Robert Lowe McPhail (25 October 1905 – 24 August 2000) was a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as an inside-left for Airdrieonians, Rangers and the Scotland national team.

Career

Airdrieonians

Born on 25 October 1905, in

Barrhead Barrhead (, ) is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, southwest of Glasgow city centre on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. At the 2011 census its population was 17,268. History Barrhead was formed when a series of small textile-produ ...

, McPhail started his career at Glasgow Junior side

Pollok Pollok (, ) is a large housing estate on the south-western side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The estate was built either side of World War II to house families from the overcrowded inner city. Housing 30,000 at its peak, its population ha ...

. He signed for Airdrieonians in 1923, forming a potent partnership with

Hughie Gallacher Hugh Kilpatrick Gallacher (2 February 1903 – 11 June 1957) was a Scottish people, Scottish association football, football player in the 1920s and 1930s. In 597 senior club games, Gallacher scored 419 goals, playing league football for Airdri ...

Broomfield Park Broomfield Park was a association football, football stadium in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, home of Airdrieonians F.C. (1878), Airdrieonians from 1892 until it was closed after the 1993–94 in Scottish football, 1993–94 football season.It w ...

. They won the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

when McPhail was aged 18, beating Hibernian 2–0. McPhail said, "The terror-like attitude of Gallacher caused havoc with the Hibs defenders. He and Russell were easily our best forwards" (

Willie Russell William Fraser Russell (born 6 December 1901 in Falkirk, died 30 November 1944) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as an inside right. He scored both goals for Airdrieonians in the 1924 Scottish Cup Final. Playing career Airdri ...

scored both goals).Hughie Gallacher on Queens Legends
www.qosfc.com He later attested that the Airdrie team of that time were as good as any he played in subsequently.

Rangers

McPhail was signed by Rangers in 1927 for a then substantial fee of £5,000 and went on to become one of the most prolific strikers ever to play for the club, scoring 261 goals in 408 appearances. He made his first appearance on 13 August 1927 in a 3–2 win over

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Pittodrie Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, from which the surrounding residential area has taken its name, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Profess ...

. He netted his first goals on 3 September 1927, a double in a 5–1 win over

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

at Ibrox. Rangers won both the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...

title and the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

in the

1928 Scottish Cup Final The 1927–28 Scottish Cup was the 50th staging of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Rangers who defeated Celtic 4–0 in an Old Firm final; it was their first victory in the competition for 25 years � ...

. McPhail continued to be an important member of the Rangers team in what was a highly successful period for the club. During his 12 years at Ibrox, McPhail won nine League championships and six Scottish Cups – a joint record number of Scottish Cup wins (along with ''Gers'' teammate

Dougie Gray Douglas Herbert Gray (4 April 1905 – 1972) was a Scottish footballer who spent his entire senior career with Rangers and is the longest serving player in the Glasgow club's history. Career Club Born in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Gray joined ...

, and

Jimmy McMenemy James McMenamin (11 October 1880 – 23 June 1965), was a Scottish footballer who most notably played for Celtic from 1902 to 1920 and later served as assistant manager in the 1930s. He has been described by the club as ''"a true Celtic legend"' ...

and

Billy McNeill William McNeill (2 March 1940 – 22 April 2019) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He had a long association with Celtic F.C., Celtic, spanning more than sixty years as a player, m ...

of Celtic). He scored a total of 230 League goals in 354 league appearances for the club, a record which stood for over 50 years before being broken by

Ally McCoist Alistair Murdoch McCoist (; born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former association football, footballer who has since worked as a Manager (association football), manager and TV pundit. McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Jo ...

in 1997.

International

McPhail also had a successful Scotland career, winning 17

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and scoring seven goals, most notably a double in a 3–1 win over

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Hampden Hampden may refer to: Places Oceania * Hampden, New Zealand ** Hampden (New Zealand electorate) ** Murchison, New Zealand, known as Hampden until 1882 * Hampden, Queensland * Hampden, South Australia * County of Hampden, Victoria, Australia * Shir ...

on 17 April 1937 in front of a Hampden record crowd of 149,415. He also represented the

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

six times (five goals) over the course of a decade while playing for both Airdrieonians and Rangers.

Later life and death

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, McPhail was persuaded by his older brother

Malcolm Malcolm, Malcom, Máel Coluim, or Maol Choluim may refer to: People * Malcolm (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Malcom (footballer) (born 1997), Brazilian football forward * Clan Malcolm * Maol Choluim de Innerp ...

(also formerly a footballer, who played mainly for

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

)Possilpark to Ibrox (Bob McPhail at Love Street)
Donald Caskie, eBook Partnership, 2014; to come out of retirement to play for St Mirren in unofficial wartime competitions, playing alongside future Rangers player

Jimmy Caskie James Caskie (30 January 1914 – 19 May 1977) was a Scottish footballer, who played for St Johnstone, Everton, St Mirren (wartime guest),Weir Group The Weir Group plc is a Scottish multinational engineering company headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was established in 1871 as an eng ...

and operated the Rangers reserve team during the conflict, after which he ran an electrical business. McPhail died on 24 August 2000, aged 94. He was the last surviving member of the Rangers team of the late 1920s / early 1930s.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.''

References

External links

*
International stats
at Londonhearts.com
Rangers Hall of Fame profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcphail, Bob 1905 births 2000 deaths Footballers from Barrhead Scottish men's footballers Men's association football inside forwards Pollok F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players Rangers F.C. players Rangers F.C. non-playing staff Scottish football coaches Scotland men's international footballers Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees St Mirren F.C. wartime guest players 20th-century Scottish sportsmen