing for Rangers as for every team you play against, it’s like a cup final for them. It demands not only high standards every week, but a consistency all of the time.
“If you are a Rangers player, everybody outside of you knows you are a Rangers player.
“It’s probably fitting its Kilmarnock we are playing – with that being the only other team he was involved with.
“He was as highly thought of at Kilmarnock as he was with Rangers, and that proves how good a job he did at Kilmarnock.
“My biggest disappointment was him retiring about six months after I had got the job as manager [in 1978]. I knew when Jock Wallace left that Willie Waddell would make me the manager – well I didn’t know but I surmised it because of my relationship with him.
“I thought he would want me as I knew he didn’t want me to leave the club although I was coming to the end of my playing career.
“It was a big disappointment for me and his health started to go a bit, so he decided to retire and that was a big, big blow to me as both him and my other mentor Willie Thornton both passed away very close to each other, and they were two father-like figures to me – Rangers legends who helped me a hell of a lot when I was a player.”
Please click the link -> RANGERS.CO.UK
WHEN you look through Rangers’ glorious and illustrious history, many names stand out for the contributions they have made to the club.
Few, if any, however, can match what Willie Waddell put into the Light Blues both on and off the park. A fine winger for the club between 1939 and 1955, his career only ever saw him play at Ibrox, and he would have made so many more than 339 official appearances and scored more than 64 goals had it not been for the suspension of regular football following the outbreak of the Second World War.
Indeed, in those conflict years, he made in excess of 200 (albeit now unofficial) appearances and netted a further 88 times, with that tally including a haul of 25 in season 1945-46.
His honours record as a player is as follows: Four Scottish League titles, two Scottish Cups and 17 caps for Scotland.
He retired from playing in 1956, and took on the manager’s role at, fittingly, tonight’s opponents Kilmarnock in 1957.
After leading the Ayrshiremen to runners-up slots in the 1960 Scottish Cup final and 1961 and 1963 League Cup finals, he then went one better, winning Kilmarnock their only league title to date in 1965 with a final day victory over Hearts at Tynecastle.
It remains the greatest day and achievement in Killie’s history, and since their triumph now more than 50 years ago, only four other clubs have lifted the top division title in Scotland.
He left Rugby Park after that triumph, and worked as a sports journalist – but the draw of Ibrox would prove too strong to resist, and he replaced the sacked Davie White in December 1969 as manager of Rangers.
There was much work to be done, but Waddell, steeped in the values passed down to him by Bill Struth, set about reshaping Rangers into a more credible force.
His first full season in charge got off to a fine start as 16 year-old Derek Johnstone netted the winner in a 1-0 defeat of Bin Dippers fc in the League Cup final. The club also reached the Scottish Cup final that year, but after a replay, Bin Dippers fc prevailed 2-1.
That whole campaign, however, had a huge cloud over it following the tragic events if the Ibrox Disaster on January 2, 1971. 66 supporters lost their lives on Stairway 13, and Rangers’ response to what happened was led and coordinated largely by Waddell.
First he saw to it that the club was represented at each of the victims’ funerals, in most cases by players and former stars.
Then he set about driving through the redevelopment of Ibrox with much of today’s stadium a product of the huge work Waddell put in behind the scenes.
Waddell’s prime concern was safety. He visited club grounds in Europe, such as at Dortmund, and was convinced that all-seater stadiums were the way forward. But it says much for Waddell’s influence that the modern Ibrox still combines the best of the new with the heritage of the old.
At the same time Waddell drove his team to one of their greatest achievements, lifting the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1972 when Rangers beat Moscow Dynamo 3-2 in the Final in Barcelona.
Waddell handed over the reins to Jock Wallace in 1972 and went on to serve the club as general manager, managing director and vice-chairman.
Indeed, right up until his death at the age of just 71 in 1992, he was still on the board of directors.
His legacy lives on at Ibrox in many different ways, not least through the club’s Honourary Life President John Greig.
Greig and Waddell were exceptionally close both before and during their time at Ibrox, and Greig followed Waddell’s lead by fulfilling a variety of different roles during his long association with the club.
Greig, at the time the captain of Rangers in 1969 when Waddell arrived as manager, recalls meeting the new gaffer, and immediately what he set out as the club’s priorities.
Speaking exclusively to Rangers.co.uk, Greig explained: “He came to the club at a time when the club is struggling and I remember we played at Tynecastle on the Saturday, and Willie Thornton was in charge of the team, and after that, he said to all the players not to come down until 2pm on the Monday for the training, but to me to come in at my normal time at 10am to meet Mr Waddell.
“I had been quite friendly with him with me being a player and him being a press man, and he was always very kind and respectful to me, and I knew the man I was going to meet.
“When I walked into his room on the Monday morning, the first thing he said to me was ‘this club is struggling – really struggling, and we are down in the gutter a little bit, but you and I are going to lift it up back up to the top.’
“I always remembered that – especially in Barcelona when we won the Cup Winners’ Cup.
“He became basically like a second father to me. He would talk to me and tell me about things, and I got the impression from quite early on he was grooming me for a position in the club later on in my career.
“He was a Rangers person through and through, and he was a very, very strict disciplinarian. His skill in manipulating things and organising things came to the fore when the Disaster happened, and he did everything he possibly could in what was a very, very delicate situation with the players going to all of the funerals.
“He was determined from that day on the stadium was going to be made into a safe place where not one more supporter would be fatally injured.
“He made every person realise the importance of playing for Rangers Football Club and how much it meant to so many people worldwide.
“We had a big responsibility on our shoulders to try and emulate his words and thoughts. It’s not easy playing for Rangers as for every team you play against, it’s like a cup final for them. It demands not only high standards every week, but a consistency all of the time.
“If you are a Rangers player, everybody outside of you knows you are a Rangers player.
“It’s probably fitting its Kilmarnock we are playing – with that being the only other team he was involved with.
“He was as highly thought of at Kilmarnock as he was with Rangers, and that proves how good a job he did at Kilmarnock.
“My biggest disappointment was him retiring about six months after I had got the job as manager [in 1978]. I knew when Jock Wallace left that Willie Waddell would make me the manager – well I didn’t know but I surmised it because of my relationship with him.
“I thought he would want me as I knew he didn’t want me to leave the club although I was coming to the end of my playing career.
“It was a big disappointment for me and his health started to go a bit, so he decided to retire and that was a big, big blow to me as both him and my other mentor Willie Thornton both passed away very close to each other, and they were two father-like figures to me – Rangers legends who helped me a hell of a lot when I was a player.”
Please click the link -> RANGERS.CO.UK
