The elegant Uefa Cup trophy will be a welcome addition to Rangers’ priceless collection of silverware if they beat Zenit St Petersburg in the final. And the distinguished old vase certainly won’t lack for company among all the other riches accumulated by the world’s most successful football club.

“We have won a few trophies in our time,” Sandy Jardine, who works behind the scenes at the club he served so well as a full-back, said. Part of his role is to take care of the many hundreds of prizes and keepsakes Rangers have amassed down the years.

“I have no idea how many individual items we have collected since 1872,” he said. “But I do know that the number keeps rising every year. We have so many that we can’t display them all at once. We have the major trophies on display all the time, but the others are rotated.

“Rangers’ 51 national championships is a world record, and we have a commemorative painting that was presented to us for winning 100 major trophies. Real Madrid might run us close, but it’s true that Rangers have won more trophies than any other club.”

Rangers’ treasure trove is displayed at Ibrox in the style of a museum, with cabinets devoted to different themes, such as European competition, the club’s centenary and domestic glories. There is also a separate section for crystal, and the fabled Blue Room is decorated by a mural featuring all Rangers’ managers and the club’s great captains.

Among Jardine’s most prized exhibits is a collection of nine medals that represent significant chapters in the club’s history. The oldest dates from 1879, and was awarded to club founder, Peter Campbell, when the club began its tireless pursuit of honours with victory in the Glasgow Charity Cup.

Jardine is especially proud of one heirloom that has nothing to do with exploits on the pitch, and everything to do with simple humanity – the Loving Cup. “It was awarded by Stoke City to Rangers, after the club played a benefit match in aid of the families of miners killed in a colliery disaster in the Potteries,” he said. The venerable vessel is filled with an appropriate beverage before the first home game of each year, and the assembly will drink a toast to the Queen.

Jardine doesn’t busy himself with the silver polish, but a team of cleaners is charged with the never-ending task of keeping the haul of honours sparkling. “It’s a big job but a pleasant one,” he said. “We are proud of our history, and we’re delighted to share it. And we won’t be complaining if there are one or two new additions before the season is over.”