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Glasgow Rangers Football Club |  |
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Glasgow Rangers Football Club THE BIRTH OF GLASGOW RANGERS 1872-1899 The year was 1872 when 4 men got together to share the dream that they all had and that was to start a football team. With no capital behind them, Peter McNeil and his brother Moses got together with Peter Campbell and William McBeath who only cared for a team to call their own. The first game that the young men had was against Callender FC at Flesher's Haugh on Glasgow Green. The game was a free for and to make sure you got your place in the team you had to be there early. The team that the men had had no strip they played in their street clothes, there were 4 players who were playing with the home team that wore strips and that was because they were "guests"from other teams and the ball that they played with was second hand. The final score that day was 0 - 0. By the time the men played their secon fixture against Clyde they had adopted the name Rangers from an English Rugby Club. The men had also decided onl ight blue for their strips it must have worked wonders as they beat Clyde 11 - 0. Although this was a great start for Rangers as they were know now every fan knows that the club was officially founded in 1873. The reason that the year 1873 is recongnised is that is when Rangers had their first offical AGM and they elected the people who were to help run them. the fixture list for that year were friendlies because Rangers had left it too late to become an affilated club with the Scottish Football Assoc. and they were also not allowed to play in the Scottish Cup which was won by Queens Park. The team was very much a family thing becaue the McNeils young brother Hough also became a meber of Rangers along with 2 more of the Campbell brothers. Two other members of the team were also brothers these were the Vallance brothers. Moses McNeil had became a Scottish internationlist when he mad his Scotland debut in 1876 in a 4 -0 victory over Wales. In 1877 the team had made a breakthrough in reaching their first Scottish Cup final against Vale of Leven. This took the original fixture and 2 replays to decide the winner an unfortunaley it was Vale of Leven won by 3 -2 it was to be in 1879 when Rnagers got back into the final and thye found they were facing the same team as they had faced 2 years before. This final ended 1 - 1 and a replay had to be played, Rangers never turned up for this game as they were still angry at a goal being disallowed in the previous match. Because Rangers never turned up they forfieted the game and the cup was handed to Vale of Leven again. It would be another 10 years before Rangers would celebrate senior honours, even though they reached the semi-finals of the ENGLISH FA CUP which they lose the game to Aston Villa. In May 1888 it was the first game against Celtic where Rangers lost the game 5-2. This game was the start of what was to become known as the OLD FIRM. In the season 1890-91 the Scottish League Championship had started. Rangers had now moved to Ibrox although they had previously played at Burnbank and Kinning Park. This was the season for Rangers, by beating Hearts 5-2 on the 16th August the first game of the season, Rnagers went on to win 18 games, lost 2 games and drew 3. Out of the 18 games that Rangers won this season was 2 crushing victories of St Mirren (8-2 and 7-3) and also a vistory over Cambuslang (6-2). The two games that Rangers lost was against Celtic (2-1) and also against Dumbarton (5-1). This was the season that Rangers had to share top place with Dumbarton after both teams had 29 points each. To decide who was the champions that season they decided on a play off which took place at Cathkin. With a 2-0 lead Rangers let Dumbarton into the game and the game finished 2-2. This was hte only year that Rangers ever had to share the championship with any other team. The next few season Rangers were becoming so unlucky that they ended up wth the nicknameof the "nearly men" this was because thye finished the runners up in the seasons 1892-93, 1895-96 and 1896-97. Although Rangers wer unlucky here they had again made it into the Scottish Cup Final against Celtic and how sweet revenge was Rangers won the cup with a 3-1 result. Two more Cup Finals were to follow, the first in 1897 when Rangers demolished Dumbarton in a 5-1 victory and in 1898 where they retained the title in a game against Kilmarnock with a 2-0 victory. By the end of the 19th century Rangers were on their to pre-eminence in Scottish football. |
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