In a sorry episode in 1967 which shamed the club, the player was effectively sacked after a shock Scottish Cup defeat, and instead of forgiving the jewel in its midst for having a bad day at the office, Rangers did something quite inexcusable: it blamed two players for that landmark Berwick reverse and Jim Forrest and George McLean never turned out for Rangers again.This happened in the season that Celtic swept the boards in Scotland, and the only club that could have stopped them behaved with an uncharacteristic malice and shot itself in the foot.
History would suggest that Rangers paid a hefty price for losing both its cool and its dignity.Of course, it's impossible to know what fate would have delivered if Jim Forrest and George McLean had remained at the club, but we do know that they were missed, and when Rangers made it to a European final in West Germany, the team lined up with a half-back as its main striker and was narrowly defeated after failing to score in a two-hour contest.The dismissal of a player who scored 145 times in 163 appearances for Rangers was an act of extraordinary foolishness. In 1964/65, Forrest claimed 57 goals in a single season for the club and this feat has never been matched - and will probably never be beaten.In that January day in the sixties, against Berwick Rangers, Forrest drew a blank, and this turned out to be a key moment, both in the history of Rangers, and in the career of the player.
The resultant parting of the ways was bad for both parties, and it is a commonly-held view that this was a needless, costly and damaging episode, and that it should never have happened.Jim Forrest is 67 now, and I believe he still supports the club that treated him so disgracefully, but I don't want him included in the Hall of Fame because it would right a dreadful wrong - and I'm not asking for him to be included because of what might have been.Jim Forrest should be in the Hall of Fame for one very important reason: in his time as a Ranger he earned the right to be officially remembered.
He created a record which still stands today and his strike ratio is respectably close to a goal a game.It's not too late to conclude a regrettable episode by making an award that would surely have happened already if only the club hadn't tried to find a scapegoat for the biggest Scottish Cup upset in history.I hope I speak for Rangers fans who were fortunate to see him play, and who would be delighted to see him honoured in this way - officially - by the club.There's an empty plinth in the Rangers Hall of Fame - and the image of Jim Forrest should be on it.
Source: FOOTYMAD
