- Hardcover: 192 pages
- Publisher: Breedon Publishing (11 July 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1859837476
- ISBN-13: 978-1859837474
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.6 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
-
Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
93,051 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5 in Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > Football > British > Football Clubs > Rangers
The Gallant Pioneers: Rangers 1872
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £39.35
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Rangers 1872: The Gallant Pioneers for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £39.35, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
The harrowing and heartbreaking stories behind the founding fathers of Rangers are sympathetically revealed and told for the first time. This is the first in-depth study of the club's early years' history for almost a century. Rangers are one of the most famous teams in world football, but the scale of their success is astonishing set against the backdrop of their formation in 1872. Back then, four young men gathered in a park in the west end of Glasgow and decided to set up a team that would do justice to the new craze of association football. Amazingly, William McBeath and Peter Campbell were just 15-years-old, Moses McNeil was only 16 and his brother Peter the elder statesman at 17. Soon they were joined by Tom Vallance, another 16-year-old who quickly rose to become captain of the famed club. None of those gallant pioneers was a native of Glasgow and yet within five years they were Scottish Cup finalists, set up in their spiritual home on the south side of the burgeoning industrial city and attracting a working class audience they have never since lost. But what became of the men who formed a club that's loved and cherished by so many? Rangers may have scaled great heights, but the personal lives of almost all the founding fathers were touched with terrible tragedy. Journalist Gary Ralston has used fresh research and uncovered hitherto unseen documents, records and transcripts to sympathetically recount the heartbreaking stories behind the men who created a great institution. He reveals the torrid tales of death through insanity, a drowning that denied a birthright as a steamship entrepreneur and the sad passing of a pioneer who lies buried in a pauper's grave in the forgotten fringes of an English cemetery, cast as a certified imbecile, tried as a fraudster and left to live out his life in the poorhouse. This fascinating insight into the earliest years of Rangers, the first in-depth analysis for almost a century, also tells of happier times, the links with royalty and football aristocracy such as Sir Stanley Matthews and the club's relationship with the city in which it was born and grew in the tumultuous Victorian era. It also traces the only two known surviving grandchildren of the founders and tells how they knew nothing about their grandfather's most famous achievement. "Rangers 1872: The Gallant Pioneers" tells one of football's most romantic tales - and also one of its saddest.
About the Author
Gary Ralston, 39, works with the Daily Record in Glasgow and has covered sport extensively for the paper, including the Beijing Olympics, World Cup final, Champions League final, Six Nations and Super Bowl. A journalist for 20 years, he has reported on Scottish football extensively at home and abroad at club and international level for papers including the Daily Express and The Sun. He started his full-time career at the Rangers News, the official club publication. He lives in Stirling with wife Laura, son Lewis and daughter Jennifer.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Knowledge of the Gallant Pioneers who founded the Rangers has been scarce to say the least. However, this wonderful book - which is brilliantly informative and fittingly poignant throughout - fills in a lot of missing gaps and should be of interest to Rangers supporters everywhere.
The story of Rangers is the greatest rags-to-riches story in the history of football but, as this book details, is marked with tragedy as well.
Quite simply, it's the most important book on Rangers to be released in years, if not ever.
It's not a statistical analysis of early results although there are references to certain games, but a narrative which covers Rangers' formative years and details the lives of the four young men who founded our Club.
There is absolutely no way it will disappont on any level in the slightest and every single Rangers fan in the world should have a copy of this in their house.
The author has commendably not romanticised anything, nor does he shirk from any contentious issues and the book is all the richer for it.
Buy it, read it and encourage others to do the same.
The story of Rangers is the greatest rags-to-riches story in the history of football but, as this book details, is marked with tragedy as well.
Quite simply, it's the most important book on Rangers to be released in years, if not ever.
It's not a statistical analysis of early results although there are references to certain games, but a narrative which covers Rangers' formative years and details the lives of the four young men who founded our Club.
There is absolutely no way it will disappont on any level in the slightest and every single Rangers fan in the world should have a copy of this in their house.
The author has commendably not romanticised anything, nor does he shirk from any contentious issues and the book is all the richer for it.
Buy it, read it and encourage others to do the same.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
i'm the author's little sister, Laura, and i can't stress enough how proud i am of Gary's book! It's a true labour of love, which leaps out at you from every page. Even if you are not a Rangers fan, which i am not, i urge you to read this book. It's a history of the club, of course, but it's so much more than that. It's a look at the history of Glasgow and the back stories of some fascinating individuals. It's a long overdue book and every person i know who's read it has said only good things!
Gary has worked so hard on this, and, believe me when i say this is not my sisterly bias, he deserves all the praise he has received for The Gallant Pioneers. Roll on the next book, big bro! (And while you're at it, can you write my thesis, too? :-))
Gary has worked so hard on this, and, believe me when i say this is not my sisterly bias, he deserves all the praise he has received for The Gallant Pioneers. Roll on the next book, big bro! (And while you're at it, can you write my thesis, too? :-))
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is an excellent and long overdue account of the lives of the founders of Rangers FC. The author sets the scene in the first chapter, as he outlines the social conditions in Glasgow, into which the founders moved from Argyll. The author goes on to examine the foundation of Rangers, highlighting previous good work on the subject, but also some inaccuracies. The author sets the inaccuracies straight, and provides substantial evidence of where, when, and why the club was formed.
Between chapters describing the early successes and failures of the club, are biographical details of the founders - Moses McNeil, Peter McNeil, Peter Campbell, William McBeath and Tom Vallance (accredited as a founder although not there at the inception.) The lives of these men range from success to tragedy. An inspiring and yet very much sad story throughout.
The author places the founders in the correct social background. They were not from the poorest background, but nor were they rich by any means. Rangers players did not live in the deprived conditions suffered by many in the city, but nor did they live in the opulent areas of the West End that were emerging at that time. They lived in tenements.
The author highlights the charitable work carried by Rangers. This charitable work was open to all irrespective of faith or creed.
The author dismisses the often cited inaccuracy (or deliberate jibe), that the club was founded on a sectarian basis. There was no ban on players because of their religion. This aspect of Rangers did not evolve until another 50 years, and could form the basis of another book. Rangers were founded for footballing purposes.
So the author destroys quite a few myths in his well-researched book. Rangers were not a rich club from the outset, Rangers did give generously to charity, and Rangers were not founded on a religious basis.
This book sets the record straight. Gary Ralston is to be commended on this excellent work.
Between chapters describing the early successes and failures of the club, are biographical details of the founders - Moses McNeil, Peter McNeil, Peter Campbell, William McBeath and Tom Vallance (accredited as a founder although not there at the inception.) The lives of these men range from success to tragedy. An inspiring and yet very much sad story throughout.
The author places the founders in the correct social background. They were not from the poorest background, but nor were they rich by any means. Rangers players did not live in the deprived conditions suffered by many in the city, but nor did they live in the opulent areas of the West End that were emerging at that time. They lived in tenements.
The author highlights the charitable work carried by Rangers. This charitable work was open to all irrespective of faith or creed.
The author dismisses the often cited inaccuracy (or deliberate jibe), that the club was founded on a sectarian basis. There was no ban on players because of their religion. This aspect of Rangers did not evolve until another 50 years, and could form the basis of another book. Rangers were founded for footballing purposes.
So the author destroys quite a few myths in his well-researched book. Rangers were not a rich club from the outset, Rangers did give generously to charity, and Rangers were not founded on a religious basis.
This book sets the record straight. Gary Ralston is to be commended on this excellent work.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Our history
With all that is going on at Glasgow Rangers at this moment in time I felt that I should find out about how this once great club was formed and its history. Read more
Published 1 month ago by chic
Puzzling
The death certificate of one of the gallant pioneers has 'general paralysis' as the cause and yet much of the book is premised on his dying of `paralysis induced by financial... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Rufus
Gallant Pioneers
A must for all football fans! The remarkable story of famous football club, born out of the love of football.
Published 11 months ago by Grandabear
The True Birth Of A World Famous Club
This is the true story of a bunch of young lads who enjoyed a sport.
A sport that was just beginning, a sport that we now know as football or to a worldwide audience... Read more
A sport that was just beginning, a sport that we now know as football or to a worldwide audience... Read more
Published 15 months ago by iainmcl
A great book, a must-have for all teddy bears
Really interesting and very well-researched book, outlining in great detail the formation of the world's most successful club.
A book that all bears should read. Read more
A book that all bears should read. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Mr. Simon Moss
The Gallant Pioneers
A great effort by Gary Ralston and how these men related to other sports like athletics
Well done Gary
Well done Gary
Published 22 months ago
rangers history
A brilliant read for all Rangers fans the author brings to life the very early days of this great club
Published 23 months ago by william boyle
A must read
This is a must read for any Rangers fan. If you are thinking about buying the book, just do it.
Published on 2 April 2010 by E. Watkins
A fascinating insight
This is a great read for any person interested in the history of football.
Do not read into the slurs and lies stated nowadays about bigotry and hatred. Read more
Do not read into the slurs and lies stated nowadays about bigotry and hatred. Read more
Published on 30 Mar 2010 by Jm Wilson
I couldn't put it down.
What a great book. Truly addictive I just couldn't put it down. This would make a fantastic stocking filler.
Published on 7 Mar 2010 by Cath Muir
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > Football > Clubs > Rangers
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
