“What Rangers Means to Me”

This is my brother, Cameron. He’s 24 years old and is one of the most football-crazy people I know, especially for Rangers Football Club, one of Glasgow’s main football teams. He’s spent tens of thousands of pounds alone on going to their games, was a child mascot for them at age 11, and even played football against (and nutmegged) Rangers legend Ally McCoist when he was a teenager. He has two tattoos (both Rangers related) that a lot of people, myself included, have poked fun at and mocked. But, I write this essay today to change that.

Myself, I didn’t grow up being particularly bothered about football and so I never really had an understanding of how it feels to be a part of something like that. I mean, I had been in my hometown’s shinty team, had played on some sports in High School, even supported Spain in the 2010 World Cup, but nothing like how Cameron is with Rangers.

Coming from a predominantly Rangers supporting family (thanks, Dad), you were born into a situation where you would support Rangers, no matter what. I have always been perfectly happy with being a part of that, even if I haven’t really been a part of it. Sure - I have the shirts, know the players, keep reasonably up to date with the scores, but I’ve never really been interested enough to ‘be akin’ with them, as it were. Cameron, wholeheartedly, is.

“Its hard to describe”, he says when I asked him ‘What does Rangers mean to you? What does it mean for others?’

“Some people…its the only thing they have. It’s an escape. When they go to the game on a Saturday or a Sunday, whatever it is, they can go there and forget about all their troubles and worries in life. They can just escape for a night, for a couple of hours. For me…I can’t put it into words.”

At the time, Cameron had dropped out of college (because of admin failures that ruined the course), moved back home, had started a new job in a completely different subject area just to stay afloat. His entire future was turned upside down. He had gone from on the course to a football-coaching career, to nothing, in a matter of weeks.

I asked him about his tattoo. His first tattoo. He got it in November 2018 at 19 years old. Bear in mind, tattoos are a touchy subject in our household - our mum is less than fond. One day, Cameron comes home with a massive, sore looking, Rangers crest on his right calf. You can imagine the uproar.

My brother and I have never been ‘joined at the hip’ kind of close, like you see other siblings act. It’s safe to say we get on a lot better now (20 and 24) than we did when we were children or teens, but we have always, no matter what, looked out for each other, and that doesn’t change.

Following this day, I received various comments in school (Cameron had left school, I was in S4, but he went to volleyball club on Tuesday evenings), from friends, teachers, etc, about Cameron’s tattoo. Why did he get that? It’s atrocious! Why is it so big?! It looks awful. I am embarrassed for your brother. He chose that?! The list goes on. For months afterwards, I remember hearing comments left, right and centre, and I would just agree. But now, I think I finally understand.

“I had wanted tattoos for a while, but I wanted one that meant a lot to me.”…”At the time, Rangers, football was one of my only constant things in life. Obviously, you know…I can’t explain how much Rangers means to me and means to a lot of other people.”

I hadn’t thought about this before. To me, football does not mean as much but maybe there’s more too it than what is on the surface level. Escapism, family, safe-havens. Cameron described Rangers to me as a commitment. A commitment to a club, to a family, to a state of mind, if you will. He went as far to say that once he got the tattoo, he felt like it was his mark. His chance to show everyone who walked past him on the street that he was a part of Rangers Football Club. His chance to display how he feels in his heart, on his skin.

“When you’re at a game, you’re with 50,000 other people that all share the same interest as you. It is like one big family with all these people you don’t really know and people you do know. I’ve got a lot of acquaintances from going to the Rangers games (more from following the European away games) and some of them have become close friends of mine.”

Cameron got his second tattoo in May 2022 whilst Rangers were in the Europa League final in Seville, Spain. At the time, Rangers midfielder, John Lundstram had scored the goal to get them (Rangers) into the cup final. A song was ‘released’ titled “John Lundstram is the Best on Earth” alongside the popular tune by Belinda Carlisle ‘Heaven is A Place on Earth’. Cameron may have been ‘fairly’ intoxicated at the time of the tattoo, but all joking aside, the sentiment of the comedic tattoo is the same. He got that tattoo to represent, document, memorialise, however you want to look at it. He wanted something to remember that moment by. Something other than the photos and the videos. Something that was a memory in itself.

There’s always going to be an elephant in the room when discussing Rangers and Celtic. As I mentioned, we are a predominantly Rangers supporting family (minus one niece who supports Celtic for some reason). When discussing these two teams, religion is always going to come into conversation, it’s unavoidable. One club (Rangers) having a primarily Protestant view, and the other (Celtic) taking the Catholic side. Again, this is not as prominent for me personally. Yes, we support Rangers, yes we were both brought up Protestant, but that does not mean that Cameron, nor I, nor my dad, fall into religious stereotypes that often fall onto Rangers and Celtic Fans. Rangers fans hate Catholics, Celtic fans can’t be friends with Rangers Fans because they aren’t Catholic, etc. I mean, for Christ’s sake (haha), my mum is a Catholic and she supports Rangers! I know both Cameron and I have friends that are Celtic fans, and we certainly don’t cast them (or my mum) out of the group because they don’t support Rangers.

“It is a big element of the club because…you know…Rangers is a Protestant club. But to me, it isn’t as big a part as it is to a lot of people. I obviously don’t hate Catholics. But the core values of the club are the same core values of Protestants…always do the right thing, etc. I think Celtic share those same values but with Catholicism. But, I think with the religious side, that’s what sets Rangers and Celtic apart from other football teams, for example the derby matches. That’s what sets it aside and makes it different and makes it such a big thing. I think it would just be another game of football if you didn’t have that element.”

He’s right. It wouldn’t be fair to sit here and say that a lot of the arguments caused aren’t over religion, but it also wouldn’t be right to say that it has to be like that. Football can just be fun, gut-wrenching, exhilarating football. Let it be a club. Let it be a commitment. Let it be a family.

This is my brother, Cameron. He has two football tattoos that a lot of people, myself included, have poked fun at and mocked. Today, I have changed that. Football isn’t just a game, it’s not just something stupid. Being a part of a club isn’t just going to have something to do on a Saturday afternoon to use up time. It’s a commitment, a commitment to a club, to a family, your whole life long, something that could mean nothing to one person, but give another person a reason to live another day. Being a part of a club isn’t always serious, it isn’t always fun, it isn’t always religious, it isn’t always about winning every time. It is about being there, with one another, on those Saturday and Sunday afternoons at the stadium you call home.