Rangers Football Club History

Formation and early years

The four founders of Rangers – brothers Moses and Peter McNeil, Peter Campbell and William McBeath – met in 1872 and named their team after an English rugby club upon seeing the name in a book.In May of that year the first match was played, a 0–0 draw in a friendly against Callander F.C. on the public pitches of Glasgow Green. The only other match played that year was another friendly against a team called Clyde (not the present-day Clyde) resulting in an 11–0 victory and featuring the debut of the club's blue strip.The official founding of Rangers is recognised as taking place in 1873, when the club held its first annual meeting and staff were elected. The first season's fixtures were all friendlies, as the deadline for joining the Scottish Football Association had been missed, meaning the team did not take part in the inaugural Scottish Cup. By 1876 Rangers had their first internationalist, with Moses McNeil representing Scotland in a match against Wales, and by 1877 Rangers had reached a Scottish Cup final. The first ever Old Firm match took place in 1888, the year of Celtic's establishment. Rangers lost 5–2 in a friendly to a team composed largely of "guest players" from Hibernian.

The 1890–91 season saw the inception of the Scottish Football League, and Rangers were one of ten original members. By this time Rangers were playing at the first Ibrox Stadium. Rangers' first ever league match took place on 16 August 1890 and resulted in a 5–2 victory over Heart of Midlothian. After finishing equal-top with Dumbarton a play-off was held at Cathkin Park to decide the who would be champions. The match finished 2–2 and the title was shared for the only time in its history, the first of Rangers' world record 53 championships.Rangers' first ever Scottish Cup win came in 1894 after a 3–1 victory over rivals Celtic in the final. By the turn of the century Rangers had won two league titles and three Scottish Cups.

The Struth years

The 1919/20 season heralded the dawn of a new era for Rangers as manager William Wilton and number two William Struth initiated a Rangers dominance that was to last until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. Though winning this season with 31 wins out of 42 games and scoring 106 goals, it was overshadowed by the subsequent death of manager, William Wilton. Taking over the manager's mantle, William Struth guided Rangers to a further 14 titles before the war. This period was also noteworthy for the attendances. On 2 January 1939 a British league record was broken as 118,567 fans turned out to watch Rangers beat Celtic in the traditional new year holiday Old Firm match.

1970s

The 1971 Ibrox disaster overshadowed what happened on the pitch to a large extent in the early 1970s. On 2 January 1971, in the final minutes of the New Year's Day Old Firm game with the score set at 0–0, Jimmy Johnstone scored for Celtic. Within seconds Colin Stein had equalised for Rangers. As the 80,000 strong crowd was trying to disperse at full time, many fell down the stairway at the Copland Road end of the ground. Their momentum led to large scale crushing and 66 people died. It was initially thought the crush was caused by Rangers fans rushing back up the stairwell after the equaliser;however, a later enquiry said that the crush was likely to have happened ten minutes after the final whistle and to have been triggered by someone falling on the stairs.A benefit match to raise funds for the victims' families took place after the disaster. A joint Rangers and Celtic team took on a Scotland XI at Hampden watched by 81,405 fans.

In 1972, Rangers defeated FC Dynamo Moscow to win the Cup Winner's Cup, their first and only European trophy to date. Captain John Greig received the trophy in a small room within the Nou Camp due to a pitch invasion by Rangers fans.

Nine in a row

Every year from 1988–89 season until the 1996–97 season, Rangers won the league title. This 9 in a row achievement meant that they equalled Celtic's record. The first three of these seasons the club was managed by Graeme Souness, the latter six under the stewardship of Walter Smith.

Dick Advocaat

In 1998 Advocaat accepted the invitation from Rangers chairman David Murray to become the club's new manager. When Advocaat took charge of Rangers he became the first foreign manager to do so and only the tenth manager in the history of the club.

The previous season was the last of seven under Walter Smith,and the first time the club had finished without a trophy in twelve years.Long term members of the squad that had won nine league championships in a row left, including Ally McCoist, Ian Durrant, Andy Goram and Stuart McCall. With the financial backing from Chairman David Murray Advocaat invested heavily in the team. Big money signings such as Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Arthur Numan and Andrei Kanchelskis were among Advocaat's first as Rangers tried to regain the league championship in Scotland.

In Advocaat's first season in charge the club won the domestic treble (League, League Cup and Scottish Cup). The League was won at Celtic Park on 2 May 1999 after two goals from Neil McCann and a penalty from Jorg Albertz. The club also had a short run in the UEFA Cup. The following season the club won the league by an SPL record 21 point margin, and also won the Scottish Cup. Advocaat also guided Rangers into the Champions League having beaten the UEFA Cup winners Parma in the 3rd round qualifier. Rangers went out of the group stage after being drawn alongside Bayern Munich, PSV Eindhoven and Valencia. The club then lost to Borussia Dortmund in a penalty shoot out in the UEFA cup.

Advocaat's third season at Rangers was less successful. Despite investment in the team with players such as Tore Andre Flo for a record £12 million, Rangers failed to win any trophies, as Celtic under new manager Martin O’Neill, won the domestic treble. In Europe Rangers qualified for the Champions league for the second consecutive season after two qualifying rounds. They were drawn alongside Sturm Graz, Galatasaray and Monaco. After good results against Sturm Graz and Monaco, the club failed to qualify for the next phase of the competition, finishing third behind Galatasaray on goal difference. Rangers then lost 3–0 to Kaiserslautern of Germany in the Uefa cup.

In his last season at Rangers Dick guided Gers to the last 16 of the UEFA Cup in the 2001/02 season, but with Celtic leading the league championship by 12 points, Advocaat resigned from the manager's position on 12 December 2001. Alex McLeish was appointed as his successor with Advocaat moving to the position of General Manager. Advocaat eventually left Rangers for the Netherlands national team.

In his first season in charge Advocaat was instrumental in the formation of the current Rangers training facility Murray Park.

Alex McLeish

McLeish had become Rangers boss on 11 December 2001 and initially worked in association with Dick Advocaat who became Director of Football. McLeish seemed to encourage performances out of a squad that had under-achieved under Advocaat. McLeish was an instant success at Rangers, winning both the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup in his first season, but the big prize of the league title was essentially lost before his arrival. Alex McLeish became the sixth Rangers manager to deliver a Treble when he swept the boards in season 2002/03 – his first full season in charge. The League was won on goal difference in a dramatic final day shoot out, which delivered Rangers 50th title.

Rangers' worsening financial state saw many of the team's top players leave in the summer of 2003. Celtic won the league comfortably in season 2003–04, and Rangers failed to win any trophies.

The high profile Bosman signings of Jean-Alain Boumsong and Dado Pršo in the close season of 2004–05 gave Rangers renewed hope of regaining the title from Celtic's grasp. McLeish's team won the 2005 league title on a dramatic last day, an outcome that had looked highly unlikely after Rangers fell five points behind leaders Celtic with just four games remaining. Celtic losing to Motherwell at Fir Park, coupled with Rangers' win at Easter Road meant that the helicopter changed direction and delivered the SPL trophy to Rangers at the Leith ground.

After this success, McLeish and his Rangers team headed into the 2005–06 SPL campaign as favourites to retain the championship. McLeish made a number of signings, including Julien Rodriguez and Ian Murray, despite having little money to spend. After a reasonable start to the season, including a win over Celtic, Rangers suffered a series of poor results between September and November. This period included a club record of 10 games without a win. However the tenth match of this run, a 1–1 draw with Inter Milan in the Champions League, took Rangers into the last 16 of the Champions League. The club were defeated on the away goals rule by Villarreal. but in reaching this stage of the competition had become the first Scottish team to progress this far in the European Cup since 1993, and the first Scottish team to progress through a European group stage.

On 9 February 2006, it was announced by chairman David Murray that McLeish would be standing down as manager at the end of that season. It was later announced that he would be succeeded by former Olympique Lyonnais manager Paul Le Guen.

Paul Le Guen

Paul Le Guen replaced Alex McLeish as manager after season 2005–06.

The season started poorly for Rangers, with a number of losses and draws against teams lower in the league, as well as their being knocked out of the League Cup by Division One side St. Johnstone. Rivals Celtic built a lead at the top of the table, while Rangers fought for second place alongside Hearts and Aberdeen. The first Old Firm match of the season resulted in a 2–0 defeat; the second – at Ibrox – was a 1–1 draw.

In the UEFA Cup Rangers became the first Scottish side to qualify for the last 32 of the competition in its current format.

There had been rumours during the season of disharmony at Rangers, between Scottish and foreign units, with players including captain Barry Ferguson disapproving of Le Guen's strict disciplinarian stance. It was announced on 4 January 2007 that Le Guen had left Rangers by mutual consent.

Walter Smith's return

On 10 January 2007, it was announced that former manager Walter Smith was the new manager of Rangers, with Ally McCoist as assistant manager and Kenny McDowall as first-team coach.

The following season Rangers embarked on a UEFA Cup adventure after dropping into the competition from the Champions League. The club progressed to the final, defeating Panathinaikos, Werder Bremen, Sporting Lisbon and Fiorentina along the way. The final was against Zenit St. Petersburg who were managed by former Rangers manager Dick Advocaat. They lost the match 2–0, amid serious disturbances caused by some supporters. Video evidence was released by the Greater Manchester Police of Rangers fans attacking officers and officers attacking the fans with batons and dogs, in Manchester city centre following the defeat.

The 2008–09 season saw Rangers make a below-par start to their UEFA Champions League campaign, losing out in the knock-out stage to FBK Kaunas of Lithuania. The financial consequences of the failures to qualify for the Champions League were revealed when the club posted a loss of £3.9m for the six months to December 2008, and in March decided to offer staff the option of voluntary redundancy as a way of cutting costs. Despite a tight title race, on the final day of the league, Rangers managed to claim their 52nd league title. With their title success, Rangers gained automatic entry into the following season's Champions League group stage. Rangers won the Scottish Cup for the 33rd time after defeating Falkirk 1–0 in the final, clinching a double in the process.

At the beginning of the 2009–10 season Rangers had to reduce their squad size by several players due to costs while not being able to sign anyone. After a disappointing European campaign where they only picked up two points they made a £13 million profit at the turn of the year. Rangers reached their fifth consecutive domestic cup final where they played St. Mirren in the Scottish League Cup. After having two players sent off in the second half Rangers won the final 1–0 through a goal from Kenny Miller.

On 25 April 2010, Rangers retained their league title with three matches remaining by defeating Hibernian 1–0 with a Kyle Lafferty goal. This was their 53rd Scottish League title. With this success, they again sealed their automatic entry into the 2010–11 Champions League.

During the close season Walter Smith announced the upcoming new season would be his last as manager of Rangers and that the intention was to replace him with Ally McCoist and assistant Kenny McDowall. Smith stated: "I am wholly committed to managing the club next season and when it comes to the end of next season I firmly believe that Ally and Kenny would do a great job and I am glad everybody at the club shares that view."

On 13 August 2010, Rangers signed former England striker James Beattie from Stoke City for an undisclosed fee, becoming the Scottish champions' first signing in two years. Slovakia international forward Vladimir Weiss subsequently followed on a year-long loan from Manchester City with Croatia international striker Nikica Jelavic signing from Rapid Vienna for £4million after protracted negotiations. Rangers were drawn against Bursaspor, Valencia and Manchester United in the group stages of the 2010–11 Champions League. They finished third in the group, behind Manchester United and Valencia.

On 24 February 2011 Rangers reached the last 16 of the Europa League by beating Sporting Clube de Portugal on away goals.Their opponents in the last 16 were PSV Eindhoven who knocked Rangers out of the competition, winning 1-0 on aggregate after a 1-0 win at Ibrox on 17 March. Three days later Smith led Rangers to victory in the League Cup Final over Celtic.