Rangers (Scotland)

Rangers FC is a professional football club from Glasgow in Scotland who were formed in February 1872 in Glasgow by four men: brothers Moses and Peter McNeil, Peter Campbell and William McBeath who were out rowing on the River Clyde when they saw a group of men playing football on Glasgow Green.

They decided upon the name of the club after an English rugby club and seeing it in a book. The official founding of Rangers is recognised as being in 1873, when the first AGM took place. In 1876 joint founder Moses McNeil became the clubs first Scottish International player.

The first ever ‘old firm’ derby against Celtic was played in 1888, with Rangers being defeated by a side with many guest players from Hibernian. A rivalry was born both on and off the pitch!

They played friendlies until becoming founder members of the Scottish League in 1890. ‘The Gers’ moved into Ibrox Park after playing earlier matches at Fleshers' Haugh, Burnbank and the home of Clydesdale Cricket Club in Kinning Park.

The first trophy was lifted in 1890-91 as Rangers shared the inaugural Scottish League title with Dumbarton. After being defeated in the final of the Scottish Cup by Vale of Leven on a couple of occasions, Rangers got their hands on the trophy in 1894 with a win over Celtic at the second Hampden Park.

Further Cup wins were added in 1896-97 against Dumbarton and the following year against Kilmarnock, followed by the league title of 1898-99 as the century drew to a close. William Wilton was appointed as the clubs first manager as ‘The Light Blues’ began the 1900’s in style as they were crowned as league champions in 1899-00, 1900-01 and 1901-02 with a Cup victory over Heart of Midlothian being added in 1903.

A terrible disaster had occurred at Ibrox Park on the 5^th April 1902 as fans packed in for the Scotland v England match. The rear of the newly built wooden West Tribune collapsed after heavy rain had fallen the previous evening. 25 people lost their lives with 517 injured.

Archibald Leitch was called in to redesign the ground, which was now a bowl with steep terracing. Celtic became the dominant force for the rest of the decade. Both sides faced each other in the Cup Final of 1909. The trophy was not awarded after serious violence between supporters; some of which was sectarian, caused the abandonment of the game.

The following decade saw several more titles arrive at Ibrox as Rangers were crowned champions in 1910-11, 1911-12, 1912-13 and 1917-18. Wilton’s side delivered another title in 1919-20 before the manager died in a boating accident, with his assistant Bill Struth taking over.

Struth led the side to more league titles in 1920-21, 1922-23, 1923-24, 1924-25 and 1926-27, before Rangers collected their first league and cup double in 1927-28 as Celtic were dispatched 4-0 in the Cup Final at Hampden Park.

A new classic Main Stand was erected at Ibrox Park with Archibald Leitch again the architect. The league titles continued to arrive in Govan as Struth’s side brushed aside all opposition. The titles came in 1928-29, 1929-30, 1930-31, 1932-33, 1933-34, 1934-35, 1936-37 and 1938-39. An amazing crowd packed into Ibrox of 118,567 for the New Years old firm clash in 1939.

To add to the league triumphs, the Scottish Cup was also added in 1930 against Partick Thistle, in 1932 versus Kilmarnock, in 1934 when St Mirren were the Hampden opponents, in 1935 against Hamilton Academical  and in1936 as Third Lanark were defeated.

Struth remained in charge following World War Two as the break didn’t stop Rangers, with the team being built around their ‘Iron Curtain’ defence which was repeatedly water tight. Rangers were Champions of Scotland in 1946-47 before they defeated Morton in the 1948 Scottish Cup final.

The league and cup double were delivered in 1948-49 with Clyde the Cup runners-up, and again in 1949-50 and 1952-53 with East Fife and then Aberdeen the beaten Cup finalists. They were to be Bill Struth’s last triumphs as Rangers greatest ever manager.

He led the club to eighteen league titles, ten Scottish Cups and two League Cup wins during his thirty four year reign in charge of the team.  Scott Symon became just Rangers third ever manager when he was appointed in June 1954.

Symon brought further success to the club in the rest of the decade as league titles were delivered in 1955-56, 1956-57 and 1958-59 before the Cup was won in 1960 with victory over Kilmarnock. Rangers had begun playing in European competition by this time and they reached the final of the European Cup Winners Cup in 1961 with the legendary Jim Baxter in a starring role.

The Gers were defeated on aggregate by Fiorentina, but took consolation by winning the league title once again, before winning the domestic Cup in 1962 with a win over St Mirren as local youngster John Greig started to make his mark on the team. Two more Scottish League and Cup doubles followed in 1962-63 and 1963-64, with Celtic and then Dundee being the beaten finalists in the Hampden showdowns.

Celtic were defeated after a replay as the Cup was lifted once more in 1966, as Rangers went on a run to another European Cup Winners Cup final the following season. On that occasion the Light Blues were defeated by FC Bayern Munich in Nuremburg.

Celtic were setting out on a period of dominance in Scottish football under Jock Stein and Symon paid for his failure to challenge. He was replaced by Davie White as manager in November 1967. 

In the summer of 1969 White made two major signings with Colin Stein arriving from Hibernian and Alex MacDonald coming in from St Johnstone to add to Greig and another future legend; Sandy Jardine.

However, success wasn’t delivered and White was dismissed in November 1969 despite some excellent performances. Celtic were simply too good at the time. The former Rangers legendary winger and Kilmarnock title winning boss, Willie Waddell, became the new manager.

The 1970-71 season was marred by the second Ibrox Disaster. On the 2^nd January 1971 fans were attending the derby with Celtic. The Hoops were leading 1-0 when Stein grabbed a late equaliser. It appeared that someone fell on stairway 13 causing a massive pile up. 66 people were killed; some of whom were children, and 200 more were injured.

With Celtic completing the double in 1971, Rangers qualified for the Cup Winners Cup the following campaign as runner-up. A tremendous run saw the Gers defeat Stade Rennes, Sporting CP, Torino and then FC Bayern Munich to reach the final at the Camp Nou in Barcelona.

Rangers opponents were Dynamo Moscow in the showpiece, which turned out to be a classic game. Goals from Stein and a Willie Johnston brace gave the Glasgow side a 3-0 lead. The Russians pulled two goals back to set up a nervy finish. Sadly some Rangers fans let their celebrations go too far after skipper Greig had lifted the trophy, as a pitch invasion led to a one year ban from European competition.

Following the triumph Waddell moved upstairs with Jock Wallace taking charge of the team as he brought in new signings to replace aging stars. His side lifted the 1973 Scottish Cup with victory over Celtic in front of a gate of 122,714.

Wallace’s sides gave Celtic’s ageing side some serious competition, with the Gers lifting the league title in 1974-75 and retaining the crown the following campaign when the Cup was added for good measure following a win against Heart of Midlothian.

Rangers completed their fourth domestic treble in 1977-78 following the pre-season signings of Davie Cooper and Gordon Smith. Aberdeen were defeated at Hampden Park in the final of the Cup. At the time Ibrox was being extensively redeveloped with new stands being constructed directly behind the goals to rid the arena of its bowl shape.

Wallace departed from the club in the summer of 1978, allegedly in frustration of his working relationship with Waddell and being denied cash for new young signings with finances going into the stadium. The new manager was former playing legend John Greig.

In his first season at the helm, Greig led the team to the Scottish Cup with victory over Hibernian in a second replay. Dundee United were defeated in the 1981 final, but success was relatively thin on the ground under John Greig.

Attendances plummeted as the new Ibrox neared completion. Greig resigned in October 1983 to be replaced by the returning Jock Wallace who fared little better aside from winning a couple of League Cup’s before resigning in April 1986.  

New chairman David Holmes was alarmed at Rangers fall from grace. He acted in dramatic fashion as Graeme Souness was appointed as the clubs first ever player-manager, whose first appointment was to bring in Walter Smith as his assistant from Dundee United.

English clubs were banned from European competition at the time following the Heysel Disaster. Rangers and Glasgow was suddenly a desirable destination for players south of the border. Souness signed Colin West, Chris Woods, Jimmy Nicholl and Terry Butcher to join him and the likes of Ally McCoist and Ian Durrant on the pitch.

Souness led his side to the 1986-87 Scottish Premier League title. Trevor Francis, Ray Wilkins, Mark Walters, Mark Falco, John Brown and Richard Gough were signed but Rangers failed to defend their title. However, the club would embark on one of their most successful ever periods.

Businessman David Murray bought the club in 1988 with players such as Gary Stevens, Mo Johnston, Mark Hateley, Pieter Huistra and Oleg Kuznetsov played their parts as Rangers won the league in 1988-89 and 1989-90 before Souness departed for Liverpool in April 1991.

Walter Smith took over and guided the side to a hat-trick of titles. The dominance continued under Smith as further titles came in 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96 and 1996–97 to complete nine consecutive titles.

The Cup was also added during this period with victories over Airdrieonians in 1992, Aberdeen in 1993 and Heart of Midlothian in 1996 with Brian Laudrup, Paul Gascoigne, Gordon Durie and Jörg Albertz playing major roles.

The 1992-93 campaign was perhaps the stand out of the period as Rangers went on a tremendous run in Europe as well as clinching the domestic double the team went within one game of reaching the UEFA Champions League final; finishing as runners-up in a group containing eventual winners Olympique Marseilles.

Smith departed to join Everton in the summer of 1998, with many of the players of the nine in a row era leaving at the same time. Dutchman Dick Advocaat was appointed as the new manager, whose first season in charge; 1998-99 saw Rangers complete another domestic treble with Celtic the beaten Cup finalists as Lorenzo Amoruso led from the front.

The feat was repeated in 1999-00 as Aberdeen were defeated in the Hampden Cup Final after the league title was secured. However, worrying times were ahead.  The club was floated on the Ofex financial market, but the idea didn’t work. Poor runs in Europe were not helping.

Celtic were once more in the ascendency when Advocaat was replaced by Alex McLeish in December 2001, who immediately installed a fighting spirit in the side that won his doubters over. The Scottish Cup was lifted following victory over Celtic in 2002, before the Ibrox side returned to retain their trophy with a win against Dundee to add to the Premier League title that had been earlier secured.

Nacho Novo, Thomas Buffel, Peter Løvenkrands, Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Barry Ferguson and Alex Rae proved to be smart signings as Rangers came from a seemingly hopeless position to pip Celtic to win the 2004-05 Premier League title on a dramatic final day.

McLeish’s reign came to an end at the completion of the 2005-06 season as he was replaced by Paul Le Guen. The appointment offered much as the Frenchman had a good track record of producing young talent, but it turned out to backfire as domestic form was poor leading to Le Guen leaving the club by mutual consent in January 2007.

Walter Smith returned as manager and added experienced defenders David Weir, Ugo Ehiogu to go with other signings Carlos Cuéllar and Lee McCulloch.

The following season Smith led the team to the UEFA Cup Final at the City of Manchester Stadium, where they were defeated by Zenit St, Petersburg in an occasion marred by trouble throughout the day involving the travelling 150,000 Rangers fans.

There was consolation for the defeat in the shape of another Scottish Cup when Queen of the South were defeated. Rangers went on to retain the Cup following victory over Falkirk as well as winning the Premier League crown.

Smith continued to build a strong team containing Pedro Mendes, Kenny Miller, Steven Davis, Alan McGregor and Kyle Lafferty. The team made it three in a row Premier League titles when topping the table in 2009-10 and 2010-11.

Club legend Walter Smith retired as manager in May 2011 to be replaced by Ally McCoist. In all Smith's teams won ten Scottish Premier League titles, the Scottish Cup five times and the League Cup on six occasions.

However, some of the big money players over the previous seasons were to cause the club major problems years after their departures. Sir David Murray had bank rolled the club for many years, but it had big debts as Murray's own personal business hit losses.

Murray sold the club to businessman Craig Whyte in the summer of 2011. Whyte claimed he had the collateral to take the club forward, but he misled Murray and the supporters as he used advanced ticket sales to pay for his purchase.

Several respected people and former players at the club walked away during the 2011-12 season before the club were forced to enter administration in February 2012 and were deducted ten points. They had to fight a huge tax bill with the HMRC and several members of staff were made redundant. The team were banned from playing in European competition for the following three seasons.

After several months under the administrators, a consortium led by former Sheffield United CEO Charles Green bought the club, despite last minute attempts from another consortium under the legendary Walter Smith making a last minute effort to purchase them.

HMRC turned down an attempted CVA meaning that a 'newco' would have to be formed with the old company being liquidated. However, fans were assured that the former history would remain intact with the newco.

As Rangers were a brand new business in simplistic terms, the SPL member clubs were forced to vote on whether to accept Rangers into the league, or whether they'd be forced to ply their trade in the Scottish Football League. The deciding vote was scheduled for July 4th.

On 25th June the Fraud Squad announced that they were launching a probe into Whyte's takeover of the club. A couple of days later former centre back John Brown announced he was looking to launch a fans bid to buy the club from Green, who it appeared was struggling to substantiate his funding.

On Friday 13th July 2012, the clubs of the Scottish Football League voted for Rangers to be placed in their third division, the fourth tier of Scottish football, which set off panic at some Premier League clubs who assumed that they'd be returning after a year to replenish their finances.

In January 2013 Green once again made loud noises about taking Rangers out of Scottish football after the Premier and Football League's came up with a new plan to restructure the divisions. Rangers were not consulted and the new move would mean that they would play against many of the same clubs as in the 2012-13 season. Green suggested that the Football Conference in England could be a possibility, although the authorities distanced themselves from the idea.

Rangers went on to lift the Third Division title in 2012-13 with a couple of incredible crowds of over 49,000 flocking to Ibrox. The following season saw event greater success, despite continuing upheavel and behind the scenes rows over the club ownership with Green apparently disappearing from the scene. Gers went unbeaten in the league all season and also reached the Scottish Cup semi final and the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup.

The 2013-14 season saw Rangers go up once again as champions to reach the second tier Championship. However, more financial problems began to surface. Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley bought more shares and lent the club collateral. The fans began to revolt and protest, with many boycotting the club.

Ally McCoist was put on gardening leave as Rangers could not afford to sack him as results and morale suffered. His assistant Kenny McDowell took over team affairs, while five players were sent to Ibrox on loan from Newcastle, which infuriated fans further.

An EGM was called by Dave King who headed a consortium looking to take over the club and force out the board of directors. The new consortium became the owners of Rangers in February 2015 as King and his board looked to reduce that Ashley had on the club.

Former playing favourite Stuart McCall was installed as manager as the team looked to try and chase Heart of Midlothain in the league to no avail. Rangers reached the promotion/relegation play-off but they were defeated by Motherwell.

In June 2016 the former Brentford manager Mark Warburton was appointed as the new Rangers manager to replace McCall. David Weir was brought back as assistant manager. Warburton made many signings from outside the top tier in England including Wes Fotheringham, James Tavernier and Martyn Waghorn.

The team romped to the Premier League title as well as lifting the Scottish Challenge Cup before beating champions Celtic to reach the Scottish Cup Final. Rangers led Hibernian 2-1 with just ten minutes remaining, before the fresher Edinburgh side grabbed two late goals to deny the Gers and to ignite wild scenes on the Hampden Park pitch among opposing fans.

A poor start  in their return to the Scottish Premiership led to the departure of Warburton and Weir in February 2017 with youth coach Graeme Murty taking over in a caretaker capacity before the arrival of the Portuguese Pedro Caixinha in March 2017.

Caixinha's reign proved a failure, lasting only until October 2017 when Murty resumed in a temporary role until the end of the season when the Ibrox supremos appointed Steven Gerrard as the new manager with Gary McAllister as his assistant.

Several new signings arrived at Ibrox including Colombian striker Alfredo Morelos followed by winger Ryan Kent, Borna Barišić and Nikola Katić. Rangers improved in the 2018-19 campaign without picking up silverware.

However, they finally inflicting a league win against Celtic for the first time since 2016. The 2019-20 season saw the Gers reach the knock out rounds of the Europa League but go down to Celtic in the League Cup final before finishing as league runners-up. Rangers collected league title number fifty-five as the romped away from their nearest challengers in 2020-21.

Rangers FC will play in the Scottish Premiership in the 2021-22 season.

My visits

Rangers 2 Heart of Midlothian 0 (Saturday 19 September 1992) Scottish Premier League (att: 41,888)

I visited Glasgow with three mates: Ade Stelling, Nick Procter and Nige. We set off from Scarborough on Friday lunchtime full of anticipation of a fun packed couple of days. Ade had done the business once again with a splendid deal through work to stay at a quality hotel as well as tickets for the match and the fight between Chris Eubank and Tony Thornton at the Scottish Exhibition Centre in the evening.

Friday evening in Glasgow was absolutely top notch. The bars were superb (Bonkers seemed to stand out) as was the company. There wasn't a hint of trouble which added to things. Saturday morning saw an early start as Ade had got us into the fight "weigh in". All the big names were there and Ade caught up with a contact regarding our tickets. We then went on to find a couple of bars near to Ibrox.

The atmosphere down there was vibrant before we commenced onto the stadium. We were sat in the upper tier behind the goal in the Broomloan Stand. The two tiers of seats were in blocks of different colours. The Copland Road Stand was an exact copy at the far end. To our left was a similar construction, The Govan Stand. 

All were separate from each other, with gaps in the corners. The Main Stand was on the right, and what a magnificent structure it was. It looked good with its old red brick from outside, but viewing from the other side was even more impressive. 

The large bottom tier was still for standing spectators. The next tier held the directors box, before a third tier looked to offer a great vantage point. I would have loved to see how they lifted the original roof off to put on a third tier and then affix a new cantilever roof.

The match saw a comfortable enough win for The Gers with goals from Stuart McCall and Ally McCoist. I was surprised with the performance of Mark Hateley. He had never really done much to impress me, but he put in a great display of energy and no little skill.

The evening's entertainment wasn't bad, though in truth Eubank's bout was about the worst on the bill. He was still struggling to put the demons of the tragic Michael Watson fight from his mind. 

We got to meet Barry McGuigan who was a smashing bloke and laughed when former Scottish world champion Jim Watt was forced to battle with everyone else to get served at the bar. They have their priorities right up there!

Rangers 3 Hibernian 0 (Saturday 13 March 1993) Scottish Premier League (att: 41, 076)

Again Ade came up with the goods regarding accommodation and match tickets. This time we were joined by Crusher and Dave Trenham who soon realised what a good night Glasgow had to offer. I seem to recall performing a Lazarus like comeback in the pubs before meeting new friends in the Savoy nightclub!

We got out at Kinning Park on the underground and called at a few pubs on our way to the ground. Our seats were virtually in the same place as the previous visit. Rangers strolled to an easy victory. The highlight to my mates and the fellas sat around us when was I volunteered to do the right thing before half time. 

I needed to use the stadiums facilities so I offered to bring back refreshments for our gang. While queuing a massive cheer went up as Rangers went one up through David Hagen. Of course we were in the only stand without TV's on the concourse as it is used by Celtic fans on old firm days. 

Never mind, I thought, only for Mark Hateley to score a second goal just as I was collecting my change. I entered the seating area and slowly climbed the stairs to hear louder and louder laughter greeting me. 

My pals had spread the word! Crusher was especially made up as it exacted revenge for the same thing happening to him as he missed Gary Lineker score the only goal against Brazil at Wembley when waiting to buy me a hot dog! Fortunately, I saw Ally McCoist round off the scoring.

We went out again on the Saturday evening. From what I remember we had fun. Happy days!

Thursday 27th January 2010

I was in Glasgow for a few days so I once again visited Ibrox. My time was very tight, not least owing to me standing on the wrong platform at Paisley station! My task was to call in on nearby Benburb FC of Junior football as well as hoping for a sneak look inside Ibrox. Ideally I would have done a stadium tour, but there wasn't one scheduled on the day I was there.

I got out at Ibrox underground station and scurried up to the huge looking crick structure. Since my previous visits the corners opposite the now newly named Bill Struth (main) Stand had been filled in. Views were very limited to gaps through the gates in the corners by the detached stand.

I saw some workers fixing inscribed bricks onto the wall. This gave me a further handy insight into how that system worked. I rushed off to Benburb (from where Ibrox was still visible) and back through large open industrial and retail units. 

I walked round the back of the Struth Stand to take photos. At one point I nearly pushed my luck as I was tempted to dive in through an open gate where a caterer was delivering. The thought of being trapped inside the stadium deterred me!

I wandered back to the station knowing I still had unfinished business for another day.

Friday 18th January 2013

Each year a few of my pals travel with me on a lads weekend of football and socialising. Unfortunately some could not make it in 2013, but Karl Theobald was extremely keen; especially when we decided on Glasgow.

After a long train ride and dropping our bags off at our digs for the weekend we walked into the city and then caught the subway to Ibrox with a few minutes to spare for our afternoon tour. Rangers were to play at Peterhead on the Sunday lunch, so this was the next best thing. 

We were placed in a welcoming room while the other three tourists arrived, before our guide Andy took over. The famous old Main Stand reminded me so much of the pavilion at Lord's Cricket Ground inside. It was certainly very impressive, keeping all the traditions. 

After a short couple of videos Andy took us upstairs to the Blue Room, where guests and directors meet before games. We then went next door into the managers office, which included relics from the past including some items that belonged to Bill Struth.

We walked out into the directors box and then the famous trophy room. The walls were adorned with both paintings and memorabilia. After heading down the marble stairs we visited the home dressing room where the team shirts were hanging. It was explained that the captain sits under the portrait of the Queen.

Andy pressed the switch as we headed up the tunnel with 'Simply The Best' booming out as we emerged pitch side. I was delighted when I was told that probably the best player I'd ever seen live, Paul Gascoigne, was held in the highest esteem at Ibrox. 

After that it was time to go, so we headed back up Sauchiehall Street for a meal before heading out around some wonderful pubs for the evening. The tour had been a brilliant start to the weekend and offered excellent value for £8

Rangers 0 Hibernian 2 (Friday 13^th February 2015) SPFL Championship (att: 29,769)

Plans had been hatched for a few months amongst Karl Theobald, Carl Ellis, Guy Watson and myself for a long weekend in Glasgow. BT Sports moving the Ibrox clash to Friday night live TV worked perfectly for us.

After an early start from London I joined Karl and Carl at York. The journey to Queen Street in Glasgow was broken slightly for a swift pint in Edinburgh at the Guildford Arms. Guy was in Dow’s when we arrived so we had another swift pint before the walk along Sauchiehall Street to Henglers Circus for food and a pint. The walk up the severe hill of Garnet Street to McLays Guest House on Renfrew Street had us all panting; as did the stairs to our third floor rooms.

Following a brief siesta, Carl and I joined the others in The State. The busy teatime pub was definitely not shy of putting on its heating. To the delight of the others I had left the match tickets in my room, so I had to climb the hill once again. It certainly worked my meal off!

A taxi dropped us at The Horseshoe, a favourite haunt and Glasgow institution for a swift pint before saying goodbye to Carl for a couple of hours. As a Hearts fan he was not interested in either of the sides in action. The three of us heading to the match went to The District and Park Bars before the walk up to Ibrox.

Fans were led by a trio of former players in protesting against the clubs board outside the main entrance on Edmiston Drive. They were most unhappy and their mood had not been helped when it had been announced the EGM had been moved to London a few weeks later along with demands that caretaker manager Kenny McDowell was forced by the board to play all five loan signings from Newcastle United if they were fit.

Our tickets were for upstairs in the Copland Road Stand behind the goal and cost £23. The programme set me back a further £3. There was plenty of choice of seats as many season ticket holders hadn’t bothered to attend. It would have been interesting to see just how many were in attendance rather than the figure given out?

The Gers started out with gusto and forced the early pace. Unfortunately they were lacking in so many departments; most notably class and confidence. Lee Robinson was in goal as regular stopper Steve Simonsen had been banned after being found guilty of illegal gambling. The youngster stopped a shot from Jason Cummings on nineteen minutes but Scott Robertson slammed in the rebound as the defence did a passable impersonation of statues.

The home crowd tried to rouse their team, but there were arguments amongst themselves at times. This was the frustration bubbling over from the shambles off the pitch, but it didn’t help the players; some of whom were petrified to make an error. At least the smallish crowd allowed easy access for a pie and Bovril!

Rangers were tenacious after the break and dominated possession, but Hibs showed more composure and were quicker to the second ball. Their packed away section of around 1,000 certainly enjoyed their evening despite the close attention of the Rangers rowdy younger element.

The Hibs defence went deeper and deeper and keeper Mark Oxley had plenty of work to deal with, but many of the crosses were inaccurate. A perfect delivery was wasted by Kris Boyd who missed the target with his head. Invention was lacking in the passing from the hosts.

With five minutes remaining Nicky Clark had a shot that struck the hand on a visiting Hibee. Referee Steven McLean could easily have awarded a penalty, but he waved away the appeals. Hibernian broke quickly with Fraser Fyvie playing a fine pass to release Lewis Stevenson whose shot went in despite Robinson’s best efforts.

We departed along with thousands of others and were on the Subway in no time. Some staunch Rangers fans were absolutely devastated. One older fella said he’d never been so depressed in his life. The club was everything to him.

We were back in The Horseshoe before the away fans left the stadium. A smiling Carl re-joined us and told us of a row in the pub leading to a couple of ejections with the frustration of the match.

We continued for a pint in the Drum & Monkey before taking a cab to The Bon Accord who were showing the New Zealand v Sri Lanka opening Cricket World Cup encounter. Carl and I called it a night, while the other two continued. It had been a fantastic opening day of our visit.

Rangers 3 St Johnstone 2 (Wednesday 1^st March 2017) Scottish Premiership (att: 46,800)

My plans had been to attend a match between Dumbarton and Greenock Morton when I initially booked my flight to Glasgow to tick off a new ground. However, the fixtures had been moved around with the game being played a week or so earlier. Fortunately, Rangers were at home the same evening.

After a siesta following a walkabout in the East End of Glasgow I decided to walk down Paisley Road to Ibrox. I took a slight detour to the Louden Tavern, but didn’t hang around as they had run out of bitter. Instead I had a pint in the Park Inn.

I actually arrived a bit early at the stadium so I could grab a bite to eat inside. In hindsight I should have bought from one of the numerous vans outside. For the first time I had decided to purchase a seat in the Bill Struth Main Stand Club Deck right in the top tier.

The stewards were rather keen on enforcing fans to sit in their designated seats but as soon as it was obvious that many season ticket holders would not be attending I moved to a better view. The actual announced attendance was about ten thousand less than those who were actually there.

Rangers were in a bit of a slump on and off the pitch. Manager Mark Warburton had been recently sacked and fans were disgruntled. Graeme Murty had been appointed as the interim manager while the club searched for a long term head coach.

The team were lacking in confidence, but they were giving it everything they had. They went ahead half way through the first period. Emerson Hyndman had a shot blocked which fell to the impressive Barrie McKay to rifle home through a ruck of players.

Martyn Waghorn doubled the lead with a fine glancing header just after the restart as it looked like the Gers would stroll to victory. At times they played some fine football, but were perhaps a little guilty of taking their foot off the gas.

With sixteen minutes remaining David Wotherspoon halved the deficit for Saints. Shortly after, Rangers defender Rob Kiernan dived into a daft challenge and was correctly shown a straight card by referee Kevin Clancy.

Michael Coulson came on as a sub for St Johnstone and I had visions of the former Scarborough player snatching an equaliser. It wasn’t Coulson, but Steven Anderson who slotted home the leveller with a side foot finish following a corner.

The home fans were extremely vexed. Rangers poured forward. Hyndman, on loan from AFC Bournemouth saw a shot smash back off the crossbar, before he collected a ball on the edge of the box and slot it into the bottom corner past Zander Clark as Ibrox went wild in the second minute of stoppage time.

On the final whistle I ran down the stairs and across the car park behind the Copland Road stand as fast as I could to join the queue for Ibrox Subway station. The crowd control was excellent and within a few minutes I was aboard an Outer Circle line train to St George’s Cross.

A short walk later I was inside the Bon Accord and sampling the usual array of fine real ales and chatting to the Partick Thistle supporting barman. It had been a really top night which was crowned by a battered burger and chip supper.

The following day I headed back to Glasgow Airport for a flight to Berlin to catch a FlixBus to Dresden.

Rangers 2 Stranraer 0 (Friday 17^th January 2020) Scottish Cup Round Four (att: 38,560)

My long weekend off work allowed me to venture back over the border for the Scottish Cup weekend, with Rangers’ game being moved for live TV offering me an opportunity to visit Glasgow which I never knock back.

My EasyJet flight from Luton was to time arriving at 10.30am. I considered several options on how to fill in my time until check in at 3pm. The weather was bright but bitterly cold, so I plumped for a walk rather than heading out trying to gain access to non-league venues.

After a hearty breakfast at the Counting House I walked through Merchant City to Glasgow Green for a most enjoyable stroll through the park taking photos as I went before crossing the Clyde and walking back towards the city along Ballater Street.

The Test match between South Africa and England offered me entertainment on the phone radio as I took a look at the Billy Connolly Mural on Dixon Street before I headed to The Horse Shoe for libation, from where I went for a pint in The Pot Still before returning.

The ambience beat me. I love people watching and The Horse Shoe offers many fantastic characters for it, as I stayed a bit longer than intended before grabbing a late lunch from Greggs and settling into my room at the Queen Street Travelodge. I woke a little groggy and took the Subway from St Enoch to Ibrox.

The Louden Tavern was packed to capacity, so I aborted the attempt at a beer and went straight to my turnstile for the Sandy Jardine Lower Stand. My ticket was £17, with the programme £3.50. I grabbed a Scotch pie and Bovril offer for a fiver.

Rangers fielded several fringe players in the first game back from their warm weather break in Dubai against their opponents who were propping up the third tier League One. It had the potential to be a drubbing but turned out to be one sided and dull.

A minute’s silence was observed for former Rangers and Scotland goalkeeper Bobby Brown before Stranraer immediately went into defensive mode as the game took on a defence against attack training ground look.

Young debutant Nathan Patterson looked decent for the Gers but several of his teammates let themselves down when they had a chance to impress manager Gerard. Jermaine Defoe went close with a couple of efforts in the first half.

Keeper Max Currie used his body to deflect a Ryan Jack effort against the post. Stranraer were dogged and resolute with veteran lone striker Ryan Stevenson chugging about like a Stenna Line ferry as he did a decent enough job pestering the Rangers defence.

Scott Arfield eventually opened the scoring just before the break as he latched onto a loose ball from a scruffy set piece and attempted clearance which summed up the play perfectly. After the restart Currie made excellent stops from Nikola Katic, Steve Davis and Defoe.

The pressure eventually paid off when Adam Cummins clipped the heels of Defoe in the box. The ref pointed to the spot and the front man picked himself up to slot away the penalty before being replaced by Sheyi Ojo.

The sub had me pondering whether to head to Sports Direct and buy some boots. He was awful. Joe Aribo went close a couple of times to extending the lead before the game petered out. Steven Gerard was quoted after the game as saying that he was bored with the game. I couldn’t disagree.

The queue for the Subway was longer than I’d anticipated but the police dealt with the crowds quickly and efficiently. I took the train to St Georges Cross and then walked down to The Bon Accord.

As ever I was treated like a regular as soon as I walked in, with Partick supporting barman Craig immediately asking which games I was going to. It always has them shaking their heads! The ale board was superb as was the company. I love that pub.

Rather than looking for a late night establishment I headed back to the hotel with some supper after another cracking long day in a city I never bored of visiting.

Some of the older pictures on this page of Ibrox have been taken from the internet.