Torrance Gillick

Who was Torrance Gillick?

Torrance "Torry" Gillick was a Scottish footballer who played on the wing for Rangers, Everton and Partick Thistle.

Born in Airdrie, Gillick was signed in 1933, aged 18, for Rangers by manager Bill Struth, after playing for prominent Glasgow junior club Petershill F.C.. He won a Scottish Cup winners medal in 1935, and that summer was sold to Everton for, a then record fee for the club, £8000. He stayed on Merseyside until the Second World War and during that time earned his five Scotland caps and a Football League Championship medal in 1939.

During WWII, Gillick "guested" for home-town Airdrieonians and Rangers. At the end of the war in 1945, Struth brought him back to Ibrox. He developed into a forward with excellent ball control and vision and became a feature in the famous post-war Rangers side, forming a partnership on the left with Willie Waddell.

At Ibrox, he played 140 times, scoring 62 goals. He won one League Championship medal, two Scottish Cup medals and two League Cup medals. Gillick left Rangers for Partick Thistle in August 1951. He played one season with the Jags before retiring to oversee his business interest, a Lanarkshire scrap metal firm. He died on 12 December 1971, aged 56, from undisclosed causes, on the same day as Alan Morton, also a retired Rangers player.