Q From Brendan: "Henrik
Larsson has just overtaken Ally McCoist as top scorer for a Scottish
club in Europe. Who's next and who's top outside Celtic and Rangers?"
A Just as I was thinking of
trawling through all our clubs European records to answer this,
my eye glanced towards the Autumn 2002 issue of the 'Scottish
Football Historian.' which has an article on this very topic.
They quote Mark McGhee and Willie Wallace as next
with 18 apiece. However, I can only find 16 goals for McGhee (including
the Super Cup), 14 with Aberdeen and two for Celtic. Wallace netted
13 for Celts and five times while with Hearts.
Beyond the Old Firm, top scorer is Ralph Milne with 15 for
Dundee United.
Q Tommy asks: "How
come Dunfermline are nicknamed The Pars?"
A Unless some rabid Fifer is
prepared to deny it, I prefer to believe the story that they were
so bad during their brief inter-war forays into Division One, that
East End Park regulars quipped that their side played as if they
were paralytic. Hence the subsequent shortening to 'The Pars
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Q Wee Aitch
wants to know: " I've been told the lowest crowds for
Scottish clubs in Europe were at Rangers and Celtic
games. Surely not?"
A If it's home crowds then surely
yes. On October 2nd 1985 Celtic played Atletico Madrid
in a Cup-Winners Cup tie 'behind closed doors'
as a penalty for disturbances at their game against Rapid Vienna
the previous season. The only people in attendance were club officials
and press. No figure was given but when the same punishment was
meted out to West Ham a few years previously, the attendance was
cited as 223. It would have been around the same at Parkhead.
Having gained a creditable 1-1 draw in Madrid, Celts lost 2-1 in
the empty stadium.
The lowest gate at a match spectators could pay into was a Rangers
'home' game. The Gers were drawn to play Vorwaerts of
East Germany in the European Cup in 1961-62 just
a couple of months after the building of the Berlin Wall. The
first leg - in Berlin - went ahead as normal, with Rangers winning
2-1, but the East Germans were refused entry visas into the UK.
Rather than forfeit the tie, Rangers played their 'home' match in
Malmo in Sweden and won 4-1 for a 6-2 aggregate triumph.
The attendance was a paltry 1781.
The game was originally scheduled for the day before
but was abandoned at half-time with Rangers leading 1-0. The crowd
on that occasion was 3,012.
.'
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