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3 players inducted into RFC Hall of Fame


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RANGERS have named Harold Davis, Stefan Klos and Sam English as the 2009 inductees into the club's Hall of Fame.

The trio have been recognised for the contributions they made in their spells at Ibrox as players and each man will be formally honoured at next year's celebration dinner.

At the event, they will join the 78 other men already listed on the Hall of Fame board which hangs above the Marble Staircase in the Bill Struth Main Stand.

A strong, hard right-half, Davis played a key role in the excellent Light Blues team of the early 1960s.

Along with the likes of Bobby Shearer, John Greig and Jimmy Millar, the Cupar-born player was a formidable opponent for those who came up against him.

A superb ball winner, he was rarely caught out of position and seldom lacked the pace he needed to make a difference.

Ex-Ger Sandy Jardine, speaking on behalf of the Hall of Fame panel, said: "Harry gave fantastic service to the club at a time when there were so many great players here.

"He played more than 300 games for Rangers and was really well liked at Ibrox, not just by the fans but by the players as well.

"Harry is a gentleman - you couldn't meet a nicer man and he later went on to be a coach here in the late 1960s and early 70s.

"To this day, he still has a huge love of the club and he thoroughly deserves his place in the Hall of Fame."

Klos was bought by then Rangers manager Dick Advocaat for just £700,000 in 1998 from Borussia Dortmund.

The transfer quickly turned out to be a good piece of business as the keeper went on to make himself a fixture in the team. Stefan Klos

A Champions League winner with the Westfalen side, the German also made over 300 appearances for Rangers during his time in Scotland.

Indeed, such was his good form that he minimised the impact of Andy Goram's departure from the club at the end of the previous season.

Jardine added: "Our reasons for picking Stefan are simple - he gave Rangers fantastic service and he was at the club for not much less than nine years.

"His stats will tell you how much of a contribution he made to the team and he did a great job.

"Post-war, Andy Goram aside, he is arguably the best goalkeeper we have had here at Rangers."

English was chosen because of the 44 league goals he scored for Rangers in the 1931/32 season. To this day, almost 80 years on, his haul remains a club record.

The Irish striker's career was overshadowed by his part in the incident which led to the death of Celtic goalkeeper John Thomson in September 1931.

As the Parkhead player dived for the ball, his head accidentally collided with English's knee and he died in hospital from head injuries a few hours later.

English did not stay at Ibrox for much longer as he was deeply traumatised by what had happened and he moved to Liverpool in 1933.

Had he not been involved in the tragic clash with Thomson, Jardine feels he could have gone on to become on of Gers' greatest ever forwards.

He said: "Unfortunately Sam did not play for the club for a long time. He only played 82 games and scored something like 71 goals.

"He is the record goalscorer in one season for Rangers and because of that, we've included him in the Hall of Fame.

"There's no doubt that if he hadn't been in the tragic accident with John Thomson, he would have stayed at Ibrox a lot longer.

"The unfortunate circumstances surrounding what happened led to his departure but we felt we had to recognise his achievement of scoring more goals than anyone in a season."

http://www.rangers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Ne...1544254,00.html

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Im delighted, if that's the right word for the family of the late Sam English who was treated horribly by the east-end scum over what was a most unfortunate accident and a tragedy for all involved. You can have a wee smile now Sam.

This is just a brief summary for younger bears who aren't aware of Sam English (I cant imagine there are many)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_English

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Great news!

How it took so long to induct English into the Hall Of Fame is a bit of a mystery. The guy still holds the record for most goals scored in a season. Perhaps it´s because he played for a very short time for Rangers, but most probably because of his involvement in the accident which lead to John Thomson´s tragic death. The man must have suffered a life long trauma because of what happened even though most people considered it an accident.

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