Rangers legend John Brown recalls journey from the lows of 2012 to the highs of 2021

Fate chose well to ensure a most-fitting representative of Rangers would be present to witness the moment.

Behind the face mask with the Rangers crest, under the blue bobble hat and sporting a club tie for the occasion, was John Brown.

Never a man to hide his true colours, “Bomber” was in the Tannadice stand for Celtic’s visit last Sunday, fulfilling a future opponent scouting brief for the Ibrox club.

“It was my game in the diary to cover,” reveals Brown. “So I had a feeling we’d win the league title last Sunday.

“I’d been there in 1997 when Brian Laudrup headed in for the nine, and I was in the dressing room afterwards.

“I won eight titles before being injured that season. But what has just happened beats that.

“I don’t know about others who have won leagues for Rangers. I don’t disrespect any other.

“But because of where the club has been, and how close we were to going out of business, I think this is the best of the 55.

“To do it in the season Celtic wanted it most of all makes it sweeter for every Rangers fan around the globe.

“And, personally, from going out on the Ibrox steps years ago to being there last Sunday was the best feeling I’ve ever had.”

Brown is referring, of course, to when he addressed an Edmiston Drive gathering in June, 2012 very different in mood to the one staged last weekend.

He’d quit his scouting role for Ally McCoist to agitate for the removal of a new regime led by Charles Green and his cohorts.

Brown’s reliable sources informed him the club was back in dodgy hands after the harrowing Craig Whyte tenure and administration.

He called for fans to starve Green out by not buying season tickets.

But he was out on a limb. As ranting footage went viral, a deluge of ridicule followed – and plenty of it from people who should have known better than to distance themselves from Brown.

He recalled: “I got a phone call from Green’s PA because I was involved in a rival consortium trying to buy the club.

“I went into his office. I don’t need to go into the detail of what was said, but I was very close to putting one on his chin. But I thought better of it.

“I said to him: ‘Listen, I’m out the club now. I’ll fight you from the outside’. I emptied my desk, and called Coisty to wish him all the best.

“I knew the people coming in were going to strip everything out. My worry was the fans didn’t know. I had to s peak up.

“The aftermath of doing that affected my daughters. They saw all the criticism online – and that hurt more than anything.

“Of course, I never got that from anyone I met. They were supportive, and told me to keep going.

“And the support of my wife, Sandra, was incredible.

“My mum and dad are in their 80s and were hurt, too, when the club went that way. My family support the team. It’s part of their lives.

“But people I respected, who were mates, were being critical. They turned their backs on me.

“That was tough to take. To this day, it’s had an effect.

“They were probably laughing at me – ‘Did you see Bomber on the steps? Has he lost the plot? Is he this, is he that?’.

“There’s never been an apology. But that doesn’t matter now. What matters is where the club is.

“A pal sent me a link last Sunday to a fans website. A punter started a thread thanking me for standing on the steps.

“I had a lump in my throat reading that.”

© Ross MacDonald / SNS Group

Brown waged a losing battle in his work before handing in his notice.

With chairman Whyte overseeing a ruinous regime, there was no hope of McCoist tempting the likes of Jamie Vardy to Ibrox.

Brown said: “Vardy was as close to Ian Rush as I’d seen, even though at the time he was playing non-league with Fleetwood Town.

“I told Coisty if we signed him, we’d win the league.

“We had the opportunity of Victor Wanyama while he was with Beerschot in Belgium, and had look at Jay Rodriguez while he was still a Burnley player.

“It got to the stage of putting your life at risk on long drives through the night to watch players, knowing Whyte wasn’t going to spend money on them.”

Brown was welcomed back with open arms by John Gilligan and Paul Murray when Dave King seized power, restoring Rangers to caring hands.

He worked as ambassador before then director of football, Mark Allen, brought his skills to a new talent-spotting team, headed by Andy Scoulding.

Many hard miles lay ahead before Brown saw light at the end of the tunnel.

That was never more true than at Pittodrie in October, 2017 watching a Brendan Rodgers side at its most rampant – and one celebrity Celtic fan at his most confident.

Brown recalls: “It was 3-0 going on 7-0. Celtic opened up Aberdeen for fun.

“Rod Stewart was sitting directly in front of me and his son asked what the fans were singing.

“He explained about the Lisbon Lions winning nine, then the Rangers team that won nine. And he said: ‘We’re going to beat that’.

“There was nothing I could say to him. We weren’t ready to compete against them.

“We didn’t have the infrastructure, and didn’t have everything in place. I didn’t know if we were able to stop 10.

“So I couldn’t argue with Rod. As a Celtic fan, he was loving it.

“As a Rangers fan, getting slapped about being second best because we never had the quality to match up to them, it was tough.

“I gritted my teeth and thought to myself: ‘I hope we’ve got enough to do this’.”

This season has proved they have.