Morelos in great company as he joins Rangers’ 100 club
From little more than a couple of yards out, Rangers’ Alfredo Morelos stooped to head himself into the pantheon of Ibrox goalscorers with his winner at St Mirren on Sunday.
The Colombian striker's place in the club’s history books was cemented with his 100th goal for the team, becoming just the 18th player to reach that milestone in a Rangers jersey in the postwar era.
It has taken Morelos 199 appearances to hit the ton as he joins an illustrious list of some of the greatest names in Rangers’ folklore.
So how does his strike rate compare with the previous 17 players to have reached the century mark since 1945?
KENNY MILLER: Over his three spells at Rangers, former Scotland striker Miller scored 116 goals in 300 appearances. It wasn’t until his final stint at the club that he reached the magical three figure mark, doing so in style with a stunning volley at Inverness Caledonian Thistle in October 2016 in his 244th outing for Rangers.
KRIS BOYD: As deadly a penalty box predator as the Scottish game has seen since the turn of the century, Boyd took just 146 appearances to score his 100th goal which came in a Scottish Cup semi-final win over St Mirren in 2009. In total, Boyd scored 138 goals in his 235 appearances over two spells as a Rangers player.
MARK HATELEY: The big Englishman struck up a potent strike partnership with Ally Mccoist in Walter Smith’s trophy-winning machine of the 1990s. Hateley scored 115 goals in 222 appearances all told with his 100th arriving in his 189th game for Rangers in August 1994 in a League Cup win over Arbroath.
ALLY MCCOIST: The greatest goalscorer in Rangers’ history, Mccoist’s tally of 355 goals for the club may never be beaten. It took Mccoist until his 164th appearance to rack up his first 100 goals, doing so with his second of the match in a 3-0 win over Clydebank at Kilbowie Park in April 1987.
DEREK PARLANE: Serenaded in song as the ‘King of Ibrox Park’ by the Rangers fans, Parlane was a revered member of the club’s 1972 European Cup-winners’ Cup winning squad. He scored 111 goals in 300 games. Parlane’s 100th goal for Rangers came in his 223rd appearance in a 3-3 draw at Partick Thistle in November 1977.
DEREK JOHNSTONE: With 210 goals in 546 games over his two spells at the club, Johnstone is Rangers’ second highest post-war goalscorer after Mccoist. Having spent much of the early part of his career playing in central defence, it wasn’t until his 274th appearance for Rangers that Johnstone scored his 100th goal which came in a 2-1 league defeat to Aberdeen at Pittodrie in April 1977.
JOHN GREIG: Bestowed with the title of ‘Greatest Ever Ranger’ by the club’s support, the presence of Greig on the list of ton-up scorers may surprise some, but although he played much of his career in defence, he started out as a midfielder and was also a regular penalty taker. The remarkable longevity of his 17 years as a Rangers player saw him score 120 times in 755 games for the club. Greig’s 100th goal came in a 2-1 win over Dundee United at
Ibrox in April 1973, his 538th appearance.
WILLIE JOHNSTON: The two-goal hero of Rangers’ 3-2 win over Dynamo Moscow in the 1972 Cup Winners’ Cup final, winger Johnston scored 125 goals in 323 games over his two spells with the club. It was in his 267th appearance for Rangers that he reached the century mark when he scored twice in a 3-0 Scottish Cup win over Falkirk at Ibrox in January 1971.
JIM FORREST: No-one comes close to matching the strike rate of Jim Forrest in achieving the 100-goal landmark for Rangers since the war. Astonishingly, he achieved it in just his 96th appearance for the club in a 3-2 win over St Johnstone at Ibrox in August 1965. Forrest scored a phenomenal 145 goals in 163 games in total for Rangers, including a mind-bending tally of 57 in 50 games in the 1964-65 season. But his time at Ibrox ended cruelly when he was made a scapegoat for the shock Scottish Cup defeat at Berwick Rangers in 1967 and sold to Preston North End.
DAVID WILSON: An outstanding member of Rangers’ brilliant side of the early 1960s, winger Wilson was as adept at taking chances as he was in creating them. He scored 157 goals in 373 games for the club with his 100th coming in his 246th appearance, a 1-1 draw against Motherwell at Ibrox in April 1963.
JIMMY MILLAR: A hugely popular figure among the Rangers support, bustling striker Millar scored 162 goals in 317 games for the club. He hit the ton in his 177th appearance, doing so in style with a hat-trick in a League Cup tie against Third Lanark at Ibrox in August 1962.
ALEX SCOTT: Fleet-footed winger Scott scored 108 goals in 331 games for Rangers before moving on to Everton and then Hibs. His 100th goal came in his 310th appearance, a 2-1 win over Hearts at Ibrox in January 1962.
RALPH BRAND: Part of a formidable strike partnership with Jimmy Millar, Brand scored 206 goals in 317 games for Rangers. Brand took just 145 games to hit the ton, one of four he scored in a 6-0 win over Raith Rovers at Ibrox in October 1961.
MAX MURRAY: An often unheralded figure in Rangers’ history, Murray scored an impressive 121 goals in 154 games. That ratio saw him take just 126 games to grab his 100th goal for the club in a 3-1 win over Clyde at Ibrox in March 1959.
JOHNNY HUBBARD: Known as ‘The Penalty King’, 65 of Hubbard’s 106 goals in 238 games for Rangers came from the spot. The South African winger’s 100th goal came in his 233rd appearance as he scored a hat-trick in a remarkable 5-4 defeat against Airdrie at Broomfield in September 1958.
BILLY SIMPSON: Northern Ireland international Simpson scored 163 goals in 239 games for Rangers after his £11,500 transfer from Linfield in 1950. Another with an impressive strike ratio, Simpson’s 100th goal came in his 146th appearance in a 4-0 win over Falkirk at Ibrox in March 1956.
WILLIE THORNTON: Legendary striker Thornton’s career spanned the pre and post-war period with 194 goals in 308 games. His 100th goal arrived in his 175th appearance, a 2-1 win over St Mirren at Ibrox in February 1949. Thornton scored 34 goals that season as Rangers won Scottish football’s first ever domestic treble.