A gentleman on and off the pitch
ERIC CALDOW: MAY 14, 1934 - MARCH 4, 2019
Rangers and Scotland legend dies aged 84
TRIBUTES have poured in for Rangers and Scotland legend Eric Caldow, who died yesterday at the age of 84.
The defender played 40 times for the national team, 14 of them as captain.
He suffered from Alzheimer’s in later life and died at a care home in Patna, in his native Ayrshire.
Eric’s daughter Jacqueline McTaggart, 57, said: “He passed away peacefully this morning. It is still sinking in.
“He was known as a gentleman on the pitch and that was exactly what he was off the pitch. The whole family is very proud of Dad.”
Eric was in the Rangers team as they took their first steps into European competition in the 50s.
He captained the side in the 1960-61 European Cup Winners’ Cup final against Fiorentina.
He played 265 times for Rangers between 1952 and 1966, scoring 17 goals, and won five League Championships, two Scottish Cups and three League Cups.
Eric won his first full Scotland international cap against England in 1957 in a 2-1 defeat at Wembley.
In 1963, he suffered a broken leg in three places during a 2-1 win for Scotland at Wembley. The injury cut short his international career. John Greig, Rangers honorary life president and former teammate, said: “Eric was a great player and captain for the club, but above all else he was an absolute gentleman.
“He was quite a quiet and unassuming type of guy. He led by example rather than being vociferous.
“The biggest compliment you can give Eric is that a lot of people outside the club, when they saw him, would say, ‘That’s Eric Caldow of Rangers’.
“He stood out and even in his latter years he was such a likeable chap.
“I’ve never heard anybody have a bad word to say about him.”
Rangers chairman Dave King said Eric epitomised “the standards, characteristics and values associated with this club”.
He added: “This is a sad day for the club and the country.” Eric’s wife Laura died six years ago. His son, Eric junior, died in a car crash in Kuwait in 2000, aged 41.
He stood out and was such a likeable chap JOHN GREIG ON HIS TEAMMATE ERIC