The first leg of the journey is almost complete for Rangers.
Confirmation of the Ibrox club as champions of the Irn-Bru Third Division will offer a moment of respite in a season which has been intermittently stressful.
A win against Stirling Albion today would have been sufficient to put them beyond reach if it was coupled with a draw or defeat for Queen's Park later this afternoon.
However, snow has wiped out the Spiders' visit visit to Annan, so all Ally McCoist's side can do today is try to build on their 20-point lead at the top of the table and wait for another round of fixtures.
Patience has been a pre-requisite for Rangers during a season which has refused to be as comfortable as some seemed to think it would be and McCoist will be entitled to a sense of satisfaction at a job well done, if not always with aplomb, since it will be his first title as manager and the first for many of his squad, too. McCoist, though, has always dismissed the idea that his side would cope easily in the third division.
"In SFL3, I'm not sure there's been an overall acceptance in the difference between the team and the club," said the Rangers manager. "We all appreciate the club's the same. I'm not sure everyone sees the team is not the same. People who said we'd go unbeaten might ask questions. We don't ask questions because we never said we would do that, we knew the reality of it. Everyone in our division knows the reality.
"Every manager we spoke to was completely aware we were never going to win every game and beat teams five, six, seven [nil]. Maybe people on the outside were a bit ignorant of the situation; didn't know the players; the teams or the league; didn't know it was going to be 36 cup finals.
"It's difficult playing for Rangers. It doesn't matter who you are. There's a graveyard out there full of people who couldn't play for Rangers. It's not about turning up, playing the game and winning. When things aren't going well it's as big a test for anybody. The biggest test was when we were drawing three games and losing at Stirling. That's where you see if someone can be a Rangers player or not. Not when you are winning four and five nil at home."
If their moment does arrive today, it would hardly rank as the club's greatest achievement but it will still be celebrated like any other triumph. "It's the first title on the road back," McCoist said. "It certainly should be celebrated because after what the club's been through since last February the fans deserve to celebrate, as do the players."
However unconvincing Rangers have been on the pitch at times this season, they have earned their success. Their confirmation as champions will be a low-key affair, initially at least, with the squad likely to celebrate among themselves.
"It will be an afternoon with Jeff Stelling and Sky Sports News," said Chris Hegarty, the Rangers defender. "We'll have to win our game first – that's more important. We have to focus on winning the game first. But as soon as we are champions we'll all be over the moon and phoning to congratulate each other."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article