English died in the Vale of Leven Hospital in Alexandria, at the age of 58 after battling motor neurone disease. [2] [3]

English returned to Scotland with Queen of the South before finishing his career at Hartlepool at the age of 28. His Rangers' teammate, Bob McPhail, paid him the ulitmate praise: "Though I never played with the great Dixie Dean of Everton, I did play against him. I would have taken English before him."

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Only Sandy Archibald, who wasn’t playing, managed a joke. He told wee Alan Morton 'if you behave yourself, son, we’ll mebbe let you have a game with the big yins today'. The first half was something of a non-event, with very little football played and the stop-start nature of this clash of the giants infuriating. It was hoped, at least by the large crowd, that the second 45 minutes would be far more entertaining. a b c Jardine, Christine (26 February 2009). "Recognition at last for Rangers' top goal-scorer". Herald Scotland . Retrieved 2 April 2014.

But to think that I’d won such a beautiful trophy at the club I’d loved since I was a wee boy was just such a wonderful feeling.” It scarred him,” said Holmes. “He tended not to go anywhere. He loved his wife and his kids and his garden. His roses were his big passion. He played a lot of golf at Dalmuir too. But his son-in-law told me he despised being out, having people looking at him. He described himself once as ‘a grizzly peep show’. People would just stare at him. It must have been awful.” If you had told me when I signed for Rangers at 17, what I would achieve and experiences what I have done in professional football, I wouldn’t have believed you,” he said. An ill-considered comment by Willie Maley, the celtic manager who hadn’t witnessed what happened in the fateful Old Firm game from his vantage point in the main stand, inadvertently turned many of those who stood on the terraces at Parkhead against English. Thomson's head collided with English's knee which ruptured an artery in his right temple which led to Thomson's death.

Yet, as Holmes delved deeper and unearthed further information, he found the commonly-held perception of the Northern Ireland-born, Glasgow-raised footballer did him a gross disservice. It is a fitting commemoration. So is Tortured: The Sam English Story. Hopefully, the book will help to ensure that future generations have a different opinion of a true Rangers great. Englishwas a powerful centre-forward who joined Liverpool from Rangers before the start of the 1933-34 season. English's career was overshadowed by an incident on 5 September 1931 where he was involved in a collision with John Thomson, the Celtic goalkeeper. Thomson dived for the ball and his head collided with English's knee (not his boot, as sometimes claimed). Thomson suffered serious injuries to his skull and died in hospital a few hours later. The official enquiry found that the collision was an accident, and cleared English of any blame; a view which was fully supported by Thomson's family and all players from both teams who were on the field at the time. Nevertheless, English was deeply traumatised by what had happened to Thomson. [2] [3] Although not selected on the opening day of the following season, he then had a run of 11 consecutive matches in which he hit the netthree times before losing his place in the side. His appearances after that were restricted and he played his final game for Liverpool in the penultimate First Division fixture of the 1934-35 season, away to Tottenham.

By winning awards like the Sam English Bowl, it means there will always be a little bit of me in the magnificent trophy room at Ibrox – and that’s something special.” Struth then asked his trainer to scour the corridors of Ibrox to find English and tell him to prepare for action – and a painful ankle wasn’t about to keep this hungry youngster from missing out on the biggest game of his life. Sam was in. Samuel English (18 August 1908 – 12 April 1967) was a Northern Irish footballer who played for several clubs during the 1930s, but is mainly remembered for his time with Rangers. English also won two international caps for Ireland. English was cleared of any malicious intent by a fatal accident inquiry and graciously absolved of any blame by Thomson’s grieving family. Psychologically, however, he was deeply traumatised by the tragic death of his brilliant opponent. It would haunt him for the remainder of his days. Cree, who married one of English’s three daughters, revealed they had pursued the forward after he had left Scotland. “He told me that celtic supporters used to travel down to England so they could jeer him at matches,” he said. “Even when he moved to Hartlepool, who were in the bottom league, they were down there giving him a hard time.”I always wondered how he could end up as Rangers record goalscorer in that first season (he netted 44 times in 35 league games in the 1931/32 season). How could he do that with the death of John Thomson preying on his mind? It would eventually finish him. But it was because he had a lot of sympathy at the start. It got worse and worse and worse.” Some suggested the size of the Ibrox attendance for this Old Firm game – in the region of 80,000 – was down to the resurgence of Celtic, but there was little evidence to support this. The Old Firm was always well patronised. The spectators were clearly looking for thrills; for first-class football, and for a battle of craft and cleverness. In recognition of his prolific goal-scoring exploits during his two seasons at Rangers, English was added to the club's Hall of Fame in 2009. [7] Members of his family and Rangers supporters also commissioned silversmith Cara Murphy to produce a commemorative silver bowl containing 44 silver balls, each ball representing the 44 goals English scored in his record-setting first season at Ibrox. [7] [8] [9] The Sam English Bowl was then presented to Rangers and is now awarded yearly to the club's top-scorer in a season. [7] [9] The first winner of the bowl was Kris Boyd in May 2009. [9] Honours [ edit ] I hadn’t long turned 23 and this was my first big game. Rangers against Celtic at Ibrox. League champions versus the cup holders.