Ten years ago, Glasgow Rangers were down and out, relegated to the 4th division. On and on they went back to the top since then. Now they are in the final of the Europa League against Eintracht Frankfurt, but all their problems are far from being solved.
Glasgow knows many great football nights, but that Wednesday 50 years ago was still something unique. On that 19 April 1972, the city witnessed two European semi-finals. Rangers welcomed FC Bayern in the Cup Winners’ Cup, and Celtic hosted Inter Milan in the National Champions’ Cup. In the end, 80,000 cheered at Ibrox for a 2-0 win and a place in the final, while the 75,000 at Celtic Park were in mourning after the penalty shoot-out against the Italians. When Rangers then beat Spartak Moscow 3-2 at Camp Nou, the “Barca Bears” were born.
Chance of first international title in 50 years
To this day, the winners of those days are revered like heroes, which is hardly surprising as it remained the proud club’s only international triumph. In 1961 and 1967, Rangers lost the Cup Winners’ Cup final, and in 2008 they lost out to Zenit St. Petersburg in the first Europa League final. And after that, they are more concerned with escaping from the past, leaving little room for the dreams that can now come true in the Europa League final against Frankfurt.
“The Resurrection” was the headline given by several British media outlets to the march from the 4th Division to Seville, where thousands of fans from both camps will be celebrating the final on Wednesday. “Hopefully it stays peaceful,” says Craig Moore, once Rangers captain and later a defender at Mönchengladbach. “It’s not just about the players, it’s about the fans, how you represent your club and your whole country.” Rangers posted several videos on Monday with appeals to fans by club legends, in one of which Graeme Souness admonishes “Behave yourselves!”
four times.
Because the celebrations after the 2021 championship had got pretty out of hand last May. In the middle of the lockdown, Rangers fans had vandalised Glasgow city centre, even stopping at churches by some. Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made an angry appeal to the rioters. “The violence, vandalism and anti-Catholicism displayed here by Rangers fans is simply unacceptable,” she said a year ago.
The rifts have deepened again in Glasgow between Celtic and Rangers, between Catholics and Protestants, between those who lean more towards Ireland, while a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II still hangs in the Rangers dressing room. And the discord, of course, also has to do with the comeback of the Blues.
Especially in the late 1980s and 1990s under Souness and the late Walter Smith, who died in October, they had been the dominant force in Scotland, with nine championships in a row and stars like Brian Laudrup, Jörg Albertz, Paul Gascoigne or the young Gennaro Gattuso.
Flying high, falling low
Much later, however, it came to light that the club was paying numerous players and coaches illegally via a second company and, like Borussia Dortmund at the time, was living massively above its means. The professionals were earning lavishly, coaches like Dick Advocaat were busy buying. More than a decade later, all this came to light. When Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs demanded £75 million in arrears, but Rangers only had two million, the then 140-year-old club was officially liquidated in 2012 and had to restart in League 4.
A court finally ruled five years later that not a penny could be recovered from the former Rangers’ bankruptcy estate and that the new company Rangers Football Club Ltd. could not be held liable for it. The opposing fans, not only from Celtic, have therefore long had their own way of counting: Rangers have not won the world record number of 55 championships, but just one, that of 2021.
Rebuilding from the fourth division
The title last year, won with coach Steven Gerrard on the bench, was already seen as a signal: Rangers, back in the top flight since 2016, are finally back in business. The fact that Celtic won the championship last week is something they can get over in the blue corner of the city. Because three days after the Europa League final, a second title opportunity awaits them on Saturday: in the Scottish Cup final against Heart of Midlothian.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst, once a Rangers professional himself in the golden days, took over the coaching job from Gerrard last November and manoeuvred the team into two finals with tactical flexibility and skill. Today, the Dutchman says, “It’s been an incredible journey.”
And for the whole club, whether Rangers are only ten or already 150 years old. The millions from this Europa League help enormously for the cash that has long been tight again, so already in January hardly any reinforcements had been possible. At least Aaron Ramsey came on loan from Juventus, but was mostly absent due to injury. However, the Welshman could be part of the team for the final against Eintracht.
It’s all about the top flight
After all, it’s also about the future. The winner of Sevilla will qualify directly for the Champions League, where Rangers have not been in a group stage since 2011. And the top flight could be a decisive argument for newcomers to move to Glasgow. You experience great football nights there anyway.
