RANGERS’ nine in a row legend John Brown has been given a special ambassadorial role and will represent the club at a 70th anniversary celebration of Moscow Dynamo’s famous tour of the UK.
Just three years ago Brown famously ranted on the threshold of Ibrox for the removal of Charles Green and demanded the fans starved the Yorkshireman out of Ibrox.
Last year at the club’s annual general meeting, he described the directors as ‘stooges and rats’ as he fought beside fans groups to remove the Easdale brothers and Sport Direct placements Derek Llambias and Barry Leach.
Now Bomber has become a public face of the club which is another sign of the complete change in the governance of Rangers since the Dave King takeover nine months ago.
He’s heading to the Russian capital on Sunday to be part of the celebrations of Moscow Dynamo’s UK tour, which included an historic game with Rangers.
Russian Consul General Andrey Pritsepov from the Russian embassy will also make a special presentation to Rangers ahead of Saturday’s Petrofac Training Cup semi-final with St Mirren, which is the exact anniversary of the Ibrox encounter with Dynamo.
Brown said: “I know the history of the Moscow Dynamo game so when the opportunity came up I was delighted to accept it.
“Being a Rangers fan I am aware of the importance of the visit of the Russians at that time so it’s an honour to be asked to represent the club.
“Of course the fact that they were the opponents in 1972 when the club won the Cup Winners’ Cup just adds to the whole thing.
“I travelled to many places during my days with Rangers but I have never been to Moscow so I’m really looking forward to it.
“As well as the 70th anniversary dinner I will also be able to see Moscow Dynamo playing Lokomotiv so that’s great.
“Nothing was really known about the Russians when they came over in 1945 but they certainly opened the eyes of the teams they faced as well as the fans who were there.
“Since the new board has gone in they have asked me to do a few things which has been good and it’s a great pleasure to be asked to go to Moscow on Sunday.”
As the world embraced peace-time following the end of the Second World War in August 1945, the Soviet Union’s most famous football side embarked on a four-match trip which captivated the nation.
The drew 3-3 with Chelsea, hammered Cardiff City 10-1 then defeated an Arsenal select side 4-3 before heading to Glasgow when 92,000 crammed into Ibrox to take a peek at the mysterious foreigners which was all the more remarkable given the game was played at 2.15pm on a Wednesday.
A late George Young penalty rescued a 2-2 draw for Rangers, who had scored in the first half through Jimmy Smith.
Many feel the Russians’ playing style – called Passovotchka – was a pre-cursor to the Total Football ethos of the Dutch in the 1970s.
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