Moore: Rangers will come back stronger

Rangers, which has won a record 54 league titles, was voted out of the Premier League and demoted to the fourth tier of Scottish football after it was found guilty of financial irregularities that forced the club into liquidation.

Scotland's premiership kicks off this weekend and Rangers will have to wait till next weekend for its third division debut.

It plays Peterhead at its tiny Balmoor ground which has a capacity of 4000.

Rangers' desperate plight has been felt by its thousands of supporters spread around the world, including Australia.

Moore, who won five championships and four Scottish Cups in nine seasons at Ibrox from 1994, said he was still trying to come to terms with Rangers' predicament but said he was equally sure that the club would survive the crisis and flourish.

”These are indeed tough times and Rangers will serve their punishment,” Moore said.

”In the long run, however, I do believe that Rangers will become a stronger club.

”The support will always be there, which is important.

”It's almost as if everybody is against us and I'm sure the club's supporters will get out there and support their team in numbers and make sure they are heard and seen.

”Rangers have had bad periods in the past but it is usually in such tough testing times that its supporters show how much the club means to them.

”This crisis will bring the club and supporters even closer together.

”I think that when this nightmare is all over Rangers will become a bigger and better club than it has ever been.

”Rangers now have an opportunity to get new investors and bring better players to the club and I expect them to rise through the ranks and get back up the divisions again.”

Moore said he was as devastated as any Rangers fan to see the famous club fall from grace, more so because he never saw it coming.

”I'm obviously very sad to see what's happening to my old club, more so for the supporters,” he said.

”Managers and we players come and go but Rangers are very much a family club and there are thousands of fans who have supported it for many, many years.

”For these people Rangers is their life and these are the ones I really feel sorry for.

”I know exactly what hurt and pain they are feeling at the moment.

”I've got a father-in-law who has been a season ticket holder for 30 years.

”I've always believed that Scottish football needs a strong Rangers on and off the field not only to survive but to prosper.”

Moore, who last played for Rangers in 2005, said that never in his wildest dreams did he think that his affluent and ambitious club would end up in liquidation and in the third division seven years later.

”The club was an institution and spent millions and millions of dollars to attract star players because they desperately wanted to win the UEFA Champions League,” he recalled.

”I suppose in hindsight you can say that they were living beyond their means.

”But nobody could have expected what happened this year.”