IAN FERGUSON realised his boyhood dream when he joined Rangers just months after winning the Scottish Cup with St Mirren and he would go on to add a glittering haul of medals to his collection.

The midfielder was an integral part of the Gers side that won nine-in-a-row, while he also helped the Light Blues to several cup successes under Graeme Souness and Walter Smith.

Ferguson spent two years with Dunfermline before he moved to Australia, where he is now Director of Coaching at Queensland Fury. Here, he relives his finest moments in Light Blue as he became an Ibrox legend.

Aberdeen 2-3 Rangers

October 23, 1988

Hampden

Scorers: McCoist (2), Ferguson

I was lucky to play in a lot of cup finals and league wins and they were great moments. The first medal I got was against Aberdeen in the League Cup.

The moment that I really enjoyed was after the game when Graeme Souness lifted my arm up towards the Rangers fans and I got a nice reception. That is always something that sticks with me.

It was my first medal at Rangers, which was nice. It was a tough game against Aberdeen.

You play football to win trophies. I went to the biggest club in Scotland, it was the team I supported as a boy. You dream about it but I never thought it would happen.

From the first day until the last, I couldn’t believe a boy from the East End of Glasgow was playing for Rangers. Walking up the Marble Staircase every day and seeing players like Gough, Butcher, McCoist, Laudrup, Gascoigne, Durrant, the names can continue, it was just an amazing time. The years I was there were very special and to get that first medal that day meant a lot to me.

When the manager takes your hand and raises it towards the fans, that was a nice moment. I loved Graeme Souness. He was a no-nonsense man. We were going through a difficult time when he came in and he brought stability back to Rangers.

He took Scottish football to another level by bringing in top players and it totally changed the game here. As a coach and a manager, he was disciplined and you had to do what he wanted you to do, but he was a fair man.

He did his business behind closed doors and if you did something in front of everybody else then you lost. He was a great Rangers manager.

Celtic 0-1 Rangers

March 16, 1997

Parkhead

Scorer: Laudrup

Winning nine-in-a-row is one of the biggest achievements in Rangers’ history and to be a part of that was very special indeed. This wasn’t the game that made us champions but it went a long way to winning us the league that season.

Celtic had beaten us in the Scottish Cup 2-0 and we were under all sorts of pressure. We had a number of players out that day and Walter brought back Mark Hateley.

I thought it was a great signing at the time because everyone knew what Big Mark was like to play against. He was a strong, aggressive centre forward that would put his head in where it hurts and that is what we needed.

We had to dig deep that day. It wasn’t the best game but the pressure was on and it was one that I felt we could win. We didn’t get nine-in-a-row that day but it played a huge part in us sealing it.

A big part of being in that Rangers dressing room was character. No matter who we played against, there was always that belief that we were going to win.

I never had a manager at Rangers that set up for a draw. We believed we could win because we had the players that could defend and the players that could score goals.

We knew Celtic had a good side and had quality players that could hurt us but it was a real team performance that day and a really memorable win.

Rangers 3-1 Sunderland

July 21, 1999

Ibrox

Scorers: Ferguson, Bould (OG) van Bronckhorst

This was a special match for me. To get a testimonial you have to be at a club for a period of time and give a club good service and I was honoured that Rangers gave me that game.

I had some wonderful times at Ibrox and had a lot of success and the reception I got from the supporters there meant a lot. I was on the park with my wife and my kids and I really enjoyed that.

There were almost 40,000 fans there cheering me on and it was a moment that I will never forget. It was an emotional day, there is no doubt about that.

I knew I was nearing the end of my career. I was the wrong side of thirty, I wasn’t as quick as I was once and Dick Advocaat was coming in with his own plans.

It was an absolute honour to have that game and it is something I will always remember for the rest of my life.

I was very privileged to have had so many big games for Rangers. It is very difficult to pick moments but that was a very fitting end to my time at Ibrox.