TheMoonlighter

These wonderful paintings by artist Helen Runciman hang on the Marble Staircase at Ibrox. Prints are available at £100 each , just click on the link. www.grailpr.com/sportingart

Fantastic. A few of the players pictured are named in the team that faced the Rangers. Thank you.

It's people with a knowledge of the area who'll hopefully be able to help.

That's fantastic and thanks so much. Here's the wiki link to Mauchline FC. Does this throw any more light on it ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauchline_F.C.

Needing a bit of help from our Ayrshire Brothers and Sisters. We're currently researching the path the Rangers took in season 1876-77 to reach our historic first Scottish Cup Final which will be a thread on it's own over the coming weeks. Teams , locations of fixtures etc. On 9th December 1876 Rangers travelled to Mauchline and won 3-0 with goals coming from Sandy Marshall, Peter Campbell and James Watson. I've been looking into the history of Mauchline FC who played their games at Connel Park but the Club and ground both seem to have slipped off the map. Would any Bears from the area be able to shed some light on this ? Any help would be much appreciated. Here'as the match report.

Next Sunday's Tour on 11th November is now completely sold out ! Many thanks to all who have booked .

One week to go until the final Founders Trail of 2012 folks. Only a few seats remaining. thegallantpioneers@googlemail.com

Only 19 seats left for what will be the final Tour of 2012 folks. thegallantpioneers@googlemail.com

Would all who have booked for this Sunday's Tour please note that there will be a Founders Trail Welcome Desk available within the Ibrox Megastore from 11.15am prior to our 12pm departure from outside of the store.

We still have a few seats remaining for what will be the final Founders Tour of 2012. The Tour on Sunday 21st October is sold-out. Prices are : Adults £18 Senior Citizens and Children £13 . This includes the Ibrox Stadium Tour part of our day Just drop us an email to thegallantpioneers@googlemail.com and we'll get your seat reserved. Our website gives an insight into our work and our unique Founders story. http://www.thegallantpioneers.co.uk/

' The young Rangers wrote to Queens Park requesting a match but were turned down , this infuriated the lads' ' In 1882 for a short time Rangers wore a hooped jersey, they wore it for the first time against Queens Park'. Full article in here. http://blog.thegallantpioneers.co.uk/wp/

We'll pay our tribute to the sons of our Founders who fell during the Great War as we pass through George Square.

Would all who have purchased Gift Vouchers please note that these are valid for any future Founders Trail and Ibrox Stadium Tour. They don't have to be used during 2012.

Paisley Road Toll 1890.

Fleshers Haugh.

The Founders Trail on Sunday 21st October is now sold out, every seat gone ! To meet demand we've decided this year to add an additional Tour. Join us on a journey of discovery back to 1872 when The Rangers were just the dream of a group of young kids who gathered on Fleshers Haugh. They had no ball, no football kit and used a bush on the green as a changing room. Their Club, which they nurtured, was to become the world's most successful and it all happened on the streets of Glasgow. Our journey takes us to the area of Fleshers Haugh where The Rangers played their first ever match, we also visit Glassford Street, Union Street, Berkeley Street, Burnbank, Kinning Park, Craigton Cemetery and many other places of interest before finishing off our day with a tour of our magnificent Ibrox Stadium. During our journey we have a 30 minute break at the West of Scotland Cricket Ground in Partick which was the scene of the Rangers first ever Scottish Cup Final in 1877. It gives everyone a chance to unwind, grab a beer or soft drink and a bite to eat at a beautiful and historical setting. For further information phone : 0790 2855536 To book your seat just drop me a email to thegallantpioneers@googlemail.com For an insight into our research here's a link to our website. http://www.thegallantpioneers.co.uk/index.html

All Tour details in here mate. http://www.thegallantpioneers.co.uk/The-Founders-Trail-&-Ibrox-Stadium-Tour-2012.html

The Club was contacted and gave their full approval.

The Founders Trail last stop of the day is Craigton Cemetery where we pay our respects to our Rangers Legends including our greatest ever manager Mr. William Struth. During our Tour in August fellow Rangers supporter Graham Mackay commented with a heavy heart on how faded Mr.Struth's stone had become. The day after the tour Graham rang to inform me that his brother Ian was qualified in the art of stone restoration and would be honoured to put his skills to help repairing Mr.Struth's Stone. Over the last few weeks Ian, during his own time ,got to work and has done an incredible job. He is currently in the process of ordering letters for the name STRUTH at the bottom of the stone. Mr.Struth, i'm sure, will be tipping his hat in approval. At the beginning of this week i contacted the Club and informed them of Ian's voluntary work and attached some photographs. Sandy Jardine has since writen to Ian and invited him and his brother into the Directors box for an upcoming Rangers match.

Hopefully William's paintings will surface one day. Our research into his life will continue.

Thanks for your kind comments, we're delighted that you enjoyed your day. As i said during the Tour there is a lot to take in but the locations and articles that we refer to are listed here on our website for your enjoyment. http://www.thegallantpioneers.co.uk/index.html

Here's 'William McBeath RFC' running at Burnbank in 1875.

It’s been well documented that Tom Vallance was an accomplished artist who had paintings accepted by the Royal Scottish Academy. We recently published an appeal to try and locate Tom’s Paintings , this is an avenue that we’ll continue to explore. We celebrated Tom’s life just recently and had his portrait placed at the top of the Marble Staircase within Ibrox Stadium. You can only imagine our surprise and delight when recent research has shown that Founder William McBeath also enjoyed dabbling with paint and canvas ! This first caught our eye when a report, in The Scottish Athletic Journal in 1884, when William was presented with a gold badge by his fellow Founders stated : ” Mr. McBeath , many of his old friends will be happy to learn, is doing well, and still cultivating these tastes for high art which made his company so pleasant to the more scholary of his companions” This prompted us to dig deeper into William’s life and has led us to these articles from 1881 & 1886 when he was living at Ashley Road in Bristol. It would appear that our Founders, weren’t slow in using their variety of skills in other artistic areas. The Cornishman 1881 The Bristol Mercury 1886.

Last few seats remaining for tomorrow's Tour folks.