In remembrance to Bill Struth who passed away 55 years ago today

Bill Struth was the second manager of Rangers Football Club, leading the Club for 34 years between 1920 and 1954, as well as the holder of a number of other positions, including director. Struth is one of the most successful managers in Scottish football history, amassing 18 league championships, 10 Scottish Cup, 2 League Cups, 7 war-time championships, 19 Glasgow Cups, 17 Glasgow Merchant Charity Cups and a host of other war-time honours.

Born in Edinburgh, Struth was a stonemason by trade, although he was also a professional athlete. He had been a trainer at Clyde and Hearts before coming to Rangers in 1914 to take up the position of assistant manager. At the age of 45, in 1920, he took over as manager whilst on holiday with the incumbent, William Wilton, who died in a boating accident, while they were on holiday together, off Gourock.

He went on to win the league title 18 times as manager, including the remarkable feat of winning 14 titles in 19 years before the Second World War. This included winning five titles in a row between 1927 and 1931. Struth's tenure as manager spanned the club's first league and cup double in 1928, when Rangers famously lifted the Scottish Cup and ended a 25 year 'hoodoo', and its first treble in 1949, Struth becoming the first Scottish manager to achieve this honour.

Struth was renowned as a disciplinarian, insisting that the team wore a collar and tie when turning up for training; bowler hats were obligatory for Rangers players. He didn't like his players drinking, smoking was frowned upon and they weren't allowed to swear. Each season, the players today are given a rule book before the league campaign starts and the very first rule is of Bill Struth outlining the traditions of the club. His motto was 'only the best for Rangers.'

William Struth had never played football before and actually trained to become a runner. Every Ranger knew who the boss was and if you watch footage of the 20's and 30' you will notice how every player had their shirt tucked in and socks pulled up. There is also a story that Struth would watch the players turn up to training from his flat in Copland Road and if they weren't wearing their bowler hat or had their hands in their pocket, he'd phone the ground and they would be ordered to walk back with their arms by their side and hat on their head.

Despite the strict discipline, Mr. Struth insisted his players ate in the best restaurants, stayed in the best hotels and traveled first class to every game. Bill Struth believed this would make the players think they were inferior to no one. After each home game, he would play the piano (which is still in the Blue Room today) and it wasn't uncommon for him to change three times a day. When Torry Gillick was in a serious relationship with his girlfriend, Alison Muir reported this back to the great man and he told Torry to pick out the best ring he could find and Struth would take the payments off his wages each week.

Celtic manager Willie Malley was said to have wondered how a man who had absolutely nothing to do with football early in his life achieved so much success. This led to Malley making accusations of bias towards the match officials in favour of Rangers. Of course, refereeing bias had nothing to do with it; Struth was simply the better manager. He knew how to spot a player and when his time was up. He brought in players who had their best days ahead of them and sold on the ones who were on the downward spiral no matter the name or reputation. Struth's record against Malley is;


League Championships: Struth 14, Malley 4.
Scottish Cups: Struth 6, Malley 6.
Glasgow Cups: Struth 11, Malley 6
Glasgow Charity Cups: Struth 11, Malley 6
Head-to-head record: Struth; 20, Malley; 6
Winning percentage: Struth 54.39%, Malley 24.56%

The stats show Bill Struth wins hands down and is quite possibly, one of the greatest managers of all time for all he has achieved in the sport.

In 1947, Struth became a Rangers director and was then appointed vice-chairman after retiring in 1954. In 1952, he got gangrene in his toe and had part of a leg amputated as a result. Within hours of his leg coming off, he was already thinking about getting a boot made for his prosthetic leg! Towards the end of his life, he moved out his home in Copland Road because getting up the two blocks of stairs became more difficult.

Soon before his death he went up to Aberdeen for a wee break but after coming back he got pneumonia. He died on 21 September 1956, aged 81, and he is buried in Craigton Cemetery, overlooking his beloved Ibrox. His death was announced on the eve of an Old Firm game and a minutes silence was to be held. Such was the respect held for him that the silence was impeccably observed by the Celtic fans also. His coffin was carried by six former players, a fitting tribute to the man who'd brought joy to many.

In 2005, Rangers' chairman Sir David Murray unveiled a bronze bust of Bill Struth, located in the Main Stand at Ibrox, now known as the "Bill Struth Main Stand" in honour of his contribution to Rangers Football Club. This was unveiled at the preseason friendly with Borussia Monchengladbach and quite a number of invited guests gathered on the marble staircase to witness the monument of Mister Rangers.

The bronze bust was a long process and was sculpted by a lifelong Rangers fan. This took several weeks before it was sent up north to undergo a process that would take close to two months. It eventually turned out perfect and is situated on the marble staircase as soon as you walk in the door. Every person that walks through those doors will realise just who Bill Struth was.

Famous Quotes

"I have been lucky — lucky in those who were around me from the boardroom to the dressing-room. In time of stress, their unstinted support, unbroken devotion to our club and calmness in adversity eased the task of making Rangers FC the premier club in this country."

"To be a Ranger is to sense the sacred trust of upholding all that such a name means in this shrine of football. They must be true in their conception of what the Ibrox tradition seeks from them. No true Ranger has ever failed in the tradition set him."

"Our very success, gained you will agree by skill, will draw more people than ever to see it. And that will benefit many more clubs than Rangers. Let the others come after us. We welcome the chase. It is healthy for us. We will never hide from it. Never fear, inevitably we shall have our years of failure, and when they arrive, we must reveal tolerance and sanity. No matter the days of anxiety that come our way, we shall emerge stronger because of the trials to be overcome. That has been the philosophy of the Rangers since the days of the gallant pioneers."

Bill Struth Facts

- Bill Struth was not a footballer as such – born in Milnathort, Kinross-shire in 1875 he learned his trade as a stonemason whilst excelling at athletics as a professional middle-distance runner. It was a hard life, and he no doubt welcomed the approach by Hearts to take up the post of Trainer at Tynecastle. He had lived much of his early days close to the Gorgie ground – yet his time there was brief, answering a call from Clyde to move to Shawfield in 1907.

- He arrived at Ibrox in 1914, and would serve the club as Trainer, Manager and Director for fully 42 years. His 34-year reign as Manager from 1920-54 is a club record that will surely never be equalled.

- Struth made an immediate impact at Ibrox, working closely with Manager William Wilton but within three months of taking up the cudgels down Govan way the world was turned on its’ axis with the outbreak of the Great War. Both Struth and Wilton threw themselves into the war effort, aiding the wounded at the nearby Bellahouston Hospital. Struth would develop his skills in Physiotherapy during the war, and when peace was declared in 1919 the return to normality saw Rangers secure the League Championship in 1919-20.

- Bill Struth always had an eye for a player. His first signing as Ibrox Manager was the legendary Alan Lauder Morton from Queen’s Park. It was one of the most important transfers in the club’s history.

- He lived in a flat overlooking his beloved stadium at 193 Copland Road.

- The traditional Ne’erday derby clash with Celtic was always one of the major fixtures in the calendar. Struth lost his first one as Manager in 1921, 0-2 at Ibrox – he would never again lose another one at home throughout his Ibrox reign, excluding the war years.

- Something of a ‘Beau Brummel, the Ibrox Manager had a fully-stocked wardrobe in his office with a row of suits stacked along the rail. He would frequently wear more than one in the course of a single day

- During World War Two, as Bill Struth and his secretary worked late into the evening inside the Stadium, they were interrupted by the arrival of two Canadian servicemen who were stationed nearby at Bellahouston Army Camp. The Ibrox Boss gave them a conducted tour of the ground. It was mid-1944, and they were about to go on active service with their regiment overseas. Struth invited them to return to Ibrox when the conflict had ended, but sadly they never would. It is believed they perished on D-Day at Omaha Beach.

- Struth once performed an emergency dressing-room operation on a player’s soft corn using a sterilised penknife.

- Two of his ‘boys’ went on to follow in his footsteps as Ibrox Manager – Scot Symon and Willie Waddell.

- Such was the esteem and respect in which Struth was held that when his death was announced on the eve of an ‘Old Firm’ game at Celtic Park the one-minute silence was immaculately observed.

- At Bill Struth’s funeral, his coffin was borne by six of his former players.

R.I.P. Bill Struth

 

Bigot.

 

RIP big lad

 

Boring football ****e ... get it off GC theres a hun board for hun related ****

 

Never heard of him

 

You missed out 1939 - 1945.

 

I blame ML. He encourages it.

 

Get this ****ing ****e off GC.

And ban this hun ****.

 

struth = hun ****

 

struth looks like stanley baxter

 

As for some of the other nasty comments, show some respect.

 

**** you and **** your bigot coward idol.

 

please log in to view this image

 

Struth = bigot.

 

**** up medro you boring **** ... did you show respect to the 10 brave men ?

 

Ehhhh, what?

 

R.I.P Bill Struth.

 

I respect the dead Medro, but I'm starting to think about why you decided to post this on GC.

<fishingmuch>

 

Selective mem......

sorry bore even trying to reply to you is putting me to slee...........

 

Bill Struth - Legend.

Well played Medro