Rangers manager Ally McCoist’s cap was on a shoogly peg when The Bunnet masterminded the “greatest result” in Forfar Athletic’s history a decade ago.
Dick Campbell described the triumph as the win of his life.
Revenge was a dish best served cold and Forfar’s 2-1 extra-time victory in the Scottish League Cup on August 3 2013 put the town into Saturday night party mode.
It was a long time coming.
Forfar banished the ghosts of past cup heartbreak at the hands of Rangers following semi-final defeats in the League Cup in 1978 and the Scottish Cup in 1982.
Rangers were in the deep throes of rebuilding in August 2013 following liquidation and banishment to Scottish football’s bottom tier in 2012 after running up huge debts.
Rangers won the old Third Division by 24 points and McCoist brought in a number of players for the League One campaign including Jon Daly, Nicky Clark and Nicky Law.
The Ibrox side were still under a year-long transfer embargo until September and none of the new signings were available for the first round League Cup match at Station Park.
Not that it should have mattered.
Rangers should still have had enough quality to win the game.
Charles Green was back
Both sides were in League One but Rangers were massive favourites to win comfortably, although things didn’t get much better for McCoist before the game.
Charles Green had quit as Rangers chief executive in April, amid a probe into his links with former owner Craig Whyte, but the club confirmed his return as a consultant.
Green warned McCoist would have to deliver a league and cup double to keep his job.
Was Super Ally feeling the pressure?
Rangers were actually fortunate to take the game into extra-time at Station Park, as they were just eight minutes from losing the match inside the 90 minutes.
It was Forfar that won all the plaudits with a magnificent display.
The Loons opened the scoring after just seven minutes when Swankie lobbed Scott Gallacher following a mistake from Rangers’ most experienced player, Lee McCulloch.
Rangers were furious when referee Calum Murray didn’t point to the penalty spot when Lewis McLeod appeared to have been fouled just inside the box by Stuart Malcolm.
Instead, he awarded Rangers a free-kick on the edge of the area, which McCulloch fired straight into the wall.
Former Ibrox hero Marvin Andrews was a rock at the heart of the Forfar defence.
It came as no surprise when McCoist attempted to change things and brought on Fraser Aird in place of Andrew Mitchell and moved David Templeton into a more central role.
But just when it looked as though Rangers might be heading out of the competition, they come up with the goods.
Andrew Little crashed his header off the bar from a Templeton corner but Aird was in the right place to head in the rebound from just a couple of yards out.
Rangers were expected to then go on and win the game.
They didn’t.
Forfar continued to pass, move and cause Rangers problems at the back.
Swankie ensured the shock defeat for Rangers when he netted home Liam Campbell’s cross with just five minutes of extra-time left.
‘A historic day for Forfar to beat Rangers’
The Courier said: “The finest thing about Forfar’s famous victory was that it was achieved by nothing more complicated than excellent football.
“As Rangers’ bickering and turmoil raged all around them, the Loons concentrated on the only thing that mattered to them — winning the cup-tie.
“The Loons were, for long spells of this Scottish Communities League Cup first-round clash, better than the Light Blues at passing and creating chances, while Gavin Swankie’s two goals were terrific.
“This first win over the Ibrox club was thoroughly deserved and achieved not because the opposition were distracted or the wind was causing havoc but because they produced the performance of their lives.
“And let’s put this result into perspective.
It’s as good as anything I’ve done as a manager.”
Forfar Athletic boss Dick Campbell
“Rangers may be fallen giants trying to find their feet again and bedevilled by boardroom battles and unhelpful interventions from the likes of Charles Green.
“But you can fit the entire population of Forfar into the stands behind both goals at Ibrox and still have room for another couple of thousand people, something that perhaps highlights the difference in scale between the two clubs even though they are now neighbours in the new League One.”
Forfar manager Dick Campbell, sporting his signature bunnet on the touchline, was in no doubt what it meant to him after kicking every ball and scrapping for every decision.
“It is a historic performance and a historic day for Forfar to beat Rangers,” he said.
“The players were magnificent and I thought the game was played in the right spirit with both teams.
“We watched Rangers the week before and Alistair has watched us a few times.
“We made a few changes but I thought we were well prepared for the game.
“I don’t think we’ve had a better result in our history.
“It’s as good as anything I’ve done as a manager.
“You saw how much our players wanted it and we never stopped passing the ball.
“Each and every one of them was magnificent.
“We have always had teams here full of character and the players have just made their manager a very proud man.”
Worst team in Rangers’ history?
The action on the pitch was followed by a verbal volley fired at Charles Green by McCoist that left seasoned reporters saying they had never heard anything like it.
When asked for his thoughts on Green’s remarks, McCoist said: “I’ve got to be careful because Forfar deserved their win and well done to Dick Campbell and his players but our players picked up the newspaper at breakfast to be reminded they are the worst team in Rangers’ history.
“I’ll tell you, that would be bad luck — to have the worst Rangers team in history and the worst chief executive in history at the same time. That’s downright bad luck.
“Instead of concentrating on the match, their minds are elsewhere and they’re worrying about their jobs.
“Because if he’s said we don’t win a cup and we go, then some of the players would be under threat too.
“As team talks go, I don’t think it was one of Charles’ best.”
Gavin Swankie had only been on the winning side once before in his career against Rangers, whilst at St Johnstone, and he dedicated the victory to his late mother.
He said: “Obviously, playing against Rangers is where you want to be and it’s brilliant for the club and to win was brilliant.
“I’ve played Rangers a few times now and I think I’ve only been on the winning team once. So it’s massive, especially for the club.”
It was only after hanging up his boots in 2022, after 22 years in professional football, that Swankie spoke more about his bittersweet memories of that day back in 2013.
He said: “It was not long after my mum passed away.
“We had just put Rangers out of the cup and I remember sitting in the changing room and I should have been up dancing about but I just kept thinking about my mum.
“It was a weird time.
“It was difficult with my family being Rangers fans too but that was probably the highlight at Forfar.”
It remains Forfar’s only victory against Rangers.
