Glasgow Rangers

I primarily have my boyfriend, Conner Crowder (@MrRamtastic), to thank for this trip. 

Conner, happy to visit Ibrox

Despite my relationship indeed being a Forest Derby local rival love affair, Conner spent 10 years of his life growing up in Ireland and due to the separation between the Catholics and Protestants, he was often singled out for being English. Did he bow down to it? No, of course not. He instead decided to adopt Glasgow Rangers as a second team in order to annoy the Catholics further...

So, after informing me he'd never been to Ibrox before I decided that for his 23rd birthday it was about time he lived his dream of attending a Rangers game. And then my dad got jealous so he got a ticket for his birthday too. A huge thanks to him as well, who took us to the game. 

Saturday March 15th 2014

We'd driven up to Carlisle the night before to cause less stress on our journey for the following day. Rangers had changed the kick off time to 12:45 (thanks for that) due to television coverage. A Nottingham to Glasgow commute for a football game had little appeal at the best of times; leaving at that time in the morning left no appeal at all. 

The weather was appalling, as it mostly is in the north. It was cold, windy and left Scotland looking very undesirable and surrounded by a wintery mist. Once again this was not the most attractive thing we'd hoped to have seen. 

It barely took us an hour and a half before we eventually parked up on a road outside Ibrox stadium. We spoke to a Rangers season ticket holder who seemed interested in the fact that two Forest fans and a Derby fan had driven up to see Rangers and gave us a bit of background on the past couple of seasons regarding attendances etc. 

Outside Ibrox (photo from @MrRamtastic - Conner Crowder)

He was delightfully friendly and very open about his club; something quite refreshing at times, particularly when English football is often destroyed by some media comments (Nottingham Forest seem particularly involved in this lately). He departed us after a few minutes and left us to take a look around ourselves. 

I will firstly say, that though old, the stadium is absolutely stunning. The architecture and design is beautiful. It was a pleasure to walk around. The front main stand looked like an old fashioned train station. It was different and incredible to see. The grounds I've visited, particularly big or newly renovated, tend to have the same features in places. Ibrox is brilliantly unique and quirky and as you enter the ground, the theme continues. 

Inside Ibrox (Photo from @MrRamtastic - Conner Crowder)

Rangers have experienced some hardships recently, which is no secret to the Footballing world. One of the biggest clubs in the world, like many in the English leagues, have been struck by financial issues which saw them plummet to the bottom tier of Scottish football and left to rebuild a new team. Inside Ibrox, there's a sense of history, pride and over all- a family. Everyone seems united. This was highlighted by a protest in the 18th and 72nd minutes (1872- the year Rangers was established) to seek power of voice from the fans. With the current owners refusing investment and resorting to loans from the bank, it continues to be worrying times for the Rangers faithful, who, without a doubt with a 44,000 attendance on Saturday, have stuck by their precious team with unwavering loyalty. 

The game itself was uninspiring. In fact it was worse. The opposition, Dunfermline, gave Rangers a tough game, passing the ball better and having more possession. The officiating in Scotland has often been questioned and it's evident why. Some things which I personally thought were sending off offences were waved 'play on' and minor offences were booked in an instant. Odd, but interesting none the less. 

Two stunning goals from Rangers proved why they'd just won the League One title and put the game beyond Dunfermline. 

I do have plenty of points to slate 3rd tier Scottish football but I've certainly seen worse from second tier English so I won't waffle on about how poor the game really was. 

Another notable characteristic from this club is it's British heritage. It's something which is often highlighted, particularly with the differences between them and bitter rivals Celtic, who remain in the SPL, once again unchallenged whilst Rangers are fighting their way back to the top. 

The Ibrox is completely British based. There's very few flags that enforce Scottish patriotism, instead they pride themselves on being a part of Britain. This knowingly raises a few eyebrows among fellow Scottish teams, however an 88th minute stadium-wide chorus of 'God Save our Queen' left the hairs on the back of my neck standing up and gave the impression that Rangers are proud of their beliefs. Hats off to them for this. 

Many people write off Scottish football, myself included. However, witnessing the passion first hand from this one club in Scotland has opened my eyes to the serious financial problems that can be inflicted on clubs and how it can destroy good foundations. It's also opened my eyes to the personal reasons that heats up hatred between football fans. Rangers are adamant that they support the British tradition regardless of the views of other Scottish football fans. This could possibly spread to the rest of Scotland with the possibility of Scottish independence in the near future. 

I feel as though you can learn from Rangers. Plenty of people have voiced the way it's 'pathetic' that they should celebrate winning the 3rd tier as though they've won something big...

Ask yourselves... would you celebrate winning the league with your team?

Regardless of who you support- how big you are- whatever league you're in... if you found yourself in the 3rd tier of the football league, would you celebrate winning promotion? Of course you would. We are proud to support our team just like Rangers.

Financial difficulty almost destroyed one of the biggest clubs in the world, regardless of whether they're in Scotland or not; they have won countless honors. A lot of English clubs have bowed down to financial difficulty and have struggled to come back. For Rangers to return to the heights from which they came, it's going to take patience and determination. They may have stormed the league this year, but there will always be bumps along the way. You have to run before you can jump- it's impossible to win the first if you're only in the third. This is why they celebrated winning the league the way they did. This is why any fan would celebrate

Where are the likes of Luton Town and Portsmouth now? Rebounding from a financial crush like this is something every football fan would be proud to see if it should ever (god forbid) happen to our teams. Thankfully, these two are in the process of turning around their fortune. 

It's almost happened to my own club Nottingham Forest on a few occasions; it's happened to Cardiff City, Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City, Notts County... just to name a few select teams off the top of my head. 

I see a lot of football fans complaining about hardships on the pitch and struggles, but seeing Rangers reminded me that whatever does happen on the pitch, we still all support our clubs regardless of league position and financial situation. The only faces in the football club which don't change are the fans'. 

So, I repeat, you can learn a lot from Rangers. 

I wish Rangers the best of luck in the new season ahead in the second tier of Scottish football and with their attempt to seal investment. It was a pleasure to visit and I hope to do so again, maybe when they return to the SPL. 

To other football fans- my message? When times get tough, the only thing worth while doing is supporting your team, because at the end of the day, they're a part of us whether it's Sunday league or Champions League.