16 July 2008 - Captain America Sets The Shield Down

On 16 July 2008, Claudio Reyna, former United States captain who played for Manchester City and Rangers, announced his retirement.

After playing under Bruce Arena at the University of Virginia, the midfielder started his professional career in 1994 with Bayer Leverkusen, but went on loan to Wolfsburg from 1997 to 1999, where he became the first American to captain a European side.

He signed with Rangers in 1999 and went on to win both the league and the Scottish Cup in his first season before moving soon afterward to Sunderland (2001-2003). He then transferred to Manchester City, where he enjoyed his longest tenure, making a total of 87 appearances in four seasons.

In the meantime, he earned 111 caps between 1994 and 2006 and played in three World Cups. he captained the team in the 2002 and 2006 tournaments and was named to the all-tournament team in the former after helping the US reach the quarterfinals.

His final stop was with the New York Red Bulls, but injuries cut his career short just a few games into his second season.

13 April 1920 - He's A Keeper, All Right

On 13 April 1920, goalkeeper William Robb made the first of his club-record 241 consecutive appearances for Rangers.

The twenty-five year old had previously played for a variety of clubs in England and Scotland, including an early stint with Birmingham City, before Rangers manager Bill Struth signed him earlier that year. Struth then played him for the first time in a 2-1 win over Ayr United.

Robb went on to play every game for the remainder of the season, which ended with Rangers as league champions. He continued to appear in every game for the next five seasons, winning four more titles (1921, 1923, 1924, 1925). His run of consecutive appearances finally ended on 31 October 1925, though he continued to play for them until 1926.

After leaving Rangers, Robb played for Hibernian (1926-30) and Aldershot (1930-37) before finishing his career at Guildford City (1937-39).

15 January 1981 - El Hadji Starts His Pilgrimage

On 15 January 1981, Senegalese striker El Hadji Diouf was born in Dakar. A talented but controversial player, he has spent time with nine different clubs across France, England, and Scotland.

He began his professional career with Sochaux in 1998, followed by quick moves to Rennes (1999-2000), and Lens (2000-02). At the latter, he scored 18 goals in 54 league appearances, which--combined with a strong showing for Senegal at the 2002 World Cup in which he helped the team to a quarterfinal berth--attracted the interest of Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier, who signed him that summer for £10 million.

Diouf failed to recapture his previous form and his time at Anfield was overshadowed by a March 2003 UEFA Cup incident in which he spat at a Celtic supporter. At the end of the 2003-04 season--in which Diouf failed to score a single goal--Liverpool sent him on loan to Bolton. There, he began scoring goals again and Bolton made the move permanent in 2005.

After four seasons with Bolton, he moved again, spending time with Sunderland (2008-09) and Blackburn Rovers (2009-11). But his scoring touch deserted him again and he spent the last half of the 2010-11 season on loan in Scotland with Rangers. All along the way, he developed a reputation for being hotheaded, with frequent bookings.

He moved back to England in the summer of 2011 to play for Doncaster Rovers, then joined Leed United in 2012 after Doncaster's season ended in relegation.

7 January 2006 - Getting Off On The Right Foot

On 7 January 2006, Kris Boyd made his Rangers debut in style with a hat-trick against Peterhead in the Scottish Cup.

The striker had been with Kilmarnock since he was a youth player, then turned professional in 2000. Over the next five and half seasons, he scored at an impressive rate, collecting 67 goals in 168 appearances across all competitions, including 15 league goals in the first half of the 2005-06 season. That attracted the attention of Rangers, who signed him on 1 January for an approximate fee of £400,000.

His first Rangers appearance came at home against Peterhead in the third round of the Scottish Cup. Although he nearly scored with an attempt just seconds after the opening kick, he had to wait until after the break for his opening goal. With Rangers leading 1-0 early in the second half, Boyd struck home from the penalty spot in the 50th minute after a Peterhead foul on Peter Lovenkrands. Four minutes later, he scored again from a cross, then completed his hat-trick with a 71st-minute header. Ross McCormack added a final goal to cap the 5-0 victory.

Boyd remained with Rangers through the 2009-10 season and was their leading scorer each year. He was the league's top scorer in three out of four seasons there, winning two SPL titles and two Scottish Cups before moving to Middlesbrough in July 2010.

1 January 2005 - In Fairness, They All Were Probably Still Hungover

On 1 January 2005, Newcastle bought defender Jean-Alain Boumsong from Rangers in a deal widely regarded as one of the worst January transfers in history.

A French international, Boumsoung had played for Le Havre (1997-2000) and Auxerre (2000-04) before moving to Rangers on a free transfer in the summer of 2004. Although he signed a 5-year deal with the Glasgow club, his strong performances there attracted the interest of Newcastle manager Graeme Souness, who lodged an £8M bid that December, with the clubs finalizing the deal on the first day of 2005.

Although his time at St. James' Park started well, he struggled in the 2005-06 season, often shouldering the blame for defensive lapses that led Newcastle to concede 42 goals en route to a seventh-place finish. By the end of that season, new manager Glenn Roeder, who had replaced Souness in February 2006, sold the center back to Juventus for just £3.3M, taking a loss of almost £5M on the deal (though the agreement included performance-incentives).

Boumsong stayed with Juventus for one season, then played three seasons for Lyon before joining Panathinaikos, his current club, in July 2010. For his time on Tyneside, a 2008 Times poll rated him the Premier League's worst January transfer. Since then, however, polls have dropped him down behind more recent transfers, including Andy Carroll's £35M move from Newcastle to Liverpool in 2011 and Chelsea's £50M purchase of Fernando Torres from Liverpool.

27 December 2009 - Stokes' Record Strike

On 27 December 2009, Hibernian's Anthony Stokes scored the SPL's fastest goal, but it did not help them much.

The well-traveled striker, who had spent time at five different clubs over the previous four years, was in his first season with Hibs after joining them from Sunderland that August. By mid-December, he had helped the club to a 12-game unbeaten streak that saw them take the table's third spot.

They were hoping to extend the run to 13 when they hosted first-place Rangers at Easter Road. And Stokes gave those hopes a boost when he found the back of the net after just 12.4 seconds, setting an SPL record.

But Rangers took command of the game and were leading 1-2 at the break with goals from Kenny Miller (21') and Kris Boyd (37'). They continued to dominate in the second half, with Nacho Novo extending the visitors' lead to 1-3 in the 53rd minute before Miller's second goal of the day (66') completed the rout at 1-4.

Stokes went on to have a fantastic year, scoring 21 goals in 37 league appearances. That attracted the attention of Celtic, who signed him from Hibs in August 2010.

5 September 1931 - The Death Of John Thomson

On 5 September 1931, Celtic goalkeeper John Thomson died after colliding with a player during an Old Firm match. He was 22.

Thomson signed with Celtic in 1926 at the age of 17 and, by February 1927, he had become the team's first-choice keeper, helping them win that year's Scottish Cup. Only 5 feet 9 inches tall, he was small for the position, but made up for it with an impressive leaping ability and a willingness to challenge for any ball.  His assertive style of play led to severe injury in 1930, as a diving save left him with a broken jaw, several cracked ribs, and two lost teeth. In that same year, he received his first call-up to the Scottish national team.

Then, in September 1931, an undefeated Celtic visited Ibrox to play Rangers in the first Old Firm derby of the season. Early in the second half, with the match scoreless, Thomson went for a loose ball and collided with Rangers striker Sam English, whose knee struck the keeper in the head. The incident left Thomson with a fractured skull and a ruptured artery. He was rushed to the hospital where he underwent an operation to reduce swelling in his brain, but it was unsuccessful and he died later that night.

Approximately 30,000 people attended his funeral in Cardenden, with many of them reportedly walking there from Glasgow, 55 miles away.

27 April 2003 - A Beach Ball Sunday In Glasgow

On 27 April 2003, visiting Celtic fans created a surreal scene at Ibrox by dumping hundreds of beach balls onto the pitch.

At the time, Celtic were second in the league, eight points behind Rangers, who had already won the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup (the latter over Celtic in the final). But Celtic were doing better in Europe. While Rangers had crashed out of European competition back in September, Celtic had three days earlier beaten Boavista 2-1 on aggregate to advance to the UEFA Cup final in Seville the next month.

The Celtic supporters took the opportunity to taunt their Old Firm rivals by sneaking hundreds of beach balls into the stadium, then throwing them onto the pitch while singing "while you're watching the Bill, we'll be in Seville." Rangers captain Barry Ferguson appreciated the humor in the act and even claimed to have spotted his own father-in-law among those with a beach ball.

Celtic proceeded to win the match 1-2, but Rangers got the last laugh. They won the league title to claim a treble on the season, while Celtic went on to lose to Porto 3-2 in the UEFA Cup final.