As Rangers fans, we have had to endure a tumultuous last fifteen years. Due to mismanagement from boardroom level, beginning with the second half of David Murray’s tenure, which left us debt-ridden and vulnerable to the eventual sale to Craig Whyte. From avoidable administration and liquidation due to Whyte’s scheming to Charles Green and co.’s false promises, we stuck by our beloved team, from the heights of the Champions League to the lows of the Third Division, Brechin and the Hedge.
We suffered through Mike Ashley, the Easdales and the spivs. The embarrassment of the Challenge Cup defeats to Raith and Alloa, Ally’s best efforts to keep some sense of normality with karaoke and darts competitions, leading to overpaid and overweight journeyman mercenaries causing shame to our crest.
Ally sent to do the gardening, Kenny McDowall wanting to be anywhere other than the dugout, zero shots on target against Celtic at Hampden. Things looked bleak, but the Three Bears of Dave King, Paul Murray and John Gilligan saved us from the worst timeline of events. We trudged on with the rise and fall of Mark Warburton, the Pedro Caixinha experiment blowing up in our faces, and Graeme Murty chewing on his zip, doing cartwheels as Celtic taunted us.
Until Steven Gerrard was brought in to bring back the standards. We had an upturn, but come Covid, we were still without a major honour since 2011.
Douglas Park, John Bennett and co. took up the mantle, and they, along with Gerrard, delivered 55, stopped ten in a row, and gave us memories to last a lifetime, televised memories, but the greatest memories and the sweetest title win of our history.
We had Gio and the Europa League final, wins over Dortmund and Leipzig. But we have been mismanaged; we didn’t follow Gerrard’s advice of fixing the roof while the sun was out.
We threw away our advantage, and Celtic have returned to dominance, and the 2024/25 season was doomed from the start. Hampden, gaslighting from the dugout, and players well past their sell-by date, not bothered, or simply not good enough. We lost to Championship side Queen’s Park at Ibrox, a calamity of unimaginable levels. Things looked bleak, almost as bleak as 2015 under Ashley. But now, we have hope.
A takeover to finally, after a quarter of a century, bring Rangers into the footballing 21st century.
This means the world to us. Finally, we have the ownership we deserve, sports businessmen with a proven track record of bringing results. A structure with Directors of Football, the search for a Head Coach and not a ‘good old fashioned’ manager underway, we finally seem to be run properly and modernly.
It gives us something we’ve lacked: a long-term vision and hope. Because without hope, your club has nothing to hold on to. We need that belief that goes beyond just blind hope. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel again. The route back to the top has started, and I cannot wait to embark down that route on the journey back to where we belong.
These new owners are not Rangers men, however. We may not like their decisions, they won’t be based on emotion, but they will get more right than wrong because of it.
We’ve given our club away to outsiders, but somehow, we’ve got our heart and soul back at the same time. This means everything. It is a fresh start, and I cannot wait.
The success may not be instant, we may need to be patient but we will see the start of a new Rangers revolution.
Season 2025/26. The new era. Aye Ready.