Club History

Rangers are one of Scotland's oldest, and certainly biggest clubs. Sharing a heated rivalry with cross-Glasgow side Celtic, the Gers have an incomparable trophy haul and, with 51 domestic titles to their name, are the most successful league club worldwide.

Venerable Rangers

The four founders of Rangers - brothers Moses and Peter McNeill, 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. Their only other match in 1872 ended up in an 11-0 victory over Clyde; a notable scoreline, but also a memorable occasion for inaugurating the club's famous royal blue strip, which it maintains to this day.ring the debut of the club's blue strip.

The club held its first annual meeting and staff election in 1873, this thus being considered the true, official foundation date of the club. 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 international, with Moses McNeil representing Scotland in a match against Wales, and by 1877 they had 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 largely comprised 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. (This, albeit in a vastly different incarnation, remains their home.)

Rangers' first ever league match took place on August 16, 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 51 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 Early Days

Rangers continued their successes as they entered the 20th century, racking up a host of titles prior to, and even after the First World War.

The 1920s, indeed, saw them dominate the domestic scene and, while the Second World War stopped them carrying it on from the 30s into the early 40s, the Gers picked up whree they left off by winning half the titles that the middle of the century had to offer.

The 60s, though, were not such a happy time, city rivals Celtic eclipsing Rangers, but that was all forgotten by 1972 when the Gers won the European Cup Winners' Cup, their first and to date only European honour.

Lifting the league title three years later seemed to indicate a return to good times but, as the 1980s dawned, things were looking bleak. Attendances were at their lowest for decades, honours thin on the ground, and not until the end of the decade, under the stewardship and spending of Graeme Souness, were things puts right.

Once again, Rangers, with the likes of Ally McCoist, Mark Hateley, and a host of continental stars, were to dominace the domestic scene, winning nine titles between 1989 and 1997, only narrowly missing out on ten in a row the following years. But one thing was for sure: with an all-star squad, a fantastic, regenerated Ibrox Stadium, and crowds back at full capacity, Rangers were back.

21st Century

At home and abroad, though, the 21st century proved a mixed time for Rangers. A drought of league titles for three years was overturned in dramatic fashion in 2003, with European highs and lows along the way.

It was another time of transition for the Ibrox men, with Walter Smith and Alex McLeish - both to manage Scotland in future - both moving on after their respective tenures. And thus began the most recent era at Ibrox.

Paul Le Guen replaced former manager Alex McLeish as manager after season 2005-06 which, despite being poor on the home front, saw Rangers reach the Last 32 of the Champions League, becoming the first Scottish side to do so since reconstruction. Still, Le Guen began to rebuild the squad using his contacts across the continent, but not everything was to go as planned.

Rangers started the season in poor form, even suffering the indignity of a lower-league defeat to St. Johnstone as they struggled to get a foothold domestically. Celtic, meanwhile, were clear at the top, and Hearts - who led the table to start with but faded a bit - were still able to hold on to second place. Things were better in Europe, Rangers crushing the likes of Livorno en route to the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup.

But there was always a tension there, with the likes of Barry Ferguson - Rangers' emblematic captain - apparently leading a pack of mosly Scottish players who had grown to resent their coach. These issues really flared up as the second Old Firm encounter approached, Le Guen and Ferguson differing publicy over the issue of the club captaincy.

As the New Year came and went, Le Guen went so far as to remove the armband from Barry. Some thought that that may be an end to the drama.

They were wrong. Three days after making that decision, Le Guen had left the club, becoming the shortest-serving manager in the Bears' history.

And the man to replace him was none other than Walter Smith, who hastily left the Scotland managerial position to take the job at the club that he loves. In this way, Rangers came full circle.

Smith steadied the ship as the Ibrox side racked up just two further defeats between January and May and, heading into 2007-08, Rangers secured a place in the Champions league group stage, opening - miraculously enough - with six points from six after edging past Stuttgart at home and unbelievably thrashing Paul Le Guen's former club, Lyon, on their own patch.

Domestically, it had been more hit than miss, but still a challenge. Nonetheless, Rangers were still very much in with a realistic chance of the league title - along with Celtic and surprise package Hibernian - by winter...