THE LAST DANCE
Nine years later, who’d have thought Rangers would still be seeking their next major trophy?
AS Rangers buried Kilmarnock under an avalanche of goals on May 15, 2011, everyone present at Rugby Park knew the day would prove the end of an era.
The retirement of manager Walter Smith at the end of the season had been well trailed. The long goodbye for a club legend was reaching its final act.
Fast forward to 2020, however, and few present at that party in the Ayrshire sunshine nine years ago this very day could have foreseen that the 5-1 victory which claimed the championship would represent the club’s last piece of major silverware.
There was no hint of the black clouds gathering on the horizon for the Ibrox club when Kyle Lafferty grabbed the opener after only 47 seconds to set Rangers on the road to three-in-a-row.
Steven Naismith netted the second before Lafferty found the back of the net again in a blistering seven-minute opening spell that killed off any nerves in the large travelling support.
After the break, Nikica Jelavic fired in a free-kick. Then the enigmatic Lafferty — who had also scored on the days the title was won in 2009 and 2010 — secured his hat-trick.
James Dayton netted a consolation for Killie but the day belonged to the departing Smith and his jubilant Ibrox side.
For winger Gregg Wylde, a Rangers fan raised in the nailshredding era of last-day title wins in 2003 and 2005, as well as pulsating cup final contests, it was all unexpectedly straightforward.
‘That day Rangers won the title in May 2011 was one I will never forget,’ he told Sportsmail.
‘As a supporter, going to the games with my dad, I remember league wins like Helicopter Sunday at Easter Road in 2005 and the Scottish Cup final in 2002 when Peter Lovenkrands scored a late winner to make it 3-2 against Celtic.
‘We needed to win against Kilmarnock that day but, if I remember rightly, we were ahead before Celtic had even kicked off.
‘Beforehand, there had been pressure on us, but it quickly eased with those three early goals.
‘When we continued our good form in the second half it was clear the title was going back to Ibrox.
‘To be a part of that day is something I will always cherish. It was my first title — and the gaffer’s last. It was the ideal send-off for him.
‘It was my second piece of major silverware after winning the League Cup a couple of months earlier at Hampden.’
Wylde played his part in that blistering opening period as his dream of becoming a title winner with his boyhood heroes came true, setting up Naismith to make it 2-0.
‘Steven Davis played the ball through to me,’ he recalled. ‘I ran forward and cut it back to Naisy, who tucked it into the back of the net.
‘To win the league with Rangers and to get an assist on the day the title was clinched was very special for me.
‘It was a mental season for me, but in a good way. It was one of the highlights of my career.
‘Afterwards, we went back to Ibrox and my whole family joined us there. After a few drinks, a few of my pals came to meet me and we all went into town.
‘I was still wearing my Rangers suit and I had my club tie wrapped around my neck. Thankfully, my mum and dad insisted they took my title medal back home with them just in case I lost it!’
After ten titles and 21 trophies over two spells at the helm, Smith passed the baton to Ally McCoist. The club’s record goalscorer famously likened taking over from such a legendary figure as ‘a bit like taking the mike from Sinatra’.
Ain’t that a kick in the head would become a recurring theme under the ownership of Craig
Whyte, as Rangers fell headlong into the financial abyss and had to work their way up to the top flight from the bottom tier post-liquidation.
Wylde faced criticism when he left Ibrox after Rangers went into administration. He joined Bolton and counts Aberdeen, St Mirren, Livingston and Plymouth on the list of clubs he has since represented.
Now at Clyde, he enjoys a happier relationship with the Rangers rank and file these days than he did eight years ago and remains proud of his part in the club’s history.
With Celtic set to be confirmed as nine-in-a-row champions today — pending an SPFL meeting to discuss calling the season early due to coronavirus — Wylde admits he looks forward to the day when the Premiership trophy is back in the ownership of the blue half of the city. Even if it costs him his claim to fame.
‘I can always say I was in the last Rangers team to win the title,’ he said. ‘Nobody can ever take that achievement away from me.
‘But I would love to see Rangers winning another one soon. Ryan Jack is one of my friends and he got me tickets to see Rangers against Feyenoord in the Europa League game last season.
‘The supporters deserve to see their team winning the league again. You saw it in those big European nights at Ibrox last season and in the number of fans Rangers took over to Braga.
‘It would be great to see Rangers silence their critics and win the league again.’
Nobody can ever take that achievement away from me