Old Firm in silent tribute for Rangers keeper Gerry Neef

Published on Wednesday 24 February 2010 22:23

A MINUTE'S silence is to be observed before the Old Firm match at Ibrox on Sunday following the death of former Rangers goalkeeper Gerry Neef at the age of 63.

• Gerry Neef

Neef's passing continues a grim week for Scottish football, coming hard on the heels of the deaths of Alan Gordon, Bobby Cox and Bobby Smith.

Players will also wear black armbands during Sunday's match, as a mark of respect for the German goalkeeper – real name Gerhardt – who had been ill for some time before passing away on Tuesday.

Neef joined Rangers in 1968 from Dusseldorf Amateurs, signed by manager Davie White as the Ibrox club sought a replacement for long-term custodian Billy Ritchie.

He made his debut on 19 April the following year in a 3-0 home win over Morton, taking over from ever-present Norrie Martin. However, despite the clean sheet, Martin was back in for the next match – but a 3-2 defeat at Dens Park followed by a 4-0 thumping from Celtic in the Scottish Cup final saw Neef reinstated for the final two games of the season, conceding only one goal in a 1-1 draw at home to Dundee and a 3-0 win at Dunfermline.

He also played in both legs of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup semi-final that season, when Rangers missed out on a place in the final with a 0-2 aggregate defeat at the hands of Newcastle United.

Neef kept his place in the team the following season, playing in 39 of the first 40 games of the season including four ties in the European Cup Winners' Cup. But when White was sacked, new manager Willie Waddell signed Peter McCloy from Motherwell and Neef was dropped on the back of a 2-1 league defeat at Raith Rovers.

McCloy then made the No1 shirt his own, leaving Neef as second-choice goalkeeper for the remainder of his time with Rangers. Neef did not return to first-team action until the dark day of 2 January 1971, when 66 people were killed in the Ibrox disaster.

As understudy to McCloy, Neef travelled to Barcelona in May 1972 as part of the squad who lifted the European Cup Winners' Cup after a 3-2 win over Moscow Dynamo.

A year later he was released, having played only one more first team game in a 2-1 league win at Arbroath in October 1972. He returned to West Germany to join Nuremburg in the lower leagues, having played 33 league games for Rangers, six League Cup ties, three Scottish Cup ties and six European ties.

The Neef name came to the fore again in the 1990s when daughter Melanie Neef represented Scotland and Great Britain at athletics, specialising in the 400m.

Gerry Neef was back in the spotlight in 2007 as a guest of Rangers when the Ibrox club took the squad back to the Nou Camp for a Champions League group match against Barcelona, and he also attended a 35th anniversary tribute dinner.

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