IT WAS the biggest shock in Scottish football history when Berwick Rangers knocked out Rangers in the Scottish Cup 50 years ago.

More than 98,000 people had crammed into Hampden Park in April 1966 to see Rangers defeat Celtic 1-0 in the final.

However, their reign as cup holders was brief, with Sammy Reid scoring the only goal on January 28, 1967, to send Berwick, featuring Gordon Haig, of Ormiston, and managed by Wallyford’s Jock Wallace, through to the second round.

Gordon, of Ormiston’s Moffat Road, reckons that the game at Shielfield Park is still the biggest shock in the history of the Scottish Cup, half a century on. He said: “I don’t think there is any question or any doubt [about that]. You only have to look at the papers over the weekend – to give it that coverage after 50 years, it will never happen with any other game.

“I think far and away you can make cases for other games, but we are talking about a Rangers team with nine internationals at that time. It is still the biggest shock 50 years on.”

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More than 13,000 people packed into the ground to see the two teams, with Rangers featuring stars such as Kai Johansen, John Greig, David Provan and Willie Henderson.

In contrast, the Wee Gers had to overcome Vale of Leithen and Forfar Athletic just to make the first round of the competition.

The father of two and grandfather of three told the Courier he could still remember the game well and said: “The first 20 minutes were pretty hectic and we were under a bit of pressure as you would expect.

“But we grew into the game and once we scored after about 30-35 minutes, from then on things got a bit frantic for Rangers players.

“They were getting a bit desperate the longer the game went on and the better we were playing.”

It is fair to say the Wee Gers were very much the outsiders going into the game.

Gordon, who went on to be manager at Dunbar United and Haddington Athletic, said: “Nobody gave us a chance but the gap was not as huge as what it is now.

“Having said that, Rangers were playing in the European Cup Winners’ Cup final not long after.

“That puts into perspective what sort of team they were, and they only lost to Bayern Munich 1-0 after extra time.”

Gordon, who worked for Hart Builders as a plant engineer, featured more than 250 times over the course of a decade with Berwick and was one of the former players who attended a 50th anniversary event in the town to celebrate the occasion last week.

He said: “We do keep in touch. I’m still on a high, still thinking about it, it was absolutely fantastic.”

Wallace, who also played in goal on the historic occasion, would progress far beyond Berwick Rangers.

He would soon move to Ibrox and lift three league titles, three Scottish Cups and four Scottish League Cups while in the managerial hot seat, over two spells, before spells at Leicester City, Motherwell, Sevilla and Colchester United.

Gordon, 72, added: “I think that game gave him a major, major boost. If he was here today, he would admit that it gave him a major boost.

“It was just a matter of time before he moved from Berwick.”