Derek Rylance

Derek was signed from Kinnoull in February 1972 after previous trials with St. Johnstone and Dundee Utd, and he first appeared in maroon in a friendly against Clyde a week after his signing, as well as making two competitive league appearances the following month. The following campaign he started the season in the team, and it would be over seven years before he dropped out of the team for more than a couple of games in a row. In his first five full seasons at the club, he made over 40 appearances in every campaign, culminating in Derek playing 49 out of 50 games during the 1976-77 season. Over this period, Derek played in a variety of different positions in the team, although he mainly featured as a left back or outside left. Although a rare goal scorer, he scored an incredible hat-trick in a 3-3 draw against Celtic in August 1976, and despite making well over another 150 appearances, these were his last three goals for the club.

After continuing as a regular over the next two and a half years, he tore his knee ligaments in November 1979 which resulted in him missing the rest of 1979-80 campaign. He returned in time for the following season, but the appointment of new manager Ian Stewart saw Derek drop out of the team for the last few months of the campaign, and in May 1981 he was allowed to leave on a free transfer. The following month he returned to Kinnoull where he continued to play for the majority of the 1980s.