Situated inside the Ibrox trophy room is a poignant reminder of Rangers' first ever European final appearance and of an era when UEFA was not the all-encompassing, all-controlling marketing machine that it has become today.

Stationed alongside the colourful assortment of trophies, trinkets and the French racing bicycle once donated to the club by St Etienne, is the Rangers team sheet for the second leg of their Cup Winners' Cup Final match against Fiorentina in Italy in May 1961.

The names of the 11 on duty that night, from Ritchie, Shearer, Caldow through to Brand and Millar, are not typed on standard UEFA paper as is obligatory under current guidelines but gracefully handwritten by Scot Symon, the then manager, on notepaper taken from the team's hotel in Florence. It was signed by both Symon and Eric Caldow, the captain, and later submitted to the match referee as the official line-up.

Rangers' filing system involved little more than shoving papers into the nearest drawer and this historic document lay gathering dust in a cupboard inside the old manager's office at Ibrox - used daily by the incumbent of the day prior to the construction of the Murray Park training ground - for several decades.

It was discovered by Sandy Jardine, who played in Rangers' subsequent European finals in 1967 and 1972 and who now acts as the club's unofficial curator, and moved further down the corridor to take its rightful place in the club's majestic trophy room.

Next door, in the Blue Room, lies a further nostalgic reminder of that early venture into European competition. There a team photo taken outside the hotel in Florence is framed alongside the runners-up medal attained by Alex Scott later that evening. The medal was one of a host of sporting memorabilia put up for auction at Hampden last November, the club paying £900 to bring it back in-house for matchday visitors and those who take the regular stadium tours to enjoy.

It was Scott, in fact, who scored Rangers' first ever goal in a European final in that second leg but his strike would ultimately prove to be little more than a consolation as Fiorentina ran out 4-1 aggregate victors to become the first ever holders of the inaugural Cup Winners' Cup. Defeat was difficult for Rangers to stomach but there were plenty of positives to ponder over in their run to the final.

With the European Cup proving to be a roaring success, UEFA had decided ahead of the 1960-61 season to add a second tournament for winners of each European country's domestic cup to participate in. Scepticism over the merits of a secondary European tournament, however, meant only 10 teams entered, with France and Spain choosing not to enter their eligible clubs. Rangers, buoyed by a strong performance in the previous season's European Cup, where they reached the semi-finals, entered the tournament at the preliminary round, defeating Ferencvaros of Hungary 5-4 on aggregate to set up a quarter-final meeting with Borussia Moenchengladbach.

A 3-0 victory in Dusseldorf was followed by a confidence-boosting 8-0 demolition at Ibrox, Ralph Brand netting a hat-trick and Jimmy Millar a double. That paved the way for a semi-final meeting with Wolverhampton Wanderers, where a 2-0 home victory meant a 1-1 draw in the return was sufficient for Rangers to take their place in the final against Fiorentina, who had progressed beyond Lucerne and Dynamo Zagreb to reach that stage.

For the only time in the tournament's history, the final was played over two legs, the first taking place in Glasgow on May 17, 1961. Rangers' progress through the competition had captured the imagination of supporters and more than 80,000 crammed into Ibrox for the first leg.

Their loyalty was not rewarded with success. With Jimmy Millar, arguably the club's most prolific striker at the time, missing through injury, Symon's side slumped to a 2-0 home defeat.

Fiorentina went in front as early as the 12th minute. Harold Davis, a veteran of the Korean War, was short with a pass-back to Billy Ritchie, allowing Gianfranco Petris the opportunity to supply Luigi Milani with his first of two goals on the night. Davis, however, felt he was not to blame for the opening goal.

"I always claim innocence there," he said. "What happened to the goalkeeper? He stayed on his line and didn't come out."

Rangers were presented with a chance to draw level when Erich Steiner, the Austrian referee, awarded them a penalty when Ian McMillan was fouled. Caldow strode up confidently but stroked his shot wide of target. Rangers never recovered from that set-back and Milani converted a second away goal late in the game, after some neat build-up play by the Italians. Davis felt luck had deserted Rangers on the night.

"Once you come up against the Italian sides, you find they're a bit special," he added. "You don't get an easy game against the Italians. It was a good time for us when we reached the final. We were a bit unlucky against Fiorentina.

"There was plenty of luck involved in that game, and it went for them."

Looking to overcome a two-goal deficit, Rangers travelled to the Stadio Comunale Florence for the return match 10 days later more in hope than in expectation. Millar was deemed fit enough to make the starting line-up but even he could do little to avenge the first-leg defeat.

Rangers' long-ball tactics were easily dealt with by the canny Italians and when Milani added his third of the tie after just 12 minutes there was no way back for Symon's men. Scott offered some fresh hope when he scored on the hour mark before Kurt Hamrin, the Swede, completed a 4-1 aggregate victory by adding his team's second on the night with just four minutes remaining, ensuring Fiorentina became the first Italian club to win a European trophy. Davie Wilson, the Rangers winger, credits the Swede as the key to Fiorentina's success.

"I will always remember Fiorentina's left winger Kurt Hamrin, who tormented us in that final," he said. "We would have won the cup if it hadn't been for him. Hamrin was a Swedish international, so was well known to us, but he was a great player. He played outside left but was all over the park.

"Fiorentina were a top side - the best European team we played in that era. It was no disgrace losing to them but still a huge disappointment because we would have been remembered as the first Rangers side to win a European trophy."