WHO IS YOUR CLUB’S GREATEST EVER PLAYER? Ayr United’s one-club hero, Celtic’s King of Kings, the Bully Wee Hampden icon, the Balmoral Stadium sharpshooter and the ultimate Son of the Rock

AYR UNITED: JOHN ‘SPUD’ MURPHY

By Calum McClurkin 

The Somerset Park bus buddy of Alex Ferguson and Ally MacLeod, John ‘Spud’ Murphy was the beating heart of Ayr United’s finest era.

Ferguson was a close friend of Murphy and former Scotland manager Craig Brown described Murphy as ‘the best full-back of his era not to get capped for Scotland’.

Murphy was a one-club man and Ayr’s record league appearance holder. Renowned for his superb consistency, Murphy played 459 times between 1963 and 1978. He regularly kept legendary wingers like Jimmy Johnstone at bay.

In the same year the left-back retired, Ayr were relegated from the top flight. Almost 50 years on and The Honest Men haven’t been in the top tier of Scottish football since. Coincidence? Perhaps not but it’s a pointer of how highly regarded Ayr’s team was at that time.

Murphy joined Ayr at a fairly low ebb in the early 1960s. He played an instrumental part in immediately lifting Ayr’s fortunes, part of the 1969 side that lost to Celtic after a replay in the League Cup semi-finals.

MacLeod became full-time manager in 1970-71 and along with the likes of Cutty Young, Johnny Doyle and David Stewart, Murphy helped the club finish in the top six and to their first Scottish Cup semi-final.

Doyle was the last Ayr United man to receive a Scotland cap, in 1975, while still playing for the club. Goalkeeper Stewart was sold to Leeds United and played in the European Cup final of the same year. Boss MacLeod left for Aberdeen. All had higher profiles but Murphy stayed true to Ayr until the end. A player revered for his 15 years at Somerset Park.

Yes, there have been flirtations with the top flight since. The Bill Barr era brought in some terrific players. John Hughes was an excellent captain at the heart of defence when Gordon Dalziel’s men reached a League Cup final and a Scottish Cup semi-final.

Ian Ferguson’s looped strike in the Valentine’s Day derby massacre of Scottish Cup holders Kilmarnock at Somerset Park is always remembered in the 1998. Andy Walker’s iconic chipped penalty dumped Killie out the same tournament in 1999. Both were moments to truly savour. 

Walker and Glynn Hurst were a terrific strike partnership, just like Eddie Annand and James Grady a few years later.

Players like Stevie Nicol and Gary Teale brought in huge fees for the club. Ryan Stevenson brought some much-needed wonder moments during a very lean time in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

Scotland and Rangers striker Lawrence Shankland can point to his goal-laden time at Ayr United as the moment that resurrected his professional career under Ian McCall’s tenure.

Other players such as Luke McCowan and Alan Forrest made the grade at Premiership level via Ayr United in recent seasons.

With a new community hub, training pitch and new stand built recently, there is a degree of confidence that the best is yet to come at Ayr United.

For now, it’s the golden era of the early-to-mid 1970s that is pined for at Tryfield Place. A time where Celtic and Rangers were put to the sword at a fortress of a ground in front of 20,000-25,000 people, Murphy was the man there for the duration of it all.

Underappreciated by most but not by anyone connected to Ayr United Football Club.

CELTIC: HENRIK LARSSON

By Eddie Isaac 

It may seem like sacrilege not to include a Lisbon Lion as Celtic’s greatest ever player, but hear our plea for one minute before discarding this article in disgust.

No one would argue that the first British team to win the European Cup were the Hoops’ finest side of all time. The best Scottish outfit of ANY era.

However, with apologies to Billy McNeill, Jimmy Johnstone and the rest of Jock Stein’s heroes from 1967, there’s only one man who can rise above the collective to take this honour. Step forward Henrik Larsson.

When McNeill looked ahead of him, he saw Bobby Murdoch and Bertie Auld. When Jinky glanced across the pitch he saw Stevie Chalmers and Bobby Lennox.

In the modern era, however, Larsson stood alone. No one came close to matching him, not even the maestro Lubo Moravcik.

Many Celtic fans still shake their heads in disbelief that the club were able to enjoy the Magnificent Seven for seven glorious seasons without a wealthier suitor stepping in.

Swedish superstar Henrik Larsson ran amok at Celtic, scoring 242 goals for the Hoops

Yes, Kenny Dalglish graced Parkhead for longer, but his prime was still to come at Liverpool. The east end of Glasgow bore witness to Larsson when he was at the very top of his game. And what a sight that was to behold.

Signed by Wim Jansen from Feyenoord for £650,000 in 1997, the Swede took a little while to sparkle at a demoralised club before helping them win the league title that same year, effectively ending Rangers’ bid for the fabled ten in a row.

He would become Celtic’s figurehead for years to come, his mere presence striking fear in the hearts of opponents and making the team a force to be reckoned with again.

Slight of build but deceptively strong, he had an uncanny ability to score goals out of nothing, usually when Celtic needed them most. His brilliant positional sense, allied to a tireless work rate, meant defenders could never relax. Crowned King of Kings by a delirious support, he stamped his class all over Scottish football.

He went into overdrive when Martin O’Neill paired him with Chris Sutton, becoming the club’s third top scorer of all time behind Jimmy McGrory and Lennox with 242 goals in 315 matches.

His four league titles, two Scottish Cups and two League Cups barely do justice to the impact he had at Parkhead. True, he couldn’t win the club a European trophy, but he came mighty close, scoring twice in the 3-2 extra-time defeat to Porto in the 2003 UEFA Cup final in Seville.

Devoting his best years to Celtic became a stick with which to beat him in some quarters, Larsson insisting he was simply happy in his surroundings. Anyone who still doubted he was world class was dispelled of that notion when, in a glorious swansong to his career following his departure from Parkhead, he came off the bench with Barcelona trailing 1-0 to Arsenal in the 2006 Champions League final and turned the game on its head for a Catalan triumph.

CLYDE: HARRY HADDOCK

By Alan Hendry 

Despite the valiant efforts of Keith Knox, Pat Nevin or Craig Bryson, the quest to find the Bully Wee’s greatest ever player can be focused on two games that took place at Hampden in 1955 and 1958.

Those two years account for two of Clyde’s three Scottish Cup victories and left-back Harry Haddock and winger Tommy Ring were the undoubted star turns in those vintage teams.

Roy Keane and Du Wei may have endured the Celtic debuts from hell in 2006 when Graham Roberts’ side pulled off the mother of all giant-killings but, back in their heyday, Clyde would think nothing of going toe to toe with the Bhoys and often came out on top.

After a 1-1 draw in the first 1955 final against Celtic, Haddock and Ring actually combined for the winning goal in the replay. Haddock’s free-kick ricocheting off Celtic goalkeeper John Bonnar then winger Ring before going into the net.

Historians may note that the initial match was the first Scottish Cup final to be televised live, although broadcasters opted against showing the replay.

Defender Harry Haddock was a stalwart for Clyde and Scotland

Clyde were actually relegated and then promoted in between their two Cup victories and by 1958 Haddock had been appointed captain, stepping up and lifting the famous trophy after a hard-fought 1-0 win over Hibernian.

Scoring the winning goal in a cup final, and his 190 goals in 417 appearances, make Ring a compelling candidate but Haddock wins this head to head on a countback.

As well as his Scottish Cup successes with Clyde, the defender was a regular for Scotland and was often given the unenviable task of marking England wing wizard Stanley Matthews during Auld Enemy clashes.

Haddock would no doubt have been bruised by the 7-2 loss at Wembley in 1955 and a 4-0 Hampden loss three years later but the chivalrous defender had the consolation of earning the respect of the legendary Matthews.

Matthews was accustomed to some rough treatment from defenders in those days and, while finding the Glaswegian a tough and doughty opponent, the Englishman admired Haddock for his refusal to resort to foul play in their duels.

‘He never tried to kick me once,’ remarked Matthews, who became a lifelong friend of the Scot.

In 14 years as a footballer, Haddock was never booked, sent off, or even admonished by a referee.

COVE RANGERS: MITCH MEGGINSON

By Eddie Isaac 

It’s one of those alliterative names that former Sky Sports anchorman Jeff Stelling would pronounce with great relish as another shot hit the back of the net.

Mitch Megginson’s distinctive moniker thus seared its way into the consciousness of Gillette Soccer Saturday viewers for several campaigns, just as its mere mention struck fear in the hearts of opposition defenders during a golden period which saw the Cove Rangers star score goals with audacious regularity.

Instrumental in the club’s remarkable ascent from Highland League to SPFL, the hometown hero and skipper would rise memorably to the occasion again on April 23, 2022, when his goal against Dumbarton sealed the League One title for Paul Hartley’s side and a coveted place in the Championship.

If Cove Rangers were perceived as one of the SPFL pyramid’s great success stories, the forward was undoubtedly their poster boy – scoring nearly 250 goals in all competitions during a decade of dedicated service at the Aberdeen club which boasted three promotions in four years.

Mitch Megginson was a prolific goalscorer for a decade at Cove Rangers

It all seemed preordained. Dad Mike was a Cove Rangers legend in his own right, and young Mitch was still at primary school when he led the team out as matchday mascot for his father’s testimonial.

Suitably inspired, the ex-ball boy would go on to join the Granite City’s bigger hitters at Pittodrie, staying there for four years via loan spells at Arbroath and Brechin.

Permanent moves to Dumbarton, Raith and Alloa followed, but things only really fell into place for Megginson when he joined his dad’s old team in 2016.

Cove Rangers’ ambition was to make the SPFL, and Megginson was up for the challenge as he set about terrorising defences.

After cutting a trophy-laden swathe through the Highlands, he scored an extraordinary 49 goals in all competitions in season 2018-19 as Hartley’s team earned their place in the senior set-up for the first time, beating Berwick Rangers 7-0 on aggregate in the League Two play-off.

Undaunted by his new surroundings, he was a divisional top scorer on four occasions in the ensuing six years. If anyone doubted the club’s intentions, they were swept aside when the club won the League Two title during the season curtailed by Covid.

Megginson and his dad became the first father and son to score a century of goals for the team, and the emotions were palpable when his dad watched him hit the solitary effort against Dumbarton which saw Cove Rangers reach their Championship peak.

‘It’s something I will never forget,’ said Megginson. ‘It was watching my dad playing for Cove Rangers that sparked my love for football. It was huge having my father and the rest of the family there to help me celebrate making history with the club.’

Mike Beattie’s all-time Cove Rangers record of 318 goals remained out of reach for Megginson before he quit Balmoral Stadium to join Peterhead in June this year, but the striker had already cemented his legend by helping take the club further than they had ever dreamed possible.

His status as the club’s GOAT is assured.

DUMBARTON: HUGH GALLACHER

By Alan Hendry 

The fourth oldest club in Scotland, Dumbarton have helped launch the careers of stellar talents like Graeme Sharp, Murdo MacLeod, Ian Wallace and Owen Coyle.

Sharp, who would later win the European Cup Winners’ Cup, two league titles and an FA Cup at Goodison, earned the Sons a fee of £120,000 after the teenage striker caught the eye of Everton boss Gordon Lee with 17 goals in 40 appearances in the more modest surroundings of Boghead.

Speaking in 2012, Sharp recalled: ‘I was fortunate to play alongside some really good players at Dumbarton.

‘I made a lot of friends and it was a really nice place to play. Apart from breaking my cheekbone once I have nothing but happy memories of Dumbarton!’

Fellow Scotland international MacLeod, who would go on to success with Celtic, Borussia Dortmund and Hibernian, enjoyed his early career at Boghead so much he returned as a player-coach at the tail end of his career, guiding them to promotion from the Second Division with a last-day win over Stirling Albion in 1995.

Hugh Gallacher was small of stature but a giant presence at Boghead

For some fans it’s hard to look beyond record appearance holder Johnny Graham, or the Hall of Fame strike partnership of Roy McCormack and Kenny Wilson that fired them to promotion to the top flight back in 1971-72.

Wilson memorably scored all the goals in a 5-0 win over Raith that season and his goalscoring pedigree was put beyond any debate with the fifth goal hitting him on the backside on the way into the net.

This debate may have taken on a completely different hue if the Sons had been successful in persuading Dutch superstar Johan Cruyff to join them in 1980. But the outstanding candidate to be Dumbarton’s GOAT, though, can only be Hugh Gallacher.

He scored an incredible 205 goals in 220 games for the club in the 1950s, making him the all-time club record goalscorer.

Slight of build and stature, Gallacher was a lethal penalty-box predator and his haul of 46 goals in 1955-56 remains a club record.

The Vale of Leven native was the archetypal local hero, working in factories through the week, then climbing on a pedestal to pull on that famous black and gold shirt on a Saturday. He may only have been 5ft 7in, but to this day he walks tall as a giant of Dumbarton’s long and proud history.

Agree or disagree? Get in touch at greatestplayer@dailymail.co.uk and let us know what you think

Part Three features Dundee, Dundee United, Dunfermline, East Fife and East Kilbride