The country was at war but domestic football was still being played and was seen by the authorities as a good way to boost morale. Whether Rangers and their fans felt a morale boost on the evening of 27 September 1941 is a matter for conjecture because Hibernian had just handed the Glasgow outfit its heaviest ever League defeat, a record that stands to this day.
In the lead up to the game the sporting press was tipping the Ibrox machine to keep on rolling as the men in blue were in Championship form but even when fielding a virtually full strength side they could not cope with the wizardry of their Easter Road opponents and were sent home with their tail very firmly between their legs. This would be their first defeat of the season but it was one they’d find difficulty forgetting because Hibs swarmed all over them from start to finish in a display of attacking football that had the home fans roaring from the terraces.
The Scotsman match report merits inclusion here as it relays the story of that incredible ninety minutes so very well.
“A brilliant display of non stop attacking at Easter Road on Saturday by Hibernians’ light weight forwards resulted in a record 8-1 defeat of Rangers. There was no doubting the merit of Hibernians’ win. The Ibrox team were cut to shreds by bewildering footwork and the score might well have been doubled. Rangers themselves were scarcely ever on the attack and their solitary goal came from a penalty kick which appeared to be a hard award for a tackle by Baxter on Smith.”
Even back then Rangers were being awarded dodgy penalties but the resulting goal was but a minor blemish on an almost perfect display by the men in green and white. Dawson, the Rangers goalkeeper had a number of outstanding saves but was beaten eight times with the first of the eight coming after seven minutes courtesy of ‘Lil Arthur Milne whose movement cause panic amongst the giant Rangers defence. Milne scored again in the second half and young outside right Gordon Smith also grabbed a double but star of the show was Bobby Combe, the youngest man on the park but scorer of four fantastic goals. In fact Combe had scored four in a match just a month earlier when Albion Rovers were trounced 8-3 on their own patch.
As the game was drawing to a close and the large contingent of Rangers fans were well on their way home Venters, scorer of the Rangers penalty was sent off for scything down Gordon Smith as the winger was in full flight. Smith took exception to the tackle and was booked but it wouldn’t be the last time he was roughly treated by opponents as that seemed the only way to stop him.
We play Rangers on Saturday and there’s no chance of a repeat but wouldn’t it just set Scottish football alight if the Hibees gave Rangers a drubbing!
Photos:
1... 1943-44 team (includes 8 of the players in the 8-1 game)
2... 1941 summer cup winning squad which includes all the players of the 8-1 game apart from Joseph Crozier and amateur player Robert Hardisty
Thanks to Brian for supplying them.
-
Rangers sent eightsome reeling
- '); loadVbCss(yuipath + '/treeview/assets/skins/sam/treeview.css'); //-->
vBulletin Message