Past To The Present
From RangersPedia
The Gallant Pioneers
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 Glasgow Green. 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 52 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 Wilton years
Rangers were in the ascendancy at the turn of the century, winning the championship seven times between 1900 and 1918 (with four League title in a row). The season of 1898–99 was particularly memorable, in that it saw the Gers win all 18 league games to establish a perfect record.
First Ibrox disasterBut between 1902 and 1910, Celtic took over as the dominant force, and though Rangers had the chance to foil a third League and Cup double in 1909, the Scottish FA withheld the Cup due to disgraceful scenes after a pitch invasion by a drunken fans. The Hampden Riot had written itself a sorry page in the history books, and both clubs were ordered to compensate hosts Queen's Park for the damage caused by their fans.
Having lost the title in 1919 they responded in 1920 with one of the best seasons in their history as manager William Wilton and his right hand man Bill Struth retained the title netting 106 goals in 42 league games. However, in May 1920 the clubs first ever manager, William Wilton, died in a boating accident and Bill Struth was subsequently appointed manager.
Struth's era
The 1920-21 season heralded the dawn of a new era for Rangers as manager Bill Struth initiated a period of Rangers dominance that was to last until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. Struth guided Rangers to 14 titles before the war. This period was also noteworthy for the attendances. On the 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.
The post-war seasons saw Rangers well on top, but not before a boardroom coup in the summer of 1947. The board of Rangers had previously been an amateur body made up of former players, but when chairman James Bowie suggested a 71-year-old Struth retire in order to allow a younger man to take charge, a revolution occurred. Bowie was forced out the chair and was said never to have set foot in Ibrox again, such was his disdain for the circumstances of his departure.
Under Symon
Symon became manager in June 1954 and continued Struth's success winning six league championships, five Scottish Cups and four League Cups. He also became the second manager to win the domestic treble in season 1963–64.
In season 1956–57 Symon took Rangers into the European Cup for the first time but it ended abruptly, going out on to French team Nice. The following season however saw Rangers suffer their worst ever defeat to their arch rivals Celtic, losing 7–1 in the 1957 Scottish League Cup Final. They did however reach the semi-finals of the European Cup in 1960 losing eventually to German club Eintracht Frankfurt by a record aggregate 12–4 for a Scottish team. In 1961 Rangers became the first British team to reach a European final when they contested the Cup Winners' Cup final against Italian side Fiorentina, only to lose 4–1 on aggregate. Rangers suffered yet more despair in the final of the same competition in 1967, losing 1–0 after extra time to Bayern Munich.
After these disappointments, the pressure was on Symon and he paid the penalty of Celtic's success in Scotland and Europe in October 1967, giving way to his former assistant David White after rejecting a move to make him general manager with White in charge of team affairs.
White takes charge
David White was installed as Rangers' fourth manager in November 1967. White became the first Rangers manager not to win a major trophy. The lack of honours during his reign at Ibrox, however, masks the fact that he did improve the team during a difficult period and Jock Stein's Celtic side were at the peak of their success. In his first season as manager, the team suffered only one defeat - 3–2 at home to Aberdeen in the final game. Yet Rangers finished runners-up in the league to Celtic. The team also reached the 1969 Scottish Cup Final, only to lose out to their Old Firm rivals again by 4–0.
In Europe, White's team enjoyed two good runs in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in successive years. In 1967–68, Rangers reached the quarter-finals, losing to Leeds United 2–0 on aggregate. The following season they went one better and got to the semi-finals where they again went down 2–0 on aggregate, this time to Newcastle United. The good showing in Europe did not continue though, and when White completely under-estimated Polish side Górnik Zabrze, he was removed as manager. White's side had lost 3–1 in Poland and when the return leg at Ibrox began, he was promising to, "attack, attack, attack!" in order to progress. The second-leg result ended in a 3–1 home defeat for the Gers. The next day, 27 November 1969, White's assisant Willie Thornton took over as caretaker and the club began to look for a new manager.
European success and national tragedy
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 of the match restarting Colin Stein equalised for Rangers and, as the 80,000+ strong crowd was trying to disperse at full time, many fell down stairway 13 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.[12] 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 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.
Jock Wallace becomes manager
Wallace's managership of Rangers saw the club achieve a period of sustained success. His first season as manager - the club's centenary year - culminated in a 3–2 Scottish Cup win over Celtic. A nine-year period of Celtic dominance in the league was ended in 1974–1975 as Rangers captured what was to be the last championship of its kind. The new ten-team Scottish Premier League saw Rangers crowned inaugural champions, as part of a triumphant domestic treble. After a barren subsequent season, 1976–1977, Wallace presided over the club's fourth domestic treble in 1977–1978.
This burst of success from the mid-1970s saw Rangers once again established as Scotland's most successful club. In 1978 Wallace, suddenly and unexpectedly, announced his resignation while refusing to divulge the reason for his departure. In his wake, Rangers turned to another of the stalwarts of the great side of the mid-to-late 1970s, the captain John Greig.
Greig: Captain to Manager
Greig's tenure began promisingly. The 1978-79 season could so easily have mirrored the previous. Despite a fixture pile-up which resulted from the club playing three league games in nearly three months, and some overly negative tactics from Greig, Rangers came close to winning a quadruple of trophies. Unfortunately it was not to be and the season ended with just the domestic cup double.
The following the season finished trophyless. Rangers finished an embarrassing fifth in the league, eleven points behind champions Aberdeen. Greig's efforts to restructure the team inherited from Wallace proved, for the most part, fruitless. The early years of the 1980s were ones of repeated frustration as the club continually failed to mount a challenge not only to Celtic, but to the resurgent New Firm of Aberdeen and Dundee United.
The gloom of under-performance in the league was punctuated only by periodic cup triumphs. The Scottish Cup win of 1981, in particular, saw a triumphant performance by the enigmatic winger, Davie Cooper. The League Cup proved fertile territory for Rangers throughout the fallow years of the early 1980s, but it was the failure to add to the league triumph of 1978 that saw the growing pressure on Greig culminate in his resignation as manager in October 1983. During this period attendances at Ibrox dwindled from an average 25,628 in season 1978–79 to 17,681 in 1982–83.
Return of Wallace
Jock Wallace and Rangers hoped to rekindle success by bringing Jock Wallace back to the club, following his exile in England with Leicester City. Wallace, though, was not the club's first choice: Jim McLean and Alex Ferguson, the then managers of the New Firm clubs, both rebuffed Rangers' advances McLean's brother Tommy was appointed caretaker manager and four games passed before a permanent manager was in position.
On 10 November 1983, Jock Wallace was persuaded by the Rangers board to leve Motherwell and return to the club. His aim was to restore the glory years of the treble-winning sides of the late 1970s. Wallace's initial impact was positive, the club did win a trophy, the 1984 Scottish League Cup. It was a thrilling extra time victory over Celtic, with Ally McCoist getting a hat-tick, in a 3-2 win that won them the cup. The following season the league form remained indifferent.
The continuing dominance of the great Aberdeen side of the 1980s, coupled with a Dundee United and Celtic team that offered periodic challenges to Aberdeen's ascendancy, put Wallace under increasing pressure. By the 1985–86 season Rangers had slipped to fifth place in the league and, with little evidence of improvement since the Greig era, it was inevitable that Wallace would be removed as manager. On 7 April 1986, Wallace resigned as manager of the club. Perhaps, jump before being pushed by the newly appointed Rangers chairman David Holmes. Holmes had gone on record saying that the slump the club was in could not be allowed to go on.
The Souness Revolution
Holmes appointed Graeme Souness as Rangers' first player-manager. Souness had previously been playing in Italy with U.C. Sampdoria and made the move to Glasgow for a £300,000 fee. He brought in Walter Smith, from Dundee United as his assistant and ex-Coventry City manager Don Mackay as reserve-team coach.
Souness took advantage of the European competition ban imposed by UEFA on English clubs after the Heysel Stadium Disaster. Thanks to this and a sizeable tansfer kitty, he was able to attract the cream of English sides talent. The first of many international players arrived in the shape of Chris Woods, followed by the likes of England deputy captain Terry Butcher. The 1986–87 season was the first in eight seasons that Rangers finished top of the Scottish Premier Division. Also during that season, goalkeeper Chris Woods set the British football shut out record of 1196 minutes. From November 26 1986, when he conceded a goal in a UEFA Cup 1-1 draw with Borussia Moenchengladbach, until 14 games later on January 30 1987 when Adrian Sprott of Hamilton Academical knocked the Rangers out of the Scottish Cup by a single goal.
The following season Rangers could not build on the success of the previous. Despite the arrival's of Trevor Francis, Ray Wilkins, Mark Walters, Mark Falco, John Brown and Richard Gough, who became Scotland's first £1 million player.
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 later six under the stewardship of Walter Smith. By far the most exciting of these triumphs was season 19909-1991, when in the last few weeks of the season a sizeable Rangers lead was pegged back by Aberdeen FC (coincidentally this was around the time that Souness departed Ibrox to take over the vacant managerial post at Liverpool FC), leading to a last day title decider at Ibrox Stadium. A draw would be good enough for the Dons on the day, whilst victory by a two goal margin for the Gers would be enough to see them champions. Two goals from Mark Hateley, one either side of half time, gave league glory to Rangers and started a glorious run under the reign of new manager, Walter Smith.
The Little General
Dick AdvocaatDick Advocaat, nicknamed the Little General, succeeded Walter Smith on 1 June 1998. Advocaat, former manager of PSV Eindhoven, was only Rangers' tenth manager and the first non-Scot to hold the position. He was given resources on a scale never before handed to a Rangers manager but success outwith Scotland failed to materialise, and the costly legacy of Advocaat's time at Ibrox was a debt that would cripple the club for years. He also spearheaded the building of Murray Park - a £14m training complex at Auchenhowie.
In total Advocaat spent over £36 million on new players in just his debut season. Some - the Dutch internationals Arthur Numan and Giovanni van Bronckhorst - were successful; others - Andrei Kanchelskis, Colin Hendry - proved ineffectual. However, initially the big spending paid off. His first season saw Rangers sixith domestic treble. In the following season a domestic double was secured and in Europe there were signs of greatly improved performance in the Champions League, as Parma were defeated en route to qualification for the group stages of the competition.
Rangers entered Advocaat's third season emboldened by the capture of five of the six domestic trophies available in his first two years. However, while the club again qualified for the Champions League group stage, performances in the SPL began rapidly to disintegrate. Further high-profile signings - Tore André Flo for a club record £12 million, and the Dutch internationalist Ronald de Boer - could not reverse the decline. The club failed to win a major competition in the 2000–01 season, as Celtic swept the domestic board. Advocaat resigned in the December 2001 to take up a position of director of football, which he would leave after only 11 months.
Financial hangover under McLeish
Murray appointed ex-Aberdeen defender Alex McLeish as the clubs eleventh manager on 11 December 2001. McLeish's Rangers team won a Scottish Cup and League Cup double in his first half-season.
In his first full season as manager the club won its seventh Treble. The Scottish Premier League was won after an astonishingly tense run-in, with victory over Dunfermline Athletic, denying Celtic the title on goal difference. A victory over Celtic in the 2003 Scottish League Cup Final in March 2003, provided the first leg of the club's latest treble. A somewhat anti-climactic 1–0 victory over Dundee in the 2003 Scottish Cup Final the following May saw a successful end to the season.
The following season, McLeish's initial period as manager proved difficult to sustain. The wage bill had to be slashed as the club embarked on an extensive cost-cutting programme. McLeish was to lose from his treble winning squad, defender Lorenzo Amoruso, winger Neil McCann amongst others and club captain Barry Ferguson. In their place McLeish was required to rebuild by wheeling and dealing and the selective use of Bosman free transfers. After a good start to the 2003-04 season, which saw the side lead the league and qualify for UEFA Champions League, a dramatic downturn in results meant that the season ended without a trophy. The following season the side again fell behind Celtic in the league and exited the Champions League at the qualifying stage. But going in to the final round of the SPL, Rangers needed to win at Hibernian and hope that Celtic would drop points at Motherwell to win the title. Motherwell defeated the Parkhead side, while Rangers edged out a tight 1–0 win at Easter Road. McLeish could celebrate his second, and Rangers' 51st, league title.
The 2005–06 season got off to a bad start, with Rangers only winning six league games out of the first 17, being knocked out of the League Cup by Celtic in the process. The period from October through to early December saw the team embark on, statistically, the worst run in their history, going ten games without a win. During this time, however, the club became the first Scottish side to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Under Paul Le Guen
Card display at Ibrox to welcome 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 then new 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 early season priority, qualification for the Champions League group stage was secured after aggregate victories over the champions of the Montenegrin and Serbian leagues, FK Zeta and Red Star Belgrade respectively. The campaign started well for Rangers with two victories but ultimately they did not progress from the group stages. But the adventure continued as they progressed to the final of the UEFA Cup, defeating Panathinaikos, Werder Bremen, Sporting Lisbon and Fiorentina along the way. The final was against Zenit St. Petersburg who are managed by former Rangers manager Dick Advocaat. They lost that match 2–0, amid serious disturbances caused by some supporters. Video evidence was released by the Greater Manchester Police of Rangers fans attacking officers in Manchester city centre following the defeat. An appeal was launched on Crimewatch in January 2009 in an attempt to trace 49 men in connection with the riots.
The 2008–09 season saw Rangers make a below-par start to their UEFA Champions League campaign, losing out in the knockout 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 next season's Champions League group stage. Rangers won the Homecoming Scottish Cup for the 33rd time after defeating Falkirk 1-0 in the final, clinching a double in the process.
