From the streets to the Blue Room, from the Third Division to the Premiership, Craig Houston has completed his own journey with Rangers

He was the fan in the stands that took the streets and would eventually climb the Marble Staircase. As characters in the Rangers story came and went, he remained one of the main protagonists in a complicated, complex tale.

As Rangers battled their way through the lower leagues, Houston took the fight to a discredited and reviled regime. He would be joined by a few and then by thousands and his efforts were rewarded when Dave King, Paul Murray and John Gilligan were successful in their boardroom coup.

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There were protests and banners, card displays and campaigns. He, like many, refused to return to Ibrox and had to watch on from afar as the Gers toiled on the park.

A nightmare that began on February 14, 2012 ended on April 5 last year as Mark Warburton’s side clinched promotion back to the Premiership with victory over Dumbarton.

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For every Gers fan at Ibrox, it was a poignant evening. It was the moment Houston had waited and hoped for, yet one that brought a mixture of emotions.

“I am glad I did it all, but you do have doubts,” he told SportTimes.

“One of the most peculiar moments for me through the four years was the night against Dumbarton when we won the league.

“The first thought I had at the final whistle was about my dad, who had recently passed away, and the fact that he wasn’t at the game to enjoy it.

“Then I looked around as the players were doing their lap of honour and there were 50,000 Rangers supporters celebrating. I thought, out of that crowd, could someone else not done what I have done? I could have had my normal life.

“I didn’t ask for it to be me, it just happened. I reacted to a situation and found myself in another situation that was remarkable.

“I looked about and thought ‘why was it me?’ Was someone else, perhaps better well known, someone with better resources or connections than me, in a better place to do it? I had no money or name so my starting point was zero.

“There must have been someone in that crowd that had a better starting point and could maybe have got the job done easier. I am proud to have played a part, though.”

The cast in the Rangers drama is a lengthy one, each twist in the plot was a remarkable one and Houston was at the centre of it all throughout.

With the support of the Light Blue legions behind him, the likes of David Somers and Sandy Easdale were taken on and seen off, and the fight goes on to this day with Mike Ashley.

It was a chapter in his life that took its toll on his family and his health. The focus is now very much on the park at Ibrox, yet those off it don’t have to think back long to how bad it was, and could have been.

“On a personal journey, I had loads of lows,” Houston said.

“I was arrested, never charged, sued unsuccessfully for £200,000, threatened, so much stuff that shouldn’t happen to a rank and file football fan.

“But there have been highs in there. I was fortunate enough to be invited to the director’s box, I have met some of my heroes and some are now friends.

“It is very humbling when you are walking to a game or a function and someone stops you to shake your hand.

“It feels as if they are talking about someone else, because the penny hasn’t dropped that it was me that did all these daft things over the last four years.

“That is rewarding and very humbling. That is worth more than anything else.”

With King and Co. in the boardroom and the Championship silverware in the Trophy Room, Rangers can look forward to their top flight return this weekend.

Houston will once again take up his seat at Ibrox and, like at the first home game in the Third Division, he will be joined by tens of thousands of supporters in expectation.

He, and they, know only too well never to take anything for granted, though. In that respect, the future remains uncertain.

“I never asked to be the face of the Rangers support or to speak on behalf of any supporter. It just happened,” he said.

“I am always conscious of the fact that thousands of people looked at what we were doing and looked for guidance. A lot of people put our trust in me and the Sons of Struth.

“I am wary that I am somehow still representing these people and if anything was needing done in the future then I would feel almost duty bound to act for these people.

“To just disappear and do nothing would be a shame. It is a tough one. I would love to just go and sit in the stand and watch football. But I feel I have got this responsibility for the people that supported us.”

Having heralded in boardroom change and celebrated the second tier title, Rangers find themselves back on familiar territory and with solid foundations upon which to build.

For those that have lived through it all, suffered the heartache yet retained hope, the first day back in the top flight will be a welcome relief yet a moment of excitement.

There could be an even more significant achievement to cherish at the end of the campaign, though, as Warburton’s side bid for Premiership glory.

“Within a year or two hopefully we will be back playing European ties and it will probably take that and a couple of league championships for it all to sink in about the journey we have been on,” Houston said.

“We should appreciate them more now going forward. We never thought this would happen to our club. We were probably spoiled as supporters.

“We had lows, but that was when not qualifying for Europe was the end of the world. In comparison, the depths we have been to have been scary. Once we are winning leagues and in Europe, we will appreciate it.

“I said before that I thought the AGM result was a bigger victory for the club in importance than nine-in-a-row. That was a massive day.

“We will win the league again, there is no doubt about that. It will be the biggest league celebrations that I will have been part of, simply because of what it means.

“We will cherish it more. We perhaps became blasé through nine-in-a-row because we just expected to win the league.

“The 55th championship, from a personal point of view, will be the best one for me.”