Andy Firth admits he “lived his dream” at Rangers and believes he’s fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to pull on the jersey just once during his three-and-a-half-year spell in Glasgow.
The 25-year-old keeper became a cult hero at Ibrox despite making only one substitute appearance for Gers. Firth joined Connah’s Quay Nomads last month on a one-year deal, and has opened up on swapping Scotland for Wales and about his journey of a lifetime with the Light Blues.
He said: “It’s been really good so far. I was actually just thinking that this has been the first season in nearly four years that I’ve started a consecutive amount of pre-season friendlies. Once I knew I was leaving Rangers I had a chat with the Liverpool goalkeeper coach and he offered me to come and train with them during pre-season. Rangers offered me the same thing but I knew realistically that my next move was going to be down south and knew joining Liverpool would help open up more doors for me.
"There were options to go in as a number two at League One and League Two sides but I’m at the age now where I need first-team football under my belt. I’ve not played in nearly four years, so I need to play games and get myself back in the shop window.
“I knew coming to Rangers that I was always going to be third choice. I was never sold the dream of coming in and being number one. I was told to be the great character I am around the training ground and to bring the enthusiasm that I’ve always had. I absolutely loved my time with Rangers but I said my myself ‘you’ve not played a game in four years’.
“They [Connah’s Quay Nomads] only train twice a week and play on a Saturday, so every other day I spend with Liverpool. They’ve been absolutely excellent with me and I’m looking forward to starting my coaching again once the school holidays are over.
“I’m getting to train with the Liverpool reserves side every other day and it’s a really good standard as you would expect. I’ve got the balance of training with younger and fast players, while at Connah’s Quay it’s grown men who are fighting for a few extra quid on top of their full-time salary elsewhere.
"You’ve got kids on a Thursday morning who’re earning really good money and then you’ve got training with Nomads in the evening and they’re just looking to make a few quid, try win the league and get some European football which is a dream for all of them. It’s been a real eye opener.
“It wasn’t easy to leave Rangers. I would’ve stayed there for the next fifteen years and not played another game as I loved every single second of my time and lived my dream at Ibrox. But that’s football, Gio (Van Bronckhorst) and Ross Wilson decided that there was nothing there for me anymore. They’ve been great with me though.
"They pulled me in after the Scottish Cup final and told me if I stayed in Scotland part-time that I could do my coaching there and train whenever I needed to. They’ve gone above and beyond any expectations I ever had to help me find new clubs. I haven’t got a bad word to say about the place. It’s such a hard-working and fantastic team behind the scenes and it was three-and-a-half years of amazing memories and good fun.
“I’m not even frustrated to have not had a proper opportunity because I played one more game than I ever expected to play and to say I wore the Rangers shirt even just once is something that will live with me forever. You’re up against an unbelievable calibre of goalkeepers.
"Allan McGregor is unbelievable, he’s the best I’ve ever worked. On and off the pitch he’s gone above and beyond anything you could ever expect from a teammate. Wes [Foderingham] has proved how good he is at Sheffield United over the last two years in the Championship, while Jon McLaughlin has come in as the number two over the last few years after spells with Hearts and Sunderland, and whenever he’s had his chance at Rangers, he’s taken it.
“Greegsy’s got plenty of time left. He’s 41-years-old in January. I remember having a chat with him last season and I said to him that he could potentially play in the Champions League when he’s that age. There would be him [Gianluigi] Buffon, Edwin [Van der Sar] and not many more. It’s not a bad group to be part of.
"Obviously last year didn’t go to plan, but they’ve got a good chance this year and are one of the seeded teams in the third-round. He’s good enough and everyone knows that. When we won the league two seasons ago he was the best keeper in Scotland by an absolute mile and I’m hoping he can shut up a few people this season.”
Firth, who was a die-hard Liverpool fan growing up, still recalls the memories of receiving the phone call from his childhood hero Steven Gerrard and has tipped the ‘incredible’ Michael Beale to bring success to Queen's Park Rangers.
He added: “Getting that phone call from Stevie [Gerrard] was a surreal moment. It’s no big secret that I grew up a massive Liverpool fan and that he was one of my idols. I was at Barrow at the time and a lot of players had been dropped after a string of poor results, me included.
"I received a text from Michael Beale saying to phone him as he needed a chat. At the time, I thought he had seen I had been dropped and maybe he knew one of his mates in football that was looking for a goalkeeper. He knows everyone, so I decided to give him a phone.
“We had a good chat and he told me that Rangers were looking for a new number three if I fancied it as Robby McCrorie was going out on loan. I phoned my dad who was in Egypt at the time and he said ‘why are you even ringing me to ask? Phone him back now and tell him it’s done.’ So, I done exactly that.
"This was at the start of December and I can honestly say it was the longest six or seven weeks of my life waiting to get up to Ibrox and get it sorted.
“I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that Michael {Beale} will be successful at QPR and can safely say he’s the best coach I’ve ever had by an absolute landslide. That’s no disrespect to any other coaches I’ve worked with as I know many others who would agree with me. He just sees a different game to others. He’s had over 20 years of experience coaching all different age groups and he’s had his chance in Brazil, Rangers, and Villa. He’s got more than enough experience to go on his own and I’ve got no doubt he’ll bring success to QPR.
The 25-year-old had one of the best views in the house as Rangers managed to claim their 55th league title before going on an incredible run to the Europe League final last season. And Firth has insists it was a "do or die” situation that would’ve cost umpteen jobs at Ibrox had they failed to win the Scottish Premiership title in 2021.
“What a season, just unbelievable, said the ‘keeper. At the start of the season there was so many excellent performances and clean sheets. In that season, we always found a way to win and it seemed as if no matter what happened we would always find a way. It was an unbelievable 12 months and looking back now, it was a do or die situation. If they had won the 10, the gaffer would’ve probably lost his job and half the team would’ve left. Everything just clicked into place and we knew we had to win it or there would have been utter chaos.
“The whole European run was unbelievable. We were all disappointed with the Malmo game and then we played Alashkert. We were one-nil up from the first leg and I remember the second leg over there was one of the worst games of football I’ve ever seen but we managed to get ourselves into the group stages.
“We were ok for the first four games but Lyon were running away with top spot so it was between us and Sparta Prague to go through. It was actually Gerrard’s first game in charge and we had to win by two goals to progress and everything just clicked into place again on that night.
“We’ve all seen the quality that teams have in Europe, especially when you get out the groups and the standard goes up even further. It was just a fairytale ride. When you get drawn against {Borussia} Dortmund you go ‘well that was fun’ but I remember watching that away game at home with my family and the goals just kept going in and we were like ‘what on earth is going on’. Everything seemed to fall into place and the usual suspects in Tav (James Tavernier) or Buff (Alfredo Morelos) always chipped in at the right moments in games to swing the momentum back in our favour.
“I don’t think many of us would’ve booked our flight to Seville when we got drawn against Dortmund. I’m not sure many of us would’ve been to confident in all honesty, but it just shows how good the lads' mentality was to just take one game at a time.
“I can truthfully say that the Leipzig home game was the best atmosphere I’ve ever witnessed, Ibrox was absolutely bouncing. It was a tough week after Jimmy {Bell’s} passing but every single one of us was determined to do it for him.
“It was a real blow with the way it ended on penalties but it was an incredible run and it was a journey of a lifetime to be involved in. I wasn’t part of the squad, but me and the other lads who weren’t involved all flew over on the Tuesday morning. It was absolutely chaos and the atmosphere was incredible. We came so close and the standard of penalties was a disgrace.
“I’ve got some unbelievable memories from my time with Rangers. From a personal point of view my debut obviously, but I got more out of 55 and the European run. All of the non-Scottish lads knew it was a huge thing but we didn’t realise just how important it was to everyone associated with Rangers. I’m so glad that we managed to deliver it to the fans in the fashion that we did. Those are two journeys that’ll live with me forever."
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