How James Tavernier can join Rangers record appearance holders as captain's new deal tees up testimonial

James Tavernier was just eight-years-old the last time a Rangers player was rewarded for his loyalty to the club with a testimonial. That was back in 1999 when Sunderland were the visitors to Ibrox and Ian Ferguson was the man who took centre stage.

Current boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst was still pulling the strings in midfield and was on the scoresheet that night - along with Record Sport columnist Barry Ferguson and a Steve Bould own goal - in a 3-1 victory over the Black Cats for Dick Advocaat’s side at Ibrox.

Ferguson was a dyed-in-the-wool Rangers fan who lived the dream when Graeme Souness signed him from St Mirren to play for his boyhood heroes. The type of player who cared more about the colour of the shirt than the colour of the money. He was, also, part of a dying breed as greed became more common in the beautiful game.

So current captain Tavernier bucks the trend not only at Rangers but football in general in sticking around at one club for so long and it will be a fitting reward if he becomes the first player since Ferguson to earn a testimonial at the club, while team-mate Allan McGregor could also be entitled to one due to his service. The 30-year-old looks set to sign a contract extension that would keep him in Govan until at least 2026 and eleven years at Ibrox.

There have been many times during a roller-coaster spell at Rangers when plenty couldn’t have imagined him being around for a testimonial. But it’s testament to his character that he could take his place alongside some of the longest serving legends at Ibrox.

It was seven years ago this week that former boss Mark Warburton splashed out a fee of around just £300,000 to sign the right back from Wigan Athletic which must go down as one of the