RANGERS Football Club has come a long way since its first match on Glasgow Green in 1872.

Founded by four friends - Moses and Peter McNeil, Peter Campbell and Tom Vallance, who came up with the idea while walking through what is now Kelvingrove Park – the club’s rise was swift and within a few years of that original game, it was competing for Scottish football’s highest honours.

In the early days, Celtic and Rangers were friendly rivals as they sought to topple Glasgow’s main team of the day, Queen’s Park. According to our sister newspaper, Rangers historian David Mason has in his possession a press cutting talking about Rangers assisting ‘their friends’ Celtic by playing a warm up match before the Celts took on their ‘deadly rivals’ Clyde FC.

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In 1920, when Rangers manager William Wilton (who took on the job in 1899) died in a boating accident, Celtic manager Willie Maley led the club in mourning for his friend. Wilton guided Rangers to nine league championships, five Scottish Cups, 13 Glasgow Cups and 11 Charity Cups.