Traditions vs Standards: Ibrox Dressing Room

Any player lucky or good enough to get into that dressing room shouldn't be worried about a lack of cushions. Its a place of work, not a feckin nightclub.
 
Last summer there was a players lounge/ rest room built just along from dressing room. It meant removing some of the old traditional panelling etc and there was some unhappy about it. It went ahead and it’s vey modern area now for players to relax and be isolated on match days. There was some photos of completed area kicking about last summer , as far as I’m aware it’s not part of the Ibrox Tour.
 
The players day to day environment is the recently modernised Auchenhowie. For me it's a great reminder to them come match days that it's business time. Part of our greatness is how we maintain tradition and standards. Do what you want with the training ground, leave the dressing room as is.
 
A football dressing room has no need for luxury. Quite the opposite, in fact.

It should be spartan and functional, a place to prepare to do battle (or the modern equivalent, that is.)

Our dressing room is almost ideal as it is and should not be tampered with. (I say almost - I agree about the tv. What the %^*& is a tv - any tv - doing in the Rangers dressing room?)
 
cooprfc said:
Aye but it does not "piss all over Ibrox" because it has lights, a cushion and a badge on the floor. Ibrox is also far more spacious, built to the highest of standards and has better wash facilities. Ibrox also doesn't require lockers. So it's a bit much to claim that although I get you are proud of your team's facilities mate. Certainly great for that level but nowhere near Ibrox in terms of dressing room mate.
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Fair enough mate , I shouldn’t have used the term piss all over Ibrox that was bad crack.
 
westwoodrsc_gm said:
I think this is a superb idea, I play for amateur team EKYM and our new changing rooms piss all over Ibrox. Time to modernise I feel, and with the opportunity to recreate it in the museum it’s a fantastic idea
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Cause they have some LED lights and a padded seat ffs??Piss all over Ibrox my bare arse.
 
We first need to have a museum.

And in any case, you may well find that the Messis and Ronaldos of the world, might just appreciate being in a real, traditional, football dressing room.

As for those wearing our colours, they too need to accept the facilities, we don't need any pampering on match day.
 
We have the SNP, tims, media, SPFL, SFA , UEFA putting their noses into out traditions from songs, signing of players , finances etc etc
So the last thing we want to do is alter certain things that make us unique.
 
Maybe it’s me and maybe I’m being old fashioned, but things like the dressing room are part of what makes us and Ibrox different from other clubs. We have a rich and proud heritage and history, and the dressing room is as iconic as the marble staircase and the blue room. You look back on pictures through the years of the greats who have graced that dressing room, if anything, the way it is should be a great driver and motivator for players to aspire to what has gone before them.

I can’t think of much worse than us transcending into the plastic stylings of Man City and others in the EPL.

Without wanting to sound overly dramatic, changing things like that could be a slippery slope to other iconic features and traditions being erased for the sake of “moving with the times”.
 
westwoodrsc_gm said:
Fair enough mate , I shouldn’t have used the term piss all over Ibrox that was bad crack.
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I'd like to see them modernised myself as I said further up mate. Just in keeping with tradition at same time.

Good luck for new season in those dressing rooms. Must be great to turn up there every second Saturday at amateur rather than digging about in a bag for matching socks and shorts that fit like the rest of us lol.
 
StirlingBear said:
Here's an idea, how about adding booths like a lot of modern dressing rooms so each player has their own space. They could be done in similar style to the wooden paneling we currently have and fitted in around the benches paneling and coat hooks that are all ready there.

This way the look of the dressing room and original fixtures stay in tact yet we bring it a bit more in line with the modern changing rooms that are present these days.

Something like like this but obviously done in the traditional style we have currently.

arsenal-changing-room.jpg
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Providing it worked around the existing wood and fittings as you say, and the wood is not some cheap mdf but matching solid wood. I like it a lot and it strikes the right balance imo.
 
Seen a few comparisons with Man City on this thread. Done the tour of the Etihad a few years ago and was not impressed at all. Totally soulless and sterile, just like a five star hotel. In fact what you would expect of the mercenaries in the league that is killing football. Give me the marble staircase, the traditional dressing room, the managers office and the trophy room any time
 
MearnsUnionist said:
Our changing rooms are iconic and Gerrard and the players love them.

It's part of the Rangers tradition and you don't %^*& with that.
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This. They better not touch the bloody dressing rooms. Loved everything about the Home dressing room, right down to the worn away door frame from all the players touching it on the way out. Again, leave the fuck1ng dressing rooms alone.
 
My avatar which is from a picture I took in there,is of Greig and Baxter's shirts of which I have a photo of myself standing in between the shirts.They were/are two of my heroes from my early days of attending Ibrox.
On the tour that day my mobile rang, and when asked where I was I had the greatest of pleasure in answering "I'm in the Rangers dressing room" a magic moment.
Anyway with these memories I feel that no changes should be made,nothing wrong with wooden benches for the amount of time they are used pre/during and after games.
 
I took a Portuguese friend and his two boys on the tour last year. When we walked up the marble staircase his words were "This looks like a castle". He also asked specifically if the changing rooms were the ones the players used, he was very surprised (in a good way) when I told him they were the actual changing rooms.

After the tour, he told me he'd been on tours of the San Siro and Nou Camp but Ibrox was something completely different and the one he enjoyed the most.

I don't think there's another stadium on earth quite like Ibrox, and the changing rooms are a small piece of that individuality. For every player that doesn't like the tradition of the changing rooms, I'm hoping there's 100 that appreciate the history of that room and are inspired by it.
 
I get the idea rangers fans of a certain age dont have the same love affection we have for the wee simples things we have at Ibrox the dressing room is sacred as is the managers office and the trophy room n blue room.. i even hated the main stand being renovated.. maybee its just me.. whats next , take the queens photo down....
 
westwoodrsc_gm said:
I think this is a superb idea, I play for amateur team EKYM and our new changing rooms piss all over Ibrox. Time to modernise I feel, and with the opportunity to recreate it in the museum it’s a fantastic idea
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Aye right you are . Just because some shite amateur team has a joiner in the team we should do away with our traditional iconic dressing room
 
We have changed numerous things inside Ibrox. The changing room is iconic. Wooden benches tells these players that they are there to do fuckin business. Not sit down and get pampered even more. The boot room is gone for SG and the management team to get changed in. Leave the dressing room alone.
 
The traditions of the club are core to its identity and I’ve been lucky enough to change in both home and away dressing rooms when playing matches on the pitch.

The home dressing room is quite basic, while at the same time rich in detail and just oozes history.

It’s tricky - by today’s standards the dressing rooms are really basic and need renovation. How you achieve that while maintaining tradition and more than a nod to the basic structure of the dressing room... I have no idea.

Here’s what I do know... it can and will be done. Rangers have modified the stadium extensively but sensitively over decades, going right back to the 1940s and we’ll do it again.
 
NorthSideBlue said:
This . I’ve been fortunate enough to do a couple of tours with the founders trail and another couple of just stadium tours . There can be no doubt the dressing rooms when I was last there ( 18 months ago ) badly needed some investment and tweaks to modernise it . They still had a huge backed 21 inch tv from the 1980s in the corner which I couldn’t quite get my head around .

Surely we can implement some modernity without losing the traditional feel of the place ? Is that so difficult ?
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If that TV was good enough for Brian Laudrup to watch it’s good enough for Brandon Barker.
 
We really need to stop sometimes and consider if change is actually going to make things better or are we simply modernizing for the sake of it. The reason that dressing room is still there is because of was built with high quality materials by skilled craftsmen. I sincerely doubt you would be able to say the same about a refit, would likely only have a lifespan of 5-10 years.

There is history and tradition in that changing room and that must never be altered. Even if it seems basic to some, it serves a basic function. It also reminds players they are playing a very straightforward game and that they are following in the footsteps of generations of talented players. A link in the chain of Rangers history, if you like. Its not like we're asking them to take a cold shower or piss in the same toilet at half time. By all means give them a state of the art training facility and a comfortable lounge to relax in after the game, but leave the dressing room as it is to focus their minds on the task ahead, and to remind them why there in the first place
 
Allybear said:
Providing it worked around the existing wood and fittings as you say, and the wood is not some cheap mdf but matching solid wood. I like it a lot and it strikes the right balance imo.
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This for me. I’m all for doing as much as possible but keeping it the same
 
tottie beck said:
We really need to stop sometimes and consider if change is actually going to make things better or are we simply modernizing for the sake of it. The reason that dressing room is still there is because of was built with high quality materials by skilled craftsmen. I sincerely doubt you would be able to say the same about a refit, would likely only have a lifespan of 5-10 years.

There is history and tradition in that changing room and that must never be altered. Even if it seems basic to some, it serves a basic function. It also reminds players they are playing a very straightforward game and that they are following in the footsteps of generations of talented players. A link in the chain of Rangers history, if you like. Its not like we're asking them to take a cold shower or piss in the same toilet at half time. By all means give them a state of the art training facility and a comfortable lounge to relax in after the game, but leave the dressing room as it is to focus their minds on the task ahead, and to remind them why there in the first place
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Hard to argue with any of that to be honest, great post
 
Souness got rid of the communal bath for individual tubs for cleanliness. He was the main revolution at our club in the last 50 years. He thought it appropriate to keep the changing room as it is.
I’m sure the Gaffer is happy enough or it would have been changed.
 
CR5 said:
I'm talking about the dressing room in general, that's just one example.

It is going to eventually be in a state of disrepair, I don't see the point in waiting for that to update it
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Make it tradition to upgrade the DR whenever. However, always have a photo of the reigning monarch.
 
belshoi's bluebell said:
Souness got rid of the communal bath for individual tubs for cleanliness. He was the main revolution at our club in the last 50 years. He thought it appropriate to keep the changing room as it is.
I’m sure the Gaffer is happy enough or it would have been changed.
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I think AIDS had a bearing on communal bathing
 
While we’re at it, can we reno the away dressing room to resemble a medieval dungeon or such. In the spirit of making the pegs a couple inches higher, we should cut the hot water, have minimal lighting, and pipe in white noise.
 
CR5 said:
This will probably quite a divisive subject but it's something that will need to happen sooner or later.

The current dressing room is iconic to us as Rangers supporters but when you compare it to other top clubs, it doesn't reflect very well on us and this sort of thing can genuinely become a factor in signing players, better facilities attract better players.

I'm not suggesting that we go mad and attempt to emulate what Man City have, I think it is important to keep as much tradition in tact as possible. That being said, I do think that some serious upgrades/modernisation is in order as our players shouldn't be sitting on wooden benches.

What is your stance on this? Do we start making upgrades now or do we stick with it until it's even more dated?
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Nope - If you can’t handle that dressing room, bye bye.
 
I feel no attachment to the dressing room design whatsoever and think the club should do whatever is best to advance to the highest level they can without being tied up by tradition
Some posters seem so wedded to the past they would have been outraged at the terracing being replaced by the new stands in the 80s
I suspect there's a few who probably think the right thing to do would be to tear down the stands and restore the terracing
 
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