Four lads had a dream and now Stewart Robertson has a vision.
It’s 2022 and 150 years after Moses McNeil and his pals took a walk through Kelvingrove Park, Ibrox stands as a model to their foresight – on and off the park.
Robertson, the Rangers managing director, chaired the launch this week of the club’s “Everyone, Anyone” initiative aimed at showcasing the Light Blues as a progressive, inclusive organisation.
Rangers have never been more cemented in the local community since they first moved to Ibrox from Kinning Park in 1889, a flit that made the board of the time fret at the risk of moving so far out to the countryside.
They backed their instincts for advancement and it’s an approach that’s being echoed in the strategy of their 21st century successors after recent years of financial recklessness and corporate vandalism.
A maintenance programme of the stadium, still ongoing, has been undertaken over the last 12 months at a cost of several millions, with consultants examining the feasibility of increasing the capacity to approximately 55,000.
Relations with Glasgow Council, so strained under leader Susan Aitken and her deputy David McDonald, have improved significantly under Annemarie O’Donnell and Bridget McConnell, chief executives of the council and Glasgow Life respectively.
A trio of Scottish Labour heavyweights – Anas Sarwar, Frank McAveety and Pauline McNeill – were at the top table for the “Everyone, Anyone” launch although noticeable by their absence were representatives from the SNP.
A coincidence, insists Robertson, speaking to Record Sport the day before justice secretary Humza Yousaf was scheduled to visit Ibrox.
Discussions with Glasgow Life are progressing with a view to the Rangers Charity
Foundation taking over the lease of the Ibrox complex on Edmiston Drive and making it even more of a community hub.
A state-of-the-art astro will be laid to service local teams, coaching schools and also the women’s teams, with more investment than originally revealed earlier this year planned for the female game.
Expansion across the road will also allow an increase in the programmes offered in partnership with the club and their charitable arm and which includes everything for mental health support, an educational hub, drugs and alcohol counselling and anti-racism initiatives.
Robertson said: “We were founded by four young boys from Argyll who loved sport, came to Glasgow and formed a team they called Rangers.
“It was that common bond between them that led to the establishment of the club and we’ve still got a common bond today – a community of Rangers supporters.
“The values are still the same. Let’s support the team and make Ibrox a place where everyone and anyone can feel welcome.
“The ‘Everyone, Anyone’ campaign has been driven by fans who have been asking us what we’re doing on this side of things, off the field.
“If you think about where the club has been and some of the challenges it has faced over the years it’s about looking into how we take the club forward.
“It’s our 150th anniversary in 2022 so let’s make sure we’re a modern football club going into the next 150 years.
“I believe the values of the Bill Struth era are still the same ones we hold going forward.
“If I was asked to define them I’d say it’s about being the best you can be, operating to high standards and applying them to everything you do.
“It’s important to be courteous to people, mannerly, treat people the way you would like to be treated yourself. It will serve you well in life.
“That’s the way Bill wanted people to behave when they were at Rangers and it created a winning mentality. If you do things the right way you’ll be successful. That’s what we want for Rangers. We want the club to be winning but let’s do it in the right manner.”
The elephant in the room, of course, remains the thorny subject of sectarianism and there remains a rump of Rangers fans who would rather chant about Bobby Sands than sing about Bobby Shearer.
The Union Bears in the Broomloan front, for example, were literally given a platform by the club in their section to create an atmosphere inspired by passion for their club.
Too often, however, the Blue Sea of Ibrox is swamped by a faction supporting with dirges of the past.
Robertson doesn’t reference specific fan groups but, at this stage at least, he would rather offer up a carrot than the stick of the threat of shutting down certain parts of the ground.
He said: “You can never say never but we’d much rather work with people and get them to change their behaviours before we get to that stage.
“If people don’t want to change we’ll have to look at an appropriate level of sanction but we’d rather adopt this positive campaign of education.
“We have started discussions with SACRO, backed by the Scottish government, aimed at rehabilitation. We recognise it’s something different but we’re trying to be positive.
“We want to educate and engage with supporters who indulge in unacceptable
behaviour. I don’t know if it will work for everyone but if we don’t try we’ll never know.
“The fans – and this is based on feedback – can see society is evolving. I’ve lived all my life in the west of Scotland and it’s a far different place today than it was in 1979.
“Society changes and it’s important the club changes with it and reflects and
represents society and the people who come and watch Rangers. Ultimately, we want to see the support self-police.
“Look, we’re not trying to tell people how to live their lives but when they come into the stadium let’s not sing those songs. We’ve got loads of others we can sing for the team.
“We don’t want to become a channel where fans’ views are ventilated. We want our fans to come here and be positive about Rangers. It’s 2019, let’s take things forward.
“What a great way to hit that landmark in 2022 for people to come to Ibrox and know they are coming into a warm and welcoming environment.”
