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Rangers F.C.

Full name	Rangers Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Gers
Founded	1873
Ground	Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, Scotland
Capacity	50,411
Chairman	David Murray
Manager	Alex McLeish
League	Scottish Premier League
2003-04	Scottish Premier League, 2nd
Home colours Away colours

Rangers Football Club is among the world's most successful football clubs. Founded in 1873 (although the club itself was founded in 1873, the same team was founded in 1872 - see below), Rangers play at the 50,411 seat Ibrox Stadium in south west Glasgow. Rangers play in royal blue shirts, white shorts and black and red socks.

History

In 1872, Moses McNeil, Tom Vallance and Peter Campbell saw a group of men playing football on Glasgow Green's Flesher's Haugh and decided to form a team of their own. Three of McNeil's six brothers (Peter, William and Harry) joined him in this this new pastime and together they formed the core of the early Rangers sides. The team's first game was in May of 1872 against Callander F.C. on Flesher's Haugh, which resulted in a 0-0 draw. At first they played under the name Argyle. Moses McNeil suggested the name Rangers after seeing the name in a book about English Rugby.

Identified with the city's Protestant community, the club is commonly believed to have broken with tradition by signing a prominent Scottish (and Celtic-supporting) Roman Catholic player Maurice "Mo" Johnston in 1989.However, this is an urban myth and there were others before him, most notably John Spencer. The present side is multinational and multiracial, and religion is no longer an issue with the club. For most of its history it has enjoyed a fierce rivalry with crosstown opponents Celtic, which in contrast draws much of its support from Glasgow's Catholic community. Between them the two clubs dominate Scottish football, and are collectively known as The Old Firm.

The club's correct name is simply Rangers, although they are sometimes (incorrectly) called Glasgow Rangers - often by English commentators seeking to distinguish between them and other similarly named clubs, particularly Queens Park Rangers. The club is nicknamed The Gers by friend and foe alike, although the fans are known as "Bluenoses" or "Bears".

In 1972, Rangers won the European Cup Winners Cup, beating Dynamo Moscow by a score of 3-2 in Barcelona. Rangers have won a world record 50 domestic championships, the most recent coming in 2003.

During the 1990s the club was controlled by metals tycoon David Murray, who invested heavily in the ground and in buying expensive playing talent. Rangers won the Scottish League championship nine years in a row, from 1989 to 1997, and generally dominated Scottish football during that period. The club was criticised during this time, as some felt the amount spent on foreign players detracted from investment in developing home-grown players, although the creation of their training facility, "Murray Park", has led to steps being taken to correct this. The resurgence of rivals Celtic in the late 1990s has seen Rangers face a revival of significant opposition. Both teams are believed to harbour ambitions to play with leading English clubs in a lucrative "superleague", rather in the (somewhat anaemic) Scottish Premier League.

Unfortunately for Glasgow Rangers in recent years they have been overshadowed by their superior neighbours, Celtic F.C. Rangers are behind in terms of stadia quality, playing ability and goodwill of fans. While Celtic fans are applauded worldwide for their sportsmanship Rangers fans are still widely acknowledged as being dominated by bigots.

Famous present or former players at Ibrox include: Alan Morton, David Meiklejohn, Robert Smith McColl, Willie Waddell, Jock Shaw, Paul Gascoigne, Terry Butcher, Graeme Souness, Ally McCoist, Alvin Stardust, Mark Hateley, Brian Laudrup, Claudio Reyna, Arthur Numan, Lorenzo Amoruso, Rodney Wallace, Fernando Ricksen, Jim Baxter, Ray Wilkins, Adolf Hitler, Richard Gough, Andy Goram, Barry Ferguson, William 'Sandy' Jardine and Jean-Alain Boumsong.

Past Managers

• William Walton 1899 - 1920
• Bill Struth 1920 - 1954
• Scott Symon 1954 - 1967
• David White 1967 - 1969
• William Waddel 1969 - 1972
• Jock Wallace (twice) 1972 - 1978 and 1983 - 1986
• John Greig 1978 - 1983
• Graeme Souness 1986 - 1991
• Walter Smith 1991 - 1998
• Dick Advocaat 1998 - 2002
• Alex McLeish 2002 - Present

Current Squad

Goalkeepers

1.	Stefan Klos	German
22.	Alan McGregor
25.	Ronald Waterreus	Dutch
30.	Greame Smith

Defenders

2.	Fernando Ricksen	Dutch
5.	Marvin Andrews	Trinidadian
12.	Robert Malcolm
15.	Zurab Khizanishvili	Georgian
16.	Sotiris Kyrgiakos	Greek
18.	Michael Ball	English
20.	Alan Hutton
21.	Maurice Ross
24.	Gregory Vignal

Midfielders

4.	Thomas Buffel	Belgian
6.	Barry Ferguson
8.	Alex Rae
11.	Gavin Rae
14.	Dragan Mladenovic	Serbian
17.	Christopher Burke
23.	Bojan Djordjic	Swedish
26.	Peter Løvenkrands	Danish
31.	Hamed Namouchi	Tunisian
35.	Brian McLean
36.	Marc Kalenga
20.	Charles Adam
48.	Gary McKenzie

Strikers

7.	Shota Arveladze	Georgian
9.	Dado Prso	Croatian
10.	Nacho Novo	Spanish
19.	Steven Thompson
38.	Bajiram Fetai	Danish
39.	Tom Brighton
42.	Robert Davidson
45.	Ross McCormack
45.	Gary McKenzie

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: 1-7 .v. Celtic, League Cup Final, October, 1957

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, 54 goals

Most Scottish Cup goals: Jimmy Fleming, 44 goals

Most League Cup goals: Ally McCoist, 54 goals

Most European goals: Ally McCoist, 21 goals

Most capped player: Terry Butcher, 77 caps for England

Highest transfer fee received: Giovanni Van Bronkhorst, £8.5m, Arsenal, 2001

Highest transfer fee paid: Tore Andre Flo, £12.5m, Chelsea, 2000

Greatest Team

The following team was voted as the greatest ever Rangers team at an awards ceremony in 1999. Thousands of Rangers fans voted.

• Andy Goram (Goalkeeper)
• John Greig (Defender)
• Sandy Jardine (Defender)
• Terry Butcher (Defender)
• Richard Gough (Defender)
• Jim Baxter (Midfielder)
• Paul Gascoigne (Midfielder)
• Davie Cooper (Midfielder)
• Brian Laudrup (Midfielder)
• Mark Hately (striker)
• Ally McCoist (striker)

Honours

Rangers have the all-time worldwide lead for domestic league championships, racking up their 50th title in 2003. They also share the all-time worldwide lead for domestic doubles with Northern Ireland club Linfield, with 17 as of 2004-05.

Rangers won their 100th major trophy in 2000, the first club in the world to reach that milestone.

• European Cup Winners Cup 1972 (1)
• Scottish League Champions 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 (50)
• Scottish Cup Winners 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 (31)
• Scottish League Cup Winners 1946, 1948, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1970, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2003 (23)
• Drybrough Cup 1979

See also

• Category:Rangers F.C. - Other articles on Rangers F.C.
• Category:Rangers F.C. footballers - Footballers who have played for Rangers F.C.

External link

• Official website
• FollowFollow messageboard

• Rangers F.C.
• Scottish football clubs
• Glasgow