George Tulloch, coach of Southampton Rangers? 1956 FA Cup team, never got the chance to see his charges slug it out with BAA in the inaugural final ? nor lament over their 3-1 loss.

The Scottish national, who played professionally in his native homeland, ran afoul of strict immigration laws of the day when he failed to inform officials he had been involved in a minor cycle accident.

And when news eventually did reach Tulloch?s employers, Holmes, Williams and Purvey (HWP), the company?s late owner Sir John Ploughman had the Scottish ex-pat worker immediately sent back to the UK ? just weeks prior to Rangers? FA Cup showdown with eventual champions BAA.

Sadly, Tulloch, who had boldly predicted Rangers would qualify for the final, died about a month after BAA?s historic win.

To this day Rangers skipper Ray Todd claims politics played a big part in the matter.

?George was under pressure quite a bit, not just from BAA but also from Ploughman whom he worked for at HWP. He had a slight accident and regardless of how slight it was he was supposed to report it,? Todd explained. ?But he didn?t report the accident and so he was forced to go back home, and unfortunately when he did return home he died of natural causes. It was a devastating loss for us. It had a big effect on the team.

?He wanted to integrate football in Bermuda and so he was always under a lot of pressure from those in authority during the time. And so the very first slip-up he made, he was penalised by being deported.?

Tulloch coached Rangers for several years before he was eventually succeeded by Gladstone Burchall.

?Burchall, one of the top goalies Bermuda ever had, eventually came in to fill the void,? Todd recalled. ?And the fact he had such a good influence on the team seemed to help us cope with Tulloch?s loss.?

After losing in the final, Rangers had to wait another 28 years before winning a maiden FA Cup under coach Rick Richardson. Rangers defeated a Gary Darrell-led Devonshire Colts 2-0 in a replay in 1984 at the former National Stadium.