He broke Rangers' scoring record in the 1931-32 season with 44 league goals but his accidental collision with Celtic goalkeeper, John Thomson, on September 5,1931 changed English's life forever.

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. 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.” Previous winners include Kris Boyd, Kenny Miller and Nikica Jelavic, and of course Alfredo Morelos and Jermain Defoe have now been added, so I’m in good company. The middle of the Celtic defence had a gaping hole and, with McStay in a hopeless position to catch him, Thomson decided to leave his goal in an effort to halt English. Just inside his penalty area, the keeper, with that bravery which was one of his greatest attributes, dived for the ball.The reporter added: "Early in the game the old Celtic–Rangers weakness of 'footbody' instead of football was evident. It didn’t creep into the proceedings: it completely enveloped them from the outset, and not a minute passed without the referee’s whistle blowing for some sort of infringement or other. Trainers and assistant trainers were the busiest men on show." 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 ] 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.”

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.” 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. 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. Thomson's head collided with English's knee which ruptured an artery in his right temple which led to Thomson's death. Samuel English was born in the hamlet of Crevolea in Aghadowey, Ireland. In 1924 his family moved to Dalmuir in Scotland, and for a time he worked at the John Brown & Company Shipyard. [2] Club career [ edit ]English eventually grew disillusioned, hung up his boots after what he described as “seven years of joyless sport”, returned to Glasgow, took a job as a sheet metal worker in the shipyards and retreated from public view. a b c d e f g h i "Sam English". Spartacus Educational. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013 . Retrieved 31 March 2014. Before the match, Celtic were being touted by some as title favourites, but there were two hurdles over which Celtic would have to scramble before they would be able to fulfil that prophecy; namely Rangers and Motherwell, who had arguably the most dynamic team in their history.

He continued: “There was sympathy there at first. He got a lot of sympathy from players and fans over the next month or two. But it slowly dissipated. Before he knew it he was a target. Players would say: ‘Watch that murderer’. If he went near a keeper they would say: ‘He’s killed somebody else’.I always thought of him as ‘the guy who killed John Thomson’,” he said. “I didn’t know any better. That was really unfair, really incorrect.” Englishwas a powerful centre-forward who joined Liverpool from Rangers before the start of the 1933-34 season.

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'. Trying to overcome his part in the tragedy, Englishmade a blistering start to his Anfield career and by the halfway stage of the league season he had already scored 16 times. But he only startedeight matches during the second-half of the season, scoring a furtherfour times. Five minutes after the re-start, Celtic were pressing high in an attempt to get an opener. The ball was in Rangers’ quarter of the field when Marshall managed to steal possession. He transferred at right angles to Meiklejohn, who slipped it forward to Fleming, standing on the touchline a few yards on the Celtic side of the halfway line. McGonagle came tearing across, but Fleming dodged him and sent the ball low up the centre to be chased by English. It is such a gorgeous, unique trophy,” said Holmes. “There are 44 balls, which signify each goal he scored in the 1931/32 season, on a silver rose bowl. It is really beautiful. His family absolutely love it. Roses were his passion.” 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.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. Despite being in and out of the team, he still finished with a good goals-per-game record of 26 strikes from exactly 50 matches. After retiring from playing, English worked as a coach for Duntocher Hibs and Yoker Athletic before finding employment in a shipyard. [2] celtic and Scotland goalkeeper Thomson lost his life at the age of just 22 as a result of the injuries he sustained in a collision with English in an Old Firm game at Ibrox on September 5, 1931. 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.”