A look at the Rangers team at the time when the Queen acceded to the throne in 1952 highlights the incredible span of the longest reigning British monarch.
Captained by George ‘Corky’ Young, leading illustrous teammates such as Bobby Brown, Ian McColl, Willie Woodburn, Johnny Hubbard, Billy Simpson and more, managed by the legendary Bill Struth.
Back when football was a working man’s game, a leisurely pursuit for the masses to blow off steam after a hard week of work and often, as the song goes, that included a shift Every Other Saturday.
The game then and now, the industry, the fans, life entirely has changed so much over that 70 year period from 1952 up to the present day. In eight different decades of Rangers history there have been a few constants at the club and that included Her Majesty The Queen.
As we say a final farewell to our Queen, to show how long she reigned this was the Rangers squad managed by Mr Struth when she took over from her father 👸🏼#GodSaveTheQueenLongLiveTheKing pic.twitter.com/cRigyWmkTQ
— OldRangersPics (@oldrangerspics) September 19, 2022
From the national anthem to the Loving Cup, the dressing room portraits to the visit of then Princess Elizabeth to Ibrox in 1947, our history is linked with a relevance and a resonance to the monarch.
In July 1947, the same month that the engagement of Elizabeth and Prince Phillip was confirmed, they paid a visit to Ibrox as part of a wider tour of Glasgow, including a stop at Central Station.
The image below shows Elizabeth holding flowers as then fiance Philip looks on, dressed in full military regalia.
The Queen and Duke if Edinburgh at Ibrox in years gone by.@oldrangerspics @OldRangersVideo @RangersFACTS @ibroxrocks @Snagsy1980 @RangersFranky @Wilf1872 @william_wallace @GrandmasterSuck @RangersFC @Allthingsgers @BSOI1872 @IbroxPride pic.twitter.com/OzyIEls9Wq
— Andy The Photo Dr ♿️ 🏴 (@andythephotoDr) November 21, 2018
Today, Monday 19 September 2022, the people of the UK paid their final respects as the funeral of The Queen took place, a profoundly historic event and the first state funeral since Sir Winston Churchill’s in 1965.
It is said to have been the biggest ceremonial event the nation has seen since the end of World War Two.
Rangers Football Club and the supporters can be very content with the respects that were paid to Her Majesty at the Napoli game at Ibrox last week, securing its own folklore in the process.