Fifty six years ago today, in 1956, Rangers' first ever away match in Europe against OGC Nice was cancelled due to a torrential downpour in France. Rangers had won the opening leg 2:1 at Ibrox the week before with Billy Simpson and Max Murray on the score-sheet.
The rain at the Stade du Ray had been lashing down all day and the pitch was in poor condition when Rangers manager Scot Symon and secretary Jimmy Simpson agreed with Italian official Signor Bernardi that the game should be postponed.
Rangers' bad luck didn't end there as the plane between Nice and London was late, meaning the connecting flight between London and Renfrew had to be delayed and the team rushed onto a coach to drive them to the plane waiting on the tarmac. With the team on the plane in London, they then had to file off it as it had to be fixed for engine problems before departing for Glasgow!
Flash forward to 1978 and Rangers were again in European action on the continent, inflicting PSV Eindhoven's first ever home European defeat in a 3:2 win thanks to goals from Derek Johnstone, Alex MacDonald and Bobby Russell.
The win, which shocked many pundits, took Rangers through to the quarter final of the European Cup. Rangers didn't start well as PSV opened the scoring in the first minute, but they fought back well and with the game poised at 2:2, Russell popped up to score a sensational winner in the 87th minute.
Tommy McLean found himself on the ball just inside the PSV half and spotted Russell haring through the PSV defence and played a defence-splitting ball through. Russell got on the end of the pass and lashed a shot beyond the onrushing Tony van Engelen to give Rangers a famous victory.
Eleven years ago today in 2001, Rangers were rampant in Russia, beating Moscow Dynamo 4:1 at the Dynamo Stadium thanks to goals from Barry Ferguson, Ronald de Boer, Tore Andre Flo and Peter Lovenkrands. You can read a match report on the website here.
