Jack Butland has Rangers pinch me moment as new keeper reveals text exchanges with wife over Ibrox noise

Jack Butland has played for England and in the Premier League.

And last season, he sampled life at Manchester United. But despite only being at Rangers for a matter of weeks, Butland has already had to pinch himself a few times. Saturday was another one of those moments. The 30-year-old goalkeeper couldn’t believe his eyes when he ran out at Hoffenheim’s PreZero Arena and saw 1200 Bears in the corner. For a meaningless pre-season friendly in Germany – Butland was blown away. Their backing helped Rangers fight back from 2-0 down against the Bundesliga side to get a 2-2 draw, thanks to James Tavernier’s penalty and a Sam Lammers header.

It was the same when Butland witnessed a capacity turnout at Ibrox for his predecessor Allan McGregor’s testimonial against Newcastle. The Gers stopper is loving life in Glasgow so far and can’t wait to play for real this Saturday in their Premiership opener against Kilmarnock. Away supporters will pack out one of the Rugby Park stands as Michael Beale’s Light Blues look to get off to a flier in the league. And Butland can’t wait to play in front of them.

Ahead of the league curtain- raiser in Ayrshire, he said: “I’ve definitely had to pinch myself a few times here. Allan’s testimonial was one thing but I wondered what the next game would be like.

“Then it was 40,000 plus again and as loud as ever. I actually messaged my wife to say, ‘They were nuts again’. I knew what to expect before I came here but until you see it, you probably don’t realise.

“Everywhere we’ve been so far, they’ve been there. When you walk out away from home, like on Saturday in Hoffenheim, and you hear that noise from the fans – it’s pretty special. I’m looking forward to the season starting now.

“Every game has been