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Hawick Rangers Supporters Club

Hawick RSC: The Story so Far...

Rangers first European final in the inaugural Cup Winners Cup competition (1960/1) preceded Hawick Rangers Supporters Clubs beginnings by some four months. Todays supporters clubs are descendants of the original horse-drawn brakes, which were used to transport groups of supporters to and from their clubs fixtures.

On Thursday 7th September 1961, thirty-five people attended an introductory meeting in the local Library Hall to assess the demand for a Rangers Supporters Club in Hawick. Thereafter, administrative and monetary assistance with the Hawick Clubs establishment was kindly provided by St Giles Rangers Supporters Club from Edinburgh. Three people are worthy of special mention here: Jimmy Calder, Jimmy Bell and Alex White.

Although the Clubs institution should have come first, it didnt One of Bert Nichols buses had been booked to ferry the protagonists and company to their first game as a Club. The game against Celtic at Ibrox on Saturday 16th September 1961 finished two each with Jim Baxter scoring an equaliser from 25 yards two minutes before full-time.

Election of officials was held a day later in the Linden Clubrooms. At this meeting, a nine-man committee was elected. Elected personnel were: Henry Spreng (President), Andrew McFarlane (Vice President), Bill McDonald (Secretary), Wullie Cumming (Treasurer), John Dickson (Bus Convenor), Johnny Wright, Hugh Colville, George Willison and Ian Gibson.

Remarkably, Henry Sprengs tenure as President has kept pace with the Clubs existence although he now sits as Honorary President. Indeed, the longevity of Hawick Rangers Supporters Club owes a debt to Henrys stature within the local community.

When required, the Club always hired their coaches from Bert Nichol. This arrangement continued until Saturday 18th August 1979. Disagreement over who was to make good damage done to a coach window (perpetrated by stone-throwing Celtic Neanderthals from a foot-bridge over the M8 motorway on the outskirts of Glasgow as we headed home from an Old Firm fixture at Ibrox) soured an eighteen-year-old business relationship.

A home fixture against Dundee on Armistice Day in 1961 is fondly remembered by some of our older supporters. With Dundee playing outstanding football, a large crowd was expected at this game. On the day of the match, thick fog in Glasgow made the prospect of spectating doubtful and the rumour factory swung into action. Word on the street effectively had the fixture postponed and so once the Ibrox-bound Hawick bus ran into arm-waving punters in Glasgow, the outward journey was curtailed. Instead, they attended Motherwell against Hibernian at Fir Park. Until the PA system relayed half-time scores from elsewhere to the crowd, the interlopers from Hawick were oblivious to happenings at Ibrox. Rangers versus Dundee had gone ahead as scheduled and although the score was goalless at half-time, Rangers were comprehensively beaten 5-1 by the eventual champions that season. Coincidentally, a 5-1 win was recorded by the home team at Fir Park.

Over their first three seasons, Hawick RSC ran buses to 101 fixtures. Besides membership fees, funds were derived from small lotteries such as Scouts double, specifically aimed at reducing the cost of travel arrangements for members. In October 1961, ten shillings (or 50p) paid for a full members coach journey to Glasgow, while juveniles were required to shell out five shillings each to join them. As the Sixties wore on, the pattern of attendance at certain fixtures developed. When only a few supporters wanted to go, appropriate means of transport would be sought: cars and trains were used more often than previously.

By the time 1970 arrived, the railway no longer featured among our travel options (passenger services between Carlisle and Edinburgh via Hawick were axed on Monday 6th January 1969) and Rangers supporters had gone three years and eight months without seeing their side win a major trophy. In that time, the person in charge of team management had changed twice and the playing-kit was transformed to accommodate red stockings with white tops. (The traditional black stockings with red tops re-appeared at the beginning of season 1973/4, but changes to the Rangers playing-kit were thankfully rare pre-1978 in comparison with todays merchandise-conscious merry-go-round). Closer to home, short-time working in the knitwear industry had seriously affected sales of Scouts double tickets. Sadly, what had been a modest but steady source of income to Club funds stopped at the end of season 1966/7. Some months later, the Clubs identity was reinforced by the introduction of a shield first seen on our coaches during season 1967/8.

Sixteen-year-old Derek Johnstone finally brought Rangers trophy drought to a halt with a wonderfully executed goal in the Scottish League Cup Final on Saturday 24th October 1970. Later that season, the most regrettable yet significant occurrence struck on Saturday 2nd January 1971. Sixty-six spectators perished on stairway 13 at Ibrox Stadium as they departed after the final whistle had blown to conclude a drawn Old Firm league fixture. Subsequently, ordinary supporters busied themselves by raising funds for bereaved relatives. Hawick RSC ran a raffle with knitwear groceries as prizes and raised £179 for the Ibrox Disaster Fund. In January 2001, a wreath to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of those killed was laid at Ibrox on behalf of the Club by Tam Smith.

Rangers pursuit of European Glory brought them to their third Cup Winners Cup Final on Wednesday 24th May 1972. Moscow Dynamo stood between them and the silverware in Barcelona. It was third time lucky as Rangers emerged victorious and the rest, as they say, is history. Well, not quite! The Hawick contingent who follow, followed included some thoroughbred wags: Billy Corbett, Dougie Walker, Stuart Crawford, Alistair Mole Moffat, Les Kennedy, Scott Butler, Andrew Colville, Blair Young, Wullie Wilson (Snr), Kenny McMillan, John Scott, Michael Page and Jimmy Murray. During a memorable week in Catalonia, Mole got into the spirit of things with a wee siesta on the beach: Trouble was, it not only made him sore, but left him looking like a can of Red Stripe. On the night of the game, Billy Corbett managed to excavate the penalty spot nearest the goal towards which Rangers were playing in the second half. This precious piece of turf was relocated underneath a tree situated outside Billys former home in Silverbuthall Road.

Hawick Rangers Supporters Club strode on through the Seventies much as it had during the mid to late Sixties. One significant difference though, was that the members now had some successes to celebrate. A Scottish Cup win in 73 then a long-awaited championship triumph in 75 and two trebles within the next three seasons kept us all happy.

Between August 1979 and February 1993, the Hawick Club held on to its registration at Ibrox despite the absence of regular meetings and bus hire. The Club refused to lie down and credit for this must go to Jim Domingo, whose dogged persistence when secretary certainly kept the ship from sinking. Since the Clubs inception, regular meetings had been held in a variety of venues including premises used by Hawick Cycling Club, Hawick Body-Building Club and Hawick British Legion Football Club. Now, only the Clubs annual domino tournament remained on an otherwise bleak horizon. During this period, hardcore supporters continued to travel by car, home and away. David Lauder, Ian Marchbanks, John Farries, Stephen McCallum and Graham Bell were there when it mattered most. Simultaneously, young groups of supporters began to emerge and they chose to travel by hiring vans and taxis. Eventually their paths would merge and play a significant part in the Hawick Clubs revival.

The introduction of the Criminal Justice Act in February 1981 ensured well-run supporters clubs were discouraged from allowing their members to consume copious amounts of alcohol before and after football fixtures. It became an offence to be in possession of alcohol whilst in a ground or on board a coach travelling to and from a game. Violent crowd scenes after the 1980 Scottish Cup Final had convinced the authorities to act. Rangers strongly supported the new legislation and forged ahead with the re-construction of Ibrox. En route to becoming todays all-seated stadium, the bulk of re-construction work was completed by December 1981.

Five years later, the so-called Souness revolution was underway. Jim Domingo would certainly have noticed an upsurge in supporter activity, but local privately-owned coach contractors remained, for one reason or another, unobtainable.

Outside the auspices of the Club, things were stirring. Colin Knight single-handedly organised transport and tickets for some seventy Rangers supporters from the locality to attend the Skol Cup Final on Sunday 26th October1986. The day was unforgettable. A double-decker bus festooned with flags, scarves and banners struggled up the northbound A7 gradient at a snails pace. Somehow, we arrived at Hampden with time to spare, but man, what a day! And God Bless Davie Cooper!

A succession of great days out watching Rangers were to follow, but the complete and long-awaited revival of Hawick Rangers Supporters Club had to wait until February 1993. An advert appeared in the local press and the Club found accommodating hosts in Brian and Lorraine Cureton at Trinity Bar. The Club remained happily ensconced there for eleven years, holding weekly meetings and staging occasional functions (annual domino tournaments, blue days, etc.) for members, past-members and their friends. During this era, various bus and hire companies were utilised to transport a hardy band of regular supporters to and from fixtures as Rangers won no less than nineteen domestic honours (8 League Championships, 6 Scottish Cups and 5 League Cups).

To celebrate the Clubs 40th anniversary, a dinner was held at Hawick Sports and Social Club on Saturday 1st September 2001. Among the guests attending were Eric Caldow (representing Rangers FC), Robert McElroy (Editor of The Rangers Historian) and Comedian, Gary Denis. This event attracted over 170 supporters and was considered an overwhelming success.

Another function which has now become a much anticipated event on the calendars of local Rangers supporters is our annual dance. Attended and enjoyed by over 140 patrons, this event began in 1999 with its successful continuation mostly due to the persistent hard work of Wullie Torrie and David Lyall.

As season 2003/4 reached February, a strong proposal forwarded by some of the Clubs more active members to relocate our residency to Hawick Sports and Social Club had to be negotiated. This motion had followed increasing disquiet among our membership over the suitability of Trinity Bar to continue hosting Club functions, etc. After some soul searching and a few lengthy discussions, the committee decided to resolve this issue by democratically engaging the opinions of all Club members aged 16 years or over. Results from the consultation process with members were as follows:

Despite being issued with SAEs, 15 members wasted £3 postage by not responding at all; 29.41%

Reflecting on members wishes, the committee decided to relocate Hawick RSCs activities to Hawick Sports and Social Club commencing with an Annual General Meeting on Sunday 23rd May 2004. The Club thanked Brian, Lorraine and their staff at Trinity Bar for having been such good hosts during its eleven-year residency there and encouraged members to maintain a good relationship with them beyond relocation.

Hawick Sports and Social Club with its more spacious and varied facilities, it had been decided, offered greater flexibility with regard to planning future Hawick RSC events. Indeed, a lounge bar facility was immediately made available (though not exclusively) for Club meetings, etc. New flooring was soon installed preceded by the application of some fresh paintwork before The Blue Room officially opened on Saturday 9th October 2004 with a Blue Night. Also, but unwittingly, a connection with the Clubs beginnings had been re-established by the decision to move: Proprietor and licensee of Hawick Sports and Social Club, Wullie MacFarlane is son of the late Andrew MacFarlane, who was elected to Hawick RSCs first committee as Vice-President.

Since the late, great Jim Baxter scored that equaliser in 1961, huge changes have completely transformed the world of association football as a spectator sport. Indisputably, televisions increased transmissions broadcasting live football, particularly post-1990, have affected the lives of many active supporters. Unforeseen alterations to kick-off schedules and regular hikes in admission prices are constant bones of contention with supporters contemplating match-day travel arrangements. Consider the following:

Going to watch The Rangers play nowadays cannot be described as an inexpensive pastime; yet, despite the economic situation prevalent in this area of the Borders, Hawick RSC endeavours to provide an affordable opportunity for blue-nosed locals wishing to attend fixtures (Old Firm games excluded) at Ibrox. Hawick RSC recognises the difficulties faced by many locals, who for one reason or another, are unable to attend Rangers fixtures.

The Club had barely settled into its new surroundings in 2004 before Setantas £35 million four-year contract with the Scottish Premier League hit the road running. Setanta had secured the rights to exclusively screen live SPL football. Consequently, after discussions with Hawick Sports and Social Club, the Club arranged for all Setanta live transmissions of Rangers fixtures to be shown on a big screen. This arrangement is, in fact, ongoing. Therefore, we appeal to all Rangers supporters not follow, following to come along and join us as we cheer The Teddy Bears on before, during and after the match at Hawick Sports and Social Club !!

                             FOREVER AND EVER…….COME ON THE RANGERS!!

                                                        Johnny Bluet.

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