Fernando Ricksen's funeral: Respects paid to former Rangers player
Wednesday 25 September 2019 16:27, UK
Thousands of fans joined the family, friends and former team-mates of Fernando Ricksen to pay their respects to the ex-Rangers player at his funeral on Wednesday.
The Dutchman, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in October 2013, passed away last week at the age of 43.
The funeral cortege made its way to Ibrox along Paisley Road West at 1pm, where it stopped briefly outside the stadium so supporters could pay their tributes.
Thousands of fans lined the streets outside the ground, with many laying tops, scarves and flowers outside the Ibrox gates.
The Rangers first team - along with manager Steven Gerrard - paid tribute to Ricksen as the cortege paused outside, while his wife and family wore black football tops with his surname and the number two on the back.
His family was greeted with more applause as the cortege left, piped away from Ibrox with a bagpiper, on the way to Wellington Church for the funeral at 2pm.
A number of Ricksen's former Rangers team-mates, including Tore Andre Flo, Nacho Novo, Neil McCann and Peter Lovenkrands arrived together at the funeral, while Celtic manager Neil Lennon - who came up against Ricksen in his playing days - was also in attendance.
A midfielder who could also play at right-back, Ricksen won two Scottish titles, two Scottish Cups and three League Cups in a six-year spell at Ibrox after joining Rangers in 2000.
He moved to Zenit St Petersburg in 2006, initially on loan, where he won a Russian title and the UEFA Cup, beating Rangers in the final in 2008. Ricksen returned to Holland to finish his career with Fortuna.
After diagnosis in 2013, Ricksen spent his years battling motor neurone disease and raising money to find a cure for the condition.
Ricksen remembered in Sky Sports documentary
An emotional documentary of Fernando Ricksen's battle with motor neurone disease has been re-released by Sky Sports following the former Rangers captain's death.
'Fernando Ricksen', filmed in 2015, charts the late Dutchman's lengthy battle with the neurodegenerative disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis that took his life at the age of 43.
The documentary followed Ricksen around the time of a benefit match held by Rangers at Ibrox in January 2015, where over 41,000 fans helped raise £320,000 for the Dutchman, his daughter Isabella, MND Scotland and the Rangers Charity Foundation.
The documentary 'Fernando Ricksen' is available to download now On Demand.
