Rangers announcer Michael Smith on Leipzig shivers and surreal Europa League final experience

While the players produced heroics on the field to overturn a 1-0 deficit to RB Leipzig in their Europa League semi-final, the fans played their part as they roared their idols on to victory.

The joyous scenes that unfolded when the full-time whistle sounded will live long in the memory as players, coaching staff and supporters came together as one to celebrate reaching the final in Seville.

The man responsible for orchestrating the famous Ibrox crowd is announcer Michael Smith who told the Rangers Review it was a shift like no other.

He said: “Oh my goodness, it was phenomenal!

“The game itself was brilliant, exciting and exhilarating but when that full-time whistle went I played ‘I’m Feeling It’ and the stadium was bouncing.

“Then the players are parading and we’re firing out all the Rangers songs and a big favourite that the fans started singing just before Seville was the John Lundstram song to Belinda Carlisle’s ‘Heaven Is a Place on Earth’ so as the players are walking round the park doing their lap of honour I played that and the stadium just went up another massive notch.

“At that point, once I hit play I ran out of the booth with a few of the boys and we were all just hugging each other, dancing, shouting and singing.

“Shivers went right through my body as the players were walking round to that song. That must’ve been some experience for them on the park to hear that. I think that’s maybe the loudest that I’ve heard Ibrox.”

Like thousands of others, as soon as the celebrations subsided, attention quickly turned to plans on making it to Seville and Michael was no different.

He said: “I didn’t even know I was going.

“Some of the guys who work in IT at Ibrox said they were all going. We played on the Sunday and I said, ‘I want to go,’ and the boys said, ‘Well, there’s a chance to come with us if you want? We’re driving down to Luton on the Monday, flying to Lisbon and then driving to Seville.’

“So it was about a five-hour journey down to Luton then once you got to Lisbon, a four-and-a-half-hour journey to Seville. They hired a car and booked hotels and things so I was like, ‘Brilliant!’ so I paid my money and booked up on the Sunday.

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“Literally 24 hours after booking up, I got the phone call from Rangers saying, ‘Right, you’re coming with us! You’re on the staff plane, you’re flying out from Glasgow to Seville and staying in a hotel 10 minutes away from the stadium.’

“So I had to let the other boys down which I don’t think they were best pleased but they were happy for me for the massive opportunity to get to Seville. It was a bit of a whirlwind the way it all happened. We arrived in Seville on Tuesday lunchtime and the party started.

“I chilled for a little bit once we got there and then Tom Miller text me saying, ‘I’m down in the bar, come and join me,’ so I went down and had a pint of beer with Tom and then the rest of the staff joined us.

“There was a good crowd of us, security, IT folk, marketing and the social side of things so there was a good group there from Rangers and they were great company. Myself and some others then jumped in an Uber and said, ‘Take us to where the Rangers fans are.’

#Team pic.twitter.com/tfsaRUsH6i

— Michael Smith 🎧 (@RadioSmithy) May 17, 2022

“We wanted to see them all and go and join them so we jumped out at the square and it was just mental. We ended up in a nightclub and had a couple of drinks then thought it best to get up the road as it was a big day ahead the next day.

“I got up the next morning, went and got my press pass and headed up to the stadium. UEFA have their main match announcer for all the finals and they had Daniel Wolf who was the Frankfurt announcer. So I met up with them for a rehearsal at 11 o’clock in the morning and got let away at four o’clock in the afternoon.

“The rehearsal itself was intriguing. I thought I was just to announce the teams like I normally do and that would be it but what they actually did was they had us at the side of the park and we were interviewed by the main announcer. We were shown the journey we’d been on on the big screens and we were introducing them and then they were playing Rangers songs so I had to sing and dance into the camera, it was a full-blown rehearsal.

“I really didn’t expect it, I would’ve maybe had one less beer the night before!

“That day at the stadium, it was 38 degrees standing at the side of the pitch, the sun was beating down. I managed to blag a UEFA hat and we were undercover at times but that time when we were at the side of the pitch it was unreal. What an experience, it was fantastic. I don’t think I had time for the nerves to settle in but come match time, I was in the stadium a couple of hours before the game and the nerves just set in.”

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The nerves may have set in but Michael was in his element as he announced the Rangers team that took to the field against Frankfurt and as the minutes ticked away towards kick-off, he helped orchestrate the thousands of boisterous bears who were making themselves heard inside the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium.

He recalled: “It was very surreal. The whole event went like clockwork, it was that well planned to the second.

“Daniel, the Frankfurt announcer, announced their team first and he’s shouting out the name and the fans are shouting back. I’ve tried this before, it needs to be nurtured a bit because sometimes you shout the name and you get nothing back so then I announced the Rangers team.

Rangers announcer Michael Smith with his Frankfurt counterpart Daniel Wolf

“You say the name and you got a cheer back. I think that’s the loudest and most excited that I think I’ve ever done the Rangers team. It was just sheer adrenaline pouring through me and then the reaction from the fans was the best I’ve ever heard.

“Because I was dragging them out a wee bit, the UEFA guy was saying, ‘Hurry up! Hurry up!’ because they were on a strict schedule. I was like, ‘Listen, I’ll take my time here mate! I’ll maybe not get a chance to do this ever again!’

“I’ve done some great gigs, DJing at festivals, working at Ibrox every home game is a career highlight but that was the best ever.

“I had people that were watching BT Sports at home and they were sending pictures of me on the big screen with my name at the bottom and I’m just thinking, ‘This is unreal!’ It didn’t sink in, it was like an out-of-body experience but it was unbelievable.”

As the match kicked off, Michael watched on nervously and admits the moment Rafael Borre equalised, he felt this epic movie would have no fairytale ending.

He said: “Pre-match I was confident, when the game started I was confident, Joe Aribo’s goal went in and I’m thinking, ‘This is it!’

“The stars seemed to align and then they scored against us my mood changed and I just thought we wouldn’t have enough.

“It goes to extra time, Ryan Kent’s got that great chance, any other game he’s scoring that and after that, I just felt it wasn’t going to be our night. Fair play to them, their penalties were fantastic, we hit some great penalties and then missed one and that was it.

The disappointment of the result aside, the shocking mistreatment of the supporters was something that startled Michael, so much so that he found himself coming to the aid of a handful of dehydrated fans who were desperate for water.

He recalled: “It wasn’t nice, it really wasn’t.

“People were in that scorching sunshine all day being asked to get to the stadium three hours before kick-off and finding kiosks not being open which I’ll never understand why. It’s not as if that’s the first game of football they’ve ever had at that stadium.

“I was very lucky because there was a TV compound just out of the stadium which we had access to and there was a water machine there. I had a few bottles so I took them in and when I realised what was happening I could hear fans complaining.

“It was the big boy Daniel from Frankfurt that saw it first and he gave a couple of his bottles away to some fans, I did the same and then I ran out of empty bottles that I could give away. I maybe helped five to 10 Rangers fans but there were around 20,000 Rangers fans that needed water.

“I can’t understand why it was such a shambles in a country that’s extremely warm a lot of the time. Water is a necessity so it was a shame that put a bit of a big dampener on it because there were a lot of guys properly needing it and there were a few that passed out as well which wasn’t nice.”

“The result and the blips in the stadium were the only dampeners on the trip and I think every Rangers fan will probably agree.

“The journey we had to get there was just unreal, getting there was such an amazing experience, everybody was brilliant, everybody was friends, we all loved each other.”

With the new season a matter of weeks away, supporters may discover some new additions to the matchday playlist when they return as Michael explained: “In a couple of weeks, we’ve got West Ham so I’m really looking forward to that.

“I think the idea behind that is it could’ve possibly have been a Battle of Britain in Seville and I think it will draw a lot of folk into the game.

“I’ve still got a couple of meetings with the gaffer about the new season. I’ll try and introduce some new things and try to do some stuff at half-time. There are some ideas I’d like to get across to them and hopefully, we can add some new things to the matchday experience and get some new tunes in there.

“I’m looking forward to the season ahead and hopefully, see another one or two signings coming in!”