FORMER York City player Graeme Murty has taken the reins at Glasgow Rangers for the second time in nine months following Pedro Caixinha’s sacking.

Murty is no stranger to Britain’s grand and historical football stadia – at the age of 20, he graced the turf at Old Trafford in a famous 3-0 win for the Minstermen.

The season after, he featured in City’s 1-1 League Cup draw at Goodison Park, patrolling the touchlines of a ground that has welcomed the likes of Alan Ball and Eusebio.

That Everton team were taken back to Bootham Crescent and handed a 3-2 defeat in which Murty scored the decisive third goal. The number seven eased Andy Hinchcliffe off the ball and poked past the outstretched Neville Southall.

Fast-forward to 1998, and the Yorkshireman was on his way to Reading, having been signed for a fee that would break records for both clubs – the £700,000 was the highest price the Royals had ever paid for a player’s services, and the highest ever received by York.

His first few seasons were blighted by injury, but once up and running, he soon became a key part of the side.

Although he was born in Saltburn, he qualified for the Scottish national side through his father, Eddie.

Interestingly, he was also eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland, thanks to his grandfather. There was an amicable battle between Tommy Burns (the Reading manager at the time of Murty’s signing, and later the assistant Scotland manager) and Pat Bonner (his assistant at Reading, who would then become technical director of the Football Association of Ireland).

He chose the Saltire over the Tricolour, and was capped four times by Scotland, making his debut as a half-time substitute for Gary Naysmith in the 4-0 away defeat to Wales in 2004.

Two years later, he received his call-up to Match of the Day, a performance that proved contentious among his North Yorkshire admirers. When asked about his formative years at City, Murty responded that he did not want to be reminded of those days.

By way of explanation, he contacted City’s communications director and said that "the negativity I expressed was not about York City, it was relating to the interviewer's suggestion that I am an old player.”

In 2012, Murty called time on his playing career, having been released by Southampton following another injury-plagued season, and took up a coaching role at Saints’ academy.

Four years on, much to the disdain of his father, an ardent Celtic fan, he started his coaching career at Ibrox, taking charge of the development squad.

Eight months after that, in February 2017, manager Mark Warburton and assistant David Weir left their posts at the club – the general consensus is that they jumped before they could be pushed – after a disappointing run that started somewhere around a 3-2 extra-time loss to Hibernian in the Scottish Cup and culminated in them falling a long way behind in the Scottish Premiership title race.

Murty was instated as the caretaker manager. He oversaw four matches – two losses, a 3-2 win over St Johnstone and a 1-1 draw at Celtic Park, which saw his first managerial clash with Reading compatriot Brendan Rodgers, who was the youth coach at the time of Murty’s recruitment almost two decades ago.

The much-maligned Caixinha was the man chosen to take permanent charge of the club in March this year.

He was relieved of his duties last week, having presided over a disappointing 26 games that included a 5-1 home humiliation at the hands of Celtic, elimination from the Betfred Scottish League Cup by Motherwell and an early exit from Europe against Luxembourg’s Progrès Niederkorn, after which he was pictured standing in a bush remonstrating with disgruntled fans.

And so, last Saturday, Murty found himself in the Rangers dug-out once again, watching his side recover from a goal down to claim a 3-1 victory over Heart of Midlothian at Murrayfield – an experience that he admits was difficult to relax into.

"I didn't enjoy it,” he said, “but I was satisfied by it, and I thought there were a couple of passages of play, even in the first half when we were down, that eased me a little bit as I thought we had it and we were going to come good.

"So, although, it wasn't enjoyable, it was satisfying."

Gers defender Danny Wilson voiced the support of the dressing room, saying: "A lot of us have worked with him before so we knew what we were getting. He handles himself impeccably and he gives us the responsibility and the licence to go out and perform. I think that's what we did.”

Rangers are in fourth place, six points off pace-setters Celtic, and City fans will certainly be keeping an eye out for their old boy’s progress this campaign.