"Iron Curtain" was a term used to describe the defensive line of Rangers F.C.

Rangers F.C.

Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...

 during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The normal line-up in the early 1950s consisted of goalkeeper

Goalkeeper (football)

In association football, the goalkeeper occupies a position that represents the last line of defence between the opponent's offence and his own team's goal. The primary role of the goalkeeper is to defend his team's goal and prevent the opposition from scoring a goal...

 Bobby Brown, full backs

Defender (football)

Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....

 George Young

George Young (footballer)

George Lewis Young was a Scottish footballer, best remembered for his association with Rangers and for being the first player to receive over 50 caps for the Scotland national team.-Club:...

 and Jock Shaw

Jock Shaw

Jock "Tiger" Shaw was a Scottish professional footballer most famous for his time at Scottish club Rangers, whom he captained between 1938 and 1950....

, centre half

Defender (football)

Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....

 Willie Woodburn

Willie Woodburn

William 'Willie' Woodburn was a Scottish footballer. He was the last footballer in Britain to receive a life ban from the game for indiscipline. He is also an inductee of the Scottish Football Hall of Fame and the Rangers F.C...

 and wing halves Ian McColl

Ian McColl

John Miller "Ian" McColl was a Scottish association football defender who played for Queen's Park, Rangers and the Scotland national team...

 and Sammy Cox

Sammy Cox

Samuel "Sammy" Richmond Cox is a former Scottish international footballer.Cox initially played amateur football with Queen's Park, Third Lanark and Dundee during World War II, before turning professional in 1946 when he joined Rangers.Cox, a versatile defender, made his league debut for Rangers in...

. These positions refer to the old 3-2-5 formation, where the three defenders would mark the two opposing wingers and centre forward, while the wing-halves dealt with the opposing inside forwards. These direct match-ups meant that Rangers' Iron Curtain had several great confrontations with Hibs

Hibernian F.C.

Hibernian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Leith, in the north of Edinburgh. They are one of two Scottish Premier League clubs in the city, the other being their Edinburgh derby rivals, Hearts...

' Famous Five

The Famous Five (football)

The Famous Five is the collective term for Hibernian's forward line of Gordon Smith, Bobby Johnstone, Lawrie Reilly, Eddie Turnbull and Willie Ormond. The north stand at Easter Road was named in their honour when it was rebuilt in 1995...

 forward line of Gordon Smith, Bobby Johnstone

Bobby Johnstone

Robert "Bobby" Johnstone was a Scottish association football player, mainly remembered as one of the Famous Five forward line of Hibernian....

, Lawrie Reilly

Lawrie Reilly

Lawrance "Lawrie" Reilly is a former Scottish association football player. He was one of the "Famous Five", the Hibernian forward line during the 1950s. The others were Bobby Johnstone, Gordon Smith, Eddie Turnbull, and Willie Ormond...

, Eddie Turnbull

Eddie Turnbull

Edward Hunter Turnbull was a Scottish professional football player and manager.During the late 1940s and 1950s he was one of the Famous Five, the noted Hibernian forward line, along with Gordon Smith, Bobby Johnstone, Lawrie Reilly, and Willie Ormond...

 and Willie Ormond

Willie Ormond

William 'Willie' Esplin Ormond OBE was a Scottish football player and manager. As a player, Ormond was well known as one of Hibernian's Famous Five forward line, winning three league championships in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He then returned to prominence as a manager, first with a...

.

The lineup in the mid 1940s of Jerry Dawson

Jerry Dawson (Scottish footballer)

James "Jerry" Dawson was a Scottish footballer who spent most of his career playing for Rangers.-Career:...

, Dougie Gray

Dougie Gray

Douglas Herbert Gray was a Scottish footballer who spent his entire senior career with Rangers.Born in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Gray joined the Ibrox club from Aberdeen Mugiemoss in June 1925. A full back, he played for the club 490 times between 1925 and 1947, earning ten league championship and...

, Shaw, Scot Symon, Young and Cox was also commonly referred to as the Iron Curtain. This was done to the extent that most young people in Scotland would associate the term with Rangers, rather than the geopolitical situation

Iron Curtain

The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...

.