IT has been a long, winding and darn sight more painful and tumultuous road than had been predicted.

But four years on from one of the most dramatic financial collapses ever in UK sport and being forced to start again from the bottom tier, fans of Rangers will now see their club enter Scottish football's top flight and mount their long-awaited challenge to become national champions.

READ MORE: Rangers 1 Dumbarton 0: James Tavernier puts finishing touch on a long journey back

The club's supporters have talked about "the journey". It has taken them as far north as Elgin and south to Berwick, included the ignominy of defeats by Stirling Albion and Annan Athletic yet has seen a galvanised and steadfast support generating packed houses.

With the finishing line a finger tip away, the journey took another twist at the weekend, a last gasp goal in Kirkcaldy putting the lingering wait to celebrate on ice for a while yet.

But it was at home, Ibrox Stadium, against Dumbarton, with their fate in their own hands, where a packed house watched their heroes return to the top flight and make their mark in Rangers' history.

The Herald:

Since July 2012, Scottish football has been engulfed in a seemingly endless debate about whether this is indeed "the same club", the Rangers which won 54 league titles and 33 Scottish Cups since its foundation in 1872.

Supporters of other Scottish sides – and not just Old Firm rivals Celtic – have delighted in taunting Rangers fans as a "dead club" or Sevco, the name of the off-the-shelf company which bought the club's assets after it was liquidated. Company law, through to Advertising Standards Authority rulings and even Protection of Employment regulations, are cited by other supporters with the same regularity as the prowess of players, honours won or indeed their own clubs' current fortunes.

READ MORE: Rangers 1 Dumbarton 0: James Tavernier puts finishing touch on a long journey back

But this team which has won promotion to the SPL plays in blue at Ibrox stadium, with the same fans in the same scarves singing the same songs as was the case in 2012.

The Herald:

For the supporters of Rangers this is without question the club of Sandy Jardine and John Greig, of Bill Struth and Moses McNeil, Bob McPhail and Willie Waddell, Brian Laudrup and Richard Gough. Last night it was the Rangers of James Tavernier.

It is almost exactly four years since these fans last watched a top-flight game at Ibrox, a 0-0 draw with Motherwell on May 5 2012. Despite the dark pregnant clouds of administration hanging low overhead, few could have predicted the cast of characters, boardroom upheavals and on-the-pitch dramas they would have to endure before the pleasure of another Premiership fixture.

READ MORE: Rangers 1 Dumbarton 0: James Tavernier puts finishing touch on a long journey back

Within a week of the match, chairman Craig Whyte had sold his controlling stake in the club to a consortium led by an ebullient Yorkshireman called Charles Green. At present both men are facing trial over alleged fraudulent acquisition of Rangers assets.

The liquidation process followed fast. "Rangers FC: Born 1872, Died 2012", screamed the headlines.

But this was just the start. July saw 10 of the other 11 SPL clubs voting against the "newco" Rangers being admitted to the top flight, with the only offer on the table a place in the Third Division.

Life in the bottom tier, kicking off with a 2-2 draw at Peterhead, was a toil, the part-timers of the Third Division taking a share of, or indeed all, the points on no less than 10 occasions. Off-the-field there were tax tribunals, share issues, players sacked, and racism claims.

Even the return of Walter Smith did little to improve the football team's fortunes as the sheen came off club legend Ally McCoist who struggled to cut it as manager.

READ MORE: Rangers 1 Dumbarton 0: James Tavernier puts finishing touch on a long journey back

The following season saw the appointment of controversial Greenock businessman Sandy Easdale to the Rangers board, commercial tie-ins with Yorkshire theme parks and a cup final defeat by Raith Rovers but an undefeated league campaign.

The predicted progression to the top division during the 2014/15 season failed to materialise as Hearts became the runaway leaders and Rangers were thumped in the play-offs by Motherwell.

The powerful and not-altogether-benevolent figure of sportswear tycoon Mike Ashley loomed large, the future of Rangers seemingly in his hands.

A boardroom coup led by former director Dave King steadied the ship somewhat and, with new manager Mark Warburton building a stable platform on the pitch with canny English lower league signings, Rangers then cruised to promotion at the second time of asking.

The jubilation of winning the Championship will be matched by the satisfaction, and indeed some relief, amongst its supporters that Rangers are taking their place amongst Scottish football's elite. Most fans will recognise it. It is not unlike the SPL they watched four long years back. It has maybe lacked the buzz and global attention of a certain fixture but there was no Armageddon for the national game.

Sunday brings the Petrofac Cup Final against Peterhead for Rangers. A week from then it will be the Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic at Hampden. There's a certain circular irony in these two sides being Rangers' next opponents after clinching promotion.

READ MORE: Rangers 1 Dumbarton 0: James Tavernier puts finishing touch on a long journey back