Edmiston House has played a huge part in the history of our football club. It became home to the Rangers pools in March 1971 and it is here I will delve into history and look at the impact Rangers pools has had on our football club.
David Hope was one of the early founders of Rangers pools and is attributed with being the driving force behind its launch and early success. David was a director of Rangers and also had a radio shop in Saracen Street Possil.
Rangers Pools was launched in 1964 in West Regent street before afore mentioned move to Edmiston House in 1971.
The above picture is the opening night of Edmiston House.
The Ibrox disaster led Rangers to develop a modern stadium. Willie Waddell was a regular visitor to Edmiston House with his good friend Hugh Adam and both would enjoy several cuppas and a smoke whilst they planned the overhaul of the current stadium.
Hugh Adam was now heading up the Rangers Pools operation. Waddell and Adam formed a plan to replace the ageing terracing with a state of the art seated stadium. Waddell travelled though Europe looking at various stadiums and returned to announce Ibrox would be modelled on Borussia Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion.
Hugh Adam was able to confirm that the hugely successful Rangers Pools would cover the expected six million pounds cost. In the end the cost would rise to £10m.
Architects, Miller Partnership, published the new stadium plans in 1977.
Rangers pools was at this point in time having an average of 1.2 million weekly entries at 10p an entry. It was second only to Littlewoods pools and was the most successful pools related game of its kind in the UK. Yarrows shipyards alone had 14,000 entries being played on Rangers Pools.
It has became legend that on your first day in Yarrows you were handed your time sheet, your Union card and Rangers pools Membership.
Whether you asked for it or not, you were firmly told ‘I’ll collect the money on Friday!’
Rangers Pools had around 55 (there’s that number again!) staff all housed on Harrison Drive. Edmiston House was also a thriving nightclub with acts such as Lulu and The Drifters playing regularly.
Many of the staff would finish on a Saturday in the pools office and rush home to get changed before heading back to Edmiston house and the nightclub upstairs which would be full of six hundred Rangers fans.
There was two floors, the first was a private club and held up to 150 people. The second floor held up to 450. Edmiston house opened on match day and many Rangers fans would pop in to play pool and have a pint before the short walk to watch the team play.
It was common for the first team to attend after matches and mingle with the fans safe in the knowledge they were amongst their own.
Fast forward to the modern day and Rangers Pools has already given over £110,000 to help with stadium maintenance and upkeep. Indeed, £50,000 was recently given and this paid for the costs of the upgraded Dressing room and Tunnel area. (More on that next week on the blog)
Rangers Pools profits are now solely directed to the rebuild of the new Edmiston House and Museum.
Rangers fans have successfully paid for the club to have a new tunnel and dressing room area which rival any.
The more fans who play then the higher the profit we will contribute to the club.
There isn’t a higher incentive, play Rangers Pools and support the club directly.
Four Lads Had A Dream 