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

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 le ...

, who played for

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

, Rangers and represented

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Career

Airdrieonians

Born in

Barrhead Barrhead ( sco, Baurheid, gd, Ceann a' Bharra) 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 ...

, McPhail started his career at Glasgow

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

side

Pollok Pollok ( gd, Pollag, lit=a pool, sco, Powk) 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 30,0 ...

. He signed for

in 1923, forming a potent partnership with

Hughie Gallacher Hugh Kilpatrick Gallacher (2 February 1903 – 11 June 1957) was a Scottish football player in the 1920s and 1930s. In 624 senior games, Gallacher scored 463 goals, playing senior league football for Airdrieonians, Newcastle United, Chelsea, ...

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. Aird ...

. 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– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

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) 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 Airdrieonians He formed part ...

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 (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Pittodrie Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) club Aberdeen F.C. since they wer ...

. 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 which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

at Ibrox. Rangers won both the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a 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 km south ...

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 Fo ...

in the 1928 Scottish Cup Final. McPhail continued to be an important member of 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 football player and manager. He had a long association with Celtic, spanning more than sixty years as a player, manager and club ambassador. McNeill captained Celtic's 'Lisbon Lio ...

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 footballer who has since worked as a manager and TV pundit. McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Johnstone before moving to English side Sunderland i ...

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 7 goals, most notably a double in a 3–1 win over

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at Hampden 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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, 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 * Clan Malcolm * Maol Choluim de Innerpeffray, 14th-century bishop-elect of Dunkeld Nobility * Máe ...

(also formerly a footballer, who played mainly for

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

)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. He also worked at

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 e ...

and operated the Rangers reserve team during the conflict, after which he ran an electrical business. McPhail died on 24 August 2000. 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 People from Barrhead Scottish 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 Association football coaches Scotland men's international footballers Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from East Renfrewshire St Mirren F.C. wartime guest players