The Greatest Ranger Ever?: Davie Meiklejohn - The Case for the Original Ibrox Legend

by Jeff Holmes

Overview

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 Patrick Thistle—yet at the height of his fame, Meik lived in a modest two-bedroom flat, no more than 100 yards from Ibrox.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781785310171
Publisher:	Pitch Publishing
Publication date:	11/07/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Jeff Holmes is the author of Blue Thunder: The Jock Wallace Story, as well as a history of Scottish television. After a long career in TV, Jeff became a newspaper reporter and is now part of the team at Media Scotland, covering soccer for the Daily Record and Sunday Mail.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 9

Introduction 11

Prologue 13

Decision day for young Meik 15

Tragic end to a glorious season 21

The honeymoon is over 28

Meik caps a great season 43

Three out of four ain't bad 56

A new challenger emerges 63

League champs, but 'Scottish' remains elusive 73

An injury-ravaged campaign 81

Meik survives horror bus crash 91

Season has a silver lining 99

The wait is finally over 106

Gers go Stateside 111

Wing king Alan is very much alive 121

Four-midable Gers sweep the boards 128

Gers stars' brush with death 140

Meik wins a tenth league medal 149

Meik stunned by Thomson tragedy 154

Mr Popular! 166

Little continental action for Meik 173

Clean sweep for the Light Blues 177

Lucky 13 for skipper 188

On tour with Scotland 198

Old Firm battle for supremacy 205

National pride 215

Meik's big anti-climax 219

On the write track 226

In the hotseat 236

A tragic end 248

Epilogue 251

Career stats 253