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William Wilton set the standards which live on to this day. He set the code of discipline and standards of dress. He made players understand the responsibility of what it meant to be a Ranger.
Wilton joined Rangers in September 1883 and played for the minor teams. Within 6 months he had been appointed match secretary of the reserve teams and within 6 years he had progressed to match secretary of the first team. During his time with the reserves he had overseen the move to Ibrox from Kinning Park.
In 1890 he became the Scottish League's first treasurer. His main skills were as an administrator and organiser, he was an imaginative and innovative man. During his time as secretary Rangers won two Scottish Championships and three Scottish Cups. The most famous win coming in the 1898-99 season when Rangers won the league with a perfect record.
In eighteen games there were eighteen victories with 79 goals scored and just 18 conceded. Rangers finished 10 points ahead of Hearts and no other team in the world has ever matched this feat. At the end of this season Wilton was appointed manager.
In May 1899, Rangers became a limited liability company with share capital of £12,000 and Wilton was appointed the first manager of the club. Rangers were to win seven more Championships under Wilton's guidance. Sadly Wilton's time as manager was to end tragically.
Rangers had won the 1919-20 Championship by three points from Celtic. The day after the last game of that season, a 3-1 win over Morton, Wilton was to lose his life. It was on the 2nd May 1920 as he had been relaxing in Gourock after a hard season, he was thrown overboard a friend's boat as it broke its moorings in heavy seas.
Wilton had set the foundations for a period of dominance which was to last until the Second World War. He had signed many great players among them R. C. Hamilton, Alec Smith, Sandy Archibald, Herbert Lock, Willie Reid and Andy Cunningham but perhaps his greatest signing was William Struth.
