Official: Jimmy Bell passes on

[ascender 352]

What a shock, awful news, will be missed by everyone with any sort of affection for the club.

RIP. Thoughts are with his friends and family.

[Bluedell 5,329]

What age was he?

[BEARGER 1,829]

6 hours ago, Bluedell said:

What age was he?

57 

 

This is wrong. Jimmy was in his 70th year, see club tribute.

Edited May 3, 2022 by BEARGER

[Bill 13,717]

Is there any information about what caused his death?

[MacK1950 2,230]

Just now, Bill said:

Is there any information about what caused his death?

Just the fact that it was sudden,as far as I am concerned a young man at only 57.

[Gonzo79 13,581]

It does seem very out of the blue.  He was at Motherwell the other week but I'm not sure if he was at Parkhead on Sunday.

[Bill 13,717]

For me, Jimmy Bell was the constant face through all the changes and upheavals the club has been through, a link to previous better times. He’s one of very few people who will leave a hole that’s hard to fill. 

[the gunslinger 3,366]

8 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

It does seem very out of the blue.  He was at Motherwell the other week but I'm not sure if he was at Parkhead on Sunday.

I think he was. 

 

Very sudden indeed.

[JohnMc 2,463]

There have been a number of occasions in my time supporting Rangers when everything changed. I remember sitting in a Naafi outside Belfast watching Rangers play Shelbourne in a Euro Qualifier in one of Advocaats first matches, Smith's 9 in a row team had broken up in the summer and I think I recognised about 2 Rangers players that night, it really felt like the end of one era and the beginning of another.

Likewise when we played our first matches in Division 3, McCoist, McDowell and Durrant remained familiar faces but a lot of the team were new and the feeling of complete uncertainty that had enveloped the club for months remained. A few years later I was watching Warburton's first competitive match against Hibs, we were following it on an iPad while travelling to a wedding. Once again most of the players were unfamiliar, so was the manager, it was another changing of the guard so to speak, a break with the past and a new era beginning. 

 

Throughout all that one man remained constant, a familiar face in the background, a reassuring presence for supporters who are far from the boardroom or the dressing room. Despite his low profile it was clear Jimmy Bell was someone players, coaches and managers gravitated too. You'd see him in the background of Rangers News photoshoots from some sun-drenched preseason training camp. You'd see him coming off the coach on Sky Sports as the camera searched for a big name player, these days you'd see him in the background as the club posted pictures from the training ground or travelling to a match. 

 

Despite what so many people think football clubs aren't businesses in the normal sense. The hint is in the word club. Rangers epitomise this as much as any. We've had turbulence in recent years, some amazing highs and terrible lows, yet we remain. A club greater than the sum of its parts. As supporters we celebrate the ephemeral, the transient player who thrills for a few season, the great performance that brightens us for a few months, the trophies we celebrate until the next one starts. But I think that as supporters it's really the long term recognition we cling too. The things that don't change like the marble staircase, the blue jerseys, the St Etienne bike; things we value way above their actual value. Jimmy Bell was one of those. His presence reassured us that everything would be okay, whilst everything on the surface had changed below the surface everything was the same. We've really needed that reassurance at times. 

 

I never met Jimmy Bell, I never spoke to him. Yet he was as familiar to me as any player or manager. He played an important role, far more important than managing the kit or driving the coach, he represented us in the club. Today is a sad day in the history of our club. 

[Frankie 8,145]

28 minutes ago, JohnMc said:

There have been a number of occasions in my time supporting Rangers when everything changed. I remember sitting in a Naafi outside Belfast watching Rangers play Shelbourne in a Euro Qualifier in one of Advocaats first matches, Smith's 9 in a row team had broken up in the summer and I think I recognised about 2 Rangers players that night, it really felt like the end of one era and the beginning of another.

Likewise when we played our first matches in Division 3, McCoist, McDowell and Durrant remained familiar faces but a lot of the team were new and the feeling of complete uncertainty that had enveloped the club for months remained. A few years later I was watching Warburton's first competitive match against Hibs, we were following it on an iPad while travelling to a wedding. Once again most of the players were unfamiliar, so was the manager, it was another changing of the guard so to speak, a break with the past and a new era beginning. 

 

Throughout all that one man remained constant, a familiar face in the background, a reassuring presence for supporters who are far from the boardroom or the dressing room. Despite his low profile it was clear Jimmy Bell was someone players, coaches and managers gravitated too. You'd see him in the background of Rangers News photoshoots from some sun-drenched preseason training camp. You'd see him coming off the coach on Sky Sports as the camera searched for a big name player, these days you'd see him in the background as the club posted pictures from the training ground or travelling to a match. 

 

Despite what so many people think football clubs aren't businesses in the normal sense. The hint is in the word club. Rangers epitomise this as much as any. We've had turbulence in recent years, some amazing highs and terrible lows, yet we remain. A club greater than the sum of its parts. As supporters we celebrate the ephemeral, the transient player who thrills for a few season, the great performance that brightens us for a few months, the trophies we celebrate until the next one starts. But I think that as supporters it's really the long term recognition we cling too. The things that don't change like the marble staircase, the blue jerseys, the St Etienne bike; things we value way above their actual value. Jimmy Bell was one of those. His presence reassured us that everything would be okay, whilst everything on the surface had changed below the surface everything was the same. We've really needed that reassurance at times. 

 

I never met Jimmy Bell, I never spoke to him. Yet he was as familiar to me as any player or manager. He played an important role, far more important than managing the kit or driving the coach, he represented us in the club. Today is a sad day in the history of our club. 

I hope you don't mind mate but I've just published that lovely tribute on our main site as I'm sure everyone will share the sentiments expressed.

 

https://www.gersnet.co.uk/index.php/news-category/current-affairs/1520-jimmy-bell-a-club-legend