| The Bonus | ||
| January 28th 1967, Berwick Rangers 1 Glasgow Rangers 0 | ||
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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.
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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.