WHEN James Tavernier holds aloft the Premiership trophy at Ibrox, it will mark the end of 'The Journey' for Rangers as they are crowned champions for the first time in a decade.
As Connor Goldson follows suit, it will complete his own personal passage, one that has taken him from the operating table to the top step of the podium.
The Englishman feared his career could be over four years ago when he had to undergo heart surgery. It didn't just prolong his time in the game, it would save his life.
From then, Goldson has never looked back and there are few within the Rangers squad that have done more to ensure that Steven Gerrard's side will toast a success that has been three seasons in the making.
“Enjoyable,” he said when asked what his journey from heart surgery to a title winner had been like. “I'm proud of my achievement for myself and proud of the achievement for the team.
“From getting told I might never play football again and having heart surgery to being in the position I am means I'm fortunate and appreciative of everything that's happened.
🔵 @James_Tavernier, @ryankent & @IanisHagi10 grabbed the goals as the Light Blues maintained their unbeaten run in the league.@LiviFCOfficial 0-3 @RangersFC pic.twitter.com/K2QUNV4xnL
— SPFL (@spfl) May 13, 2021
“Yeah, it does [make it more special] in a way. I don’t really think about it on a day to day basis.
“It was a weird one. It was at the end of March when it came up on my phone that the operation was four years ago.
“That was a few weeks after we’d won the league so things like that put it into perspective.
“But personally, on a day-to-day basis, I don’t really think about it. I’m just happy that the three years I have been here have paid off.
🙌 Connor Goldson with a double on our last visit. pic.twitter.com/uIIOkgECUt
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) March 21, 2021
“I came here and set out to win the league for Rangers. From the first day I spoke to the manager here, he set out that was a goal.
“Obviously it has taken us three years and it has been a big project and a big rebuild. But I’m glad to finally put this football club back where it belongs.
“Having met so many people in Glasgow and so many fans, it’s been a tough journey for this club and the supporters. I know it will be a special day for them.”
The countdown to trophy day has been a long time coming for Rangers. Having waited a decade to be in this position, a few extra weeks are easy to handle, though.
For many, it was a matter of when rather than if Gerrard’s side would clinch the title for long periods of a hugely impressive campaign as they showed their class and quality from the off.
It was only in the days prior to their historic weekend – as St Mirren were beaten at Ibrox and Celtic held by Dundee United – that Goldson believed the dream would become reality.
“I wouldn't say early," Goldson said when asked when he realised Rangers had won the league. "I'd probably say late. A lot of people externally said we'd won the league by November/December.
"The first day when I saw the specialist I was 24 and I didn't know if my career was going to be over."
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) October 20, 2020
"Things are amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better club to come to."#RangersFC's Connor Goldson is thankful to the club for believing in him after heart surgery. pic.twitter.com/8sH4qVCcPz
“But I didn't see it that way. I'd probably go as far as saying it probably wasn't until the Livingston game away in March with the Morelos winner late on.
“At that point we only needed one more win and with so many games to go I thought, 'yeah it's done, we're going to win the league'.
“That was probably the first time I allowed myself to believe that. Before that it was all about focusing on the next game.
“We didn't want to give anyone a glimmer of hope. We know what it's like here, you lose a game of football and everyone starts talking.
“We just wanted to keep focused and keep on winning the next game of football. I think that's led to our consistency over the season."
Those levels haven’t just taken Rangers to the top of the table, they have earned them places in the Ibrox history books as records have been written.
Breathing space for Rangers! 💙
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) December 10, 2020
Connor Goldson or Ianis Hagi? 🤷♂️
Either way, Rangers are on their way to topping Group D! 👏 pic.twitter.com/VNMEGiEFGA
Their tally of 99 points is already the best ever by a Rangers side, while targets in terms of clean sheets and goals conceded seem set to be achieved against the Dons.
Goldson has not missed a single second of action throughout a remarkable campaign and he will break through the 5,000 minutes barrier on an afternoon where there are individual and collective ambitions to be aimed for.
Goldson said: “Since we got knocked out of the cup against St Johnstone that has been our main priority, to go the season unbeaten.
“I think it would be a special achievement for this football club and for the group that's in there.
“I don't think we want to go into [today], lifting the trophy on a sour day.
“So it's a big game of football for us, a big rivalry that we know well from the last few years. We're all looking forward to hopefully getting a positive result.
“Yeah of course [I hate missing out] but at the same time it's the manager's decision. I'm fortunate he's trusted me to play every single game.
“It's up to me to stay fit and ready in between games and that's what I've tried to do to the best of my ability.
“It's about recovering well and trying to stay injury free, fortunately I've been able to do that."
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 hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel