Chris Woods pressed the start button on a conveyor belt of goalkeeping excellence that has rolled through Ibrox for four decades.
The Englishman, brought to Ibrox by Graeme Souness in 1986, passed the baton to Andy Goram five years later and by the end of the 90s Stefan Klos had become the shotstopper supreme.
And when the German passed the gloves on in 2007, Allan McGregor became the latest in a long line of top class keepers to make his penalty box a fortress.
Now, at 40, McGregor is weighing up his future at the end of his contract with many believing his cameo appearance at the end of Saturday’s Scottish Cup final will be the swansong of a fabulous career.
If it is, Woods - now Scotland’s goalkeeping coach - believes he can walk away proud of everything he has achieved in the game.
The former England No.1 was at Hampden at the weekend watching Scotland keeper Craig Gordon and Rangers’ Jon McLaughlin, who has featured in several squads, but McGregor was in his thoughts when the final whistle blew.
Woods said: “He’s been a fantastic goalkeeper throughout his career.
“He has won numerous awards and prizes over the years and he will look back on that and cherish it.
“I’m sure Allan could play on if he wants to. But I’m not sure if the Hearts game will be his final match or not.
“I remember when I stopped playing myself I was convinced that I could still play. But there comes a time when you realise it is over.
“It ultimately comes down to Allan and what he wants to do, whether that be give up or carry on for another year.
“If the Scottish Cup final is his final game then he can look back on a great career.”
The 62-year-old believes the secret to McGregor longevity at the top is borne out of an incredible workout, welded to his natural talent.
He added: “He has stayed at the top for so long because he is that good.
“He looks after himself, he trains hard and when you do that then you earn more luck.
“When I say that I don’t mean lucky saves, but you earn the luck to make the saves.
“Over the period of time playing for Rangers, it’s a bit more difficult than at other clubs.
“You aren’t involved in the game the whole time, so when you are called upon you have to make sure you do the right things.
“That’s a massive thing in terms of concentration and you have to learn how to handle that.
“Allan has done that over the years and continued to show it this season too.”
And Woods will look on with interest to see if McLaughlin is handed the gloves next term, in the event of McGregor calling it a day.
“It will be down to Giovanni van Bronckhorst whether Jon is the right man to be the Rangers No1,” he said. “But he has produced great performances when he has been called upon.”
While he was concentrating on the keepers at the national stadium, Woods couldn’t help but be impressed by Calvin Bassey’s display - and he is hoping that winning the Scottish Cup can be the start of trophy haul.
He added: “Calvin Bassey has been magnificent this season.
“To see him running up and down like he did against Hearts, just days after having extra-time in the Europa League final was incredible.
“I have no idea where he gets his energy from and I take my hat off to him.
“People spoke about the character of some of the players but they answered that.
“They put in a great performance against Hearts and won the trophy and that’s what matters at Rangers.
“Winning becomes a good habit to get into.
“You have that one trophy and you want to get the next one and the next one.
“Looking to next season they will want to go one better in the league.
“Hopefully they can lift some more silverware as well.
“That’s why you come to a club like Rangers or Celtic, to win things and be challenging for titles.”
