Background
Stein, who was born in Linlithgow, began his career with Armadale Thistle.
Stein, who was born in Linlithgow, began his career with Armadale Thistle.
He scored one of the Rangers goals in a 3–2 victory against Dinamo Moscow in the final. Stein also represented Scotland and the Scottish League XI. He scored nine goals in 21 appearances for Scotland. This included him scoring four goals in one game, a 1970 Fédération internationale de football association World Cup qualification match against Cyprus.
He went on to play professionally for Hibernian, Rangers and the Scottish national team during the 1960s and 1970s.
He also had a spell in England with Coventry City. On 2 January 1971, during an Old Firm match at Ibrox, Stein scored an equaliser in stoppage time to salvage a draw for Rangers after Celtic had taken the lead in the 89th minute.
Minutes later after full-time, barriers on Stairway 13 at Ibrox gave way, causing a chain-reaction pileup of spectators that killed 66 and injured over 200 in what would be remembered as the second Ibrox disaster. Initial reports speculated that Rangers supporters who had left the ground turned back upon hearing the crowd roar at Stein"s goal, leading to the disaster.
The official inquiry into the tragedy conclusively proved that all the spectators were moving in the same direction at the time of the collapse, however.
Stein registered a hat-trick for Scotland in 1969, when he scored four goals in a match against Cyprus. He held the distinction of being the last player to score a hat-trick for Scotland until 2015, when Steven Fletcher scored three times against Gibraltar. In the twilight of his career, after leaving Kilmarnock, Stein also played for Elgin City, who were then a Highland League side.