Rangers’ 55th title win marked the end of a decade-long wait to bring major silverware back to the club, but it also happened to land on a landmark date in the club’s history – what would have been Willie Waddell’s 100th birthday.
Waddell, the only manager to win a European trophy as Rangers boss, was born in Forth, Lanarkshire on March 7, 1921 and little would anyone have known the impact he would have on Scottish football.
Over three hundred games as a professional for Rangers either side of World War II saw Waddell win four league title and two Scottish Cups in addition to 18 caps for Scotland before he would hang up his boots
It was in management Waddell really excelled though, after taking charge of Kilmarnock in 1957 he would lead the Ruby Park side to their only Scottish title win and cement himself as their most successful manager ever.
A stint in journalism followed his time at Kilmarnock before the chance to return to the club he loved following the sacking of Davie White in 1969.
There would be no league title for Waddell as Rangers manager though, Celtic’s dominance of the domestic game seeing him end a six-year wait for silverware at the club when he won the League Cup in 1971 – but the best was still to come.
A year later, Waddell’s name would become immortal when one night in Barcelona Colin Stein scored one, Willie Johnstone two as Rangers lifted the European Cup Winner’s Cup against Dynamo Moscow.
Off the pitch, the single greatest monument to Waddell’s work takes pride of place in the stadium that sits at 150 Edmiston Drive after he led the changes that were needed following the Ibrox disaster in 1971.
It was Waddell who was the driving force in making Ibrox one of the most modern grounds anywhere in Europe, converting it from the old bowl into the modern, four-sided stadium that stands today.
Waddell would remain involved with the club until his death in 1992.
Winning the title on what would have been his 100th birthday was the ideal day for the Light Blues to win 55 as they ended a long wait for silverware.
Rangers have written to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to raise worries about how the government has responded to the incident at George Square, challenging much of what deputy first minister John Swinney claimed in an address to the public yesterday.
