Leon Balogun worships ‘passionate’ Rangers fans in Instagram farewell
Leon Balogun has played his final game for Rangers and he has paid tribute to the Ibrox faithful in an emotional Instagram message.
The 33-year-old made 65 appearances for the Light Blues in two seasons at the club, during which he won the Scottish Cup and was among the undefeated team of the 2020-21 Scottish Premiership campaign under Steven Gerrard.
But towards the end of the 2021-22 campaign, the Nigerian international found game time harder and harder to come by as Calvin Bassey found an unreal vein of form which led to his release at the end of his contract.
Balogun took to his Instagram page on Saturday 18 June to pay homage to every significant figure during his two years in Glasgow.
“Thank you to every single soul at the club working their socks off, making sure me and the boys can focus on performing at our best,” he said.
“A lot of highs, a few lows that made our bond even stronger. We became invincible champions, the class of 55 … those magical European nights at Ibrox that led us all the way to the final.
“And last but not least, a massive thank you to you, the supporters. You are one crazy, passionate bunch. High expectations, that can be intimidating at times – but I loved every single second of it.”
Hero
He might not have been with us for a very long time nor has he made an extortionate amount of appearances in the famous blue of Rangers but not all heroes can be the headline-grabbers.
Balogun was perfectly happy to be the workhorse in the background and allow the likes of Alfredo Morelos, James Tavernier and Ryan Kent (among others) to take the limelight.
It often goes unnoticed too but every great team, such as ours in that famous invincible season, needs those understated heroes and we only ever realise it once they move on to pastures new.
That’s exactly what is happening right now with Balogun and there is an argument to suggest that we could have kept him for one more year alongside Connor Goldson, John Souttar, Calvin Bassey and Leon King and instead sold Filip Helander.
But alas, van Bronckhorst made his decision and stuck with it so the Nigerian leaves Ibrox with the well wishes of every Gers fan all around the world.
In other Rangers news, a vote between every club in the Lowland League has ended with the Gers’ youth side having to withdraw from a popular continental tournament.