Bill Struth

Struth's portrait in the Ibrox Trophy Room
Personal information
Full name	William Struth
Date of birth	16 June 1875
Place of birth	Leith, Scotland
Date of death	21 September 1956(1956-09-21) (aged 81)
Place of death	Glasgow, Scotland
Managerial career
Years	Team
1914–1920	Rangers (assistant)
1920–1954	Rangers

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 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, 10 Scottish Cups and two Scottish League Cups.

Career

Struth was born in Leith, Edinburgh, the eldest child of William Struth senior, a stonemason, and Isabella Cunningham.^[1] He grew up in Edinburgh and Milnathort (his father's birthplace) in Kinross-shire and worked as a stonemason, but he also competed as a professional runner until he was in his 30s.^[2] 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.^[3][4] For three seasons at Shawfield he worked alongside Alex Maley, brother of the Celtic manager Willie Maley.

Struth moved to Rangers in 1914 to take up the position of assistant manager.^[2] 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.^[5]

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.^[6] Struth's tenure as manager spanned the club's first league and cup double in 1928, when Rangers lifted the Scottish Cup and ended a 25-year 'hoodoo', and its first treble in 1949, Struth becoming the first Scottish manager to achieve this honour.^[6]

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 Cups) are included, Struth won a total of 73 trophies during his career, making him the most decorated manager in British football history.^[7]

Struth was renowned as a disciplinarian, insisting that the team wore a collar and tie when turning up for training;^[2] bowler hats were obligatory for Rangers players.^[8] Adam Little was signed by Struth and 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 and is buried in Craigton Cemetery, overlooking Ibrox Stadium. 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:

I have been lucky — lucky in those who were around me from the boardroom to the dressing-room. In time of stress, their unstinted support, unbroken devotion to our club and calmness in adversity eased the task of making Rangers FC the premier club in this country.

To be a Ranger is to sense the sacred trust of upholding all that such a name means in this shrine of football. They must be true in their conception of what the Ibrox tradition seeks from them. No true Ranger has ever failed in the tradition set him."

Our very success, gained you will agree by skill, will draw more people than ever to see it. And that will benefit many more clubs than Rangers. Let the others come after us. We welcome the chase. It is healthy for us. We will never hide from it. Never fear, inevitably we shall have our years of failure, and when they arrive, we must reveal tolerance and sanity. No matter the days of anxiety that come our way, we shall emerge stronger because of the trials to be overcome. That has been the philosophy of the Rangers since the days of the gallant pioneers.

Managerial statistics

Team	Nation	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Win %
Rangers	Scotland	28th May 1920	15th June 1954	1,655	1,134	296	224	4,059	1,604	+2,427	68.52
Total				1,655	1,134	296	224	4,059	1,604	+2,427	68.52

As of 25 June 2023

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
• Scottish Cup (10): 1927–28, 1929–30, 1931–32, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1947–48, 1949–50, 1952–53
• Scottish League Cup (2): 1946–47, 1948–49

Individual

• 6th most decorated manager of all time (30 trophies)^[a][b][9]