After an ecstatic 90 minutes and progress to the Europa League final, the Glasgow Rangers dressing room suddenly fell silent.
“We took a moment and toasted the kit man to Jimmy. I’m sure he watched us from above. We will miss him for the rest of our lives,” said coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst. The legendary kit man Jimmy Bell died two days before the semi-final second leg against RB Leipzig. Bell was a Rangers icon – and the 3-1 win over the Bundesliga side was largely a win for him.
The Rangers had left their hearts on the pitch. And after the final whistle the party really started. Goalkeeper Allan McGregor, 40, closed his eyes on the pitch, raised both arms to the night sky and fervently sang along to the fans’ songs.
Everyone in the stands freaked out, even the VIP guests jumped back and forth in their fine suits like little children. To the sounds of Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven is a place on earth”, almost 50,000 people sang about John Lundstram, their hero and scorer to the 3:1. “John Lundstram is the beast on earth” echoed through the legendary Ibrox for several minutes. Jimmy Bell would have loved that night for sure.