The Moonlighter

It will be an honour for us to present the Founders Story for the East Bank Rangers Supporters Club and friends at the historic Memorial Hall Londonderry on Saturday 23rd November at 7.30. The Memorial Hall is at 13 Society Street Londonderry BT48 6PJ. The evening will also give an insight into the Founders Trail and Restoration of Rangers Graves Project. Entertainment will follow the presentation. Tickets priced at only £7 are available from martynmancini1961@gmail.com. Payment can also be made at the door on the night.

Treat the Bluenose in your life to a Founders Trail and Ibrox Stadium Tour Gift Voucher. The Gift Vouchers are without limit of time and reserve a seat on any Founders Trail and Ibrox Stadium Tour of your choice (allowing for availability). Adults £28 Senior Bluenoses( 65 and over) and Wee Bears ( under 16) £19 +£1 P+P per order Gift Vouchers, which can be purchased here on our website, are posted out on the day of purchase. https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/shop

Seats still available on out next Tour. Adults £28 Child/Concession £19. If you’d like to join us please reserve your seat here on our website https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/

Last Friday night we had the pleasure of presenting the Founders Story to the Newton Stewart Rangers Supporters Club and friends. At the end of the evening our donations bucket was sent around the hall which raised the wonderful amount of £82.85 We'd like to thank the organizers for a cracking night and everyone who attended for their generosity as this will help to ensure that our restoration work continues over the coming months. Thank you. If you’d like to chat about hosting a Founders Presentation event please send an email to thefounderstrail@gmail.com or call us on 0790 2855536.

A few seats remain on our next Founders Trail and Ibrox Stadium Tour on Saturday 26th October.Adults £28 Child/Concession £19.If you’d like to join us please reserve your seat here on our websitehttps://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/

Seats still available on this Sunday's Founders Trail and Ibrox Stadium Tour. If you’d like to join us please reserve your seat here on our website https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/ Further information 0790 2855536.

We depart Ibrox at 11.30am Adults £28 Child/Concession £19. If you’d like to join us please reserve your seat here on our website https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/ Further information 0790 2855536.

A few seats are available on this Saturday’s Founders Trail and Ibrox Stadium Tour. We depart Ibrox at 11am. Adults £28 Child/Concession £19. If you’d like to join us please reserve your seat here on our website https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/ Further information 0790 2855536.

Once again due to overwhelming demand we’re delighted to announce an additional Tour date. The Founders Trail will now also operate on Sunday 13th October. Booking details are as follows. Adults £28 Children (under 16) and Senior Citizens £19. Reserve your seat here on our website https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/ Gift Vouchers are also available here https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/shop For further information phone: 0790 2855536.

Last Friday night we had the pleasure of presenting the Founders Story to Lodge Robert Burns 440 Baillieston and friends. At the end of the evening our donations bucket was sent around the hall which raised the incredible amount of £310.92 We'd like to thank the organizers for a cracking night and everyone who attended for their generosity as this will help to ensure that our restoration work continues over the coming months. Thank you. If you’d like to chat about hosting a Founders Presentation event please send an email to thefounderstrail@gmail.com or call us on 0790 2855536.

The Founders plaque at Fleshers Haugh was unveiled on the 6th September 2009. The image we were keen to portray was the boys stepping from the river and on to the football field with a ball for the first time. We went with that idea to sculptor Andy Scott who kindly etched the idea on to paper for us. Andy previous work was the John Greig Statue outside Ibrox Stadium, Mr.Struth’s bust within the Stadium. More recently The Kelpies at Falkirk. This then let us go to a local plaque manufacturer for a costing, we then put out an appeal for the necessary funds to the worldwide Rangers support, the cost was met within days. On Sunday 6th September 2009 the Founders plaque was unveiled by Heather Lang, the Grand-daughter of our Founder Peter McNeil. We were also honoured to have with us on the day the late great Sandy Jardine. The football centre at Fleshers Haugh is used by kids almost every day of the week, if the Founders plaque acts as inspiration to even just one then it’s job done because essentially that’s what it was, a group of kids on a bit of spare ground formed their own football team, their boys club went on to become the world’s most successful. The Plaque inscription reads: In the spring of 1872 four young boys, Moses McNeil, Peter McNeil, Peter Campbell and William McBeath left their rowing boat on the nearby River Clyde and upon these fields formed a football team. That team was to become Rangers Football Club. It was their determination to succeed that led to Rangers becoming one of the world’s most famous clubs.

Our remaining tour dates and seats available for 2019 are as follows.SATURDAY 21ST SEPTEMBER SOLD OUTSATURDAY 5TH OCTOBERSATURDAY 26TH OCTOBERSUNDAY 3RD NOVEMBERSATURDAY 30TH NOVEMBERPrices are as follows.Adults £28Children (under 16) and Senior Citizens £19Group discounts are available upon request.Reserve your seat here on our website https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/Gift Vouchers are also available here https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/shopFor further information phone: 0790 2855536.

It will be an honour for us to present the Founders Story at the Trinity Bar Hawick on Saturday 7th September at 7.30. Ticket are priced at £12 (under 16’s free ) and will include a buffet, these can be purchased from ewanlawrence@tiscali.co.uk The Founders presentation will also provide an insight into The Restoration of Rangers Graves Project and The Founders Trail. We hope to see a few of you along.

It will be an honour for us to present the Founders Story at the Chapleton Inn on Friday 27th September at 7.30pm. The pub is situated at 18 Shawton Road Chapleton ML10 6RY Tickets which are only £5 include a half-time pie and are available from behind the bar or can be reserved by calling 07853 290568 The evening will also provide an insight into The Rangers Graves Restoration Project and The Founders Trail. We hope to see a few of you along.

It will be an honour for us to present the Founders Story for the Newton Stewart Rangers Supporters Club at the Cree Inn on Friday 11th October at 8.00pm. The pub is situated at Creebridge Newton Stewart DG8 6NP Tickets are only £10 for adults and £5 for kids. 07796 012673 The evening will also provide an insight into The Rangers Graves Restoration Project and The Founders Trail. We hope to see a few of you along.

It will be an honour for us to present the Founders Story at the Beancross and Newlands Community Hall Montgomery Street Grangemouth on Friday 25th October at 7.30pm as a fundraiser for LLOL 259. The presentation will also provide an insight into The Restoration of Rangers Graves Project and The Founders Trail. A cultural disco will be held after the presentation. Bar open until 12pm. Waitress service available. Tickets which are £5 can be purchased from any member of LLOL 259 or just pay at the door on the night. We hope to see a few of you along.

A few years ago in Lambhill Cemetery in Glasgow we managed to locate the final resting place of Rangers President George Goudie, unfortunately the stone marking the plot was off it’s plinth.Subsequently our team re-erected the stone and blast cleaned it. As a token of our gratitude, thanks and respect we at the Restoration of Rangers Graves Project thought that it would be fitting to mark Mr Goudies plot with a plaque, this was put in place last week. This is today’s generation of Rangers supporters saying thank you to Mr George Goudie. President 1882 – 1883 - Vice President 1883 – 1885. George Goudie was a Paisley “Buddie”, born at 2, Hamilton Street in the town on 9 April, 1859 to Humphrey, an engine-fitter (although later records would state he was a marine engineer), and his wife Anne. It would appear young George spent his formative years overseas. There is no trace of the family in the census of 1861 or in that of 1871. They do appear in the 1881 census. By then the family home was at 14 Union Street in Leith. The census records twenty-one year-old George had three siblings. Eighteen year-old Matthew and sixteen year-old William had been born in Greece. The youngest of the four sons, fourteen year-old Henry, had been born in Turkey. George’s occupation was given as “clerk”. Research has, as yet, failed to reveal how the young clerk from Leith became, within a year, vice-president of Rangers Football Club! Goudie’s first appearance in the Glasgow PO directory was not until 1886/87. We do know, though, that he was an accomplished athlete, being successful at distances ranging from 100 yards to 880 yards. It is not an unfair assumption that George became friends with Tom Vallace on the athletics circuit and he was brought into the Rangers’ circle through Tom. When Archie Harkness died so tragically young in November, 1882, Vice-president George Goudie assumed the presidency of the club. These were not good times for the Rangers. There had been no attempt to build up the club membership. The club was in such financial straits, the committee approached President Goudie requesting he provide a loan of £30 (just under £3,000 in today’s terms). This he did. Would Rangers Football Club have survived if Goudie had not agreed to provide the loan? We have to assume that without it, the end may have been nigh. By the summer of 1883, the club was £100 in debt. George served just a matter of months as president. He stood down at the annual general meeting in May, 1883, held at the Athole Hotel. Tom Vallance became president. George served as his vice-president for the next two years. The fact the committee felt they could approach George Goudie for a loan would suggest he had already established his business as a produce merchant with some success. George married Jane Currie on 14 April, 1887 at her family home at 20 Kelvingrove Street. George had been living at 89 Grant Street, a short distance from Rangers’ old Burnbank ground. The first marital home would appear to have been at Sandyford Street. By 1891, the family, now augmented by George, Jnr had moved to 20 Kelvingrove Street. George had had offices in Waterloo Street and York Street. Such was the success of his business, the family could afford to employ a domestic servant. By the time of the 1901 census, George, Jnr had been joined by sister Jane and brothers Alexander and James. Five years later, the Goudies had moved to Pollokshields, the family home being “Dunard” at 14 Leslie Street. George had retained his sporting competitive spirit, turning his hand to bowls. He had been a member of the St Vincent Club, then, on moving south of the river, Titwood Bowling Club. His final business address was in Howard Street. George suffered from heart disease for the last eighteen months or so of his life. He died, aged only fifty-one, on 24 February, 1911. His funeral took place at the Western Necropolis, attended by his “wide circle of friends”. The funeral directors were James Henderson and Co. Yes, the same James Henderson who, too, became president of Rangers and at the time of George’s death, was chairman of Rangers Football Club Limited. We do not have a great record of George Goudie’s time on the Rangers committee. That one act, however, the granting of a loan of £30, will ensure his place in our history will live for ever.

Please note that this is an International weekend. If you’d like to join us for this special event please purchase your tickets using the link below. https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/

We still have a few seats left for tomorrow's Tour. Adults £28 Child/Concession £19. We depart Ibrox at 12pm. If you’d like to join us please reserve your seat here on our website https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/ Further information 0790 2855536.

A limited number of seats have become available on this Saturday’s Founders Trail and Ibrox Stadium Tour. Adults £28 Child/Concession £19. We depart Ibrox at 12pm. If you’d like to join us please reserve your seat here on our website https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/ Further information 0790 2855536.

Seats still available on a number of Tours over the coming weeks. Adults £28 Children (under 16) and Senior Citizens £19 Group discounts are available upon request. Reserve your seat here on our website https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/ Gift Vouchers are also available here https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/shop For further information phone: 0790 2855536.

Our Tour dates and seats available for July,August and September are as follows. More dates will be added throughout the year. SATURDAY 20TH JULY. SOLD OUT SUNDAY 27TH JULY. SOLD OUT SATURDAY 1OTH AUGUST SATURDAY 17TH AUGUST SATURDAY 24TH AUGUST SUNDAY 8TH SEPTEMBER SUNDAY 22ND SEPTEMBER Prices are as follows. Adults £28 Children (under 16) and Senior Citizens £19 Group discounts are available upon request. Reserve your seat here on our website https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/ Gift Vouchers are also available here https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/shop For further information phone: 0790 2855536.

With the new season fast approaching get behind Stevie Gerrard and the boys with one of our popular scarves and in turn support the Founders Trail. The scarves are designed on the original colours of the club. They’re only £13.00 (+ £3.10 P&P) and can be purchased directly here on our website. All orders are posted out within 24 hours. https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/shop

It will be an honour for us to present the Founders Story at Lodge Robert Burns on Friday 20th September at 7.30pm. The hall is situated at 39 Church Street G69 7EU. The presentation will also provide an insight into The Restoration of Rangers Graves Project and The Founders Trail. Tickets which are priced at only £10 can be purchased from Davie Ross. 07968 282974. We hope to see a few of you along.

Tickets still available for this event. 01236 727415