The Bonus

While Celtic were busy taking care of Arbroath, the Celtic faithful were unaware of the drama unfolding in a match which had kicked off an hour earlier in a little town just over the border in the north east of England and it was only later in the day when the shock news filtered through that the Parkhead fans realised they would be celebrating more than just a win over Arbroath that night. Indeed little Berwick Rangers had just provided them with ammunition for years to come.

Jock Wallace was the mastermind behind the greatest ever cup shock. The Berwick goalkeeper and player-manager had watched Rangers play against Aberdeen and noticed how unfit they were so for three weeks before the tie he drummed it into his players that they could win the match because they were fitter than the Glasgow outfit. Wallace said: “My theory was that Rangers would hammer us for the first 20 minutes of the match but if we could hold out, John Greig would move out of defence to join the attack and we would have four men upfield to exploit the gap and that’s exactly what happened”. It was a fantastic achievement when you consider Rangers went on to reach the European Cup Winners Cup final that same season. The goal that produced the greatest cup shock of all time came in the 32nd minute when Dowds and Christie combined to set up little Sammy Reid who fired the ball past keeper Norrie Martin. A minute later Christie missed a great chance to put Berwick further ahead. In the second half, the visitors were restricted to long range efforts while local boy Alan Ainslie hit a post with the Rangers keeper beaten. In the end Berwick deserved their win and goal hero Sammy Reid later commented, “it may not be the best goal I’ve ever scored but I’ll never forget it”. Credit must go to the Rangers skipper John Greig who stood by the tunnel at the end of the match and applauded the winners as they came off the park. Meanwhile outside the ground the huge travelling support burned scarves and hats or hurled them over the bridge into the River Tweed in disgust.
Berwick Rangers: Wallace, Haig, Riddell, Craig, Coutts, Kilgannon, Lumsden, Reid, Christie, Dowds, Ainslie.
Glasgow Rangers: Martin, Johansen, Provan, Greig, McKinnon, D.Smith, Henderson, A.Smith, McLean, Forrest, Johnston.
Attendance: 13,365
Referee: E.Thomson (Edinburgh)