The impact of this, however, has not quite sunk in yet. Five years ago, the prospect of sealing promotion back to the top division would seem preposterous. Roll the clock forward though, and the same event signifies the eventual end of what has been, for the majority, a dreadful spell in the bowels of Scottish football. Of course the new board and Mark Warburton have resorted prosperity to our great club, but nothing will ever rid my mind of the long-ball memories that McCoist provided us with.
Whether the rest of Scottish football likes it or not, our return will mark the re-instalment of the biggest club in the country at the top. This fact will be duly reflected in increased sponsorship money, increased TV revenues and no matter what your average social media ‘guru’ will say – average attendances will rocket skywards.
There are droves of supporters who revel in pretending that we don’t exist. Let me tell you, (at least) 42,000 fans of ours will be at the national stadium to watch the Petrofac cup final. Not bad for a club that supposedly does not exist. Without wanting to divert on a tangent, that attitude stems from fear. These same fans that I have mentioned love to treat us as an irrelevance. Certainly online, they have managed to convince themselves that the mighty Glasgow Rangers are nobody. Seems a bit odd therefore that teams like Hibs, Dundee and Celtic will sell out their allocations for our matches whilst attendances at their other games are poor at best.
It’s not about them though. It has always been about the Rangers. Mark Warburton always says that he only cares about us, and whilst behind closed doors he will almost certainly be considering the opposition heavily in his match preparation, it is still a very valuable attitude to drill into our supporters.
We won’t be there to make up the numbers next season, we will be there to compete. At times I have been sceptical as to whether or not we can compete. That myth, I believe, has been completely dispelled though by both the way Hearts have done so well this season and also that Warburton has a whole summer to get the squad ready.
The impact of our return to the Premiership is summed up perfectly by nobody other than Celtic chief Dermot Desmond: “Rangers are a fantastic club with great history (and are) one of the great clubs in Britain and we have to acknowledge that, they are a motivation for us”.
Be warned Celtic, number 55 is right around the corner!