True blue John’s autograph hunt nears end

Rangers fan’s quest to collect signature of every player from the nine-in-a-row campaign.

Some football supporters travel to the ends of the earth to follow their team. But fanatical fan John Irwin has clocked up tens of thousands of miles just for his favourite players’ autographs.

The Glasgow man has become obsessed with his attempt to collect the signature of every player who featured in Rangers’ nine-in-a-row campaign between 1988 and 1997 even if they made just one substitute appearance.

John has travelled to war-torn Israel and Ukraine in his hunt for the 86 autographs and next up is a trip to America, where he plans on hitch-hiking more than 1,000 miles to make contact with a further four ex-players.

The 63yearold now has just 12 signatures to collect, but with some of those based in Australia and Dubai, and others he has yet to track down, the finishing line isn’t quite in sight just yet.

“It all started in 2009, when I moved to Ibrox,” John explained.

“I had retired and I’ve always had itchy feet, so I took an old Rangers strip to the stadium on matchdays and thought I would try to get some signatures.

“The first was Dave McPherson.”

As the autographs built up, John made it his mission to track down every player of that era.

“I’ve become an amateur detective, spending hours on the internet trying to find where these men are today. I now have everyone based in the UK apart from former defender John McGregor no one seems to know where he is.”

John’s trips around Britain have taken him to a shortbread factory to meet Nicky Walker and a fire station in Sheffield to meet former youth midfielder Tom Cowan. He even shared a postmatch pizza in the Rotherham dressing room when he went to meet Andy Dibble, who played seven games in the ninth league campaign.

A couple of years ago, John realised he would need to travel further afield if he was to complete the lineup.

“I’ve sold a lot of football memorabilia to fund the trips and people also donate unwanted items to me that I sell at car boot sales to make some cash. That’s how I’m funding the American trip.

“I’m going to Phoenix to meet David Robertson and Paul Rideout, who work together there at a football academy, and former keeper Ally Maxwell is only 11 miles from there. Then I’m going to hitch about 1,700 miles to see John Spencer in Texas.”

His favourite trip was to Israel earlier this year to meet exreserve keeper Bonni Ginzburg.

“That was the one I most looked forward to, despite the high security presence everywhere. He’s very high profile there but he was a complete gentleman and we went out for a meal.

“At the airport on the way home, security stopped me and examined my passport. She asked how old I was and I said 62. My heart started thumping when she asked why I was lying. With all the excitement of the trip I had forgotten it was my birthday, but she’d noticed and wished me a happy birthday. That was a nice touch.”

Not all the trips are plain sailing, though.

“When I went to Denmark I fell asleep on the train and woke to a text message from my phone company welcoming me to Sweden! Thankfully I had a few hours to kill anyway, so it wasn’t a total disaster.”

He continued: “I was meeting three players in Holland, so I ended up on 13 trains in one day.

“Pieter Huistra came to the station platform to sign the top, because I was so rushed for time.”

Although it’s been a thrill to meet the legends such as Ally McCoist, Paul Gascoigne and Brian Laudrup, John says his favourite experiences have been with the lesser-known players.

“I’m now friends with people like Chris Vinnicombe and Bonni Ginzburg. There’s more of an opportunity to talk with these guys.”

He added: “Family and friends think I’m crazy, but it’s an obsession now. If I don’t manage to complete it, then my nephew Andrew Thomson will take over.

“When I die, the strip will go to my daughter.

“I would never sell it and ideally I’ll give it on permanent loan to the club to put on display.”

If you know the whereabouts of former defender John McGregor or any of the other remaining players John is searching for, please email us or call on 0141 567 2753.