In May 2021, Rangers completed their journey as Steven Gerrard’s side were crowned Premiership champions and a historic 55th Premiership title was delivered to long-suffering supporters.
‘Going for 55’ – written by Herald and Times Senior Rangers Writer Christopher Jack - tells the story of the campaign, giving insight and offering analysis into how Gerrard revolutionised the club and restored Rangers to their place at the top of Scottish football.
With interviews from the money men who funded the rebuilding job, the staff and players that made the dream a reality and those in the press that saw history being made, this is a sporting tale like no other.
Here is day one of an exclusive extract from the book as Paul Murray, Dave King and Richard Gough reflect on Rangers' title glory.
RANGERS ARE champions. The sight of the words, the sound as they are read aloud, will elicit a range of emotions. No matter how often they are said, they will never lose resonance with a support for whom a 55th league title has become a defining moment in their lives.
On 29 July 2012, Rangers started what would become christened as ‘The Journey’. On 7 March 2021, they completed it. Rangers are champions.
There are dates, times, places and people that will forever stick in the mind and provoke feelings of despair or euphoria. There have been more events at the wrong end of the scale for Rangers fans over the last decade, but one has now trumped the lot as they revel in a unique sporting story and the greatest triumph in their club’s history.
The items within the Trophy Room at Ibrox signify past glories and encapsulate what Rangers is about, what makes it special. The cups, medals, artefacts and trinkets tell the story of Rangers’ past, but the moment that the Premiership trophy was placed behind the glass this season carried extra definition for a number of reasons.
The task of putting the achievement and its significance into words and into context is no easy one. Unless you have been through it, it is hard to comprehend just what title 55 means and why it is so emotive and so cherished.
Football may only be a game, but Rangers is a way of life. Those that don’t understand don’t matter, those that understand need no explanation.
The achievement of winning 55 is arguably the most important in Rangers’ history. It wouldn’t have been possible without that EGM victory in March 2015, however, and it is harrowing to even begin to imagine what fate would have befallen one of Scotland’s great institutions had those that cared for Rangers not ousted those that cared only for themselves.
The men that made it happen will never have a song sung or a stand named in their honour, yet their importance to Rangers cannot and will not be forgotten. Title 55 offers Rangers a chance to move forward but the past provides lessons as well as memories.
“You had the euphoria and the relief of the General Meeting on the Friday,” Paul Murray, the former Rangers director, said. “Outside of the birth of my children, that was one of the happiest days of my life in terms of it being an incredible feeling to be so successful and to be so emphatically successful.
“I was actually chairman at the time, I had been installed as chairman while Dave was waiting for his Fit and Proper clearance from the SFA. We were still listed on the AIM Market at that point and I had to release a statement to the Stock Exchange announcing the result.
“I had a representative from the NOMAD sitting with me at Argyle House and we were checking over the statement to make sure it complied with Stock Exchange regulations.
"We were clearing off all the numbers and it was about 3 o’clock in the afternoon. He said he would release it and he sent the email.
“Within about 30 seconds you heard an enormous roar outside Argyle House from the fans that had gathered to wait for the result. It had gone to the Stock Exchange and been immediately released. I never knew that Rangers fans followed the Stock Exchange!
“It was incredible. Within 30 seconds you heard this roar and the fans then knew what we knew and that we had won the vote. That will always live with me.”
Like Murray and John Gilligan, Dave King would watch on from the outside looking in throughout this momentous and historic campaign, but he still had his finger on the pulse with what was happening at Ibrox.
Gerrard no longer worked for him, but King would support the manager that he appointed through the most important months of his tenure.
It had been a matter of when rather than if Rangers would win the title for some time.
The focus that had been evident since the start would pay off and King had to credit Gerrard for the success and the manner in which it had been achieved as 55 was secured. Rangers are champions.
“I had a communication with Steven in January and I said to him that he had done a fantastic job of keeping the team focused on one game at a time,” King said.
“It was vital that he continued that, and that wasn’t advice that he didn’t understand, he got that already. He had increased media attention saying that Rangers had won the league and what we had to absolutely avoid was any of the team members thinking that was the case.
“I said to him that this team would go down as legends. This club is 150 years old and there will never be a title more memorable than this one and it will stick in the mind because of where we have come from.
“I said this would be the greatest title in 150 years, so his team had the option of being a great Rangers team that won the league, stopped ten-in-a-row and, more importantly, signalled the re-emergence of Rangers as the major football force in Scotland.
🎥 REACTION: Steven Gerrard spoke to @RangersTV after lifting the @SPFL trophy. pic.twitter.com/Uxy6Ea6fTt
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) May 15, 2021
“Alternatively, they would go down as the team that blew it. Either way, they would go down in history.
"It was vital that everyone focused on three points at a time, one game at a time and went down in history for the right reasons. That is where they are and it is absolutely phenomenal.”
For many of the supporters who celebrated at Ibrox or in George Square, in isolation at home or with friends and family, this title win will not be their first.
They will have heard the stories of the great side of the 60s and been told of Jim Baxter, been regaled at the tales of the Barcelona Bears or of the Souness Revolution that sparked the nine-in-a-row glory days.
More recent times have seen victories earned thanks to big-money signings under Dick Advocaat or dramatic triumphs overseen by Alex McLeish and Walter Smith.
READ MORE: Steven Gerrard reveals his Rangers pride at historic 55 and 150 milestones
Title 55 doesn’t outshine Helicopter Sunday or Rangers’ 50th league flag in terms of drama, but it is arguably ahead of nine-in-a-row in terms of meaning for the club and the support.
The pictures of a tearful Richard Gough raising the trophy at Tannadice in 1997 were the images of a childhood or the highlight for an older generation.
In years to come, it will be the images of this season that will fulfil that particular role. It is these wins, these scenes of celebration that will evoke such wonderful recollections after Gerrard and his players earned their place in Ibrox folklore. Rangers are champions.
“I hope they realise what they have achieved and what that achievement means to so many people,” Gough said. “I think this title was one of the most important titles in Rangers’ history because of what it means to the club, and the fact that Celtic were going for ten-in-a-row.
“Now, there would be a lot of asterisks on those titles because Rangers weren’t in the league and the ninth one got given, it wasn’t finished.
"There are a few asterisks there and Celtic had a free shot at the title and ten-in-a-row, but if you were a betting man at the beginning of the season, a lot of money would have gone on Celtic to achieve that because, on paper, it looked like they had a proven team and they had the results in the past years.
“I think Steven and the players have been remarkable. I played in many great teams over my nine championships, but we never went through the season undefeated.”
March had been historic and emotional, yet also physically and mentally draining. As with most times at Ibrox, it was certainly never dull as the title was won and celebrated amidst a political whirlwind before a remarkable Europa League run came to an end in acrimonious circumstances.
The Premiership race was over and The Journey had been completed. Of all the words said and written, three meant everything. Rangers are champions.
*‘Going for 55’ is published by Polaris Publishing and priced at £17.99 RRP. Vist: http://www.polarispublishing.com/book/going-for-55
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article