Rangers Football Club is a football club from Glasgow, Scotland, which plays in the Scottish Premier League.
The club’s home is one of 29 UEFA five-star stadia, the all-seated Ibrox Stadium in south west Glasgow, with a capacity of 51,444.
Rangers players today are multi-national and of various religions, although the club has traditionally been identified with the Protestant Unionist community of Scotland. For most of their history, Rangers have enjoyed a fierce rivalry with their cross-city opponents Celtic F.C.
The club’s correct name is simply Rangers F.C. although it is sometimes incorrectly called Glasgow Rangers. This frequently happens with English commentators seeking to distinguish between them and other similarly-named clubs, particularly Queens Park Rangers F.C.
The club is nicknamed The Teddy Bears, from the rhyming slang for Gers (short for Rangers), and the fans are known to each other as ‘Bluenoses’.
Contents
1
History
2 The Old Firm and Sectarianism
3 Under Alex McLeish (2001-2006)
4 A new era
5 Stadium
6 Famous players
7 Team managers
8 Current squad
o 8.1 2006-07 Transfers
o 8.2 First-team squad
o 8.3 Out on loan
o 8.4 Reserve & Youth Squad
9 Non-playing staff
o 9.1 Boardroom
o 9.2 Management
10 Club records
11 Greatest team
12
Honours
o 12.1 Major honours
o 12.2 Other honours
13 UEFA ranking
14 References
15 External links
History
Main article:
History
of Rangers F.C.
The Old Firm and Sectarianism
The term sectarian refers to a group who belongs to a religious and cultural sect, and display contempt, hatred or dislike of all others, not belonging to their sect.
In the context of Scottish football, sectarianism is beyond the control of any individual club – it is a much wider issue, rooted in social, cultural, historical and religious circumstances.
The sectarianism which exists between the Old Firm is between Protestants and Roman Catholics. During the late 19th century, many Protestant and Catholic immigrants came to Glasgow from Ireland. This was around the same time that both Old Firm clubs were founded (Rangers in 1873 and Celtic in 1888). Most of the Protestants decided to support Rangers whereas the Catholics supported Celtic. Therefore, the idea of Rangers being the ‘Protestant club’ and Celtic the ‘Catholic club’ became popular and the sectarian element to the Old Firm rivalry grew from then onwards.
Both Rangers and Celtic now accept that they have a problem with sectarianism. Both clubs admit that a proportion of their supporters have been, and continue to be, guilty of perpetuating sectarian and partisan beliefs as well as cultural intolerance.
In recent times, both Rangers and Celtic have taken measures to combat sectarianism. Working alongside the Scottish Parliament, church groups, schools and community organisations, the Old Firm has made efforts to clamp down on sectarian songs, inflammatory flag-waving, and troublesome supporters, using increased levels of policing and surveillance.
On 12 April 2006, following an investigation into the conduct of Rangers supporters at both legs of their UEFA Champions League tie against Villarreal CF, the Control and Disciplinary Body of UEFA declared the Rangers fans not guilty of alleged discriminatory chants. UEFA challenged the ruling, and their Appeals Body partially upheld the appeal, fining the Ibrox club £13,500, and warning the club as to their responsibility for any future misconduct by their fans in relation to sectarian and discriminatory behaviour.
On 9 June 2006, Rangers, in conjunction with representatives from several supporters clubs, announced that they would comply with three UEFA directives:
The club is “ordered to announce measurable targets in order to reduce sectarian behaviour amongst its supporters”.
The club is “to control their anti-sectarian activities by producing comprehensive statistics that are communicated to the public”.
The club is “to make a public address announcement at every official fixture, be it international or domestic, stating that any sectarian chanting and any form of the song Billy Boys is strictly prohibited”.
UEFA have previously stated that bigotry, which could apply to songs like Billy Boys is not to be permitted at football grounds.
Under Alex McLeish (2001-2006)
For full article about Alex McLeish at Rangers, click here.
Alex McLeish’s four-and-a-half-year spell at Ibrox was a turbulent one, coming as it did after the wastefulness of the Advocaat era. McLeish never enjoyed access to the funds his predecessors had been given, and his managership was marked by wildly-fluctuating fortunes, in part caused by forced asset stripping of his best players due to the spectre of debt from Advocaat’s spending.
His appointment in December 2001 was met with a lukewarm reaction amongst many Rangers supporters. Some viewed it as symptomatic of the downsizing of the club’s ambitions [citation needed], while others saw in McLeish a manager whose mixed fortunes at Hibernian and Motherwell left him ill-equipped to cope with the demands of managing Rangers [citation needed].
Some of the honours that Rangers attained while under McLeish include two League Championships, including the fabled ‘Helicopter Sunday’, two Scottish Cups and three League Cups. During this time, the club became the first Scottish side to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League, yet there was still significant pressure on McLeish from fans due to the club’s poor position in the domestic league table.
It was widely felt – and publicised – that chairman David Murray would let McLeish go after the European campaign had finished [citation needed], and a press conference arranged two days after the final group match seemed to confirm this. After signs that supporter unrest was turning on Murray, on 9 February 2006, two days before the crucial Old Firm match, it was announced that Alex McLeish would leave his position as manager at the end of the 2005-06 season, and on 11 March, it was confirmed that former Lyon manager Paul Le Guen would indeed succeed him at the end of the season.
A new era
Current sport event For current news on this topic see:
Rangers F.C. season 2006-07
Card display at Ibrox to welcome Paul Le Guen.
Enlarge
Card display at Ibrox to welcome Paul Le Guen.
Paul Le Guen replaced Alex McLeish as manager after season 2005-06. Known for unearthing and nurturing young talent, Le Guen made an immediate splash in the transfer market signing South African Under-19 player Dean Furman from Chelsea, and youngsters William Stanger and Antoine Ponroy from Rennes. While allowing Ibrox favourite Alex Rae to move to a new career as player-manager of Dundee, Peter Løvenkrands to go to Schalke 04 and Sotirios Kyrgiakos to Eintracht Frankfurt. Other notable signings include Karl Svensson from IFK Göteborg in addition to Czech national Libor Sionko and Slovakian striker Filip Sebo both signed in early August from Austria Vienna, where they had been part of the previous season’s double-winning side. Rangers had been strongly linked with a host of other players and signed midfielder Jeremy Clement from Lyon and goalkeeper Lionel Letizi from Paris St Germain as a replacement for the departing Ronald Waterreus. Senegalese midfield player Makhtar N’Diaye signed a one-year contract after a short trial period with the club. Also in August, Rangers signed the 19-year-old winger Lee Martin and defender Phil Bardsley on loan from Manchester United for a season. On August 31, 2006, Rangers agreed terms with Austria Vienna’s Bosnian defender Saša Papac.
Since taking over, Le Guen has told a number of players that they are surplus to requirements, including Nacho Novo, Marvin Andrews, Olivier Bernard, Hamed Namouchi, Bob Malcolm and Jose-Karl Pierre-Fanfan. Namouchi was the first of these to leave, completing a £450,000 move to FC Lorient on August 24. Andrews, Bernard, Fanfan and Malcolm were all released from their player contracts at the close of the summer transfer window, effectively making them free agents to sign anywhere without having to adhere transfer dates or receiving any compensation from their new prospective clubs.
Stadium
Ibrox was inaugurated on December 30, 1899, Rangers defeated Hearts 3-1 in the first match held there.
The stands in the ground are: The Bill Struth Main Stand (Front and Rear), Govan Stand (Front and Rear), and the Copland and Broomloan Stands (both Front and Rear) which are behind the goals. In addition to these, there are also the East and West Enclosures (between Copland and Govan and Broomloan and Govan Stands respectively), the Club Deck (above the Main Stand Rear) and the new Bar 72 area, situated in the Govan Stand. After work in summer 2006, the total capacity of Ibrox is 51,044. On August 22 2006, Rangers announced that the Main Stand would be renamed The Bill Struth Main Stand in September 2006 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of their former manager Bill Struth who served as manager of Rangers for 34 years.
Famous players
Famous past and present players at Ibrox include:
Scotland Scotland
Jim Baxter¹
Ralph Brand¹
Eric Caldow¹
Alex Cleland
Davie Cooper¹
Sammy Cox¹
Gordon Durie
Alex Ferguson
Barry Ferguson¹ ²
Duncan Ferguson
Robert Fleck
Torry Gillick¹
Andy Goram¹
Richard Gough¹
John Greig¹
Willie Henderson¹
Sandy Jardine¹
Mo Johnston
Derek Johnstone¹
Ally McCoist¹
Robert Smith McColl
George McLean
Ted McMinn
Moses McNeil¹
Bob McPhail¹
David Meiklejohn¹
Alan Morton¹
Gordon Ramsay
David Robertson
Jock Shaw¹
Gordon Smith
Graeme Souness¹
Colin Stein¹
Willie Waddell¹
Argentina Argentina
Claudio Caniggia
Australia Australia
Craig Moore
Tony Vidmar
Croatia Croatia
Dado Pršo²
Denmark Denmark
Erik Bo Andersen
Jesper Christiansen
Brian Laudrup¹
Peter Løvenkrands
England England
Terry Butcher¹
Paul Gascoigne¹
Mark Hateley¹
Nigel Spackman
Trevor Steven
Gary Stevens
Rod Wallace
Mark Walters
Ray Wilkins¹
Chris Woods
Finland Finland
Jonaton Johansson
Antti Niemi
France France
Basile Boli
Lionel Charbonnier
Stephane Guivarc’h
Georgia (country) Georgia
Shota Arveladze
Zurab Khizanishvili
Germany Germany
Jorg Albertz¹
Stefan Klos²
Italy Italy
Lorenzo Amoruso
Gennaro ‘Rino’ Gattuso
Marco Negri
Netherlands Netherlands
Frank de Boer
Ronald de Boer
Peter Huistra
Michael Mols
Arthur Numan
Giovanni van Bronckhorst
Peter van Vossen
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland
Sammy English
Norway Norway
Henning Berg
Tore Andre Flo
Russia Russia
Andrei Kanchelskis
Oleg Salenko
Spain Spain
Mikel Arteta
Sweden Sweden
Joachim Björklund
Robert Prytz
Jonas Thern
Turkey Turkey
Tugay Kerimoglu
Ukraine Ukraine
Alexei Mikhailichenko
United States United States
Claudio Reyna
¹ – Player is included in the Rangers F.C. Hall of Fame.
² – Player is currently playing for the club.
Team managers
Name Period
Scotland William Wilton 1899–1920
Scotland Bill Struth 1920–1954
Scotland Scott Symon 1954–1967
Scotland David White 1967–1969
Scotland William Waddell 1969–1972
Scotland Jock Wallace 1972–1978
Scotland John Greig 1978–1983
Scotland Jock Wallace 1983–1986
Scotland Graeme Souness 1986–1991
Scotland Walter Smith 1991–1998
Netherlands Dick Advocaat 1998–2001
Scotland Alex McLeish 2001–2006
France Paul Le Guen 2006–Present
Current squad
2006-07 Transfers
For a list of Rangers’ 2006-07 transfers, see Rangers F.C. season 2006-07
First-team squad
No. Position Player
1 Germany GK Stefan Klos
4 Belgium MF Thomas Buffel
5 Bosnia and Herzegovina DF Saša Papac
6 Scotland MF Barry Ferguson (captain)
7 France MF Brahim Hemdani
8 France MF Jérémy Clément
9 Croatia FW Dado Pršo
10 Spain FW Nacho Novo
11 Scotland MF Gavin Rae
14 Czech Republic MF Libor Sionko
15 Scotland FW Kris Boyd
16 England DF Phillip Bardsley (on loan from Man. United)
17 Scotland MF Chris Burke
No. Position Player
18 Scotland DF Ian Murray
19 Sweden DF Karl Svensson
20 Scotland DF Alan Hutton
21 France GK Lionel Letizi
22 Scotland GK Allan McGregor
23 Slovakia FW Filip Šebo
25 Scotland MF Charlie Adam
26 Scotland DF Steven Smith
27 France DF Julien Rodriguez
28 France DF Antoine Ponroy
29 France FW William Stanger
30 Senegal MF Makhtar N’Diaye
32 England MF Lee Martin (on loan from Man. United)
Out on loan
No. Position Player
– Netherlands DF Fernando Ricksen (on loan to Zenit Saint Petersburg)
Reserve & Youth Squad
No. Position Player
34 England GK Lee Robinson
35 Scotland FW Derek Carcary
37 Scotland MF Brian Gilmour
39 England FW Moses Ashikodi
41 Scotland DF Alan Lowing
42 Scotland MF Steven Lennon
43 Scotland MF Sam Woods
44 Scotland MF Paul Emslie
45 Scotland FW Rory Loy
46 Scotland DF Martin Ure
47 South Africa MF Dean Furman
49 Scotland DF Jordan McMillan
– Scotland GK Joe Sagar
50 Scotland DF Michael Donald
No. Position Player
53 Scotland MF William McLachlan
54 Scotland DF Scott Hadden
55 Scotland DF Ross Harvey
56 Scotland FW Chris Craig
57 Scotland MF Steven Kinniburgh
58 Scotland GK Scott Gallacher
59 Scotland DF Andrew Shinnie
66 Côte d’Ivoire FW Lacine Cheriff
68 Scotland DF Chris Smith
70 Scotland MF John Fleck
– Belgium MF Jeroen van den Broeck
– Northern Ireland FW Andrew Little
– Scotland FW Archie Campbell
Players out on loan:
Scotland Steven Campbell – to Partick Thistle
Scotland Bob Davidson – to Boston United
France Dany N’Guessan – to Boston United
Scotland Calum Reidford – to Dundee
Non-playing staff
Boardroom
Chairman: David Murray
Chief Executive: Martin Bain
Football Administrator: Andrew Dickson
Director of Finance: Donald McIntyre
Operations Executive: Laurence MacIntyre
Director: John Greig
Non-Executive Director: John McClelland
Non-Executive Director: Alastair Johnston
Non-Executive Director: David Cunningham King
Non-Executive Director: Donald Wilson
Management
Manager: Paul Le Guen
Assistant Manager: Yves Colleu
Reserve Coach: Ian Durrant
Under-19 Coach: Billy Kirkwood
Coach: Tommy Wilson
Head of Youth Football: Jim Sinclair
Goalkeeping Coach: Billy Thompson
Community Coach: Craig Mulholland
Club Doctor: Dr Ian McGuiness
Physiotherapist: Joel Le Hir
Physiotherapist: Davie Henderson
Fitness Coach: Stephane Wiertelak
Video Analysis: Steve Harvey
Kit Controller: Jimmy Bell
Club records
Record home attendance: 118,567 .v. Celtic, January 1939
Record victory: 13-0 .v. Possilpark, Scottish Cup, October 1877
Record league victory: 10-0 .v. Hibernian, December 1898
Record defeat: 2-10 .v. Airdrieonians, 1886
Record league defeat: 0-6 Dumbarton, May 1892
Record appearances: John Greig, 755, 1960-1978
Record league appearances: Sandy Archibald, 513, 1917-1934
Record Scottish Cup appearances: Alec Smith, 74
Record league cup appearances: John Greig, 121
Record European appearances: John Greig, 64
Record goalscorer: Ally McCoist, 355 goals, 1983-1998
Most goals in one season: Sam English, 44 goals, 1931/1932
Most league goals: Ally McCoist, 251 goals
Most Scottish Cup goals: Jimmy Fleming, 44 goals
Most League Cup goals: Ally McCoist, 54 goals
Most European goals: Ally McCoist, 21 goals
Shutout record: Chris Woods, 1196 minutes, 1986/87 (British record)
Most capped player: Frank de Boer, 112 caps for The Netherlands
Highest transfer fee received: Giovanni van Bronckhorst, £8.5m, Arsenal, 2001
Highest transfer fee paid: Tore André Flo, £12.5m, Chelsea, 2000
Greatest team
Goram
Jardine
Gough
Butcher
Greig
Cooper
Gascoigne
Baxter
Laudrup
Hateley
McCoist
Rangers’ Greatest Ever Team
The following team was voted as the greatest-ever Rangers team at an awards ceremony in 1999. Thousands of Rangers fans voted:
Scotland Andy Goram
Scotland Sandy Jardine
Scotland Richard Gough
England Terry Butcher
Scotland John Greig
Scotland Davie Cooper
Scotland Jim Baxter
England Paul Gascoigne
Denmark Brian Laudrup
England Mark Hateley
Scotland Ally McCoist
Honours
Rangers hold the world record for number of domestic league championships won , racking up 51 titles.
They hold the record for domestic trebles, with seven so far.
Rangers won their 100th major trophy in 2000, the first club in the world to reach that milestone.
Have competed in European competitions in more seasons than any other British club, 46 times as of and including 2006-07.[citation needed]
Major honours
European Cup Winners Cup Champions: 1972; Runners-up 1961, 1967
Scottish League Champions (51):
1891 1899 1900 1901 1902 1911 1912 1913 1918 1920 1921 1923 1924 1925 1927 1928 1929
1930 1931 1933 1934 1935 1937 1939 1947 1949 1950 1953 1956 1957 1959 1961 1963 1964
1975 1976 1978 1987 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1999 2000 2003 2005
Scottish Cup Winners (31):
1894 1897 1898 1903 1928 1930 1932 1934 1935 1936 1948 1949 1950 1953 1960 1962
1963 1964 1966 1973 1976 1978 1979 1981 1992 1993 1996 1999 2000 2002 2003
Scottish League Cup Winners (24):
1947 1949 1961 1962 1964 1965 1971 1976 1978 1979 1982 1984
1985 1987 1988 1989 1991 1993 1994 1997 1999 2002 2003 2005
Other honours
Emergency War League (1): 1940
Southern League (6): 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946
Milk Cup (3): (Premier) 1984, 1992; (Junior) 1985
Drybrough Cup (1): 1979
Tennents’ Sixes (2): 1984, 1989
Glasgow Cup (44): 1893, 1894, 1897, 1898, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1918, 1919, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1930, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1940, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1948, 1950, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1969, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987
1975 trophy shared with Celtic after 2-2 draw
Glasgow Merchants and Charity Cup (32): 1878-79, 1896-97, 1899-1900, 1903-04, 1905-06, 1906-07, 1908-09, 1910-11, 1918-19, 1921-22, 1922-23, 1924-25, 1927-28, 1928-29, 1929-30, 1930-31, 1931-32, 1932-33, 1933-34, 1938-39, 1939-40, 1940-41, 1941-42, 1943-44, 1944-45, 1945-46, 1946-47, 1947-48, 1950-51, 1954-55, 1956-57, 1959-60
Glasgow League (2): 1895/96, 1897/98
UEFA ranking
Current Club Ranking
44 Turkey Besiktas
45 Greece Olympiakos
46 Scotland Rangers
47 Italy Palermo
48 Belgium Anderlecht
Share your knowledge about 'Rangers' with the thousands of monthly visitors to this website. Additions, questions, corrections, obmissions, are all welcome (no matter how large or small), in fact we positively encourage it! Leave your contribution to the 'Rangers' page by filling in the form below.