By Alistair Aird
Carrying out the research for my book In Safe Hands – Rangers’ Goalkeeping Greats, due to be released 31 July, confirmed what I already knew: Rangers Football Club have been served by some of the finest goalkeepers ever to play the game. Among them are the likes of Willie Robb, Herbert Lock, Tom Hamilton, Jerry Dawson, Bobby Brown, George Niven, Billy Ritchie, Peter McCloy, Chris Woods, The Goalie, and Stefan Klos. And tonight at Ibrox, we turned out in our numbers to pay tribute to one of the finest of them all, Allan James McGregor.
Signed on the old schoolboy forms in the late 1990s, McGregor came through the ranks and overcame a career-threatening wrist injury before making his first-team debut at Station Park in Forfar on 24 February 2002. After 74 minutes, Rangers were 5-0 up and coasting to the last four of the Scottish Cup. At that moment manager Alex McLeish decided to withdraw Stefan Klos and hand McGregor his first taste of first XI action. It would be the first of a remarkable 505 appearances McGregor would make over two spells as the Rangers custodian.
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Four days later, McGregor was back on the bench, this time in De Kuip, the home stadium of Feyenoord. He wouldn’t enter the European arena that night – Rangers lost 3-2 to go out of the UEFA Cup – but he eventually did so on 14 October 2006 against the Norwegian side, Molde FK. And he would chalk up another 108 appearances at that level, his last being the 3-1 defeat against Ajax in November 2022. No Rangers player has appeared more times on the European stage than Allan McGregor, and he is one of only five goalkeepers to have played for the club in a major European Final.
McGregor’s Rangers data is as follows:
In summary:
The numbers sum up McGregor’s longevity. Only Peter McCloy (534) has made more competitive appearances as a Rangers goalkeeper. And the 224 shut outs equates to one every 2.254 appearances. Add to that all the saves that won matches and titles – there are several, but I’m thinking in particular of Bremen, the penalty save from Samaras in 2011 and the one from Griffiths at New Year in the 55 season – you can easily see why McGregor deserves to be at the very top end when the debate rages over who is the GOAT when it comes to Rangers goalkeepers.
But it wasn’t all plain sailing for tonight’s man of the moment. There were a number of times during his first spell that he contemplated leaving Rangers to seek regular first team football. One of our current crop of goalkeepers, the promising Robby McCrorie, finds himself on the horns of a similar dilemma right now, so perhaps he should seek counsel from McGregor much like McGregor did from the likes of Jim Stewart and the late Billy Thomson.
McGregor entered rough waters again in the early part of the ill-fated Paul Le Guen era, but he rode out the storm, stayed put, and became a redoubtable last line of defence as Rangers rose from the wreckage and won three successive league titles.
And then there was 2012. There are some Rangers supporters who question whether McGregor merits being awarded this testimonial match given how they feel he left the club when Rangers fell foul of their finances and were demoted to the bottom tier. But I’m sure he had his reasons and maybe one day he will share what they were. But irrespective of what people perceive, Allan McGregor will always have a secure place in the pantheon of Rangers greats as far as I am concerned.
Providing the opposition for what would be McGregor’s last time between the sticks for Rangers were a resurgent Newcastle United side, who brought with them a support numbering 8,000 that turned the top and bottom tiers of the Broomloan Road stand into a rowdy and raucous sea of black and white.
The two sides have faced each other a few times over the years, 30 to be precise, notably in the semi-finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in May 1969 and in another testimonial match for another Rangers icon, our greatest-ever goalscorer, Alistair Murdoch McCoist, almost 30 years ago. There was also a trip to St James’ Park on 31 July 2004 for the Gateshead Cup. That ended in a 4-2 defeat, with Alan Shearer opening the scoring for the Magpies. Future Ranger Olivier Bernard rattled in their third, but Dado Prso and Fernando Ricksen reduced the arrears before Kieron Dyer sealed a home win late in the game.
Under Eddie Howe, Newcastle have been reborn and ended last season with a coveted place in the Champions League for season 2023/24. They would thus provide a good gauge of where Michael Beale’s new-look Rangers squad were ahead of their attempts to navigate their way to the riches of the group stages.
While southern Europe sweated and sweltered in record high temperatures, the climate in Glasgow was more typical of what we experience in July in this part of the world. There were pockets of blue sky among the puffy white clouds when the goalkeepers of both sides emerged just shy of 7pm. There was only a smattering of supporters in the stadium, but those present rose to acclaim McGregor when he came out the tunnel alongside the man many expect to take over from him as Rangers number one, Jack Butland. Butland would, however, start the night on the bench alongside Robby McCrorie; there was no question who would don the goalkeeper’s jersey at the outset in this one.
With Connor Goldson still recovering from injury, McGregor was joined in the starting XI by Ben Davies and John Souttar. They would be at the heart of the defence and were flanked by captain James Tavernier and Borna Barisic. Sitting in front of them were John Lundstram and Ryan Jack, but it was all change in the forward areas, with three of Beale’s close season captures – Kieran Dowell, Abadallah Sima and Sam Lammers – selected. They would be joined by one of the star men in the final weeks of season 2022/23, Todd Cantwell.
Cantwell had endeared himself to the Rangers supporters, many of whom were sceptical when he arrived from Norwich City in the January transfer window. But the Englishman has shown industry, endeavour, craft, and guile in the 20 appearances he has made in a royal blue jersey. Included in his haul of six goals was the opener against Celtic at Ibrox, and he has also chipped in with five assists. The love is reciprocated too. Cantwell gets what it means to play for Rangers Football Club, and he will be a key player as Beale seeks to bring home title number 56.
McGregor had taken to Instagram to express his disbelief that there wouldn’t be a spare seat in the house come kick-off. Humble as ever, he hadn’t expected the Rangers family to fill the stadium to thank him for his service to the club. But that’s exactly what they did, and they chanted his name long and loud as he emerged ahead of a delayed kick-off as captain for the evening. The atmosphere was electric, and had we been a few months down the line, the decibel levels wouldn’t have been too dissimilar if this were a Champions League fixture.
McGregor, clad top to toe in the traditional yellow for a Rangers goalkeeper, got an early touch of the ball when he came to clutch an early cross into the area. In front of him it looked as if Sima would be the most advanced of the front players, but given that Beale likes fluidity in that area, you expected to see a fair amount of interchanging of positions as the night wore on.
As you would expect, Newcastle were slick in possession, but neither McGregor nor his opposite number, Loris Karius, were too busy in the opening 10 minutes. There was rustiness in both sides, and both lacked some lustre, but the visitors hit the front after 16 minutes. An incisive passing move cut through a static Rangers rearguard, and Miguel Almiron stroked the ball calmy out of McGregor’s reach. Cue a typical verbal volley from McGregor who clearly wasn’t enamoured with the lackadaisical efforts of his team-mates.
Newcastle had Rangers pinned in at this stage. And when those in blue did get hold of the ball, passing was loose and careless, summed up when Lundstram fired a crossfield pass out of play.
After 27 minutes, McGregor had to dash off his line to cut out a ball intended for Callum Wilson, but as the half hour approached, Rangers had yet to offer any kind of spark. At that point, Sam Lammers shifted the ball on to his right foot but his shot from range was comfortably dealt with by Karius. Dowell then dragged a shot wide of target after the first real sustained spell of possession football Rangers had had in the game.
It was a little more enterprising from Rangers now, and a deft pass from Dowell played in Cantwell, but he too pulled his shot wide of the far post.
After 39 minutes, Ibrox rose in unison to acclaim Allan McGregor. He was withdrawn and replaced by Butland and the two shared a warm embrace on the touchline. It was almost like the changing of the guard, the baton – or gloves – had been passed on.
As half time approached, Eddie Howe wasn’t disguising his intentions for the second 45 minutes. No fewer than 10 substitutes were out warming up suggesting that wholesale changes were likely. And that proved to be the case with an entirely fresh Newcastle XI coming out.
Michael Beale made changes too, taking off Davies and Dowell and bringing on Leon Balogun and Fashion Sakala. The latter moved to the left of a front three that now had Lammers as the focal point and Sima playing on the right.
There was more purpose about Rangers in the opening exchanges, with passes being popped around. But that ring rustiness was still apparent, with Lundstram slashing high and wide from range and passes still going astray.
New-look Newcastle were soon back in it, though, and Anthony Gordon, fresh from success with England’s U21 side, was teasing and tormenting Tavernier. Borna Barisic was also caught out on a couple of occasions, in one instance cheaply conceding a corner kick. You had to wonder why Ridvan Yilmaz, another who was prominent towards the end of the season, hadn’t been given another opportunity to impress.
As the clock ticked towards the hour mark, Nico Raskin’s arrival was imminent. Another impressive addition in January, the young Belgian can anchor the midfield but also offer some dynamism when he bursts forward. The half hour he got in his legs will be invaluable. The fact he was mightily impressive and dictated play in that 30-minute spell augurs well too.
Raskin was joined on the field by Yilmaz and Ianis Hagi. Jack, Lundstram, and Barisic made way. The changes suggested more of a forward-thinking strategy, with Raskin flanked by Hagi and Cantwell in midfield. And it paid off after 64 minutes when Sam Lammers drew Rangers level. He pounced on a loose pass from the Newcastle goalkeeper, Martin Dubravka, and coolly stroked the ball into the net. The Dutchman was impressive and industrious. He has the hallmarks of another good piece of business by Beale.
As is commonplace in matches such as this, the last quarter of the match was punctuated by more substitutions. Scott Wright, Johnly Yfeko, Rabbi Matondo, and the promising Bailey Rice were readied, and they came on for Cantwell, Lammers, Sima, and Souttar. The latter was beset by injury problems last season, but he produced another assured display and did his chances of partnering Goldson when the competitive action gets underway no harm at all.
With 15 minutes to go, Matondo sped towards the box and after recovering when he seemed to have left the ball behind him, cut the ball back along the six-yard line. It was frantically hacked away as far as Raskin and his shot was deflected wide for a corner.
The final change of the night for Rangers came with eight minutes remaining. Tavernier was the only player from the starting XI still on the pitch, so he made way for Alex Lowry. Scott Wright, heavily linked with a move to Turkey, filled the right back berth vacated by his captain.
Newcastle earned the win, though, with three minutes to go. Alexander Isak dug out a cross, and Harrison Ashby looped a header over Butland. But it took an intervention from Dubravka to preserve the lead, the keeper atonimg for his earlier error by pawing away a fine effort from Lowry.
Despite losing the late goal, this was a worthwhile workout. Rangers were ragged at times, but the fluency and rhythm should come as fitness is topped up in games against Hamburg, Olympiacos and Hoffenheim.
But as important as this match was for Michael Beale as he plans to get his players ready to reel in Celtic and leave them floundering, the focal point throughout was the man who has thwarted attackers for over 20 years. But there will be no more superlative saves, no more daring dives, and no more Herculean heroics. The Allan McGregor era has ended.
McGregor undertook an emotional lap of honour and at the end of it, he waved goodbye to the Rangers fans for the last time. Another in the long line of great goalkeepers has gone. It’s now up to guys like Jack Butland and Robby McCrorie to ensure that Rangers remain ‘in safe hands.’