Over 50 years on from the most iconic night in Rangers history, Willie Mathieson can still picture the scene at the Nou Camp with crystal clarity.
Speaking on Rangers TV, the former left-back delivered a vivid, atmospheric retelling of the build-up to the 1972 European Cup Winners’ Cup Final, from the scorching Catalan heat to the sea of travelling supporters who turned Barcelona into a little corner of Ibrox.
Ahead of the reopening of the famous old ground – Mathieson spoke of the beauty and the meaningfulness of the iconic original stadia.
Mathieson recalls that preparation for the final was as meticulous as it was unusual. Rangers were based in Castelldefels, perched on a hilltop outside Barcelona with a panoramic view of the Mediterranean.
Crucially, they were the hotel’s only residents. Manager Willie Waddell wanted isolation, focus, and, above all, shade.
“It was scorching,” Mathieson says. “Waddell kept us out of the sun because it was that warm.”
The heat was so severe that Rangers had special short-sleeved shirts produced for the final.
But in true 1970s fashion, the plan unraveled in a wonderfully Rangers way.
“They refused to use them because they were the wrong shade of blue,” Mathieson laughed.
Instead, the team took to the field in long-sleeved, thick shirts, while opponents Dynamo Moscow strode out in more modern short sleeves, a detail that feels almost symbolic today.
But if the heat was intense, it paled next to the shock of what awaited the players at the Camp Nou.
“You just couldn’t move for Rangers supporters,” Mathieson says.
“I don’t think we saw a Russian supporter!
“I don’t think they were allowed out of the country at that point.”
As the team bus wound its way into the stadium, players gazed out at a sea of blue. The official number has long been debated, but Mathieson sticks to what Willie Waddell told the squad before they stepped onto the pitch:
“He said, ‘Lads, there’s 25,000 Rangers supporters out there.
“They’ve come by hook or by crook. Every form of transport has been used to get them here.’”
Waddell then delivered the kind of speech that still sends a shiver down the spine:
“Back home, thousands are listening. People all over Scotland, Britain, Europe - millions around the world - are waiting on this result.
“Don’t do it for yourselves. Do it for them.”
If Waddell’s words were intended as motivation, they worked instantly.
The famous commentary replays the scenes that followed:
“Stein… it’s a goal! A goal by Stein!”
Thousands of Rangers supporters poured onto the pitch in wild celebration, creating some of the most iconic and chaotic scenes in the club’s history.
Willie Johnston’s double would stretch the lead to 3–0 - “right out of the blue,” the commentator gasped, before Dynamo mounted their late fightback.
But the night belonged to Rangers, to Johnston, Stein, Dave Smith, John Greig, and of course to Mathieson and the countless others who etched their names into folklore.
The full sit-down interview can be found on Rangers TV.