Walter post Hibs

Rangers Charity Foundation gift arrives

SCHOOLKIDS in Malawi were overjoyed after Glasgow MP Ian Davidson travelled to the poverty-stricken country to deliver footballs and strips donated by the Rangers Charity Foundation and Provident Financial.

Further gifts included tracksuits, drinks bottles and boot bags as well as pens, pencils and other writing material supplied by the Glasgow South West MP.

Mr. Davidson passed on a goodwill message from Rangers after collecting the kit supplied by the Rangers Charity Foundation from captain Barry Ferguson.

He then watched as pupils from Milonde Community Day Secondary School played a match against each other – one team wearing the jerseys supplied by Rangers and the other in the financial company’s strips.

“The kids love their football and enjoyed wearing proper kit, they were absolutely delighted to get it,” he said after his visit.

“Most of them were playing in bare feet on a hard surface, probably just as tough as red blaes.

“I am no football expert but the skill level seemed pretty high.”

Kenny wants to win

KENNY MILLER doesn’t care where he scores for Rangers or how many goals he gets – all he wants is for the team to keep winning. 

The Scotland striker netted twice at Easter Road on Sunday to set the Light Blues on their way to a 3-0 victory over his old side Hibernian.

Miller’s double brought his tally to four goals since he returned to Ibrox, with the remaining pair coming against his other former club Celtic in August.

Each of the 28-year-old’s efforts have come on the road and he now has his sights set on grabbing the first Ibrox strike of his second spell with Gers.

But he admits he would quite happily go through a whole season without a home goal if it meant the team stayed on right track.

Miller said: “The boys have been saying they are just going to play me against my old teams from now on because I keep scoring when we go to play them.

“All joking aside, I went into the weekend feeling good because I’d had a few chances last week against Motherwell and played well without scoring.

“At Hibs I was able to get on the end of Kirk Broadfoot’s cross then his lay off and I was delighted to finish them both off.

“If I’m honest though, I don’t care where the goals come and I’d take 50 away from home instead if it helps the team to do well.

“I just want to stay in the team because we’ve got a lot of good players and the manager has used a few different partnerships so far.

“It’s my aim to do enough to stay involved and I’ll happily take goals if they come along as well.”

Miller was thrilled with the result three days ago for a number of reasons, not least because of the manner in which Gers won.

Celtic had gone top of the SPL the previous afternoon with a win against Aberdeen but Walter Smith’s men overtook them again with a ruthless showing in Edinburgh.

Miller added: “I suppose there is always a wee bit of pressure on you when your rivals go above you in the table the day before you play.

“But getting three points was the most important thing on Sunday and for us to go to Easter Road and win so well was great.

“It’s a tough place to play at and Hibs produce some cracking football so it was pleasing to do a good job.

“You could see how good we are in the first half. We passed the ball about well and created some really good chances.

“We did the hard work before the break and managed to go two goals up through some really good play.

“After half-time we had to weather the storm because we knew Hibs would come back at us and we were able to do that.

“Neil (Alexander) made a couple of good saves and that gave us a platform to go on and settle the game through Madjid (Bougherra) when he scored.

“I’m over the moon with the way things are going and barring a controversial decision, we’d be sitting with maximum points from seven games.

“We were happy to go to Easter Road and win to go right back to the top of the league again. It shows the character and mentality we have in our side.”

Asian Football Tournament at Ibrox

THE 10th annual UK Asian Football tournament took place in Glasgow last weekend with Ibrox Stadium playing host to the final between London APSA and Punjabi Utd Derby. 

The match proved to be a very exciting contest with the team from Derby running out 2-1 winners after a last minute goal. 

This was the fourth time Rangers have hosted this event which is run jointly by SEMSA (Scottish Ethnic Minority Sports Association) and Glasgow City Council Education Services and at the post event dinner in Glasgow’s Hilton Hotel the contribution of the club in this regard was recognised by the organisers. 

Kenny Scott, Rangers Head of Security and Operations who represented the Club and spoke at the Dinner, said: “Once again Rangers Football Club are delighted to be associated with this event which has become such a fixture in Glasgow’s sporting calendar.

“It is yet another indication of the club’s commitment to the promotion of social inclusion and understanding of the interests of all sectors of the community.”

Rangers in partership with Ebel

RANGERS chief executive Martin Bain has heralded a new partnership with luxury Swiss watch brand Ebel 

Rangers have joined Ebel’s ever-expanding portfolio of long-term sponsorship agreements with top-class European football teams.

Last year Arsenal became the first member of what is rapidly becoming the most exclusive family in football and since then Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Ajax and Lyon have joined them. Now Rangers will represent Scotland among this elite group of clubs who are the first to sign comprehensive partnership agreements with a high-end Swiss watch company.

Chief executive Bain said: “Ebel has strong brand values around quality, tradition and professionalism. When we started discussing the partnership it was clear these are as important as football success. In today’s times, global brand owners are researching partners much more and it is pleasing that Rangers have become partners with Ebel as we pride ourselves on quality and tradition.

“Arsenal, Ajax and Bayern Munich are three of Europe’s biggest clubs so it is pleasing that Ebel looked across Europe and felt comfortable that Rangers sat equally alongside such icons.

“Sponsorship is increasingly about creating a partnership and with Ebel it’s not just about cash. They have also funded some of the media enhancements which improve the football experience and have donated watches for club charitable events.

“They also took a sophisticated approach to targeting and acknowledged it was better to install a quality display case at Ibrox and Murray Park than go for a broad brush approach due to the nature of the product.

“By doing this, Ebel has immediately imbedded itself in the Rangers environment and moved beyond simple badging to creating opportunities that fans will appreciate and respect. We are seeing similar approaches being adopted by other global brand owners that we are in discussions with.”

In the early 1990s a giant Ebel clock was mounted at Ibrox Stadium. This season a new digital Ebel clock has been positioned in exactly the same spot.

The production of a special limited edition Ebel watch, to be launched in November 2008 and featuring a discreet Rangers insignia is already at an advanced stage and Head of Commercial Affairs for Rangers Stuart Cain said: “We are delighted to begin this partnership with Ebel as our Official Timekeeping Partner. It’s an exciting new chapter for football and I’m convinced of the long-term benefits that Rangers can derive from such a prestigious association.”

Ebel is producing a watch from its new 1911 Tekton range featuring an exclusive movement specifically designed for football and issued in limited editions bearing the insignia of each club.

The Caliber 245 times each half of a match (“245” standing for 2 x 45 minutes) and also indicates extra time. Reading off elapsed time is easy thanks to the oversized 45-minute counter while the crystal case-back will feature an exclusive skeleton oscillating weight in the shape of a football.

The Caliber 245 is a world première as it is the first proprietary movement ever to keep step with football match time. Each special edition will be sold in a customized and luxurious box and Ebel has worked closely with the clubs in developing highly emblematic versions for each one.

The Rangers limited edition, along with those of Bayern Munich and Arsenal, will be the very first Ebel football watch to be launched worldwide this autumn, while the Ajax, Real Madrid and Olympique Lyonnais watches will be launched in 2009.