Rangers Hit Euro Jackpot !!!!!

[ian1964 10,416]

by Darrell King

 

RANGERS fans will be celebrating their team's historic march into the Uefa Cup semi-finals today - and a possible �£25million Euro windfall.

 

Walter Smith's side beat Sporting Lisbon 2-0 on their own patch last night to set up a last four showdown with Italian side Fiorentina and a guaranteed �£20m.

 

Jean-Claude Darcheville and Steven Whittaker were the goal heroes as the Light Blues kept alive dreams of making the final in Manchester on May 14.

 

And while 4000 Gers fans partied into the small hours in the Portuguese capital, the club's money men were also celebrating all the way to the bank.

 

Reaching the semis is worth a further �£2.5m for the club, who have already earned �£17.5m for their eight-month European campaign that has so far seen them play 16 ties - 10 in the Champions League and six in the Uefa Cup - and visit seven different countries.

 

Rangers will be paid a qualification bonus of �£500,000 by Uefa for making it to the last four. And with 50,000 fans set to cram into Ibrox for the first leg against the Italians on April 24, that will be worth another �£2m in ticket revenue and additional spin-offs.

 

Should Rangers go all the way to the final in the City of Manchester stadium, they would bank at least a further �£2m, and �£500,000 more than that if they can win their first European trophy in 36 years.

 

The side also stand to rake in millions more in marketing and vending opportunities.

 

And Rangers players are also quids in. They were on a �£35,000 a man win bonus to beat Sporting last night and have now earned more than �£100,000 each for their exploits in Europe this season.

 

They are believed to be on �£50,000 a man if they win a European trophy for the first time since 1972 when Rangers beat Moscow Dynamo in Barcelona to win the Cup Winners' l Cup.

 

There will, however, be a massive ticket scramble for the second leg against Fiorentina which will be played in Florence on May 1.

 

The Stadio Artemio Franchi only holds 47,000 and Rangers security chief Kenny Scott, who will fly to Italy next week to begin planning for that game, doesn't expect the away allocation to be much more than 2000.

 

Today, Gers fans were rushing to book budget flights with Ryanair, who fly from Prestwick to Pisa, which lies about an hour away from Florence.

 

But travel prices went through the roof within minutes of the final whistle blowing in Lisbon as the low-cost carrier hiked prices for the route. At 10pm, return flights were selling for a reasonable �£195.

 

But as more and more fans logged on to the airline's internet site, prices jumped by �£100 within minutes.

 

Thousands are also expected to travel via other air routes and on buses to be in Florence for the semi-final second leg next month.

 

Rangers chairman Sir David Murray shelled out �£50,000 from the club's earnings to buy the official 2500 allocation for last night's match in the Jose Alvalade Stadium as a thank you to their fans. But a further 1500 supporters travelled independently and managed to get tickets. Ladbrokes today cut the price on Barry Ferguson lifting the trophy in Manchester from 14/1 to 11/2. Fiorentina are 5/2, Bayern Munich 10/11 favourites and Zenit St Petersburg 11/2.