Having brought 35-year-old Steven Davis and 53-year-old Allan McGregor back to the club in recent years as they look to restore former glories, it’s pretty clear Rangers love nothing more than a trip down memory lane.

The return of Masters Football, then? Absolutely ideal from an Ibrox standpoint.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t actually been announced, so we’ll just have to pretend that the famous (well, cult famous) six-a-side tournament for the golden oldies is back in full force, and that Rangers are taking part. 

First, a little house-keeping on who is eligible.

• Only players aged 35 or over are eligible, and they must not be currently playing, coaching, managing or have any other role at a club that isn’t only ambassadorial
• Where possible, club legend games will be used narrow selection choices
• If a player has health conditions that would prevent them from playing, then they will not be included

Got it? ​Right, time for Masters Football 2020: Rangers edition.

Stefan Klos (Goalkeeper)

Age: 48

Years Spent at Rangers: 1998-2007

Club Highlight: Making 35 brilliant saves against Hearts to keep Rangers top of the league in December 2000.

Club Lowlight: Celtic winning the league that year anyway.

Klos would have been one of the obvious choices in any case, but the fact Allan McGregor is the club’s current number one and Neil Alexander is coaching at Dundee United means there is no real contender to the throne.

The creatively nicknamed ‘Der Goalie’ was one of the highest-paid players in Europe when Rangers signed him from Borussia Dortmund, but the club didn’t regret that for a second.

Well, maybe when he spent ages out injured.

Marvin Andrews (Defender)

Age: 44

Years Spent at Rangers: 2004-2006

Club Highlight: His social media presence.

Club Lowlight: His dodgy knee.

You’re cutting your teeth as a reporter in the lower leagues in Scotland, waiting on Barry Ferguson – current manager of League Two club Clyde – emerging from the dressing room. He is evidently issuing every one of his players with a legendary b*llocking.

Well, every one except a 40-year-old Marvin Andrews. The big man is exempt from the team talk, apparently, and is instead gleefully skipping around the corridor singing about how great God is. You look to a more senior reported inquisitively, and he shrugs. ‘Aye son, that’s just big Marv’.

That’s just what he’s like – seriously, have a look at his ​Twitter. Anyway, he was pretty excellent for Rangers in 2004/05, before God’s plan (injuries) consigned him to the sidelines and the lower reaches of the Scottish game.

Carlos Cuellar (Defender)

Age: 38

Years Spent at Rangers: 2007-2008
​Club Highlight: Winning the SPL Player of the Year award in his first season, and declaring he wanted to ‘stay at Rangers for life’.

Club Lowlight: Leaving for Aston Villa that summer.

Not many players can sign a four-year deal, get sent off for handball in a crucial derby, find themselves heralded as a hero when the resulting penalty is saved, break the club record for appearances in a single season, win both the official and writers’ Player of the Year awards, and leave for three times what they signed for, all within the space of 12 months.

But then again, not every player is Carlos Cuellar.

Brian Laudrup (Midfielder)

Age: 51

Years Spent at Rangers: 1994-1998

Club Highlight: Turning down Barcelona because he ‘would prefer to play against Falkirk’.

Club Lowlight: Going missing against Hearts in the 1998 Scottish Cup final.

I’ve been informed currently coaching an academy for disadvantage youths in Denmark doesn’t disqualify Laudrup from inclusion; 90min ‘aren’t evil’ apparently.

That’s good news for the Rangers Masters team, as Laudrup was very, very, very good. He never looked back after running from the half-way line to assist big Duncan Ferguson on his debut.

Paul Gascoigne (Midfielder)

Age: 52

Years Spent at Rangers: 1995-1998
​Club Highlight: Two great solo goals and a penalty against Aberdeen to secure league title in his first season was alright.
​Club Lowlight: Defecating in Gennaro Gattuso’s sock? A bit out of order.

We’re going to blow past all the controversy surrounding Gascoigne’s off-field antics and focus on one thing: he was seriously good. Arguably the best player to play in Scotland levels of good.

He remains on great terms with the club and it seems his health is back on the up and up; what an ace in the pack he is to have available. He appeared in a cameo for Spurs’ legends when they opened their new stadium and you wouldn’t have known this was one of the greatest footballers ever.

But he’s Gazza. He’s in the team.

Kris Boyd (Striker)

Age: Only 36, somehow

Years Spent at Rangers: 2006-2010

Club Highlight: His first spell at Rangers.

Club Lowlight: His second spell at Rangers.

Boyd was a freakishly good goalscorer at Rangers; his ‘worst’ season for the club saw him net just the 25 goals in 41 appearances in 2007/08, and by the time he left in 2010, he was Scottish football’s all-time top scorer – having scored 195 goals for Rangers and Kilmarnock.

The less said about his return to the club while they were wedged in the Championship – which came in the middle of further prolific spells with his boyhood Killie – the better, but although he seems to have tacked on the beef since his prime years, his goalscoring instincts could still prove invaluable.

Substitutes

Richard Gough (Defender)

Age: 58

Years Spent at Rangers: 1987-1997

Club Highlight: Winning nine (9) successive league titles

Club Lowlight: Being so successful that no current Rangers captain even stands a chance

Gough’s career reads like something mythical to a Scottish football fan. He captained Rangers throughout their famous and unprecedented (until now) ‘nine in a row’ dominance, played for Scotland at three major tournaments, and scored close to 100 league goals despite spending his entire career at centre-back.

Despite being 58, he’s still a charity match regular, but has to settle for a place on the bench since he’s by far the oldest player at the tournament.

Jorg Albertz (Midfielder)

Age: 49

Years Spent at Rangers: 1996-2001

Club Highlight: Sticking free-kicks in the top corner every other week.

Club Lowlight: His melodramatic fall-out with Dick Advocaat.

What are we gonna do, leave out a guy whose nickname is literally ‘The Hammer’? Grow up.

Albertz was monikered after his physicality and explosive left boot, and went on to net 82 goals across his five seasons at Ibrox, despite a prolonged spell at left-back, and spending two seasons under a manager with whom who he famously did not get on.

Nacho Novo (Striker)

Age: 41

Years Spent at Rangers: 2004-2010

Club Highlight: Scoring from 350 yards to clinch the 2009 Scottish Cup.

Club Lowlight: Everything that’s happened since he left.

If Novo’s only goal for Rangers was the absolute howitzer that won them the cup in 2009, then he would have left a legend.

It was just one of 73, however. The crafty Spaniard proved the ideal foil for the likes of Boyd and Kenny Miller, and his passion for the club led him to open a pub near Ibrox years after leaving in 2010.

​While perhaps for non-footballing people the notion of a kit number may be rather mundane, for us footballing folk, its importance cannot be underestimated.

In recent times, the pressure of wearing a certain shirt number has been enough to make particular players wilt, while there is often great fanfare when a new signing takes their new number.

It may be a trivial detail part and parcel of being a footballer, but the kit number has become a vital part of superstition and psychology for every player.

Here’s a look then at the best ​Leicester City players to have worn each shirt number from one to 11. No easy task…

#1 – Gordon Banks

“Oh what a save… Gordon Banks.”

The late, great Banks is a must on this list. While the likes of Kasper Schmeichel and Peter Shilton would be worthy of selection, the World Cup winner was simply too good a player to miss out.

The former England international was a mainstay of the side between 1959 and 1967, helping to lift the League Cup trophy in 1964. He left for ​Stoke City after making 356 appearances in all competitions to be replaced by a young Shilton. 

Honourable Mentions: Peter Shilton, Kasper Schmeichel

#2 – Colin Appleton

As captain of the ‘Ice Kings’ – the 1962/63 Leicester side that went close in pursuit of a league and FA Cup double – Appleton is a true great at the club.

While the double attempt failed, it was Appleton who held the League Cup trophy aloft in 1964 after beating Stoke City 4-3 on aggregate.

Bring back the two-legged final, right? Right…

Honourable Mentions: Danny Simpson, Simon Grayson

#3 – David Nish

Besides having a cool name, Nish wasn’t a half bad player either.

While his best and most successful days may have been at ​Derby – after his British transfer record-breaking move to the Rams in 1972 – it was at Leicester that the full back made his name.

The defender spent six years in Leicestershire, winning the FA Charity Shield in 1971 when his side defeated the might Liverpool.

Honourable Mention: Frank Sinclair

#4 – Graham Cross

The easiest selection of them all, Cross is a hero at the King Power Stadium.

His 599 appearances in all competitions make him the record holder at the club, with his 16-year stay ending in 1976 when he moved south to ​Brighton and Hove Albion.

He also represented Leicestershire’s cricket side – y’know, that game with the bats and the small red ball – taking 92 wickets in 83 First Class games.

Just imagine Jamie Vardy doing the same today!

#5 – Wes Morgan

Steve Walsh can count himself very unlucky, but the Premier League title-winning captain has to be in this side.

After leading his side to Championship glory in the 2013/14 season, Morgan then stepped up to aid his side in the most unlikely title victory of all time in 2015/16.

Remarkably, it was Leicester’s first ever top flight title.

Honourable Mention: Steve Walsh

#6 – Muzzy Izzet

Great name, great player. The skilful Turkish midfielder was a vital part of Leicester’s two League Cup successes in the late 1990s and quickly emerged as a fan favourite.

Under Martin O’Neill’s guidance, Izzet formed a vital partnership with Neil Lennon as Leicester surged to three League Cup finals in just four seasons.

Honourable Mention: Robert Huth

#7 – Keith Weller

While not a household name outside of Leicester, Weller is regarded as perhaps one of the club’s greatest ever players.

The pacy wide man spent eight years at Leicester, amassing 43 goals in 295 games in all competitions, becoming a firm fan favourite in the process.

After leaving in 1978, Weller became a player and manager for numerous teams in the US before retiring. Not a bad way to end your career.

Honourable Mention: Neil Lennon

#8 – Gary Lineker

That bloke off Match of the Day and those crisps ads was also a very very good footballer.

Lineker was not only the Golden Boot winner at the World Cup in Mexico in 1986 and a star of the 1990 England side that reached the semi finals at Italia 90, but a prolific striker at club level also.

His 103 goals in 209 games for the club is impressive, with the former ​Tottenham forward going on to have a distinguished career that led him to ​Barcelona and Japanese side Grampus Eight.

Honourable Mention: Alan Birchenall

#9 – Jamie Vardy

What a five years this man has had. The well-known story of Vardy’s rise from non-league football to Premier League title success is a true rags to riches tale.

His form in that spellbinding league success – scoring for a Premier League record of 11 games in a row – signalled his arrival on the world stage.

It is testament to his ability that he has certainly not been a one-season wonder, scoring bucketloads season after season.

Honourable Mention(s): Arthur Rowley, Alan Smith, Steve Claridge

#10 – Frank Worthington

For those non-Leicester supporters, Worthington was reminiscent of a certain Jack Grealish. Known for his party lifestyle and for often not wearing shin pads, the forward was something of a maverick.

He joined the Foxes in 1972 and went on to make 237 appearances at the club. However, he certainly wasn’t a one-club man – just have a look at his Wikipedia page. 

Honourable Mention(s): James Maddison, Roberto Mancini

#11 – Jon Sammels

Despite never finishing above seventh with the club, Sammels was a terrifically gifted footballer.

Alongside the likes of Keith Weller and Alan Birchenall, Leicester were an attacking feast for the eyes, renowned for the quality of their play. Sammels left Leicester in 1978 to join Vancouver Whitecaps after seven years at the club.

Honourable Mention: Marc Albrighton