The tough tackling full-back joined an ever expanding Dutch colony at Ibrox when he signed from AZ Alkmaar for a fee of £3.75m. Dick Advocaat had identified 23 year old Ricksen as the man to fill the right back position and a deal was negotiated in March 2000 to bring him to the Club during the summer. Along with fellow summer signing Bert Konterman, they would link up with fellow compatriots Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Arthur Numan and Michael Mols in Scotland with Ronald de Boer not too far behind them.
Fernando had spent 4 seasons with Fortuna Sittard and 3 with AZ Alkmaar in his homeland prior to making the switch to Rangers. Although still relatively young, Ricksen had amassed well over 150 appearances but representing a Club the magnitude of Rangers would prove to be a steep learning curve for the likeable Dutchman despite the comfort of being surrounded by some familiar faces.
After two years of great success for Advocaat, 2000/01 proved to be a turning point for ‘The Little General’ and Ricksen endured a difficult debut season in Glasgow. His competitive debut came on the 26th July 2000 (one day before his 24th Birthday) during a 4-1 victory over Zalgiris Kaunas at Ibrox in a European Champions League Qualifier. Rangers would make the Group Stages and Ricksen would experience the highs and lows during his two appearances in the competition. He played in the opening match as Rangers thrashed Sturm Graz 5-0 in one of our best ever Champions League displays. However, his next appearance would be the final match where Gers drew 2-2 with Monaco thus narrowly missing out on the knock out stages. The domestic season was a major disappointment with Rangers finishing the campaign empty handed and Ricksen feeling the effects of a disastrous Old Firm debut at Parkhead. He would find himself in and out of the side although did make 38 appearances in his debut season finding the net once in a Boxing Day win over St. Johnstone.
The start to 2001/02 was also inconsistent and, ironically, the turning point appeared to be the departure of Advocaat as manager and the arrival of Alex McLeish in December 2001. With the league title challenge already over, McLeish galvanised the side during the second part of the season and Ricksen began to show the form that had deserted him. By the end of the campaign he had won his first two medals having played in the League Cup Final victory over Ayr United and the epic Scottish Cup Final win over Celtic.
The momentum was building and Ricksen was by now one of the top performers in the team. 2002/03 saw the side sweep all before them domestically and Fernando played in 44 out of a possible 48 matches in that Treble Winning success. This included the dramatic last day title win versus Dunfermline, the League Cup Final win over Celtic and the Scottish Cup Final win over Dundee.
The shock departure of Captain Barry Ferguson at the start of 2003/04 seemed to derail McLeish and there would be no silverware. Qualification for the Champions League Group stages was achieved but it was a far from convincing campaign never the less.
Unable to replace Barry Ferguson adequately, McLeish pushed Ricksen into the Rangers midfield and it proved to be the catalyst as Gers went on to secure the most dramatic Championship win in the history of the Club. Ricksen would play in all 38 league matches scoring 5 times including a vital injury time winner from the penalty spot at Tynecastle. Although Ferguson returned to Rangers in the winter transfer window, it was Fernando who was now wearing the Captains armband, (following injury to Stefan Klos) and he duly lifted the League Championship at Easter Road on ‘Helicopter Sunday’ in a moment that was richly deserved. It had been an outstanding season for him personally which was recognised when he was (jointly) named SPFA Player of the Year. In addition to leading the side to the title, he had also scored in the league cup final demolition of Motherwell two months earlier as he secured his first trophy as Captain.
Despite qualification for the knock out stages of the Champions League in season 2005/06, it was a poor campaign for the Club and manager Alex McLeish paid the price when he was replaced by Paul Le Guen in the Summer.
If McLeish had managed to get the very best out of Ricksen, the opposite could be said of Le Guen and Fernando’s Rangers career came to a sudden and regrettable end almost as soon as the Frenchman entered the building. It was typical of Ricksen's volatile and often controversial time in Glasgow.
In all, Fernando would win 2 League Championships, 2 Scottish Cups and 3 League Cups during his six years at Rangers.
Returning to Scotland, Fernando died on 18th September 2019 at just 43 years of age. He had bravely battled MND for an incredible six years during which time he raised awareness of the illness and helped secure significant levels of funding for future research.
