Short-term Bosses
Jim Forrest
Larsson v Arveladze
Close Season
Aberdeen v Rangers


 

Q Judith Jackson is thinking ahead: "Can you please tell me when the SPL closed season 2003 is?"

A Because of the ‘split’ which comes into effect for the last five matches, dates haven’t been confirmed yet. However the Scottish Cup Final is scheduled for May 31st so the SPL season must finish before that. Either Sat/Sun May 24/25 (which seems more likely) or May 17/18. The season as a whole ends on June 7th with Scotland v Germany.

No starting date has been agreed yet for 2003-04 but going by past experiences it will start on either Sat July 26th or Sat Aug 2nd.

Q Tommy Wilson would like to know: "Who has scored the most career goals between Larsson of Celtic and Arveladze of Rangers?"

A Counting all first-class domestic games in Georgia, Holland and Scotland for Arveladze, Sweden, Holland and Scotland for Larsson and all internationals the pair have featured in, Larsson had scored 305 goals by the end of January 2003 while Arveladze had notched up 249. However Larsson has retired from international football and is seventeen months older than the Georgian so we may be revisiting this query in the future.

Q Mary Brown asks: "When was the last time Aberdeen beat Rangers?"

A December 1st 1999 when Andy Dow scored the only goal of the game three minutes from the end of extra time in a League Cup quarter-final tie at Pittodrie. In the League, Aberdeen's last victory came courtesy of Stephen Glass when they won 1-0 at Pittodrie on April 19th 1998. Their last Ibrox victory was on September 28th 1991 when Eoin Jess and Brian Grant got the goals in a 2-0 League victory.

For old SFAQs click here


Q From Tommy Burton: "What was the shortest ever length of time a manager of a Scottish club stayed for, who was it and for what club?"

A On Monday September 9th 1996 St Mirren announced that Iain Munro was taking over as manager from Jimmy Bone and would take up the post two days later. But he never got there. Just 24 hours after the announcement Munro took over at Raith Rovers from Tommy McLean who himself had been at Starks Park a mere seven days.

It's debatable whether Munro's 24 hours should count as he never actually started the job at Love Street. If not then Steve Murray is the man. He was Forfar manager for three days in 1980-81, actually taking one training session with the players.

Q From Toronto, Brian Forrest says: "My Mom is certain that one of our relatives played for the Glasgow Rangers. Can you tell me how many players have had the last name "Forrest", and what year they played?"

A Only one player with your surname has played for the Rangers first team Brian. That was Jim Forrest, born in Glasgow in 1944 who was a schoolboy internationalist and joined Rangers straight from school in 1960. He was farmed out to Drumchapel Amateurs for a while before returning to Ibrox.

He was with Rangers until March 1967 and during that time he played 163 times scoring an incredible 145 goals. His best season was 1964-65 when he scored 57 goals- still a post-war Scottish record. He was also Rangers top scorer the previous season.

After Rangers he played for Preston, Aberdeen and Hong Kong Rangers. He won a League Championship medal in 1964. League Cup winner's medal in 1964 and 1965 and a Scottish Cup winner's medal in 1966 - all with Rangers. He also won a Scottish Cup winner's medal with Aberdeen in 1970 and played five times for Scotland.

His cousin was Alex Willoughby who also played with him for Drumchapel, Rangers, Aberdeen and Hong Kong. Obviously a close family. I hope we've found your man.

Back to homepage Click here to download sample pdf files BLUE-WEB INTERNET DESIGN