2002 - Glasgow Rangers v Santos

2002.07.20 Glasgow Ranger v Santos FC, Giants Stadium, East rutherford, NJ

The MetroStars used to hold double-headers with international teams to attract more fans to their games. This day the double feature started with the MetroStars facing , followed by Glasgow Rangers v FC Santos of Brazil. The policy of the MetroStars was that once you entered the stadium you could not leave and return. This was to keep fans from leaving the MetroStars game and handing off their ticker stubs to anyone wishing to see the following game.

I had a partial season ticket plan and earlier in the season had to make an exchange for one of the games. The MetroStars instead of just sending the exchanged ticket, sent a complete duplicate set of tickets, providing me with 2 sets for my seats. Knowing that the teams playing the second game would have to warm up in the practice bubble adjacent to the stadium I figured that if Mike and I left the MetroStars game with 10 minutes to go, walk down to the practice bubble get some autographs, we could then re-enter with the duplicate tickets and watch the second game.

We waited for a couple of minutes by the bubble entrance when the Glasgow Rangers started to enter. We asked for an autograph from the first player to enter and he was most obliging. When I looked up I saw that most of the team had formed a line and we were able to obtain 10 Ranger autographs. We were also able to obtain one of the Santos FC players. We then walked to the ticket booth and handed over our duplicate tickets and entered to watch the second game.

The local papers of course did not provide any information on the game the following day...

Fernando Ricksen

Fortuna Sittard (Eredivisie 1994-1997, 2010)

AZ Alkmaar (Eredivisie 1997-2000)

Glasgow Rangers (Scotland 2000-2006)

Zenit St Petersburg (Russia 2006-2009)

Netherlands National Team 2000-2003

Craig Moore

Glasgow Rangers (Scotland 1994-1998, 1999-2005)

Crystal palace (England 1998-1999)

Borussia (Germany 2005)

Newcastle United (England 2005-2007)

Brisbane Roar (Australia 2007-2009)

Kavala (Greece 2010)

Sydney United FC (Australia 2010-2011)

Australian National Team 1995-2010

2006 FIFA World Cup

Ronald de Boer

Ajax (Eredivisie 1987-1991, 1993-1998)

Twente (Eredivisie 1991-1993)

Barcelona (Spain 1998-2000)

Glasgow Rangers (Scotland 2000-2004)

Al-Rayyan (Qatar 2004-2005)

Al-Shamal (Qatar 2005-2008)

Netherlands National Team 1993-2003

1994, 1998 -  World Cup

1996, 2000 - Euro 

Allan McGregor

Glasgow Rangers (Scotland 2001-

St Johnstone (Scotland 2004-2005)

Dunfermline Athletic (Scotland 2005-2006)

Scottish National Team 2007 -

Carlings Nations Cup

Billy Dodds

Chelsea (England 1986-1989)

Partick Thistle (Scotland 1987, 2006)

Dundee FC (Scotland 1989-1994)

St. Johnstone (Scotland 1994)

Aberdeen (Scotland 1994-1998)

Dundee United (Scotland 1998-199, 2003-2006)

Glasgow Rangers (1999-2003)

Scottish National Team 1996-2001

Kevin Muscat

Sunshine George Cross (Australia 1989-1990, 2011-2012)

Heidelberg United (Australia 1991-1992)

South Melbourne (Australia 1992-1996)

Crystal palace (England 1996-1997)

Wolverhampton Wanderers (England 1997-2002)

Glasgow Rangers (Scotland 2002-2003)

Milwall FC (England 2003-2005)

Melbourne Victory (Australia 2005-2001)

Australian National Team 1994-2006

1997 - FIFA Confederations Cup

2000, 2004 - OFC Nations Cup

Lorenzo Amoruso

Bari (Serie A 1998-1995)

Mantova (Serie A 1991-1992)

Pescara (Serie A 1992-1993)

Fiorentina (Serie A 1995-1997)

Glasgow Rangers (Scotlan 1997-2003)

Blackburn Rovers (England 2003-2006)

Cosmos (San Marino 2008)

Michael Mols

Ajax (Eredivise 1990-1991)

Cambuur (Eredivise 1991-1993)

Twente (Eredivise 1993-1996)

Utrecht (Eredivise 1996-1999, 2004-2005)

Glasgow Rangers (Scotland 1999-2004)

Den Haag (Eredivise 2005-2007)

Feyenoord (Eredivise 2007-2009)

Netherlands National Team 1995-1999

Maurice Ross

Glasgow Rangers (Scotland 2000-2005)

Sheffield Wednesday (England 2005)

Wolverhampton Wanderers (England 2005-2006)

Milwall FC (England 2006-2007)

Viking FK (Norway 2007-2008)

Kocaelispor (Turkey 2009)

Aberdeen FC (Scotland 2009-2010)

Bejing Guoan (China 2010)

Motherwell FC (Scotland 2011)

Livingston FC (Scotland 2011-2012)

Scottish National Team 2002-2003

Stephen Hughes

Glasgow Rangers (Scotland 1999-2005)

Leicester City (England 2005-2007)

Motherwell FC (Scotland 2007-2009,2011-2012)

Norwich City (England 2009-2011)

Milton Keys Dons (England 2011)

Aberdeen FC (Scotland 2012- )

Scottish National Team 2009

Valdir Teodoro

Stantos FC (Brazil)