The Ottawa Rangers Supporters Club was founded in 1991 by Colin B. Campbell and Stewart D. Melvin.
The club was formed to bring in LIVE games via Satellite through the North American Rangers Supporters Club (NARSA). Mr. Campbell was tired of traveling to Toronto to see the games and thought he and Mr. Melvin could bring the games up to Ottawa. They knew that with the cost of bringing in the games they needed both sets of Old Firm supporters to break even.
Don Cherry's, a local sports bar, was the first of many locations in which we watched the games. The first game ever shown was the 1-0 win against Celtic at the New Years Day game, with Trevor Steven scoring the winner from a header. We had both set of supporters out in numbers and everyone had a great time (more so ourselves!).
Due to the manager telling us that at the next game we showed there could be no singing after the match (I wonder what songs he was talking about?) or we would be thrown out, we then moved to a small bar on Merivale Road called Fanatics.
The club stayed there for a year, then moved to the King's Stag at the corner of Colonnade and Prince of Wales. The club was there for about a year until we found out they were going out of business.
The next stop was the Bytown Tavern, downtown on Elgin Street. This was the most popular spot that the club held the games due to the quarts and pool tables. This time the club was there for about two years.
The club decided to end it due to the feuding between the Rangers and Celtic supporters (this was right in the middle of Nine In A Row, by the way) and also because the cost of running the games was getting out of range for the number of people that we were attracting. The Celtic group then took over the satellite operations after the club decided to fold.
The following season saw a twist when we tried to get the Old Firm matches and the Celtic club tried to block us from showing the games. The Club never surrendered and prevailed to watch the games at the Duke Of Somerset.
The next season saw us end up at the Double Decker on George Street. It was due to the bad satellite reception that the next year the club ended up at the Queensview Athletic Club.
The Queensview was an excellent location but unfortunately they were bought out by a company called Good Fitness, who in turn saw no need for a bar and a satellite, or the countless plates of bacon and eggs being consumed by our Bears and quickly disposed of all three.
We then moved to the Dunvegan Pub in 1998, where for two great seasons we enjoyed watching our team dominate the Scottish Premier League.
However, the desire to have our own place was too strong. And so, with tremendous work, effort and fundraising by the members, the Ottawa Rangers Supporters Club moved to their new home, The Ibrox Room. It was located in the basement of the Westboro Masonic Hall on Churchill Avenue and has a big screen television to watch the match while having an Irn Bru (or stronger!) from the bar.
Having had to leave the basement of the Westboro Masonic Hall, December 2017 due to major renovations, we have relocated to The Wood on Wellington Street (1237 Wellington Street W Ottawa On K1Y 3A3). Our thanks to Rob.
The club was formed to bring in LIVE games via Satellite through the North American Rangers Supporters Club (NARSA). Mr. Campbell was tired of traveling to Toronto to see the games and thought he and Mr. Melvin could bring the games up to Ottawa. They knew that with the cost of bringing in the games they needed both sets of Old Firm supporters to break even.
Don Cherry's, a local sports bar, was the first of many locations in which we watched the games. The first game ever shown was the 1-0 win against Celtic at the New Years Day game, with Trevor Steven scoring the winner from a header. We had both set of supporters out in numbers and everyone had a great time (more so ourselves!).
Due to the manager telling us that at the next game we showed there could be no singing after the match (I wonder what songs he was talking about?) or we would be thrown out, we then moved to a small bar on Merivale Road called Fanatics.
The club stayed there for a year, then moved to the King's Stag at the corner of Colonnade and Prince of Wales. The club was there for about a year until we found out they were going out of business.
The next stop was the Bytown Tavern, downtown on Elgin Street. This was the most popular spot that the club held the games due to the quarts and pool tables. This time the club was there for about two years.
The club decided to end it due to the feuding between the Rangers and Celtic supporters (this was right in the middle of Nine In A Row, by the way) and also because the cost of running the games was getting out of range for the number of people that we were attracting. The Celtic group then took over the satellite operations after the club decided to fold.
The following season saw a twist when we tried to get the Old Firm matches and the Celtic club tried to block us from showing the games. The Club never surrendered and prevailed to watch the games at the Duke Of Somerset.
The next season saw us end up at the Double Decker on George Street. It was due to the bad satellite reception that the next year the club ended up at the Queensview Athletic Club.
The Queensview was an excellent location but unfortunately they were bought out by a company called Good Fitness, who in turn saw no need for a bar and a satellite, or the countless plates of bacon and eggs being consumed by our Bears and quickly disposed of all three.
We then moved to the Dunvegan Pub in 1998, where for two great seasons we enjoyed watching our team dominate the Scottish Premier League.
However, the desire to have our own place was too strong. And so, with tremendous work, effort and fundraising by the members, the Ottawa Rangers Supporters Club moved to their new home, The Ibrox Room. It was located in the basement of the Westboro Masonic Hall on Churchill Avenue and has a big screen television to watch the match while having an Irn Bru (or stronger!) from the bar.
Having had to leave the basement of the Westboro Masonic Hall, December 2017 due to major renovations, we have relocated to The Wood on Wellington Street (1237 Wellington Street W Ottawa On K1Y 3A3). Our thanks to Rob.
