Reviewed by David Herd
As a Rangers fan of over 50 years, it’s been a privilege to watch some wonderful goalkeepers represent my club in these past few decades. Author Alistair Aird has obviously been another fan who has marvelled at some of the goalkeeping he has seen from Ibrox custodians, and he decided to write the ultimate tribute to all those who have kept goal for Scotland’s most successful football club.
This book is a testament not just to the men who have been last line of defence for the club, it is also an incredibly detailed labour of love, which must be the result of countless hours of research. Aird has decided not just to write about the most famous and successful goalkeepers, which is a book in itself. He has taken on the mighty task of documenting every player in the club’s 151+ year history who kept goal, even if their appearances weren’t in what are regarded as official competitive matches. That means we have a book of over 350 pages, a significant read when compared to most football publications, and it needs all of its significant size to do justice to a century and half of club history.
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In Safe Hands can really be split into 4 distinct parts. The first 99 pages are a whirlwind tour of 1872 to 1970, a mass of goalkeeping names and goalkeeping numbers. Every goalkeeper gets mentioned, even those with just 1 appearance to their name. There are famous and not-so-famous Rangers goalkeepers, some who played in iconic teams and legendary occasions, and others who were a mere footnote, sometimes only appearing in friendlies or benefit matches. To those who love facts and figures, these first few chapters are a treasure trove of numbers, with appearances, numbers of clean sheets, and numbers of goals conceded all packed in amongst the tales of cup finals, title wins and landmark occasions. Many goalkeepers also have their careers away from Rangers recounted.
There are longer sections within it devoted to the various goalkeeping giants of those first 100 years, men like George Gillespie, David Haddow, Matthew Dickie, Willie Robb, Tom Hamilton, Jerry Dawson, Bobby Brown, George Niven and Billy Ritchie. But one of the great attractions of this first section is the time given to tell the stories of players who only briefly made their mark on Rangers history. What other book has told readers of John Miller, who kept goal in just one match in 1919, or of Willie Chalmers, goalkeeper in the club’s record defeat against Airdrie in the 1880s.
To this history buff, this first section is a mine of information. To those looking for more of a light read, it does have a lot of numbers on just about every page, so it might be a little bit dry. But I’ve always subscribed to the view that as much of our club’s history should be shared and celebrated as possible, and this is the first publication I’ve found that shares all this fascinating information. It also tells of the surprisingly large number of players in the early years of the club who played both in goal and outfield (not just to replace an injured goalkeeper during a match). These included Scot Symon, something I never knew.
The second chunk of the book is a much longer and more detailed look at our goalkeepers since 1970, and within these 230 pages there are interviews and quotes from a number of goalkeepers. Men like Peter McCloy, Jim Stewart, Nicky Walker, Chris Woods, Billy Thomson, Andy Dibble, Lionel Charbonnier, Roy Carroll, Graeme Smith, Neil Alexander, Cammy Bell and Robbie McCrorie all speak to the author about their goalkeeping careers, their highlights, and what it meant to be an Ibrox goalkeeper. Getting so many former players to give their recollections is a massive part of the overall book, and the lasting impression the club left on all the former players is heartwarming proof of how special an institution Rangers FC is and always will be. The one goalkeeping great of the period who isn’t interviewed is Stefan Klos, but this doesn’t prevent him getting the attention and the accolades that his career deserves.
Within this section there are 2 goalkeepers given the highest status of all, and who get a chapter to themselves. One is “The Goalie” himself, the late and truly great Andy Goram. His untimely passing meant he was unable to take part in the book, but the author has done his status as The Greatest Rangers Goalkeeper justice by speaking to former teammates Ally McCoist, Richard Gough and Scott Nisbet, as well as getting quotes from Sir David Murray. There’s a poignant short chapter featuring a great friend of The Goalie, who pays tribute to man away from the football pitch as well.
The second goalkeeper to be given exalted status is Allan McGregor, and he is interviewed extensively in the later stages of the book. It was written before the end of last season when it hadn’t yet been confirmed Greegsy was leaving the club, but reading how highly all the other goalkeepers of the past 20 years have spoken of him, and reading his incredible stats, it’s little wonder the recently retired veteran is spoken of in the same way as Goram.
The other 2 parts to the book feature at the very beginning and the very end. First, there is a foreword written by Michael Beale and a closing interview with goalkeeping coach Colin Stewart, which gives an insight into the current Ibrox regime and their priorities and approach to recruiting and training goalkeepers.
Finally, there are some more statistics to round things off, with tables on appearances, shutouts and goals conceded across the major tournaments and others the club has contested. Fair to say that the much-maligned Peter McCloy features prominently and certainly makes me think about whether I personally am overly critical.
Overall, In Safe Hands has covered a subject that I don’t remember any previous Rangers book in the past tried to do. It is an excellent tribute to the recent goalkeeping giants of the club, and contains many great anecdotes and stories from the players themselves. It also is a great reference book for the earlier years of the club, any question on Rangers goalkeepers has its answer in these pages somewhere. If I was being picky, there are a tiny number of small typos and errors in there, but in a book with so many numbers, dates, and stories, it gets the overwhelming majority spot on. But, the stats and figures aren’t the takeaway, they are just the background. The main story in here is the sheer number of individual stories that it tells, from the great to the instantly forgettable. And the one overarching fact that all these different individuals share. They have a place in Rangers history forever in the most unique position on the pitch.
Well done to Alistair Aird for fitting over 150 years and so many individual stories into one enjoyable book.
THE BOOK CAN BE PURCHASED HERE – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Safe-Hands-Rangers-Goalkeeping-Greats/dp/180150458X
