Rangers fan favourite says his life has changed – More emotions, hopes everyone can be as happy

Rangers fan favourite Michael Mols has revealed how he’s looking up once again after suffering the ‘hard blow’ of a brain tumour diagnosis.

The former Ibrox striker has been speaking to Algemeen Dagblad regarding his life and how it has been turned around after overcoming a brain tumour.

Mols is a firm fan favourite after a playing career that saw him play for Ajax, Cambuur, Twente, Utrecht, Rangers, Ado den Haag and Feyenoord in a 17-year playing career.

He featured for Rangers between 1999 and 2004, moving to Ibrox in the summer of 1999 and making an immediate impact as he scored nine time in his first nine league games before suffering a serious knee injury against Bayern Munich.

He eventually returned from that a year later and scored 13 in 27 in the 2002-03 season, bagging the winner against Old Firm rivals Celtic that year as Rangers went on to win the title.

He left Ibrox in June 2024 after a trophy laden spell that saw him win two league titles, two Scottish Cups and two Scottish League Cups.

That injury spell means he knows what it’s like to battle off the pitch, something he’s had to put into effect again after the discovery of a golf ball sized tumour behind his eye, something he’s revealed has given him a brand-new outlook on life.

“Whether it was my wife, my brothers and sisters or my friends; Everyone was devastated,” he said.

“I can still hear my wife wondering: will Michael still be able to talk? Will he make it at all? Will I perhaps be left alone? I was a lot less concerned about that myself. Come on, that operation, I thought. And: everything will be fine. Strange, isn’t it?

“I was never much of a talker when it came to sensitive things, I always had my emotions under control. It’s all changed. Turn on Opsporing Verzocht and the tears roll down my cheeks when I see that an old Grandma is robbed.

“Suffering for others; before my operation I found it difficult to bear. But now that feeling has taken on a much deeper meaning. Then I sit in front of the TV, and I hear myself shouting at such a perpetrator: ‘I’ll give you one of those incredible beatings, loser.’

“TV images of types who can’t keep their paws off police officers, firefighters or healthcare workers. I immediately get angry, spontaneously get angry and sad. How can people be so bad, I think. And the same thing happens to me when beautiful things happen. Then I get just as moved.”

The player, who gave the interview before travelling to watch Rangers, also said he wants everyone to be as happy as he now is with life.