Morton’s 1921/22 squad gave the club its finest moment to date by lifting the Scottish Cup, and who could argue those credentials for a place in the Morton Hall of Fame? The name of Jimmy Gourlay is fabled as the scorer of the decisive goal in the Final, but he wasn’t the only star in the squad – George French, for example, didn’t even play in the Final yet still hit a remarkable 9 goals in 6 appearances in the Scottish Cup that season, whilst team-mate Alex McNab won 2 Scotland caps during his time at the club.
Having disposed of the likes of Motherwell and Aberdeen en-route to the final, Morton went in to the tie against Rangers very much as the underdog. After just 11 minutes though, Jimmy Gourlay scored what proved to be the winner directly from a free-kick and Morton held on to lift the trophy to the surprise of many. Indeed, so low were expectations amongst the club itself that it is rumoured that at full-time, Morton had to borrow champagne from Queens Park to toast their victory as they hadn’t taken any of their own; the squad were packed straight off to Hartlepool for a friendly and didn’t get the chance to celebrate with their fans until the following Wednesday when over 10,000 people joined the festivities at Cappielow.
Sadly that famous victory turned out to be Morton’s first and last national title, which has only added to the legend of the men who achieved it and it is this glory that has earned them an automatic place in the club’s Hall of Fame.