There has never been a more important time than now to illustrate to the next generation just what being a Ranger is all about.
Being a man of late 20's I grew up drunk on Rangers success where winning the title was like easter, you didn't know exactly when it would come but inevitably once the spring sun started to shine, Rangers would be celebrating another title triumph. Ever since my Dad first took me to Ibrox I was in awe of everything, he told me to love every minute of this because the 80's pre Souness were horrible and a lot of bears lost hope.
Even when Wim Jansen's celtc stopped us from taking ten in a row, it was considered a blip and as expected Dick Advocaat's new Rangers swatted all of Scottish Football aside and we looked to be going on to dominate once again. Those times were good, it wasn't a matter of if we would win it was by how many and for a short while it was how many Mols would notch. Disaster after disaster then struck Rangers and at the end of season 2000/2001 I forced myself to sit and watch until the bitter end, Martin O'Neill's celtc brush us aside 3-0 at our own ground, just a year after we had embarrassed them 4-0 going on 10. I forced myself to watch it with the belief that more success would be round the corner and that this shite time would make me savour the success more.
It was when Big Eck's blundering, spineless side of 2003/2004 struggled on a weekly basis which got me upset and starting to lose hope myself. My uncle however just shook it off, he slapped me on the back and assured me that "we'll be back". It sounds simple but it meant a lot then and still means a lot now, we will be back, we always bounce back and we always come back stronger. The Souness revolution brought 9 in a row, Advocaat brought some of the most exciting football we've ever seen and major respect in Europe, McLeish brought us 2 glorious Helicopter Sundays and a last 16 Champions League slot against all the odds (we very nearly made the Quarters) Sir Walter & Ally brought us 3 in a row and a European final appearance.
All of the above were the result of us laughing in the face of adversity. We've been at our lowest ever and the resilience of pride of being a Ranger must be passed onto our next generation who will see us bounce back like never before. Bring your sons and grandsons to Ibrox, take them round the tour and tell them to grind this out with the squad in the lower leagues because it will be oh so worth it. Remind them who our enemies are and what they done, but most of all tell them to take pride in being a Rangers supporter because we have proved to be a special brand of football fan and we will get the success we deserve.