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Football News: A To Z: Rangers

A To Z: Rangers
Image from: freelargeimages.com

A To Z - Rangers

 

A is for America

Rangers have had a number of American internationals represent them in recent years. DaMarcus Beasley, Carlos Bocanegra, Maurice Edu and Claudio Reyna won nearly 100 caps for the USA between them during their careers. Reyna was the first USA international to join, in 1999, after playing in Germany, opening a doorway that has seen a number of Americans join since, not all making their mark on the international arena.

 


B is for Bazza

Barry Ferguson was one of their favoured sons. A captain who came through the ranks to captain the side ala John Terry or Steven Gerrard. Unlike those other two, he did leave for a spell at his peak, but was never fully able to establish himself in English football with a struggling Blackburn Rovers side and returned. Captained Rangers to five league titles, five Scottish Cups and five Scottish League Cups while playing over 400 games for them.

 


C is for Cups

Rangers have won the Scottish Cup 33 times in their history and the Scottish League Cup 27 times, winning both as part of a domestic treble 7 times. It is part of their claim to be the most successful football team in the world.

 


D is for Dick Advocaat

The first foreign manager of Rangers was Dutchman Advocaat, who is still managing at the age of 71 in his native Netherlands with Utrecht. The tenth manager of the club, replacing Walter Smith, he came in following Rangers' first trophyless season in 12 years and set about rebuilding an ageing side with big money signings such as Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Artur Numan and Andrei Kanchelskis. His first season resulted in a domestic treble, his second in a record SPL winning margin of 21 points.

 


E is for Eleven

Rangers were one of the first eleven clubs in the inaugural Scottish Championships in 1890, sharing the first ever trophy with Dumbarton. They had been founded in 1872, named Glasgow Argyle, only to be renamed Rangers at an early club meeting.

 


F is for First

They hold the record for having finished first in the Scottish league more times than anyone else. They have finished first 53 times and once joint-first with Dumbarton. There are very few teams in the world who can come close to the number of league titles they have in domestic competition.

 

G is for Glasgow

Rangers are based in the city of Glasgow and often incorrectly referred to as 'Glasgow Rangers', though that is not in their name at all. At least not since they changed from Glasgow Argyle very early on. Glasgow is the most populous city in Scotland and is located on the River Clyde.

 

H is for Hummel

The Danish company are Rangers' official kit supplier on a 3 year deal which started in 2018, replacing Puma as the manufacturers. The club's first kit manufacturing deal was with Umbro in 1978.

 


I is for Ibrox

Rangers home stadium is the Ibrox Stadium in the Ibrox area of Glasgow. Like so many football teams, at least those who have yet to sell naming rights to a corporation, their home stadium is named after the area it is based in. Football people are not know for their imagination! It was known as Ibrox Park up until a renovation in 1997. It has been the scene of a couple of disasters, in particular the Ibrox disaster of 1971, when 66 Rangers fans were sadly lost after warnings of previous incidents were not heeded. Due to the disaster, Ibrox was redesigned and rebuilt along the lines that English grounds would later follow due to the Taylor Report, with a modern design of all seater stands.

 


J is for Johnston

The first openly Catholic player to sign for Rangers since the First World War was Mo Johnston. He was only the second player to play for both Celtic and Rangers, having left Celtic for French football with Nantes before Graeme Souness stepped in to buy him. He scored 46 goals in 100 games for Rangers before moving down south to sign for Everton.

 


K is for King

Chairman and part-owner of the club, he is also the man who brought in Steven Gerrard to manage the club, as he knew him from his other footballing love, Liverpool FC. King had been found guilty of tax fraud in South Africa where he lives, he paid a fine of 80,000 rand per conviction. A resulting fine of 3.28m rand in total. He had originally been indicted on 322 counts.

 


L is for Liquidation

Rangers entered administration in February 2012, owing money to HMRC who refused to allow the company which owns the club to exit administration via a Company Voluntary Arrangement forcing the plc into liquidation on 31st October 2012. Charles Green bought up the business and assets before taking up the membership in the Scottish Football League of the club, but in the 4th tier of Scottish football.

 


M is for McCoist

Ally McCoist is a Rangers playing legend, though not quite as successful as a Rangers manager! As a player he won 9 titles in a row and became their record goalscorer with 251 league goals alone. He is probably better known in England for his time as a team captain on the BBC sports quiz 'A Question of Sport' and worldwide as one of the commentators on the FIFA videogame series. He also played a fictional Celtic player in a film alongside Robert Duvall 'A Shot At Glory'.

 


N is for Northern Ireland

Rangers fans, probably mainly due to their rivalry with the originally Irish Catholic fanbase of Celtic, have become identified with the Protestant and Unionist elements in Scotland and, in particular Northern Ireland. You are much more likely to find a Rangers fan who identifies themselves with Northern Ireland (or even England!) than you are with Scotland in international football.

 


O is for Orange

Rangers have often been connected with the Orange Order, a Protestant fraternal order founded along the lines of Freemasonry, which is why it bring controversy when they have an orange kit. It is believed that the rise in popularity of the Orange Order in Glasgow was behind the club's policy of refusing to sign Catholics which operated from the 1920s until the signing of Mo Johnston in 1989. However the Orange Order itself has often criticised the Rangers fans who turn up for their rallies as an embarrassment.

 


P is for Protestantism

Rangers have traditionally drawn their support from the Scottish Protestant side of Glasgow. It was claimed that they were started as a Protestant boys' club, but many believe that the Protestant-leaning just comes from being rivals with the Irish Catholic Celtic and so attracting opposing fans. Even at the height of their sectarian signing policy, when they would choose not to knowingly sign Catholic players, there was no policy of signing only Protestants though.

 


Q is for Queen

Alongside their support of the union is support for the ruling head of state, Queen Elizabeth II. Which has led to a lot of jibes from rival fans about how they support the queen in song but avoid paying her taxes.

 


R is for Ready

The word 'Ready' appears on the club's crest under a lion rampant on a ball. It is the club's motto and was shortened from 'Aye Ready', Scottish for always ready.

 


S is for Struth

William 'Bill' Struth is the legendary second manager of Rangers, in charge for 34 years, winning 30 major trophies including a record 18 Scottish league titles. He had worked as a stonemason and professional runner before helping with training players at his local club Heart of Midlothian. Struth became the first Scottish manager to win the domestic treble. He was a strict disciplinarian who insisted players wore a collar and tie when they arrived for training.

 


T is for Thirty Two Red

The current shirt sponsors are betting company 32Red. They are the club 7th shirt sponsor, after CR Smith, McEwan's Lager, NTL, Carling, Tennent's and Blackthorn. The current deal expires in the summer.

 


U is for Underdogs

Rangers are in a position they are not used to being in, that of underdogs. With Celtic being the current champions, on a streak of titles that shows no sign of ending currently. As manager Steven Gerrard said, second is not good enough for Rangers.

 


V is for Value

Striker Alfredo Morelos cost just over £1m but has scored 29 goals and added 11 assists this season so far. Not bad for a player who has disciplinary problems which have led to 3 red cards in the season so far. At just 22 years old and having picked up his first Colombia cap during the season, they should be able to make a significant profit on his sale.

 


W is for Whyte

The man who put Rangers into admin and then liquidation was Craig Whyte, who, after buying the club from David Murray, failed to make PAYE and VAT payments from the club. Whyte turned out to be nothing other than a conman who destroyed the club he claimed to support. Despite all the evidence to the contrary he managed to get acquitted of all charges related to his time in charge of the club but he has been delcared bankrupt and banned from being a company director for 15 years.

 


X is for Xesturgy

Something that they need to do a lot in the Rangers trophy room with 118 major trophies and many more minor ones since their formation in 1872. In case you were wondering, xesturgy is the process of polishing.

 


Y is for Young

Former Rangers player George Young was the first player to surpass 50 caps for Scotland. He played for Rangers between 1941 and 1957 as a defender. He was part of what was known as the 'Iron Curtain' defence for Rangers and was nicknamed Corky as he carried a Champagne cork with him that he believed was lucky.

 


Z is for Zelalem

Then Arsenal youngster Gedion Zelalem spent a year on loan with Rangers in 2015/16. Still only 22 but has already played for 3 different teams with Rangers in their name. As well as Rangers themselves, he has played for Olney Rangers before Arsenal and is currently on loan with Swope Park Rangers from Sporting Kansas City..

Written by Tris Burke April 29 2019 17:58:53

 

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