Rangers have announced that they will re-instate the Tina Turner anthem Simply The Best as part of their pre-match entertainment for the game against Dundee United on Saturday.

Remarkably, the matter was a topic for serious debate at the club's annual meeting on Tuesday, when the new director of football, Dick Advocaat, among others, spoke in favour of restoring it to the Ibrox playlist. Yesterday, news of the momentous decision was disseminated to newspaper offices by fax.

The song was dropped earlier in the season after discussions with police, supporters' organisations, and individual fans after a minority of supporters introduced sectarian lyrics to the tune.

Simply The Best, which is played as the team takes the field, will return on a trial basis, although the club have warned that they will take further action if the song is ''corrupted'' by any fans. Martin Bain, Rangers' commercial director, said: ''Simply The Best is a recognised club anthem, but, as we have previously stated, there is no place for sectarianism at Rangers Football Club. I would urge all fans to respect the song and not corrupt its words.''

Advocaat, the former manager, called for the return of the song at the club's annual meeting earlier this week. ''It certainly got my adrenalin pumping and I think the players miss it,'' he said. ''It used to play on the team bus, then we were told we couldn't use it.''