Ronald McKinnon (born 20 August 1940) is a Scottish former 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 ...
central defender
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
(who had been a winger in his youth during early spells at Junior level), made his Rangers debut against Hearts on 8 March 1961 in a 3–0 win at Ibrox. He went on to make 487 appearances for the club in all competitions between 1961 and 1971,Rangers player McKinnon, Ronnie FitbaStats winning two Scottish League championships, four
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
s.
His final Rangers appearance was in the
1971–72 European Cup Winners' Cup
The 1971–72 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup football club tournament was won by Rangers, who defeated Dynamo Moscow in the final.
Preliminary round
First leg
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Second leg
''4–4 on aggregate; Austria Wien won on away goal ...
second round match against
Sporting CP
Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...
in Lisbon, where he suffered a broken leg.On This Day: Ronnie McKinnon Rangers FC, 20 August 2019 Rangers went on to win the Cup Winners' Cup that season but McKinnon, who had been a regular for a decade but was already in the latter stages of his career, was put out of action entirely for a year due to the complications of the injury and the poor manner in which it was treated.
International
McKinnon won a total of 28
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 Ja ...
for
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, making his debut in a 1–0 win over
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
at Hampden Park in 1965, in which Rangers teammate
John Greig
John Greig (born 11 September 1942) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played as a defender. He spent his entire career with Rangers, as a player, manager and director. Greig was voted "The Greatest Ever Ranger" in 1999 by the ...
had scored a memorable late winner. He also played in the 3–2 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
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
in 1967. His only goal for Scotland came in a 3–2 win over
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
, also in 1967. 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 ...
.
Later and personal life
After leaving Rangers in 1973, McKinnon moved to South Africa, where he played local football for a season. He later returned to Scotland and settled on the Isle of Lewis where his mother was born and where he had spent time as a child 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 opposing ...
.
His connection to Rangers continues to this day as he is an Honorary Member & Ambassador of The Lewis & Harris Rangers Supporters Club, and still travels to matches at Ibrox with the island fans at least once a season.
McKinnon's
twin
Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...
brother Donnie was also a professional footballer, spending 14 seasons with Partick Thistle as a centre-half.Donnie McKinnon Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database He was also one of the coaches for the Scotland national team for many years.
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 existen ...
European Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...