The secret trophy handover as fans battled police on Bears’ greatest day
In an excerpt from his upcoming book, Tom Miller lays out the inside story from the bowels of the Camp Nou ahead of 50th anniversary
IN Barcelona, in 1972, Colin Stein scored one and Willie Johnston two. The Bears were born, legends were made and five decades on their achievement still stands as the greatest in Rangers’ history.
The journey from disaster to triumph has been charted by author Tom Miller as the champions prepare to celebrate their 150th anniversary and 50 years since that famous win over Dynamo Moscow.
In an exclusive serialisation, Herald and Times Sport recalls the achievement and the fall-out from Barcelona. In Rangers’ glorious story, this is their most remarkable chapter.
IT had been a thrilling if arduous 90 minutes, but Rangers had achieved their goal. The European Cup-Winners’ Cup belonged to them and would soon be taking pride of place in the famous Ibrox trophy room.
The players had all made it back safely to the sanctuary of their dressing room in the Nou Camp as Colin Stein recalls: “When the fans came on the first time thinking the game was over, I thought the same too until I looked to the referee who was waving us on to carry on playing.
“Then when the final whistle did go, everyone came on and we had to scamper for the changing rooms. We thought it would all calm down and we could go back out on to the pitch to collect the trophy, our medals and celebrate, we didn’t know what was happening at all.”
In the bowels of the stadium, the Rangers players continued to celebrate what was a terrific achievement for a club who had last won a trophy on 24 October 1970, a period of 19 months to the exact date.
Manager Willie Waddell and captain John Greig were summoned from the dressing room by a UEFA official and Greig recalls: “We were taken to a small room and the chairman of UEFA quickly handed the trophy over, as if to say ‘here it is, now get out!’ I always visualised winning a European trophy, picking up the cup and being able to go around the park showing all the supporters who had travelled halfway over Europe to see it.”
It was a genuine anti-climax. John Greig continued: “I collected the cup and walked back along a corridor and back to the boys in the dressing room.”
Despite the disappointment of no formality of the presentation, his team-mates had started the party and a number of the players were already in the bath and the champagne was flowing. Some of them hadn’t even noticed that their skipper had left the dressing room but when he came back the biggest cheer went up and Greig tossed the trophy into the bath to further heighten spirits and raise the celebrations.
Eventually the team dressed and made their way to the bus to go back to the hotel where partners, wives, girlfriends and family were waiting to greet their heroes – but Willie Waddell had other ideas.
Back in Glasgow the printing presses were getting ready to roll and the events of Barcelona were front-page news. The Glasgow Herald of the next day ran with “Spanish police in baton charge as fans invade pitch”! Charles Gillies from Barcelona reported: “Spanish policemen with guns drawn and wielding batons charged thousands of Rangers supporters who invaded the pitch at the end of the European CupWinners’ Cup match against Dynamo Moscow. Fighting broke out with the police after an estimated 10,000 fans swarmed on to the pitch in Camp Nou stadium, Barcelona, to congratulate the Rangers players on their 3–2 win over the Russians.”
Mr Waddell, the Rangers manager, said later: “The behaviour of the fans places our whole future in Europe at risk.”
Mr Waddell added, however, that he was still proud of the support the team had received.
Journalists watching the scenes believed that there would have been no trouble had the police not charged.
Trouble broke out about 90 seconds from the end of the match when Rangers supporters, believing that the final whistle had gone, invaded the pitch.
Mr Waddell, police and European football officials also ran on to the field telling the supporters to return to the terracing. Play was delayed for several minutes.
At the end of the match, however, even more fans ran on to the field, mobbing the players and Mr Waddell. Police fought unsuccessfully to contain them as hundreds of cushions and other missiles were thrown from the terracing. About 10,000 Rangers supporters thronged the middle of the field waving flags and banners.
Then the scene turned ugly. Police drew guns and made a baton charge. Fighting broke out. Supporters fled in disarray and policemen stormed the crowd. Five minutes after full time the centre of the park was ringed by police and opposite the stand another section of the Rangers following rushed