There were 90 seconds to go in what would go down as the greatest Scottish Cup Final of all time at a wet and windy Hampden Park on Saturday 25 April 1964 in front of what seems now an incredible crowd of 120,982.

90 SECONDS TO GO! ....... DRAMA IN THE CUP FINAL

It was Dundee versus Rangers, who incidentally were aiming for only the second domestic treble of their illustrious history.

While Dundee, still displaying the artistry of the championship winning side of two years earlier were determined to continue their excellent form which had taken them to this, their first final since 1952 when they were rocked by an unfancied Motherwell side.

The teams lined up as follows:

Rangers: Ritchie, Shearer, Provan, Greig, McKinnon, Baxter, Henderson, McLean, Millar, Brand, Wilson.

Dundee: Slater, Hamilton, Cox, Seith, Ryden, Stuart, Penman, Cousin, Cameron, Gilzean, Robertson.

Rangers had most of the play in a first half full of excitement although Dundee showed they would always be dangerous with some intelligent breaks into attack, making sure the Gers were always on their toes. There were so many talented players on view that the football couldn't fail to be of the highest quality.

Still, half-time was reached and stalemate, with the main talking point being the outstanding display from Dundee goalie Bert Slater and the general view that whatever the final outcome, his performance would be remembered by everyone who witnessed it that day.

Bert, now living in Brechin has an incredible recollection for facts, figures, incidents and personalities from his playing career.

'I remember the game vividly. I had won a Scottish Cup winners medal with Falkirk in the 1957 final against Killie after a replay, and being only 20 at that time was enthralled by it all.' 'I was determined in 1964 to soak up the whole sense of occasion and instill in my memory the whole day and what it meant as one doesn't know if these days will happen again!' 'It was rare to reach two cup finals in these days with two so-called provincial clubs, as it probably is today, although Dundee were not really a provincial club, being champions two seasons earlier!'

The second half was what most fans will remember about this marvellous cup final as in the 71st minute Rangers finally broke the deadlock with a simple goal from a Jimmy Millar looping header that Ralph Brand dummied and wrong-footed Bert.

Before Bert had time to let this get to him Dundee had equalised straight from the kick-off as Alex Stuart sent a great ball through to Kenny Cameron and he struck a venomous hook shot scorching into the Rangers net that Billy Ritchie hardly saw!

Back to square one and Rangers set about swarming around the Dundee goal for a late winner which seemed destined never to arrive.

People were looking at their watches and making arrangements for the replay when with 90 seconds to go and ingenious switch paid the full dividend for the Light Blues.

Their two superb wingers, Willie Henderson and Davie Wilson had been kept in check all afternoon by the Dundee full-back pairing of Hamilton and Cox and decided to swap wings in a final effort to swing the game. Dundee's fatal error was not to switch the full-backs with the wingers.

Henderson for the first time got past his marker and chip a beauty into the Dundee goalmouth where Jimmy Millar was waiting unmarked and almost leisurely glanced the ball past Slater. The deadlock was broken and in injury time Rangers added an almost incidental third when Brand knocked a parried Wilson shot past Slater to really wrap it up for Rangers.

What was to be ' Slater's Final' had suddenly become in the eyes of the Rangers fans 'Henderson's Final' although to this day I don't think anyone would take anything away from Bert's performance that day.

Bert rates that display pretty highly in his career, ‘I would say that game and the European Cup tie against Anderlecht in Brussels were the two best games of my life, although if I had the chance to change anything in my career I don' t think I would. I had a fantastic footballing career from the moment I was signed for Falkirk from Broughton Star by Bob Shankly at the tender years of 17.

I then joined Bob's brother Bill at Liverpool and won a Second Division winners medal at Anfield while Dundee were winning the Scottish title in 1961/62.

One Shanks sold me to the other and I found myself playing European Cup football which brought another host of memories including being protected by the Black Watch in Cologne after a battle on the field with the Germans and photographers popping flash-guns about two inches from my face in Milan even when play was at the other end of the park!

'I played with and against some marvellous players and find it hard to single out any of the Dundee team who were all brilliant although Gilzean and Smith were immense. Gordon Smith had won three Scottish league medals with three different clubs, none of which were the old firm and that is a record that only he has achieved. I think that says it all about Gordon as a player.

'I played with Hunt, Yeats and St. John at Anfield and against the likes of Law and Charlton and these guys were all great players. My all time favourite though was the Falkirk full-back, Alex Parker, who represented Scotland in the World Cup in Sweden in 1958 and just oozed sheer class.'

Bert could have talked all day if I had the time and I would have been a willing listener because what came over in my chat with him was the feelings and emotion he still had for the game and his memories which he obviously cherished so dearly.

Something Bert told me that not many folk will know to this day is that the very next morning after the Rangers cup final, Jimmy Millar, the scorer of two of the Gers’ goals visited Bert's house and OFFERED Bert his WINNER' S medal - a gesture that Bert has not forgotten to this day. Jimmy felt Bert had earned it and this offer is surely the one of the greatest shows of respect any player could have had for his fellow professional.

Unknown to Bert I spoke to Jimmy Millar, now Mine Host at the Duke's Head Bar in deepest Leith, and he recalled both the game and his wonderful gesture although he quipped 'You must be joking!' when I tried to ask him about the medal incident, which came over to me as modesty from another old timer only too happy to chat about the old days.

The last word went to Jimmy Millar who although acknowledging that Bert Slater was the best man on the park that day observed that Rangers should have been 6 - 1 up at half-time!

Maybe it's time to leave this story and start researching the next Memory match!