By Alistair Aird

On Saturday, Rangers will face Celtic in the Scottish Cup Final for the 16th time. Both teams have won seven of the previous finals, while the trophy was withheld in 1909 following the infamous Hampden Riot. On four occasions – 1909, 1963, 1966 and 1971 – replays were required.

After seeing off Celtic in the 1963 Final, Scot Symon’s Rangers won the domestic Treble in season 1963/64. But despite winning the League Cup in season 1964/65, that celebrated team of the early 1960s started to break up and by May 1966, Celtic were starting to establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with. League Cup winners and ahead in the race for the title, they faced Rangers in the Scottish Cup Final in 1966 aiming to claim the second part of a clean sweep. The fact they didn’t was down to yet another landmark goal from an unlikely source.

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As season 1965/66 dawned, Celtic hadn’t won the Scottish League title since 1954. But under the guidance of Jock Stein, they were looking to emerge from the shadows. Scot Symon now had competition on his doorstep, having warded off the likes of Kilmarnock and Dundee as his side secured honours in the early part of the 1960’s.

Rangers opened the season with a 4-2 defeat at Tynecastle in the League Cup, and another defeat followed a week later at Pittodrie against Aberdeen. But home and away wins over Clyde and Ibrox victories over Hearts and Aberdeen saw Symon’s side pip both of the latter for top spot in Section Two.

A thumping 9-1 aggregate win over Airdrie followed in the quarter-final, and despite a late treble from future Ranger, Tommy McLean, Rangers held on to defeat Kilmarnock 6-4 in the semis. However, hopes of a third successive win in the competition were thwarted by Celtic, who won 2-1 in the Final.

The league campaign started well, with Rangers not tasting defeat until Dunfermline Athletic came to Ibrox on Christmas Day and won 3-2. That constituted a run of 12 wins and three draws. But they were matched stride for stride by Celtic, and the Dunfermline defeat coupled with Celtic’s 8-1 mauling of Morton saw the teams head into the New Year on 27 points, with Rangers only in front on goal average.

From that point on, the two titans went toe-to-toe for the title.

Rangers defeated Partick Thistle 4-0 on New Year’s Day, but two days later, they succumbed by five goals to one at an icy Parkhead. And although Symon’s side bounced back, losing just two of their last 16 league games, those defeats against Falkirk (2-3) and Dundee United (0-1) would prove crucial. Celtic had wobbled, losing three matches away from home, but in the month of March, Rangers secured only two points from the four matches they played. Celtic would be champions, the gap at the top amounting to just two points.

Solace would however be sought and found in the Scottish Cup. A hat trick from George McLean helped sweep aside Airdrie by five goals to one in the opening round before Rangers travelled to Dingwall on 28 February to face Ross County. Torrential rain ahead of kick off had turned the pitch into a quagmire prompting Rangers to protest. They wanted the tie postponed, but with the rain relenting, it went ahead.

Given the condition of the pitch, Willie Henderson, who had played only twice since the turn of the year, was left out the side. His place went to Davie Wilson who had had limited game time himself due to the emergence of Willie Johnston at outside left. It would be Johnston who would open the scoring after 25 minutes, lashing a shot into the net after receiving a pass from Forrest. A minute later, safe passage to the quarter-finals was secured when George McLean netted their second goal.

St Johnstone were beaten 1-0 in the last eight – Alex Willoughby scored the vital goal – which put Rangers in the hat for the semi-final draw alongside Aberdeen, Dunfermline and, eventually, Celtic. Jock Stein’s side had drawn 3-3 against Hearts at Tynecastle but won 3-1 in the replay at Parkhead.

A replay would be required in the semi-finals too, but it would be for the blue half of Glasgow this time. Rangers were drawn to face Aberdeen at Hampden, while Celtic faced Dunfermline at Ibrox. Both ties were played on 26 March, with Celtic winning 2-0 and Rangers and Aberdeen playing out a goalless stalemate.

Three days later, they replayed, and Rangers drew first blood when Jim Forrest found the net after eight minutes. But the teams were on level terms at the interval as Harry Melrose, a former Rangers player, had scored an equalising goal seven minutes shy of the break.

Rangers held the territorial advantage for much of the second half, but as the game entered its closing stages with the teams deadlocked at 1-1, extra-time and a possible second replay beckoned. But with 10 minutes to go, Johnston dashed down the left wing and flashed in a cross that George ‘Dandy’ McLean nudged past Bobby Clark from close range.

The Old Firm met in the Final at Hampden on 23 April.

Lashing rain would curtail preparations, though. Celtic, stationed at Seamill Hydro, were unable to train, while Rangers had to move from The Albion to the indoor gymnasium and training track at Ibrox.

Team selection for Rangers seemed to focus on the forward line. George McLean, who hadn’t played in the first team for a month, had scored a glut of goals in the reserves, eight in two matches in fact against Morton and Motherwell. But that wasn’t enough to get ‘Dandy’ a place in the starting XI which read:

Billy Ritchie, Kai Johansen, Davie Provan, John Greig, Ronnie McKinnon, Jimmy Millar, Willie Henderson, Bobby Watson, Jim Forrest, Willie Johnston, Davie Wilson

The first thing that became apparent when play got underway was that Rangers had switched their wingers. Although he was wearing the number 11 jersey, Wilson was on the right wing, while Henderson patrolled the left.

Celtic were the favourites going into the game, but it was Rangers who did most of the attacking. Ronnie Simpson, son of Jimmy who had played for Rangers between 1927 and 1940, had to be alert to thwart Johnston and Forrest in the opening 20 minutes.

But for all their attacking endeavour, Rangers, who had the strong wind blowing in their favour, couldn’t muster a goal in the opening 45 minutes.

Celtic made a whirlwind start to the second half. Billy McNeill rattled the crossbar with a header before Joe McBride was denied by a fine save from Billy Ritchie. Jimmy Millar, playing at left-half, also had to head another effort off the line. But in the face of a flurry of attacks, Gair Henderson, writing in the Evening Times, said that ‘the Rangers defence stayed cool, calm and resolute.’

John Greig, one of the lynchpins of that defence, almost had Rangers in front after 55 minutes. Bursting from the defensive cocoon, he found himself with only Simpson to beat, but the Celtic goalkeeper kept the ball out with what Hendeson called ‘a miracle save.’

In an attempt to win the match, Symon switched Johnston to outside left and moved Henderson inside to the role vacated by Johnston. But the move did not bear fruit and the stalemate that ensued meant that the Old Firm heavyweights would have to slug it out again four days later.

Rangers made one change for the replay. With Millar recovering from a foot injury to play, the alteration came at centre forward, with McLean replacing Forrest.

Both had been prolific that season – McLean had netted 39 goals in just 34 appearances to that point, while Forrest had grabbed 35 in 44 – but both had also had spells of frustration in front of goal. It was therefore a difficult decision for Symon, but the lack of physical strength in the forward line in the first match may well have been what tipped the scales in the favour of McLean.

The first half was once more a tight affair punctuated by a number of stoppages for what Raymond Jacobs, writing in the Glasgow Herald, said were due to the ‘hardness and recklessness of many of the tackles.’ Celtic offered most of the attacking threat, but Stevie Chalmers, John Hughes and Joe McBride passed up the chances they were presented with.

Celtic were in the ascendancy at the start of the second half too, but the Rangers defence was steadfast and sure. Jimmy Millar was magnificent and when called upon, Billy Ritchie produced the saves that were required to keep Celtic at bay.

And then came the all-important goal, the only one of the game. This is how Raymond Jacobs described it:

It was a goal worthy of winning any trophy and its quality was matched only by its unexpectedness. Johnston wriggled his way to the byeline and when McLean missed the ball a few yards out it ran to Henderson. The winger’s shot was cleared off the line by Murdoch out to Johansen, who let fly from 25 yards and the ball flew low and hard into the net.

Kai Johansen had thus elevated himself to cult hero status. He had also made history as he was the first Scandinavian player to win a Scottish Cup winners medal and the first foreign player to find the net in the Scottish Cup Final.

Born in Odense on 23 July 1940, Johansen had started out as a striker with Korsløkke before moving to Boldklubben 1909. But a move to Odense Boldklub and a positional change – he moved to right back – saw his career transformed. He gained international recognition and was brought to Scotland by the Morton manager, Haldane Stewart in 1964.

By the time he arrived in Greenock, Johansen had won 20 caps for Denmark and was recognised as one of the finest attacking full backs in Europe at the time. To emphasis this point, he was chosen in a European Select side that faced a UK equivalent in a testimonial match for Stanley Matthews in 1965.

A few months later, Kai was bound for Ibrox where initially, Scot Symon tried to curb Johansen’s natural instinct to attack. But the shackles were eventually released in the second half of season 1965/66 which explains why he was lurking around the edge of the penalty area when the ball broke to him that famous night at Hampden.

But while he will always have a place in Rangers folklore for that goal, what many don’t highlight is the fact that he was an integral part of that stoic defence that had repelled everything Celtic threw at them. Having been given a rough ride by John Hughes earlier in the season in the League Cup Final, Johansen superbly nullified any possible threat from Hughes in the Scottish Cup Final.

Alas, the 1966 Scottish Cup would be the only major honour Johansen claimed in his time at Rangers. After a feast of trophies – of the 18 major domestic trophies contested since season 1960/61, Rangers had won 11 of them – a famine would follow. Rangers would not lift any of the major honours again until 1970 by which time Johansen had decided to retire from the game aged only 30.

Diagnosed with cancer in 2006, Kai Johansen passed away on 13 May 2007.

*****

After lifting the trophy, the Rangers party boarded the team bus and headed for the St Enoch Hotel. When they arrived, the staff and players took to the balcony to the acclaim of what William Allison claimed in his 1966 book The New Erawas ‘over 5,000 fans packed tightly around it’s precincts.’

For John Greig, Scotland’s Player of the Year, it was his first Scottish Cup win as captain, and alongside his team-mates, Scot Symon, John Wilson, the Vice-Chairman, and directors George Brown and Matthew Taylor, he thrust the Cup into the air. The roar said Allison was like it had come ‘from a hundred jet-planes’ as it ‘echoed and re-echoed far into the night.’

There will still two league games to play after the Final. The Old Firm were level on points, with Celtic ahead on goal average and having a game in hand. Three days after the replay, it was status quo when Rangers won 2-1 away at Dunfermline and Celtic defeated Morton at Cappielow.

The following midweek, Rangers thumped Clyde 4-0 at Ibrox, but Celtic’s 2-1 win over Dunfermline meant that they had to lose heavily in their last match against Motherwell to hand Symon’s side the title. It didn’t happen. While Rangers were over in Denmark playing in a benefit match for Carl Hansen, Stein’s side won 1-0 to claim the crown for the first time in 12 years.

That title win was the catalyst that saw Celtic dominate for a decade. By the time the sides faced each other in a Scottish Cup Final again – in 1969 – Symon had been shabbily sacked and replaced by David White. But after promising initial signs, White couldn’t halt the Celtic juggernaut and it flattened his side at Hampden, winning 4-0.

White was sacked a few months later after back-to-back 3-1 defeats against Gornik Zabrze, and the rot was stopped by his replacement, the imperious Willie Waddell, who led Rangers to League Cup in 1970 and the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1972.

But the Scottish Cup still proved elusive. Aside from losing final appearances in 1969 and 1971 – both against Celtic – Rangers had been humiliated at Berwick in 1967, lost to Hearts in a quarter final replay in 1968, been eliminated by Celtic in the quarter finals in 1970, and lost 2-0 against Hibernian in the semis in 1972.

However, after being starved of the Scottish Cup and the league title, the Rangers fans would soon feast on success once again. And the foundations for that would be laid in the presence of royalty in May 1973.