When Rangers fans look for a leader to take them through these dark days they need look no further than their greatest ever manger and a man that shares his DNA with every Rangers fan. Yes, William Struth. Mr Struth is the rock that Rangers were built on.
Will our anchor hold? That rock is William Struth and our anchor will hold. The foundations of the club are as solid today as they were in the days of Mr Struth. The fan base remains and the words of our Churchill remain as strong and reassuring.
Bill Struth (1875–1956) was the second manager of Rangers Football Club, leading the Club for 34 years between 1920 and 1954. He went on to win the league title 18 times as manager, including the remarkable feat of winning 14 titles in 19 years before the Second World War. This included winning five titles in a row between 1927 and 1931.
When being presented with the portrait that now hangs in the Ibrox trophy room, Bill Struth said:
“I have been lucky — lucky in those who were around me from the boardroom to the dressing-room. In time of stress, their unstinted support, unbroken devotion to our club and calmness in adversity eased the task of making Rangers FC the premier club in this country.
To be a Ranger is to sense the sacred trust of upholding all that such a name means in this shrine of football. They must be true in their conception of what the Ibrox tradition seeks from them. No true Ranger has ever failed in the tradition set him.
Our very success, gained you will agree by skill, will draw more people than ever to see it. And that will benefit many more clubs than Rangers. Let the others come after us. We welcome the chase. It is healthy for us. We will never hide from it. Never fear, inevitably we shall have our years of failure, and when they arrive, we must reveal tolerance and sanity. No matter the days of anxiety that come our way, we shall emerge stronger because of the trials to be overcome. That has been the philosophy of the Rangers since the days of the gallant pioneers.”
This must be one of the greatest motivational speeches of all time and sends a shiver down the spine every time it is heard. So as a Rangers fan I look to the future but remember the past and in these years of failure, days of anxiety, and sleepless nights I know that we shall emerge stronger because of the trials to be overcome. We are not Rangers until July; we are Rangers until we die. It is a commitment that cannot be broken. Never fear. The Rangers Football Club.
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