The Rangers fan who clinched Alloa win and ended Ally McCoist's reign

The National

a day ago

They have drawn their first two William Hill Premiership games of the season, against Motherwell at Fir Park and Dundee at home, and fallen four points behind defending champions Celtic in the league table in the blink of an eye. Their followers haven't exactly been slow to voice their displeasure about the results or their performances.
The new-look side would appear to have a gilt-edged chance to quell the rumbles of discontent in the stands by racking up a morale-boosting and much-needed domestic triumph in Govan against third tier opponents. Surely there will be no catastrophic slip-up against the part-timers?
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One Alloa alumnus, though, can foresee further trouble ahead for the hosts. 'Andy Graham (the visitors' player-manager) probably won't like me saying this, but I see no reason why they can't go there and get the result they're after,' said their former striker Greig Spence as he looked ahead to the tie earlier this week.
'I played with Andy at Alloa for a few years and I've got the utmost respect for him as a guy. He's one of the most honest, hard-working, genuine pros in Scottish football. I know his character and know he'll have his side ready. He'll have them fit, he'll have them well-drilled, he'll have them ready.
'It's hard to predict what you're going to get out of Rangers just now. They have a new manager and new players. I think it's a good time for Alloa to get them. They've been on a fantastic run. Believe me, they will not be turning up to make up numbers.'
Spence, now 33 and leading the line for East Stirlingshire in the Lowland League, knows from personal experience that anything can happen when the Clackmannanshire minnows meet the Glasgow behemoths in a one off encounter.
He helped Alloa to come from 2-0 down to beat Rangers 3-2 in the semi-final of Challenge Cup at Recreation Park back in 2014 – a shock which was the beginning of the end of Ally McCoist's turbulent reign as manager.
The Ibrox men were working their way back up the leagues following their financial implosion and were in the Championship, the same division as their rivals, at the time. Still, McCoist started Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller up front that evening and fielded no fewer than seven full internationalists during the course of an incredible 90 minutes. It was a David versus Goliath giant-killing act and then some.
(Image: SNS Group Rob Casey) 'If I'm being honest, it is probably is the biggest game of my career,' said Spence, who netted two second half goals, including a winner with just a minute of regulation time remaining. 'I am near the end of my playing days now and I do look back on my memorable matches and occasions now. It is definitely the one which stands out.
'I was playing for a club I had come through the youth system at and had played a lot of games for during a few different spells. So I knew exactly what it meant for the players, the coaches, the manager, the club, the fans, the whole town, my family. Collectively, it was a big night for everyone.'
Rangers travelled through to Alloa a few days after thumping Kilmarnock 3-0 at home in the Scottish Cup and were expected to prevail and prevail comfortably. But Spence, the lifelong Rangers supporter from Dunfermline who had spent some time on the books at his boyhood heroes when he was a teenager, was always confident they could be humbled. Even after Miller and Dean Shiels had netted.
'We had some very good players and a very good team and we had that belief in ourselves,' he said. 'On the night, we were missing five or six boys who would have started because the squad had been ravaged by a sickness bug. But the boys who came in didn't let us down. That was a testament to the spirit we had in the group.
'We didn't go into that game fearing Rangers by any means. They had their own issues at that point. It wasn't like they were the Champions League team they had been a few years earlier.
'We went two down after about an hour and at that stage you do think, 'Perhaps it isn't going to be our night'. But you keep going, you always keep going. I scored to make it 2-1 and that gave us an injection of confidence. I don't think they handled the pressure too well at that point.
'We were part-time, but our fitness coach was Tam Ritchie, who had worked in the lower leagues for years, and he had us in great shape. We knew we would be strong for the full 90 minutes, even against a full-time team like Rangers, because of the training we were getting.
'We were a part-time team in a full-time league. We only trained for an hour and a half two nights a week. So we knew we had to be fit. That was our mantra, our ethos. That was probably the fittest I have been in my career. It was a really professional set-up.
'Barry Smith was our manager and he was someone who just demanded that bit of respect. He wasn't a ranter or a raver, he was just somebody that you wanted to do well for. And we did on the night. Ryan McCord equalised shortly after I had pulled one back and then I got what proved to be the winner at the death.
'I won the ball in the halfway line, played it wide and then, as you are coached to do, just followed my pass. There was just a wee zip on the astro that night, a bit of pace on the ball. So when it came in I knew exactly where to be. It was literally what you dream of doing as a kid, scoring a late winner in a game like that.'
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The ignominious reverse was too much for the travelling support. Already unhappy at Rangers' indifferent league form, they turned on manager McCoist. The legendary striker, whose tumultuous tenure had been hampered by boardroom interference, political in-fighting and money problems, clung on for another week or so. But he departed after a 2-0 loss to Queen of the South at Palmerston Park nine days later.
Spence, who had admired the Scotland internationalist as a kid, was too caught up in the emotion of the occasion to recognise the ramifications of the result for his one-time idol. But the forward can still recall how, despite the abuse which was being hurled in his direction from the terraces, he waited to congratulate every one of the victors in the bowels of the stadium afterwards.
'We were more interested in celebrating with our fans than worrying about what was happening to them,' he said. 'I can't remember hearing much anger from the away end. I think a lot of their fans just left after the final whistle. It was a fairly surreal moment. I was thinking, 'Has this actually happened?'.
'But I do remember Ally and his players standing in the tunnel to shake our hands and wish us well in the final when we went back to the dressing room. You could tell they were devastated at what they were going through. That was the kind of guys they were I suppose, classy football folk.
'I don't think that result was a reflection on Ally McCoist as a manager as such. It was more an indication of where Rangers as a club was at that point. They were decent with us. I know quite a few Rangers fans who were there that night. Afterwards they got in touch to say, 'I can't believe you did that to us!' I still get noised up about it to this day.'
(Image: SNS Group Craig Watson) The Alloa fans may have toasted the unexpected and historic triumph in the local hostelries afterwards. But it was straight home to bed for the match winner. 'I had to get up for work the next day,' he said. 'Life carried on. At that point, I was doing my plumbing apprenticeship and was working with my dad's company. The next day I was out, crawling under floors, lifting heavy things. It was back to reality.'
Spence is fully qualified and has his own company, Greig Spence Gas Plumbing and Heating, these days. His hopes of making it at the highest level in the game never quite materialised. Still, he plied his trade in the paid ranks with Hamilton and Raith Rovers and is fondly remembered at both New Douglas Park and Stark's Park. He attributes the success which he did enjoy and his longevity in part to the stints which he had at Rangers and Celtic as a youngster.
'I was only at Rangers for about six months when I was about 13,' he said. 'I used to travel through from Fife three nights a week and play at weekends. So it was quite a commitment at that age, there was a lot of travel. It was tough. It didn't work out and I decided to move on.
'But it was still some experience going in to Murray Park and seeing first team players going about their business. The coaching was first class too. It was a step up from Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts certainly. I got to be a ball boy on a Champions League night against Porto. As a fan, it was an amazing thing.
'My family are all Rangers supporters as well so they were pleased for me. But when Celtic came in for me a few years later after I had broken through at Alloa and scored a few goals, the team I supported went out the window. You have to focus on the opportunity you have been given.
'I was at Celtic for three years. I trained with the first team, played reserve matches with international footballers, went all over the world to play in tournaments. I got a bad injury when I was there and the club looked after me very well. The whole thing was an incredible life experience.'
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Spence continued, 'The day I signed for Celtic the coaches told me they had high hopes for another new boy from down in Ayrshire, a lad called James Forrest. One of them said, 'We think he's the one'. After a few training sessions with James I was thinking, 'He doesn't look anything better than anyone else to me'.
'Then we played a game. Honestly, it was like a Ferrari racing Fords. I just stood back with my mouth open and said, 'Wow!' Whatever happened to him, eh? The rest is history. He was always destined for the very top.
'Callum McGregor was a little bit younger than us, but you could tell he would go on and have a good career. He was a fantastic footballer. He had come right through the academy and been well coached. He was pushing to get into our squad. Both of them have done well, have won everything in the game.
(Image: SNS Group Craig Williamson) 'When I was there I think there were maybe seven international strikers ahead of me. I am sure there were Georgios Samaras, Anthony Stokes, Gary Hooper, Shaun Maloney. As a young boy, it was very difficult to break through. You had to be a James Forrest, a total standout. I didn't get a sniff of the first team.
'But I know I gave it absolutely everything. I have no regrets. I think I was quite well thought of when I was there. I had to be realistic though. I was never going to be good enough and I moved on. But you couldn't buy the experience I had. It was invaluable and gave me a great standing. It must have because I am still playing all these years later."
Spence will tune in to Premier Sports this evening hoping to see the current Alloa side, who started the 2025/26 campaign with six consecutive wins, replicate the heroics of their predecessors in their glamour League Cup tie.
'It is a big game for Rangers,' he said. 'Domestically, they haven't been good so far. I thought they were lucky to get a draw against Dundee. Alloa, in stark contrast, have had an amazing start to the season. You just never know.'