TEAM 1 1 RANGERS FOOTBALL CLUB 1987-88 WITH GRAEME SOUNESS CHAIRMAN/CHIEF EXECUTIVE David Holmes VICE CHAIRMAN Jack Gillespie DIRECTORS Hugh Adam, Freddie Fletcher HONORARY DIRECTORS W. T. O. Waddell, G. C. P Brown PLAYER/MANAGER Graeme Souness ASSISTANT MANAGER Walter Smith COACH Peter McCloy TRAINER-COACH Phil Boersma YOUTH COACH Gordon Neely SECRETARY R. Campbell-Ogilvie MARKETING EXECUTIVE Lynne Holmes OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE Alistair Hood YOUTH DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE Ian Elgey TICKET OFFICE MANAGER Matthew Cook CLUB DOCTOR Dr Donald Cruickshank GROUNDSMAN David Marshall CLUB HONOURS European Cup Winners Cup Champions 1972 Runners up 1961 and 1967 League Champions: (38) 1891*, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1918, 1920, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1947, 1950, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1975. 1976, 1978, 1987. In 1891 the Championship was shared with Dumbarton. Scottish Cup Winners: (24) 1894, 1897, 1898, 1903, 1928, 1930, 1932, 1934, 1935 1936, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1953, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1973, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1981. League Cup Winners: (14) 1946/47. 1948/49, 1960/61, 1961/62, 1963/64, 1964/65, 1970/71, 1975/76, 1977/78. 1978/79, 1981/82, 1983/84, 1984/85, 1986/87, We welcome supporters to the Glasgow International Football Tourna ment which, we believe, will provide an ideal appetizer for the new season pro per which is about to commence. With warm memories of the way the public provided positive help in our securing the Premier Division Cham pionship we are well aware that en thusiasm will be at a higher level than ever before. In preparing to successfully defend that title and to hopefully add more honours to it, we feel that our build-up is at just the right competitive level. Firstly there was the series of mat ches in Switzerland and Germany and now this competition which features, in addition to ourselves, Ajax of Amster dam, Real Sociedad of Spain and the Brazilian side Internacional. Today Ibrox will stage two semi-finals and tomorrow the third placed final and Final, a host of attractive football, we trust, against first class opposition from four countries and two continents. Happily we emerged from our tour in good shape especially taking into ac count that when we set off we had only a limited amount of full-time pre season training under our belts. One of the features of that tour was the introduction to the squad of Mark Falco, signed in the close season from Watford and a most useful acquisition bearing in mind that in addition to the normal domestic schedule we have the European Cup ahead. There was a successful kick-off to the trip in the shape of a 4-1 win over the local club Solothurn, a Second Division side who provided just the right opener for us. We then beat Delemont Select 6-0 before being brought down to earth by a 5-0 defeat at the hands of FC Zurich. It probably sounds something of a set back but in reality they were more ad vanced with their pre-season fitness level than ourselves. That extra mental and physical sharpness made all the difference. In the long term the defeat did us no harm at all since it arrived as a timely reminder of the application and sharp ness required and we concluded the tour with a 3-2 win over Wettingen a 1-1 draw with Lausanne and, when we moved into Germany for the farewell match, we rounded off a most wor thwhile exercise with a 2-0 win. More detailed information on the tour is elsewhere in the programme. But, from our point of view, it served the purpose of enabling players to store up a basis of match practice extremely well. This current tournament is a natural progression since the opposition is, on paper, considerably stronger. The three visiting teams will want, like ourselves, to emerge as victors since we are the kind of top professional clubs whose pride is on the line in every game we play at whatever level. However, there is another considera tion, namely to give as many members of our squad more crucial match prac tice provided substitutions fit in with our general team planning. Competition for places must be at the highest level possible, particularly with the heavy schedule which lies ahead once the action starts in earnest. The arrival of Falco is valuable in this regard though it need hardly be pointed out that no-one gets into the Rangers team on reputation alone. The fact that results built up so im pressively last season is satisfying to recall but it counts for little now that a new campaign is getting underway. The players are well aware that they will only succeed by repeating and im proving upon the dedication and ap plication which deservedly brought them the title. Our fans are entitled to expect all that and more. RANGERS MATCHDAY MAGAZINE

AJAX ARCHIEF

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