IT was 1945 and a historic match was to be played in Glasgow – the mighty Rangers versus ace Russian side Moscow Dynamo.
Around 90,000 fans turned up for the game, queueing for three hours before kick-off. Tickets exchanged hands on the black market at way over the face value of 21 shillings, with some selling for as much as £10.
It was the last match in the Russians’ short British tour and they arrived in Glasgow undefeated, having drawn 3-3 with Chelsea, thumped Cardiff 10-1, and triumphed 4-3 over Arsenal in a very strange match played in thick fog.
The night before the match, the Russian squad spent the evening at La Scala cinema watching a Donald Duck and Sonja Henie double header.
The crowd were treated to an elaborate warm up routine by the Russians, and Rangers’ iron-man captain Jock Shaw was presented with a bouquet of flowers which caused a few sniggers in the crowd. With Dynamo in dark blue Rangers wore thin blue and white hoops, much to the fans’ surprise. The final score was 2-2.
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