Ralph Laidlaw Brand (born 8 December 1936) is a Scottish retired

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, rugb ...

, who played as a striker for Rangers, and latterly,

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...

and

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scotti ...

Playing career

Born and raised in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Brand had family connections to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

as his uncle resided in Springburn, was a Rangers supporter and worked in the

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south b ...

shipyards. He signed for Rangers in 1952 after impressing manager

Bill Struth William Struth (16 June 1875 – 21 September 1956) was a Scottish football manager. He was the second manager of Rangers Football Club, leading the club for 34 years between 1920 and 1954, as well as being the holder of a number of other posit ...

whilst playing in a schoolboy international against

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 ...

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 ...

; Struth signed him on a provisional contract in the summer of that year. Having spent time on loan with juvenile side Slateford Athletic and

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 ...

team Broxburn Athletic, in 1954 he turned professional and made his debut for Rangers on 6 November against

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. ...

, scoring two goals in a 6–0 win. He missed the next two seasons doing his

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

. After his return in December 1957,

Scot Symon James Scotland Symon (9 May 1911 – 30 April 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He also played cricket for Scotland in an age when it was possible to play and excel in several sports. Footballer Symon started his professional ca ...

had become the manager and Brand formed an effective strike partnership with fellow Edinburgh native Jimmy Millar, and scored 14 goals in 28 games over the course of the second half of the season. Having been joined on the left wing by

Davie Wilson David Wilson (10 January 1937 – 14 June 2022)1960–61, in which he played in all of Rangers' 34 league games, scoring 24 goals, and 44 in all competitions. These included five goals in Rangers' run to the final of the

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 ...

, three of which were scored in an 8–0 victory over

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional football club based in Mönchengladbach, Nort ...

. Brand played in four Scottish championship winning sides: 1958–59, 1960–61, 1962–63 and the Treble winning side of 1963–64. He won four

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 ...

and three

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

replay of 1963), the only player to have achieved that feat. He played in a total of seven finals for the club, scoring six goals and never finishing on the losing side. In his time at Rangers he played 317 times and scored 206 goals, and is the club's third top post-war scorer behind

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 in ...

and

Derek Johnstone Derek Joseph Johnstone (born 4 November 1953) is a Scottish former football player and manager. Johnstone played mainly for Rangers winning 14 major trophies during his career. He also had a spell at Chelsea and a brief stint in management wi ...

. He played his last match for Rangers on 23 April 1965 when he scored the only goal in a 1–0 win over

Third Lanark Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...

in the final League game of the season. Brand was sold to Manchester City in August that year for £30,000. Two years later he moved to

before returning to Scottish football at

(managed by his friend Jimmy Millar). He retired in 1970, although he would come out of retirement to play a handful of matches for

in 1971–72.

International

Brand played for

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 ...

eight times, scoring eight goals, although his international opportunities were limited because

Denis Law Denis Law (born 24 February 1940) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a forward. His career as a football player began at Second Division Huddersfield Town in 1956. After four years at Huddersfield, he was signed by Manchester City ...

was the established striker in the side. He also played five times for 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 ...

, scoring eight times including four in one match against the Irish League in October 1961.

Managerial career

Brand had a brief managerial career, taking charge of

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underw ...

for 6 months from December 1972, then Albion Rovers between 1973 and 1974. After leaving the football business he worked as a taxi-driver.

Personal life

Brand's son, Ralph Brand Jr., played a number of games for Rangers' reserve team in the 1970s.

International goals

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

Honours

As a player

Rangers *

UEFA 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 tourn ...

Runners-up: 1960–61 *

Scottish League First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

: 1958–59, 1960–61, 1962–63, 1963–64 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64 *

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 ...

: 1960–61, 1961–62, 1963–64, 1964–65

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third t ...

: 1965–66

References

External links

* * *
International stats
at Londonhearts.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Brand, Ralph 1936 births Living people Footballers from Edinburgh Scottish footballers Association football forwards Rangers F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Raith Rovers F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish football managers Darlington F.C. managers Albion Rovers F.C. managers English Football League managers Scottish Football League managers Scotland international footballers Scottish Football League representative players Scotland under-23 international footballers Broxburn Athletic F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players British taxi drivers