Book Review – In Safe Hands: Rangers’ Goalkeeping Greats by Alistair Aird

#shoutout for all goalkeepers in the union…

This is a ‘labour of glove’ of a specialist Mastermind topic. Writer, Alistair Aird gives us a lot of the details of each and every player who has thrust their hands into the gloves of Rangers Football Club. Of course, when it comes to a club of any distinction over the last century or so, you do tend to be more concerned about your own memories and times and, for me, that was Peter McCloy long before it became ‘The Goalie’ or Alan McGregor.

But for me, one of the treasures of this particular book is the attention to detail at the beginning where we start at the birth of the club and have much of the first 90 years covered in the first 60 pages looking at the founding fathers right through to the beginning of the Cold War described in detail. In there, there were some gems, that included a D. Smith, believed on the 20th of September 1873 to be number one of the number one club. The fact he was named at the end of the line up with the word goal in brackets, is particularly different today and could suggest the law of the playground where your last pick, gets the gloves.

Aird’s research also found John Yuille, who competed in the Scottish Cup for the first time taking on Oxford at Queen’s Park Recreation Ground, which Rangers won 2-0. Thus, he is the first goalkeeper to play in a Scottish Cup tie for Rangers and would appear to be the first to win the Cup for Rangers too. I was able to discover on the 28th of May 1888 in the first fixture against Celtic, the goalkeeper was a man by the name of Jimmy Nicol. When we won 6-1 as Scotland against England, Rangers’ George Gillespie was in goal. The 1897 Scottish Cup final was filled with controversy and ended with protests and protestation – nearly 100 years later… In 1904-1905, Austria’s first professional footballer signed for the club, Karl Pekarna, who became Rangers’ first ever foreign signings. He eventually returned home to Austria before ending up playing for Bayern Munich. In 1906-1907, there were thaws in the relationship with the East End of Glasgow, and a loan of a goalie to Celtic was arranged, something that would be unlikely in the current set-up in Scottish football.

From there, we are not so much off at a canter, but on a steady, slow-paced walk. It benefits from that because it is clearly obvious that in a book that stretches over just over 300 pages, to have the first half completed in the first 60 or so pages means that there is plenty of time left to indulge in that little childhood hitherto mentioned desire of finding out about the ones you actually remember.

But before then, think of the connections made between the 1908 goalkeeper who played his final appearance against Woolwich Arsenal, and then in 1973 was in attendance for the centenary celebrations of the club against Arsenal. But I need to stop before giving away all the secrets.

Aird ambles through the post-war years in greater depth, though I probably could do without knowing pre-match meals and some of the minutiae of each of the goalkeepers, post or pre-Rangers FC. It does, however, add an authenticity in terms of the research that Aird has conducted to ensure that this has a greater degree of attention to detail than a simple run-through would allow while stopping just short of an academic exercise.

It is therefore not too dry but could do with a little zip in its heels when it comes to not just covering the careers of those who played for Glasgow once they left, but perhaps more about how goalkeepers had fared in the games that they had played whilst they were there. Of all the goalkeepers who have played for Glasgow Rangers, whilst my first knowledge of who it was that kept goal was Peter McCloy, which probably defines a lot about my own age and stage in life, you cannot talk about Rangers goalkeepers without ‘The Goalie’.

Perhaps more than anybody else in the history of Rangers Football Club, Andy Goram captured a part of Rangers hearts as a goalkeeper more than anybody else in the history of Rangers. He is revered and his chapter is an interesting read partly, due to the fact that he recently lost his fight against cancer and is one of the characters of the game who has left us forever.

What is also good about the book is the comprehensive nature of it, as each of the goalkeepers who graced the turf and also went on to some distinction, or even those who didn’t quite manage to grace the role with any grace, are given equal treatment.

In Safe Hands is right up to date, or at least as to date as is practically possible, given that the foreword was written by Michael Beale, the book does add to our understanding, not just of the function of a goalkeeper, but also of the legacy that comes from such goalkeeping greats as Goram himself, McCloy, but also Kloss and McGregor. There have been many who have honourable mentions right throughout, from Robbie Brown and George Niven to newer and younger players like McCrorie and McLaughlin or significant goalies like Chris Woods, Lionel Charbonnier, Andy Dibble, and Neil Alexander.

What I also particularly liked was the postscript was given over to a view from the training grounds. It provided insight as to how Colin Stewart and his dad, Jim, as trainers, were given the responsibility of trying to tame the madness that is hardly contained within the six-yard box. Trainers are as important as the keeper himself in many ways in exactly the same way that a boxer depends so much on his trainer so do does a goalkeeper depend upon his coach. Here we get a side often lost because the star up there is the one who has the headlines whilst underneath, as we all know, it is the bleak wet October drizzly training nights that begins to hone your instincts and then on a Saturday afternoon in front thousands you manage to show not what you suddenly learned in the tunnel but what you have practiced for years on the training ground.

In Safe Hands has added to the pantheon of specialist books. It would certainly sit well upon the bookshelf to be taken down and dipped in and out of or read straight through to remind yourself not just of how well your club did but also who in those days when they’re doing well everybody lionizes when they’re doing well but when they do badly have a disastrous chant attached to their name.

Donald C. Stewart

 

Buy the book here:

(Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd. July 2023. Hardcover: 352 pages)