Author Gary Ralston delivered a tour de force, a warts-and-all commentary on the birth and growth of Scotland's premier sporting institution. It's a real page-turner. Even if you're not normally drawn to historical books this is a must-buy.
It's not all goals and glory. The lives of the four founders were all touched with tragedy. There may have been fairy stories on the field but off the field life was often tough in Victorian Scotland.
I was especially pleased that Ralston charts the interlinking of the club with the growth and expansion of Glasgow as a city. No other city in the world has had or maintained the same enthusiasm for football nor had such an influence on the development of the game. Ralston charts the birth of the club until roughly the turn of the century - in that period the population of the city grew by over 100,000, its boundaries expanded, its industrial might grew to its zenith.
At school we were taught that 'The Clyde built Glasgow, and Glasgow built the Clyde' to explain how the Tobacco Lords and then the ship and engine yards brought wealth to the city and how by engineering and dredging the river was harnessed. Ralston's narrative entwines the story of the club with the city.
In addition to the often named four Gallant Pioneers another figure has been added - Tom Vallance. Ralston makes a compelling argument for his inclusion as a Pioneer even if he was not present on the day of the famous walk through West End Park when the idea of forming their own football club came to the four friends.
There are fourteen chapters in the book plus References, a Bibliography and An Anthology of early Rangers' Writing.
After the first two chapters individual chapters on the Pioneers rotate with historical happenings in the club in general. Each spins then draws together the story of the individual, the club and the world in which they lived.
The book has it all. It sets the context for the formation of the club - of sports-mad Victorian Scotland where shinty, rugby, football, athletics and rowing all had massive followings. Ralston leads us through the story of how the club name was chosen; of the connection with the rowing fraternity; on the growth of the club and the city and how football in particular got a grip on the working man.
Speaking of the breakthrough of the club in drawing in Glaswegian spectators due to their participation in the 1877 Scottish Cup Final and the three games it took to settle it the Scottish Football Annual said - thousands of the working classes rushed out to the field of battle in their labouring garb, after crossing the workshop gate when the whistle sounded at five o'clock.
That Final, the style of play they adopted from the start and the movement of the club from the east, to the west and finally south of the city meant they developed a following not confined to one geographic area or class.
Much of the story is told through the individual adventures of the Four Founders - and what a legacy they have left us little knowing that the club they founded for fun would grow and grow.
PETER McNEIL - an early captain of the club; he would become Treasurer of the SFA as well as a founder, player, committee man and vice-president of Rangers. Sadly, pressure of business and money worries took a terrible toll and he suffered a mental collapse and was confined in the Hawkhead Asylum where he died in his forties.
WILLIAM McBEATH - we have no photograph of him. He's buried in a pauper grave in England. He died in the workhouse where he had been sent after being diagnosed as being incapable of looking after himself or his affairs. He's buried in an unmarked grave under a holly bush sharing a lair with a total stranger. A tragic end to a man who played such a part in the club's early years that he was presented with a gold badge by in 1884 to mark his contribution on the field and as on off-field organisers.
MOSES McNEIL - brother of Peter. A player for Rangers, Queens park and Scotland. Played for Rangers for a full decade. For a while he managed the Royal Hotel in Bangor, Northern Ireland. Most of his later life was taken up as a salesman for whisky distillers and paint manufacturers.
PETER CAMPBELL - Vice-captain of the club. Drowned at sea aged 25. He was apprenticed for five years in the Barclay Curle yard at a time when the Clyde was producing most of Britain's shipping tonnage. Capped twice for Scotland. He later took to sea and was drowned in the Bay of Biscay. He was described thus - 'good speed, splendid dribbler and dodger and is most unselfish in passing.'
TOM VALLANCE - A sporting colossus. One of our earliest captains. A lad o' pairts. A real Renaissance man who crammed several lifetimes into one.
In his youth a regular prizewinner at the Garelochhead Sports. Holder of the Scottish long jump record. Member of the Scottish team that beat England 6-1 in 1881. A member of Clydesdale Harriers and Clyde Amateur Rowing Club. An artist whose paintings were displayed by both the Royal Glasgow Institute and the Scottish Academy. For a while a tea planter in Assam before returning to Glasgow and becoming a succesful publican and restauranteur.
A real gentleman - he once resigned from the Presidency of the club rather than accept sharp practice by other members.
All in all this book is a must for every Rangers fan.
Moses McNeil died a bachelor in 1938 just as Glasgow put the seal on its place as the Second City of the Empire with a million inhabitants. He passed away in the Dumbarton 'poor hospital.' His passing barely raising an eyebrow of interest. On New Year's Day 1939 the club he and his friends founded played against their greatest rivals in front of a crowd of 118,567.
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