William Struth (16 June 1875 – 21 September 1956) was a Scottish football manager. He was the second manager of

Rangers Football Club Rangers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the Govan district of Glasgow which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Although not its official name, it is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fou ...

, leading the club for 34 years between 1920 and 1954, as well as being the holder of a number of other positions, including director. Struth is one of the most successful managers in Scottish and British football history, winning 30 major trophies in his career; a record 18

Scottish league championships 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 sout ...

, 10

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existe ...

Career

Struth was born in Leith, Edinburgh, the eldest child of William Struth senior, a stonemason, and Isabella Cunningham. He grew up in Edinburgh and

Milnathort Milnathort is a small town in the parish of Orwell in the county of Kinross-shire, Scotland and since 1996, the local council area of Perth and Kinross. The smaller neighbour of nearby Kinross, Milnathort has a population of around 2,000 peopl ...

(his father's birthplace) in Kinross-shire and worked as a stonemason, but he also competed as a professional

runner Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

until he was in his 30s.Bill Struth - A Rangers Legend
Robert McElroy, Gersnet In the early 1900s he began helping to train the players at his local football club, Heart of Midlothian, and in 1908 he moved to Glasgow to become the trainer at Clyde. For three seasons at

Shawfield Shawfield is an industrial/commercial area of the Royal Burgh of Rutherglen in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located to the north of the town centre. It is bordered to the east by the River Clyde, to the north by the Glasgow neighbourhood of Oa ...

he worked alongside Alex Maley, brother of the

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 Foo ...

manager Willie Maley. Struth moved to Rangers in 1914 to take up the position of assistant manager. At the age of 45, in 1920, he took over as manager after his predecessor William Wilton was drowned in a boating accident off Gourock. Struth went on to win the league title 18 times as manager, winning 14 titles in 19 years before the Second World War. This included winning five titles in a row between 1927 and 1931. Struth's tenure as manager spanned the club's first league and cup

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhano ...

, when Rangers lifted the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,treble in 1949, Struth becoming the first Scottish manager to achieve this honour. The grave of Bill Struth, Craigton Cemetery

The grave of Bill Struth, Craigton Cemetery

If wartime competitions (the 1939–40 Scottish Emergency League followed by six wartime Southern League championships, the Scottish War Emergency Cup, the 1946 Victory Cup, a Summer Cup and four Southern League Cups) and local tournaments (19 Glasgow Cups, 17

Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup The Glasgow Merchants' Charity Cup was a knockout football tournament open to teams from in and around Glasgow and later on in the tournament's history, teams from outwith Glasgow. Invitations were made and sent out by the Glasgow Charity C ...

s) are included, Struth won a total of 73 trophies during his career, making him the most decorated manager in British football history. Struth was renowned as a disciplinarian, insisting that the team wore a collar and tie when turning up for training; bowler hats were obligatory for Rangers players. Adam Little was signed by Struth an
this interview
gives an insight into his methods. In 1947, Struth became a Rangers director and was then appointed vice-chairman after retiring in 1954. In 1952 he had part of a leg amputated as a result of gangrene. He died on 21 September 1956, aged 81, at his home in

Dumbreck Dumbreck ( gd, An Dùn Breac, lit, the Speckled Fort) is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated south of the River Clyde. Dumbreck is a conservation area. The district is served by Dumbreck railway station. The only church i ...

and is buried in Craigton Cemetery, overlooking

Ibrox Stadium Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated capacity of . ...

. His wife, Catherine Forbes, predeceased him in 1941. The grave lies in the south-west section on a terrace on its north side.

Recognition

In 2005, Rangers' chairman Sir David Murray unveiled a bronze bust of Bill Struth, located in the Main Stand at Ibrox, now known as the "Bill Struth Main Stand" in honour of his contribution to Rangers Football Club. In 2016 a further memorial was placed at his grave listing his club achievements.

Famous quotes

When being presented with the portrait that now hangs in the Ibrox trophy room, Bill Struth said:

Managerial honours

Club

;Rangers * Scottish League (18): 1920–21, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1936–37, 1938–39, 1946–47, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1952–53 *

(2): 1946–47, 1948–49

Individual

* 5th most decorated manager of all time (30 trophies)The ranking only includes trophies of at least national level

Career

Recognition

Famous quotes

Managerial honours

Club

Individual

See also

References

Further reading