The Gallant Pioneers book (Read 2,156 times)

[Webmaister]

POSTED by themoonlighter

The Gallant Pioneers 1872 Book. Christmas Special Offer.

We have copies of the book that we've all been waiting on.

We can have the books signed/dedicated by the author and posted to you in time for Christmas all for £12.


Just drop me, themoonlighter, a wee message and i'll do the rest.

GlescaPal themoonlighter .. [e-mail]

[johnmcla]

Thought I might add this, from Amazon:

The harrowing and heartbreaking stories behind the founding fathers of Rangers are sympathetically revealed and told for the first time. This is the first in-depth study of the club's early years' history for almost a century. Rangers are one of the most famous teams in world football, but the scale of their success is astonishing set against the backdrop of their formation in 1872. Back then, four young men gathered in a park in the west end of Glasgow and decided to set up a team that would do justice to the new craze of association football. Amazingly, William McBeath and Peter Campbell were just 15-years-old, Moses McNeil was only 16 and his brother Peter the elder statesman at 17. Soon they were joined by Tom Vallance, another 16-year-old who quickly rose to become captain of the famed club. None of those gallant pioneers was a native of Glasgow and yet within five years they were Scottish Cup finalists, set up in their spiritual home on the south side of the burgeoning industrial city and attracting a working class audience they have never since lost. But what became of the men who formed a club that's loved and cherished by so many? Rangers may have scaled great heights, but the personal lives of almost all the founding fathers were touched with terrible tragedy. Journalist Gary Ralston has used fresh research and uncovered hitherto unseen documents, records and transcripts to sympathetically recount the heartbreaking stories behind the men who created a great institution. He reveals the torrid tales of death through insanity, a drowning that denied a birthright as a steamship entrepreneur and the sad passing of a pioneer who lies buried in a pauper's grave in the forgotten fringes of an English cemetery, cast as a certified imbecile, tried as a fraudster and left to live out his life in the poorhouse. This fascinating insight into the earliest years of Rangers, the first in-depth analysis for almost a century, also tells of happier times, the links with royalty and football aristocracy such as Sir Stanley Matthews and the club's relationship with the city in which it was born and grew in the tumultuous Victorian era. It also traces the only two known surviving grandchildren of the founders and tells how they knew nothing about their grandfather's most famous achievement. "Rangers 1872: The Gallant Pioneers" tells one of football's most romantic tales - and also one of its saddest.
About the Author
Gary Ralston, 39, works with the Daily Record in Glasgow and has covered sport extensively for the paper, including the Beijing Olympics, World Cup final, Champions League final, Six Nations and Super Bowl. A journalist for 20 years, he has reported on Scottish football extensively at home and abroad at club and international level for papers including the Daily Express and The Sun. He started his full-time career at the Rangers News, the official club publication. He lives in Stirling with wife Laura, son Lewis and daughter Jennifer.

[Nell]

Got mah book and ahm delighted wi it, and mah grandson in law will be pleased as punch especially since it his been signed by the author. Thanks Moonlighter, ah canny wait tae Christmas tae ah gie it tae him.

[jackohara]

I wonder if he's[Gary Ralston]related to Elizabeth Ralston.
Does anybody know.?

[norrie]

Webbie and I were on the tour, it was interesting, as was the visit to Ibrox

Bye for now, norrie

[Webmaister]

Jack, GlecaPal 'themoonlighter' might may able tae help ye ther.

[jackohara]

Thanks Webmaister

[merlot]

Got my copy last week. Canny wait tae read it masel but I'll have to wait as it's a present for Mr Merlot

[Liz R.I.P.]

Merlot neither you or Mr Merlot will be disappointed well worth reading.

[happy]

Just come across this Jack do you know Elizabeth Ralston because I know someone with that name .. Josie

[jackohara]

We were in the same class at primary School Josie,
your not Josie Fleming by any chance are you?

[happy]

No my maiden name was Smith ,where did you go to school are you from Glasgow Jack

[jackohara]

Thanks for getting back to me Josie,
yes I am from Glasgow I went to Quarry Brae,
then Newlands, and Rivvie.

[happy]

Different Ralston Jack my late sister was Elizabeth Ralston her husband was Alec he lived on Charles St.just off Castle St.before going up to Springburn ,they would be much older than you as she was my oldest sister,funny thing when my nephew who lives in Australia sold her house the young girl who bought it last name was also Ralston ..

[jackohara]

No Problem Josie. thank you.x