Sam was the Honest Man who shocked Rangers
Ayr United will bid to turn back the clock 59 years when they play Rangers in the Betfred Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday. September 19, 1959, was the last time they won at Ibrox – and they did it in style with a 3-0 victory.
It’s Somerset Park folklore that The Honest Men were so far ahead, midfield ace Sam Mcmillan sat on the ball! Mcmillan, now 81, remembers Rangers fans were far from happy with his showboating, but he lapped it up.
Ayr had raced ahead in 16 minutes when Jim Mcghee beat George Niven with a low shot, and it was soon 2-0 when record goalscorer Peter Price set up Mcghee to pounce again. The Somerset outfit were in dreamland a minute before the interval when Dan Mcguinness sold the Rangers defence a dummy and let the ball roll between his legs for Billy Elliot to score.
On his moment of fame, Mcmillan said: “I was teasing them. We were already 3-0 , so I just knelt down and pulled my sock up, keeping the ball between my knees.
“It looked like I was sitting on the ball.
“Big Willie Stevenson was for doing me, and the crowd was anything but pleased, but I enjoyed it all.”
Sam, who spent 20 years at the club –13 as a player and seven as coach under Ally Macleod – showed the win was no fluke when Ayr returned to Glasgow seven weeks later and beat Celtic 3-2, with Sam scoring two of the goals.
They finished the season a place above the Hoops in eighth, while Rangers were third behind champions, Hearts, and Kilmarnock.