Rangers reserve friendlies

[BetterThanTheTelly]

I am new to this forum. I was pointed in the direction of this by Stu the Jag.
I see it is a hotbed of Scottish football historians and statisticians.

At the moment I am in the early stages of putting together a database of all friendly matches played by Rangers below first team level, ostensively, because it isnt really recorded anywhere else.
From my own records I reckon I have almost every result back to about 1980 and am now in the process of going further back.
In the short term I am looking for the following results
3/8/1968 Corby Town v Rangers
8/5/1969 Cumbernauld United v Rangers
I am also looking for the names of the players whose testimonial matches were
24/4/1983 Benburb v Rangers
8/4/1990 Maryhill v Rangers
In the longer term can anyone give me pointers as to good sources of information on line or otherwise.
Any help is much appreciated.

[sureitsza]

3/8/1968 Corby Town v Rangers 2-1 for team line-ups see p12 below
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2 ... page&hl=en

24/4/1983 Benburb v Rangers - Alistair Edmiston/Alistair Marshall
8/4/1990 Maryhill v Rangers - John Hamilton

[ScottishFA]

From the Cumbernauld Utd history, the game in May 1969 was:

Cumbernauld Utd 1, Rangers 7
Rangers: Neef, White, Cairns, Jardine, Jackson, Miller, Willoughby, McDonald, Laing, McPhee, Herron. Sub: Matchett
Att: 1,000

[BetterThanTheTelly]

Great stuff. Thanks.
Another testimonial I am looking for the benefactor of is
27/7/1996 Forres Mechanics v Rangers.
I believe his surname may have been McKay but I am not 100% sure.

Also I am looking for any information on matches played by the short lived Rangers third team of 1986-87 season.
I have found references to games v St Mirren, Clyde and Partick Thistle in July 1986 but no details whatsoever.
Not sure if some results have been contained within reserve fixtures that season but pretty sure the players used would have be integrated into the full reserve side by the end of the season.

Any help again would be much appreciated.

[Scottish]

At the moment I am in the early stages of putting together a database of all friendly matches played by Rangers below first team level, ostensively, because it isnt really recorded anywhere else. From my own records I reckon I have almost every result back to about 1980 and am now in the process of going further back.

Hi there and welcome to the forum. You will find most Rangers reserve line-ups from 1951 onwards in Evening Times match reports here. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2mus-XyGPC0C

[bluedragon]

3/8/1968 Corby Town v Rangers 2-1 for team line-ups see p12 below
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2 ... page&hl=en

At the time of this game Corby Town had just been relegated from the Southern League Premier Division (the top level of English non-league football at the time). Looking for a quick return back to the Premier Division Eric Caldow was appointed. I expect he was appointed almost as much for his connections as for his playing/coaching skills. It would have been a popular appointment - as was Rangers' arrival! - with the number of Scots working in the local steel industry. Harry Fallon (ex St Johnstone) is in goal and I think went on to manage the club. Bertie Black of Kilmarnock was playing and I assume was one of Eric Caldow's signings. It would be interesting to find the attendance. At this time there were regular pre-season games between Southern League clubs and Football League clubs' reserve teams. They only ever attracted normal attendances - perhaps a little higher - on the off-chance of seeing a "star" turning out. I suspect the attendance at Corby's ground would have been significantly higher!

[Rob R]

IIRC a few months on and Caldow applied for the vacant Raith Rovers job and when he came up to be interviewed his house in Corby was burgled and was pipped for the job by former teammate Jimmy Millar, he wasn't long in the Corby job after that but I don't know if he was sacked or resigned.

[bluedragon]

IIRC a few months on and Caldow applied for the vacant Raith Rovers job and when he came up to be interviewed his house in Corby was burgled and was pipped for the job by former teammate Jimmy Millar, he wasn't long in the Corby job after that but I don't know if he was sacked or resigned.

Corby Town finished 5th in the Southern League First Division in 1968/69 just outside the four automatic promotion places. But I don't know whether that "near miss" prompted Eric Caldow's departure and the terms underwhich he left. The Rangers friendly would have been played at their old ground (Occupation Road). Rangers also played a friendly on 7th November 2011 just after the opening of their new ground (Steel Park) and attracted 2,290 (the current ground record). The official capacity is 3,893 and the normal attendances are 600ish. Occupation Road would have had a much larger capacity in 1968. The matchday programme for the 2011 friendly had an article on Eric Caldow. BetterThantheTelly's research may mean he has a copy or access to the programme and could tell us if the article sheds any light? Out of pure curioristy I am trying to find the attendance of the 1968 game.