Morton Alan Image 8 Queens Park 1920

Description

Jordanhill, Glasgow born winger Alan Morton played some 500 games for Rangers and scored over 100 goals and is best known for his incredible wing play in the famous Scotland “Wembley Wizards” victory over England in April 1928. Alex Jackson scored a hat-rick in Scotland’s 5-1 demolition and all three were from Morton’s crosses. Ivan Sharpe, the ex-player and football journalist, commented on the victory: “England were not merely beaten. They were bewildered – run to a standstill, made to appear utterly inferior by a team whose play was as cultured and beautiful as I ever expect to see.”

He started with famous Glasgow amateur club Queens Park in 1913, scoring on his Scottish League debut in a 2-2 draw against Third Lanark that November, scoring 46 goals in 225 appearances for The Spiders, before moving to Rangers in the 1920 close season and turning professional. He won everything with Rangers over the next 13 years, including 9 Scottish League Championships and the 1930 Scottish Cup (he was a runner up in 1921, 1922 and 1929), before playing his final game in January 1933. “The Wee Blue Devil”, as he was nicknamed, scored 105 goals in 440 appearances for Rangers before his retirement from playing in 1933. Truly one of Rangers’ and Scotland’s all time greats, inscrutable, he never smiled for the camera!! Today a portrait of Morton in his Scottish strip stands at the top of the marble staircase at Ibrox’s Main Stand such is his enduring stature at the club.

He won an incredible 31 caps for Scotland between February 1920, when he was first capped in a 1-1 draw with Wales at Ninian Park, Cardiff, and May 1932 when he played against France in Colombes, in an era when the number of internationals was far fewer than today. He scored 5 goals for his country in those internationals. He also represented The Scottish League on 15 occasions between February 1919 and November 1931, scoring once and he made three Scotland Victory International appearances.

Morton’s dress was as precise and inscrutable as his play. He was a familiar figure strolling down Paisley Road West towards training at Ibrox sporting, as befitted a professional man of the time, bowler hat and umbrella, which caused locals to dub him “The Wee Society Man” (insurance salesman). After retiring Morton’s impact was felt as an administrator, becoming a powerful figure within Scottish sport. He was appointed to the Rangers board and he remained there until the year of his death in 1971.