Former Rangers footballer has grave restored 125 years after he first signed for club

Rangers supporters and Larkhall residents turned out to mark the re-dedication service for Neilly Gibson.

A former Rangers footballer has had his grave restored in Larkhall 125 years after he first signed for the club.

Rangers supporters and Larkhall residents turned out to mark the re-dedication service for Neilly Gibson.

Gibson began his football journey at Larkhall Thistle while combining his career as a miner.

He moved on to fellow junior team Royal Albert before entering the senior ranks as a `reserve’ with Third Lanark.

Failing to sign Gibson on full, professional terms was to prove a mistake for Thirds, however, as aged 21 in November 1884, he accepted an offer from then-manager William Wilton to join Rangers.

In 10 seasons at Rangers, Gibson won four league championships, three Scottish Cups, five Glasgow Cups and three Glasgow Charity Cups.

Of those successes, however, one stands out above all else, as Rangers won the title in 1898-99 by winning every single one of their league matches – a feat never since matched in Scottish football.

Larkhall man Dr Joel Leslie, who is currently writing a book on Rangers’ ‘Invincible’ team of 1898/99, discovered during his research, that Neilly Gibson died in 1947 and was laid to rest in an unmarked grave in Larkhall Cemetery.

With the support of Larkhall & District Rangers Supporters Club and the Rangers Graves Project, a gravestone was erected to honour the player, who also played 14 times for Scotland.

Joel gave a wonderful history of Neilly’s life, and Ian McColl from the Restoration of Rangers Graves Project and Bill Hastings from the Church of Scotland all spoke at the ceremony in Larkhall Cemetery, with four great grandsons of Neilly present to honour him.

Ian McColl said: “I had the honour and pleasure of attending the event to unveil a new stone on the plot of Rangers great Neilly Gibson at Larkhall Cemetery.

“Thank so much to all those who attended. The grave had lain unmarked since 1947. Gone but never forgotten.”