Ten years after going bankrupt, Rangers is close to greater glory

The pit appeared to be bottomless for the Rangers. After a three-year winter, fans flocked to Motherwell, a small town in the Scottish countryside, for what appeared to be the day of redemption in 2015: there was a chance to return to the national football elite.

Everything went wrong. The team lost to Motherwell 3-0 and stayed in the second division.

“You know what’s the worst thing about it? This isn’t even the worst day for Rangers. Not even close,” he said to the Sheet that afternoon, former striker Ally McCoist, club legend and coach that season. As he said this, Motherwell fans walked past him and made fun of him. They chanted “you’re not Rangers anymore”.

They weren’t. In 2012, Glasgow Rangers went bankrupt and was liquidated by the British government. Had to be born again as Rangers FC. Started in the Scottish fourth division. In the first training session for the 2012/2013 season, only six players showed up.

Ten years later, the team is 90 minutes away from equaling the greatest glory of Glasgow Rangers, champion of the Cup Winners’ Cup (known in Brazil as the European Cup) in 1972. This Wednesday (18th) the Europa League, the second most important tournament on the continent, against Eintracht Frankfurt (ALE). The match will take place in Seville, Spain, and will be shown to the Brazilian public on TV Cultura, SBT and ESPN 2.

The new Rangers kept the titles of the old Rangers on their resume out of kindness from the country’s federation. It continues to play in the mythical stadium of Ibrox, and the uniform is identical.

The journey back was a long one not only for the club but also for the fans. Since bankruptcy, archrivals Celtic have been national champions nine times in a row. Rangers FC’s first game was a 2-2 draw with tiny Parkhead. The 5-1 victory over East Stirling set the record for attendance in the history of a fourth division clash in British football: 49,118 people attended.

Glasgow Rangers went bankrupt by reckless management. Pure math. He spent nearly ten years spending more than he earned. He believed that qualifications for the Champions League would refinance the debt, which was never enough. How to pay 12 million pounds (R$ 74 million in current values) for the Norwegian Tore Andre Flo or 6.5 million pounds (R$ 40 million) for the now forgotten English side Michael Ball and think he will get away with it?.

As of February 2012, there was no way to pay 9 million pounds (R$55 million) in taxes or offer guarantees that it would pay 134 million pounds (R$826 million) in other debts. He messed with government money. It was the end.

Rangers supporters are unionist at a time when the feeling of Scottish independence is at its strongest in decades. Bring UK flags to stadiums. It is the team that was called a “disgrace” to the country on its night of greatest glory. After the victory over Dinamo Moscow (RUS) and the title of the 1972 European Cup, fans invaded the field, the streets of Catalonia, and broke everything along the way.

They are officially “unwelcome” in Manchester for the same reason, following their defeat to Zenit (RUS) in the 2008 Europa League final.

The rivalry with Celtic is seen as something that goes beyond football. It’s religious. But Rangers became identified with Protestants almost by exclusion. He was the only one who could stand up to Celtic, a team of Irish Catholics who left their home country because of hunger. The majority of Rangers aficionados were Protestant, as were almost every other club, because this reflected Scottish society at the time.

Not that religion didn’t really matter. Sir Alex Ferguson, the legendary Scottish manager, says his stint as a forward for Glasgow Rangers, the team he was a fan of, was seriously undermined when directors discovered that his wife, Cathy Ferguson, was Catholic. The club for decades was reluctant to have left-handed athletes because it believed that kicking a ball with the left foot was characteristic of Catholics.

The signing of top scorer Mo Johnston in 1989 was considered a scandal and divided the crowd. He was the first openly Catholic player to wear the Rangers jersey after World War I (1914-1918).

As a national force, the team was reborn under the command of Steven Gerrard, today at Aston Villa (ING). She was Scottish champion in 2021, her first title in the elite after ten seasons.

His successor, Dutchman Giovanni van Bronckhorst, failed to defend the title this year, won by Celtic. But he can achieve something even greater. The Europa League campaign is amazing. Rangers eliminated Borussia Dortmund (ALE), Estrela Vermelha (SER), Braga (POR) and RB Leipzig (ALE) en route to the final.

It is a cast without major stars, with a veteran in goal (Allan McGregor, 40 years old). The best-known name among the general public is in midfield, the Englishman Aaron Ramsey, on loan from Juventus (ITA). In the final, the team will not have its biggest offensive reference, the Colombian Alfredo Morelos, injured.