‘Greigy is a one-off. He epitomises the Rangers spirit and is the genuine article – a true Rangers legend’ – Ally McCoist
There are few players who get to experience the high of winning one treble during their playing careers, John Greig managed to bag three trebles and captained the team to two of those tremendous achievements.
Rangers have a very proud history in Europe being the first Scottish club to play a competitive European tie whilst participating in the European Cup in season 1956-57 season and became the fist Scottish or British Club to reach a European final when in 1961 we lost 4-1 on aggregate to Fiorentina in the inaugural European Cup Winners Cup final. During this campaign we defeated Wolves in the semi-final the game that gave us the wonderful Wolverhampton Town song which has thankfully, found it’s way back onto our hymn sheet in recent years.
There are a few mitigating circumstances as to how yours truly landed with the unenviable task of detailing the contribution John Greig MBE has made to Rangers over his distinguished and well documented career. Firstly, I stupidly announced that I have some spare time on my hands at the moment, and actually volunteered this idea in the Gersnet writers forum. Secondly, John Greig was Rangers manager when I started going to watch Rangers on a regular basis. I was lucky enough to witness John as a player (and what a player he was) and given the fact of his illustrious playing career, I felt it unfair to solely focus on his managerial career (as was the thought at the time).
Bill Struth is without doubt one - if not the major influence on how successful Rangers are as a club. Below you can find out some interesting facts and trivia about this true Rangers and Scottish footballing legend.
The Rangers Training Centre opened in 2001; cost £14million and is situated in Milngavie - to the North West of Glasgow. It was named after previous Rangers owner and Chairman Sir David Murray and was originally commonly known as Murray Park. In 2012, after the 1899 company's liquidation due to financial mismanagement of the club, the fans decided to remove the disgraced former owner's name from the centre.
The famous 'RFC' Scroll crest is instantly recognisable to football fans across the world and is steeped in history.
Two tragic events in Rangers history will remain defining moments for every Rangers supporter. They stand as a gauge of football's real importance while reminding every football fan of just how safety and organisation are a huge necessity at our stadia.
Since the club's formation in 1872, over thirty players have permanently held the position of club captain for Rangers. The first was Tom Vallance, from 1876 to 1882. The longest-serving captain is John Greig, who held the role from 1965 until his retirement in 1978. The current club captain is James Tavernier, who took over from Lee Wallace in 2018.