Laudrup’s Lodge – The greatest ‘Rangers room’ ever?

I’m lucky enough to be good friends with Ross Matheson for around 15 years now back from the days when we once shared a close in the town centre flats we rented.

Ross’s place always had a ‘smallish’ area of Rangers memorabilia on display upstairs and during this time he did always say ‘one day’ in terms of having his own proper Rangers Room.

A move to the suburbs after getting married and with plans to start a family it did seem like a bit of a distant dream for a while.

However the opportunity presented itself late in 2016 and Ross admits the question most asked to him is ‘how did your Mrs allow this?!’ and knowing her well I still don’t get it either!

Maybe it was the arrival of the kids and busy family life side-tracking her thoughts but with a garden remodel on the cards, Ross’s dream began to take shape

In October 2016 Ross started what ultimately became a twenty thousand pound project, taking several months to complete, finally being ready for April 2017.

Ross has always been a keen admirer of people who create their own cinema rooms having looked at various online forums over the years. He is an Electrician by trade and a competent tradesman so was able to complete all the sparky work, decorating and fittings himself.

The garage structure which existed was beyond repair so Ross pulled this down and a new 6m x 4m space was created.

Originally a deal was struck for 2m of the project to be used as a family space for bikes etc, but sensing an opportunity in a brilliant stroke of genius, Ross managed to persuade the family that an additional wooden shed would be more beneficial and instead used that 2m to install his own bar at the rear of the design (bravo!)

During the build Ross would, much to his Wife’s dismay, move around their own living area which shared the dimensions of his soon to be ‘Rangers room’ to get a feel for screen sizing and seating distances

Ross has been collecting and framing his old strips for several years meaning art work was never a problem. Items include the 2011 double winning team signed jersey and a set of 9iar flags gifted by Robert Marshall of the Louden Tavern

With the framework complete Ross decorated and fitted the interior, housing the AV gear in the kitchen units ready for his surround sound and massive screen projector.

His Dad pitched in created the Criss-Cross wooden effect to replicate the Ibrox main stand (made famous by Archibald Leitch) going well above and beyond for a delighted Ross.

Fitted with CCTV and full alarm systems Ross jokes his room has more security than Ibrox itself!

Ross was one of the original workers of the now Hummel training centre build in 2001, during this time he was lucky enough to be gifted some wallpaper by John Greig which you can see is proudly up in the room. Ross also likes to lay claim to being the first person to score on the indoor pitch as the ‘workies’ and staff played a match on the newly laid turf!

The construction took nearly seven months to complete and can surely lay claim to being one of the finest Rangers rooms you will find anywhere in the world. The picture of Ibrox displayed on the wall is Ross’s own season ticket seat view.