The clocks went forward as the players rolled back the years at Ibrox and for the Rangers fans it was also a chance to see what might have been.
A trio of players on display sported the black of the visiting World XI but if things had turned out differently during their careers then they might well have pulled on the light blue of Rangers having all been linked with a move to Govan at some point over the last two decades - including Robbie Fowler who was in the away dug-out.
Some of the players on display looked like they could still do a job now for Michael Beale’s men with Jack Wilshere showing flashes of the brilliance that saw him shoot to prominence with Arsenal and England in his early days. But Robin van Persie was the star of the show with a couple of goals in the 4-3 victory for the global greats. Here, Record Sport looks at four players who could have pitched up at Ibrox.
Robbie Fowler
The Liverpool legend’s agent George Scott was Scottish and speculation persisted throughout his career that a move to Rangers could be on the cards. Ironically, it was Alex McLeish who was in the opposite dug-out to him on Sunday who apparently fancied him in his final season in charge.
But interest really ramped up when Walter Smith returned for a second spell at Ibrox in 2007. Fowler was 32-years-old at the time and left Anfield after returning for a season. A representative of Fowler said at the time: "Robbie wants to play for Rangers. It would be ideal for him. He wants to come and add medals to his collection. It would be a major boost for the fans.
"Commercially, it would also be beneficial in terms of the number of strips they would sell. He could also score the goals that would qualify them for the Champions League. The signing would pay for itself.Money wages is not an issue. He wants to come to Rangers and he wants to win medals. That is the issue."
However, the move never came off and he ended up at Cardiff City. But Fowler did fulfil an ambition of scoring for Rangers at Ibrox. That came in Alan McLaren’s testimonial against Middlesbrough at Ibrox when he turned out as guest for the light blues.
Robin van Persie
The Dutchman scored a brace and set up another and looked like he could still do a job in the Scottish Premiership at the ripe old age of 39. He was much younger when Rangers targeted him during the period of an influx of Holland heroes who crossed the North Sea to join Dick Advocaat’s Dutch revolution.
"I spoke to Dick Advocaat who was the manager of Glasgow Rangers and he was interested, I was interested, I was ready to go,” he said. "But they first needed to sell one player before they could buy me, or something like that. I was still very young, maybe 19 or 20, but in the end I went to Arsenal.”
That would have been quite a signing given the career he had in England with both the Gunners and Manchester United. After that transfer near miss, Van Persie experienced the raucous Ibrox atmosphere on his European debut in a UEFA Cup tie for Feyenoord. After a 1-1 draw at Ibrox against Alex McLeish’s side, the Eredivisie side won a thriller in the Rotterdam return and went on to lift the trophy in their own De Kuip stadium.
Ahead of the Legends clash, Van Persie said: “I made my European debut at Ibrox. It was my first ever match in Europe, so I have a very good memory of that evening. I knew that I was coming on
as a substitute, so I was going to make my debut at Ibrox with 40,000 plus fans there. It was a big moment for me, the atmosphere was electric, and it was unreal. I came on after 70 minutes and the atmosphere gave me such a buzz. I was like ‘wow’. I was a bit used to places like that because I was playing for Feyenoord and the atmosphere there is always great as well. It was similar, but this time away from home.”
Jack Wilshere
The midfielder only turned 31 at the start of the year and is now coaching the Arsenal kids but looked like he could still be pulling on the boots now with a brilliant display. And he admitted the prospect of playing under Steven Gerrard made the prospect of signing for Rangers hugely tempting when the former England captain was in charge at Ibrox. Wilshere was constantly linked with a move to Govan and said at the height of the speculation, after his contract was terminated at West Ham United, that he was up for it: "It would interest me because it's Steven Gerrard and that's no disrespect to Scotland. "My grandad married a Scottish woman 30 years ago. She's my nan and that's what I've known growing up. I've read all the rumours, but there's honestly been no contact. I played with Gerrard for England, I watched him growing up. He was one of my heroes growing up and he's a legend. Playing there never crossed my mind, but now Gerrard's there the door definitely isn't closed.”
Stewart Downing
The winger was another ex-England man who was linked with Rangers due to the Steven Gerrard factor. He admitted he spoke to his former Three Lions team-mate before signing a short term deal with Blackburn Rovers. The former Aston Villa and West Ham man said: "I know Steven so I spoke to him but he had a few players already in the pipeline and I need to play games. He already had a big squad at Rangers – would I have played as many games as I would have liked to? I don't know. At Blackburn I will be involved a lot more and that was the main decision to go there.”
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