The Moonlighter

£85 in so far in donations folks, still plenty of time to get your name into Wednesday's draw.

Born Under a Union Flag Follow We Will. These books have been very kindly donated by a fellow Bear and we thank him for his generosity. To be in with a chance of winning the books just donate £5 to the Restoration of Graves Project via this link. PAYPAL LINK. - https://www.paypal.com/sendmoney ***Follow the link and add following email address along with donation – sonsofstruth@aol.co.uk The winning name will be drawn on Wednesday 30th June. Good luck everyone.

On Saturday 12th June the Wifflet Loyal,Gartsherrie Loyal and John Stevenson Rangers Supporters Club in a fantastic effort to raise funds for the Restoration Project,cycled from Markinch in Fife to Ibrox Stadium and raised the absolutely incredible amount of £5,362. We’d like to sincerely thank everyone who took part,in particular Davie Campbell for all his hard work and of course YOU for the donations which came in to support the guys…including a donation from Rangers captain James Tavenier! We have many restorations to attend to over the coming weeks in particular at Cathcart Cemetery in Glasgow, your overwhelming generosity will ensure that our work continues with pace. Thank you.

We will be back soon! *All Gift Vouchers purchased are without limit of time* The Gift Voucher reserves a seat on our luxury Parks of Hamilton coach and are valid for any Founders Trail and Ibrox Stadium Tour of your choice (allowing for availability). As we celebrate 55 join us on a journey of discovery back to 1872 when Rangers was just the dream of a group of young kids who gathered on Fleshers Haugh.They had no money,ball or football kit and used a bush on the Glasgow Green as a changing room. The Founders Trail will take you to the very place that our wonderful story began. Adults £30 Senior Bluenoses( 65 and over) and Wee Bears ( under 16) £20 +£1 P+P per order Gift Vouchers,which can be purchased here on our website,are posted out by ourselves within 24 hours. https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/shop

Now that restrictions have been lifted we’ll be delighted to bring the hugely popular Founders Roadshow to your Pub or Club. As we celebrate our 55th Title hear the incredible story of how it all began. We at the Founders Trail are aware that due to time constraint, distance and cost many supporters can't make the journey to Glasgow to join us on the Founders Trail so back in 2014 we launched the Founders Trail Roadshow which is an alternative format which lets us take our wonderful story out to you. The Founders Trail Roadshow tells the story of our Founders from the shores of the Gareloch, to their arrival in Glasgow and their journey to the front door of Ibrox Stadium This is done by way of a slideshow presentation. We profile each of our Founders and the subsequent growth of our unique club into a worldwide sporting institution. The presentation also provides an insight into the Restoration of Rangers Graves Project and of course the Founders Trail. We hope that by telling this story it will give everyone an understanding of the very foundations upon which those lads built our club. Over the last few years our Founders Trail Roadshow has visited places such as Belfast, Londonderry,Plymouth,Blackpool,Campbletown,Fraserburgh,Thringstone and Aberdeen. The presentation lasts for approximately 90 mins,with a 20 minute interval we also encourage a Q&A session at the conclusion. The roadshow can be booked to coincide with other entertainment you may wish to provide for those attending. We have all of our own equipment,all we need from you is a plug point and an audience. If you would like to discuss us bringing the Founders Trail Roadshow to your supporters club, lodge or organisation then please email us at thefounderstrail @gmail.com or call 07902 855536.

Today two members of the Calderwood RSC laid a wreath and paid their respects on behalf of their club at the recently restored final resting place of David Hill,Rangers Football Club 1875-1884. Remembered Always.

A couple of years ago we located the final resting place of Rangers player David Hill in an East Kilbride cemetery. Restoration work has now been carried out and a memorial plaque placed at the base. David Hill was born in 1858 in Perth. He joined Rangers in 1875 and played with the Club until 1884. He’s pictured here with his Rangers team mates in that iconic photograph from 1877. David went on to become a Scottish Internationalist and gave the club many years of service. David was employed as a Turkey Red salesman and lived at 17 Main Street East Kilbride.His house was above the two shops pictured that he owned. David Hill married a Jane Isobel Campbell Storer on the 2nd June 1904. He died on 3rd February 1920 at 4 Ann Street Glasgow aged 61. David saw Rangers grow from that fledging club born in a Glasgow park into Ibrox and huge attendances. As we continue to celebrate our 55th Title we remember David Hill.

Adults £30 Senior Bluenoses( 65 and over) and Wee Bears ( under 16) £20 +£1 P+P per order Gift Vouchers,which can be purchased here on our website,are posted out by ourselves within 24 hours. https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/shop

We’d like to sincerely thank Billy Bittles and Walter” Hammy” Hamilton who have donated the incredible amount of £1690 to the Restoration of Rangers Graves Project,this is an incredible gesture,thank you so much lads. These guys do a lot of hard work for charities and on this occasion chose to donate to the Restoration Project,we’re overwhelmed. We have many restorations to attend to over the coming weeks and this will ensure that our work continues with pace. Thank you. If you’d like to donate to the Restoration Project please do so using this link. https://www.paypal.com/sendmoney PAYPAL LINK. - ***Follow the link and add following email address along with donation – sonsofstruth@aol.co.uk

‘’Thus ended their first match played at the latter end of May 1872 some two months after the inauguration of the club’’. The words of Rangers player William Dunlop from his article The Rangers FC which he wrote so eloquently for the SFA Annual in 1881 using the pen name ‘True Blue’. Rangers Football Club played it’s first ever match 149 years ago this week. Our Club was formed on a spare bit of ground at Fleshers Haugh by a few kids who’d come to Glasgow seeking employment and a better way of life.Their Club ,which they formed for no other reason than the love of football and the pursuit of sporting excellence,would go on to become the world’s most successful. That first ever match was against Callander and ended 0-0, Willie continued,“Their first game was a terrible spectacle with the ball suffering an incredible amount of abuse” William McBeath was given man of the match and then spent a week in bed recovering due to his exertions’’ Founder William McBeath was from Callander and we believe it would have been Willie who approached ex-pats from the town who had settled in Glasgow and that’s probably where the opposition came from for our first match. Willie’s Rangers team-mate Sam Ricketts wrote in 1884 about the boys playing those first few games in their civvies,journalist John Allan wrote about them having to change behind a bush as there were no facilities. William Dunlop described how genial Peter McNeil would travel on a Saturday morning to a desirable part of the Glasgow Green, set up the noted standards and stand guard until the classic hour came when he would be joined by his friends.We felt this was a very dramatic and moving image and commissioned a painting to be done depicting this scene.We presented the painting by artist Helen Runciman to the Club in 2009 and it now hangs on the marble staircase at Ibrox. The Rangers would remain at Fleshers Haugh for three years.We then began our journey around Glasgow to Burnbank and Kinning Park before finally settling in the Ibrox area in 1887 where we would grow to become the world’s most successful football club. The Rangers FC by William Dunlop. https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/the-rangers-f-c-by-true-blue

If you’d like to donate to the Restoration Project please use the link here on our website. Every penny helps. PAYPAL LINK. - https://www.paypal.com/sendmoney ***Follow the link and add following email address along with donation – sonsofstruth@aol.co.uk

Many thanks to those who purchased books over the weekend, these will all be posted out tomorrow. https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/shop

On the 7th May 1856 our Founder William McBeath was born in the village of Callander. triumvirate crossword Willie’s dad Peter owned a general store on Callander’s Main Street and the family home was above the store which today is The Waverley Hotel. triumvirate crossword William had an older sister Jane and a brother Peter. Another boy was born after William but he like so many other children of the time died in infancy.Tragically, William’s dad Peter McBeath passed in November 1864. Shortly afterwards,his wife took William and his sister Jane to Glasgow to start a new life. By the time of the 1871 census, the McBeaths were living at 17 Cleveland Street,living in the same close were five members of the McNeil family,including brothers Peter and William.It was here that the boys first made contact.The following year,at the beginning of 1872,the boys had an idea to form a football team. William McBeath played in our first ever match v Callander and according to fellow Ranger William Dunlop ‘’William was awarded man of the match but then spent a week in bed recovering due to his exertions!”. In 1874, incredibly at the age of just 17,William McBeath was elected as Rangers first ever President.This highlights how young the founders of our Club were. By 1878 William was a commercial traveller and after marrying a Jeannie Harris he moved to the Crosshill area of Glasgow .Within a year the family had moved to Bristol in what was almost certainly the most settled and happiest period of William’s life. In 1884 at the Club’s ‘Annual Hop’ his friends and fellow Founders honoured William for the role he played in its conception and presented him with a gold badge.This was at an event held in the St.Andrews Hall which is at the rear of today’s Mitchell Library in Glasgow. Sadly,the remaining period of William McBeath’s life is clouded in mist. What happened to cause a breakdown in the happy family life of the McBeaths is uncertain.William’s son Norman was sent to Glasgow to live with his grandmother.Norman McBeath died in Glasgow, aged eighty-three, in 1973. William last few years make for unpleasant reading. He moved from town to town, found himself in court on charges of fraud (of which he was acquitted) and married for a second time.He then moved to Lincoln and stayed at 57 Cranwell Street and 34 Vernon Street. triumvirate crossword Tragically the deterioration in William McBeath’s life continued until his death in a workhouse at Lincoln in 1917. He was certified‘’imbecile”.The evidence of his state of health suggests he had actually suffered from Alzheimer’s.Medical terminology back then was brutal to say the least. William McBeath was buried in an unmarked, pauper’s grave in Lincoln Cemetery but there is a happy ending to his story. During his research for the Gallant Pioneers book Gary Ralston found William’s final resting place.The grave is now marked with a fitting stone which was paid for by the worldwide Rangers support and placed there by a group of fellow supporters. As we celebrate our 55th title we today remember Founder William McBeath. triumvirate crossword

As we celebrate 55 read about how our incredible story began. The dream of a group of kids in a Glasgow public park becomes reality. Only £16.00(+£2.32 P+P).‬ ‪Our copies are all signed by author Gary Ralston. ‬This updated version of the book has a chapter devoted to the Founders Trail. ‪ A must read for all True Blues !‬ ‪Purchase your book here on our website and we’ll post your copy out within 24 hours. https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/shop

We will be back soon! *All Gift Vouchers purchased are without limit of time* The Gift Voucher reserves a seat on our luxury Parks of Hamilton coach and are valid for any Founders Trail and Ibrox Stadium Tour of your choice (allowing for availability). As we celebrate 55 join us on a journey of discovery back to 1872 when Rangers was just the dream of a group of young kids who gathered on Fleshers Haugh.They had no money,ball or football kit and used a bush on the Glasgow Green as a changing room. The Founders Trail will take you to the very place that our wonderful story began. Adults £30 Senior Bluenoses( 65 and over) and Wee Bears ( under 16) £20 +£1 P+P per order Gift Vouchers,which can be purchased here on our website,are posted out by ourselves within 24 hours. https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/shop

As we celebrate 55 read about how our incredible story began. The dream of a group of kids in a Glasgow public park becomes reality. Only £16.00(+£2.32 P+P).‬ ‪Our copies are all signed by author Gary Ralston. ‬This updated version of the book has a chapter devoted to the Founders Trail. ‪ A must read for all True Blues !‬ ‪Purchase your book here on our website and we’ll post your copy out within 24 hours. https://www.thefounderstrail.co.uk/shop

If you'd like to donate to the Restoration Project please use this link from our website, every penny counts. PAYPAL LINK. - https://www.paypal.com/sendmoney ***Follow the link and add following email address along with donation – sonsofstruth@aol.co.uk

Alex Vallance gave Rangers many years of great service. He was born on the 18th February 1860 at Shandon on the Gareloch , he died on the 31st August 1898 at Terregles Avenue Glasgow. Alex,who was also the younger brother of Rangers legend Tom, joined Rangers in 1873 when he moved to Glasgow to start his engineering apprenticeship . We have records of Alex keeping goal for the Rangers second eleven when only 14 years of age! Alex would go on to be captain of Rangers and was a player in that first Rangers team to win a Trophy, the Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup in 1879. It was 16 year old Alex Vallance who proposed in 1876 that the club move from Burnbank and take the lease for ground at Kinning Park,Alex was well placed to see the advantages of the move south of the river as he like his brother Tom were apprentices in the Clutha Iron Works with P&W McLellan. Rangers would remain at Kinning Park for 11 years before moving along Paisley Road to the the Copland Road area of Ibrox . We closed the Kinning Park ground on 26th February 1887, this photograph of the Modern and Ancients Rangers team and club officials was taken the very day that Kinning Park closed..Alex Vallance is the large guy sat on the ground in front of his brother Tom who has his foot on the ball. As a young man Alex would give diving lessons into the Gareloch from the Hydroponic Hotel,today it’s the Faslane Naval Base. During the 1890’s Alex was mine host at the Red Lion Pub at 84 West Nile Street Glasgow, today it’s The Courtyard Bar. A few years ago we discovered the final resting place of Alex Vallance in the town of Helensburgh, last weekend a memorial plaque placed at the plot highlighting his contribution during the formative years of our Club. Unfortunately Alex’s stone didn’t respond well to the blast cleaning as it’s made of sandstone and well over a century old. Today as we celebrate our 55th title we remember Alex Vallance.

William Wilton (9 June 1865 – 2 May 1920) was the first manager of Rangers Football Club, serving the club in that position from June 1899 until his death in 1920. He had previously filled several roles including match secretary to the reserve and first teams. Mr Wilton joined the club in September 1883 as a player but never progressed beyond the second string eleven. He was soon appointed secretary to the club's youth team and reserve side. He was also on the special committee that oversaw the club's move from Kinning Park to the first Ibrox ground in 1887. He became match secretary of the first team in 1889, succeeding Jimmy Gossland. The club shared the inaugural Scottish League title in 1891. Mr Wilton had been appointed as the league's first treasurer at the start of the season. When the club became a limited company in 1899 William Wilton was appointed manager at a ceremony held in Trades House Glassford Street Glasgow. In his decade as match secretary for the first team, the club won two League championships in 1891 and 1899, as well as three Scottish Cups in 1894, 1897 and 1898. He also won four Glasgow Cup's in 1893, 1894, 1897 and 1898, and a Charity Cup in 1897. Rangers had achieved the first ever 100% league record, winning all 18 games and scoring 79 goals in 1898-99. To date no team has achieved the same. Under Wilton's stewardship as manager,Rangers won eight league championships and another Scottish Cup, nine Glasgow Cups and seven Charity Cups. In his final season as manager the club won its tenth league championship. Mr Wilton tragically died in a boating accident at Gourock in 1920, his body once recovered was brought to Glasgow by train. He was buried at Cathcart Cemetery Glasgow. John Allan’s book, The Story Of The Rangers, paid him this fitting tribute: “The ideals for which he strove are still sought after by those who are left in custody of the cherished traditions of the club.” Mr Wilton’s final resting place at Cathcart Cemetery was this weekend restored as part of our Restoration of Rangers Project. As we celebrate our 55th title we today remember our first manager Mr.William Wilton.

More photographs from yesterday's Restoration.

If you'd like to donate to the Restoration of Rangers Graves Project please use this link on our website. PAYPAL LINK. - https://www.paypal.com/sendmoney ***Follow the link and add following email address along with donation – sonsofstruth@aol.co.uk

The R.C. Hamilton Glasgow University Rangers Supporters Club can be contacted here - Email: gursc@outlook.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlasgowUniversityRSC/ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/GURSC

Back in 2019 the Restoration of Rangers Graves Project received a call from the Burghead RSC informing us that Rangers great RC Hamilton was sadly resting in an unmarked grave in a cemetery in Elgin. After a series of phone calls and emails with Elgin council and the local stonemason we’re absolutely delighted to say that this has now been rectified and a memorial stone to a Rangers great was placed today. Rangers 1897-1908. 376 appearances and an incredible 312 goals. Four League Championships Two Scottish Cups. This is what your donations achieve. Thank you. As we celebrate our 55th Title we today remember Robert Cumming Hamilton. https://scottishfootballmuseum.org.uk/robert-cumming.../

The winner of the bottle of whisky is Alan Dunn of Strathaven who has been notified.Congratulations Alan.An fantastic £450 was raised via the raffle every penny of which will go to the Restoration of Rangers Graves project.This will help to ensure that our work continues over the coming months.Thank you very much again to the John Greig Loyal for donating the bottle and to everyone who participated.

Last chance to get your name into tomorrow morning's draw PAYPAL LINK. - https://www.paypal.com/sendmoney ***Follow the link and add following email address along with donation – sonsofstruth@aol.co.uk