Former Rangers prodigy Jordan Gibson has opened up on his two years with the club - and despite failing to make the grade at Ibrox, reckons it helped set him up to go on and have a decent career.

Gibson, 26, now plies his trade with Doncaster Rovers in England's third tier after previously helping Carlisle United to win promotion to EFL League One in 2023. But back in 2015, the winger was a budding starlet with non league side Bromsgrove Sporting when he was spotted by a Rangers scout and ultimately handed the chance to make a name for himself during Mark Warburton's tenure in Govan.

Speaking to the Doncaster Free Press, Gibson recalled: "Before then, believe it or not, I was playing Sunday league and county football. There was a scout from Rangers who was based in Birmingham who watched me for a few months. So I went on trial and managed to sign there.

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"I stayed there for two years. It was good. Obviously, it's a massive club but it was hard for me moving away to such an environment at just 17. I didn't drive and it was a completely different culture up there. I kind of struggled and got homesick. To move up there from Birmingham was tough.

"I don't think you realise how big football is up there until you get there. You hear of Rangers and Celtic all the time but it's not until you're actually there when you think 'wow. My first season there, they were in the Scottish Championship but they were still getting 50,000 every week at Ibrox."

After leaving Rangers in 2017 without a single first team appearance, Gibson struggled to hold down regular game time at Bradford City, Stevenage and St Patrick's Athletic in Ireland before a productive spell with Sligo Rovers allowed him to kickstart his career. Speaking about his move to St Patrick's, he added: "It happened so quickly. I only took a small suitcase over but was there a few months.

"The season after I went to Sligo and finally managed to get my car over on a ferry! I enjoyed my experience there in Ireland. Sligo had a beach and a bit more to do. But it was another good experience.

"The season I went over there, I just needed minutes. Before I went to Ireland I'd not played many games. I wanted to get as many games as possible. It was about taking the risk. I did well out there and got the move to Carlisle and got established in the team."