Ryan McGowan on failed Rangers move, and how Ally McCoist tried to convince his Mum

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McGowan almost joined Rangers in the summer of 2012 from Hearts.

Ryan McGowan has told Si Ferry on Open Goal’s Youtube channel that he never wanted to join Rangers despite travelling to Murray Park – and Ally McCoist’s attempt to convince his Mum.

The 29-year-old, who currently plays for English League One side Bradford City, was a highly-rated prospect in the Premiership when Rangers came calling in the summer of 2012 – just after McGowan helped Hearts win the Scottish Cup.

An Australia international, McGowan was linked with a £1.3million double move to Rangers along with playmaker David Templeton. However, he rejected the move to third-tier Rangers, as he felt it would affect his international career.

McGowan spoke of how he turned up at Murray Park and saw then-Rangers boss McCoist convince his Mum that a move to Ibrox was perfect for the versatile defender. However, he was not as easily persuaded.

“McCoist started charming her, chatting away,” McGowan said. “‘We’ll organise flights over [from Australia], you get your own little room at Ibrox’. Ally then went, ‘I’ll give you some time to think’ and he went out the room.

“My Mum immediately went ‘I think you should sign’. I said ‘Listen, Mum, it’s not happening, I’m not signing, I’ve just broken into the international team and I’ve already played in the third and second division.

“I just thought, it would have been great to play for them, an unbelievable opportunity, a huge club but in my mind I was thinking, at that stage of my career, I was looking for something different.”

Just six months after that meeting between McGowan, his Mum and McCoist, the Australian star joined Chinese Super League outfit Shandong Luneng Taishan. In 2015, he moved back to Scotland with Dundee United.

He has since turned out for Chinese clubs Henan Jianye and Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng, Qatari Stars League side Al-Sharjah and now Bradford City where he is playing under former Livingston manager David Hopkin.