Quintin Young, who has died at the age of 78, will always hold a special place in the hearts of Rangers supporters of a certain vintage.
For although Young, always known as Cutty, never possessed the scampering brilliance of Willie Henderson, or the blistering speed of Willie Johnston, he was a direct, thrusting threat on either touchline and lit up many a match, turning the tide in Rangers’ favour with that simple but effective style.
He was also a hugely effective passer of the ball and one such clever touch is now almost forgotten. It lies buried beneath the goals scored by Alfie Conn and Tam Forsyth in the Ibrox club’s momentous 3-2 Scottish Cup Final win over Celtic in 1973, the tournament’s centenary.
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I was there that day and watched as Rangers ran all over Celtic in the opening stages only to fall behind to a strike on the break from Kenny Dalglish. Derek Parlane had planted the equalizer from an Alex MacDonald cross to send the teams in level at the interval.
What happened straight from the restart was the stuff of legends. Within seconds the ball went to Young who, instead of moving forward in possession, as was his usual style, picked out Parlane with a pass which allowed the striker to flick it on and set Conn running way beyond the trailing Billy McNeill to score.
That showed there was more to the former Ayr United and Coventry man than just getting down the line in an unfussy way and crossing to where such as the two Dereks, Parlane and Johnstone, created havoc in the opposition box.
There was, of course, one other thing about Cutty Young which endeared him to the Ibrox legions. He was from the village of Drongan in Ayrshire and never hid the fact that, if he had not been playing for Rangers he would have been paying to get into Ibrox to watch them. He was, in the vernacular, one of their ain.
Of the 116 games he played for his idols and the 38 goals he scored, there were more than a few highlights as he contributed to the club’s first title for 11 years, helping the team clinch the 1974-75 championship with a 1-1 draw against Hibs at Easter Road.
And as well as being part of the 1973 Scottish Cup winning side, he was also a cup final winner against Celtic again in October 1975, when Alex MacDonald took advantage of a cute Cutty nod across the face of the goal, to head the only goal of the game to clinch the first leg of the Treble.
That was one of the few high points for him in what proved to be his last season as a Rangers player. Another came right at the start of season 75-76, once again against Celtic, to underline why those fans from that era recall Cutty Young so fondly.
Rangers had fallen behind at Ibrox to a Dalglish goal, just before half time, before Derek Johnstone equalized 11 minutes after the restart. Just after an hour had been played was probably Cutty Young’s finest hour as he netted what proved to be the winner.
One of the things about Young which manager Jock Wallace liked was his dedication to Rangers. Wallace also liked his straightforward style. That was a style which he showed off the park too and which led to a confrontation with Wallace, never a man to mess with.
As Wallace changed the style of play, the team often performed without a traditional winger, meaning that Young was often out in the cold as Rangers clinched the title and then beat Hearts 3-1 in the 1976 Scottish Cup Final to waltz off with the Treble.
Perhaps a different sort of character than Young would have approached Wallace in a more diplomatic fashion.
In fact, Wallace once revealed to me that he was sympathetic to Young’s plight, but when the player went in with all guns blazing, demanding he played more regularly, there was only ever going to be one outcome. Wallace showed him the door and Young spent the last four years of his career with East Fife.
But during those four years at Ibrox, Quintin “Cutty” Young did more than enough to merit the fondness in which he is remembered by those who saw him in no-nonsense direct action.
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