List of Rangers F.C. players
This is a list of notable footballers who have played for Rangers.
The list includes all players that have appeared in one hundred or more first-team (league, Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup, Scottish Challenge Cup or European competition) matches for the club which totals 243 current and former players. Further to this, a player can also be included where they are regarded as having played a significant role for the club (e.g. players involved in the 1971–72 Cup Winners' Cup campaign or have been named club captain), but the reason for their inclusion should be indicated in the Notes column. All Rangers Hall of Fame members are denoted by an emboldened name.
For a full list of all Rangers players with Wikipedia articles see Category:Rangers F.C. players. For player appearance records see Rangers F.C. records.
Players should be listed according to the date they first signed with the club. Appearances and goals are for competitive first-team matches only; wartime matches are excluded. Substitute appearances included.
Notable players
- Appearances and goals are for first-team competitive matches only, including Scottish Premier League, Scottish Football League, Scottish Cup, League Cup, Challenge Cup, European Cup/Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League, Cup Winners' Cup, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and Super Cup.
Pre-1960s | Post-1960s | ||
---|---|---|---|
GK | Goalkeeper | ||
FB | Full back | DF | Defender |
HB | Half back | MF | Midfielder |
FW | Forward | ||
U | Utility player1 |
- As of 8 February 2021.
Club captains
Since the club's formation in 1872, over thirty players have permanently held the position of club captain for Rangers F.C. The first club captain was Tom Vallance, who was captain from 1876 to 1882. The longest-serving captain is John Greig, who was club captain from 1965 until his retirement in 1978. The current club captain is James Tavernier, who took over from Lee Wallace in 2018.
Although many players have held the position of captain during matches and in many occasions several matches in a row, when the club captain was injured or suspended, this list only includes players that have been officially appointed as the captain of Rangers Football Club.
Name | From | To | Tenure | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tom Vallance | 1876 | 1882 | 6 years | First known club captain. |
David Mitchell | 1882 | 1894 | 2 years | First captain to win the Scottish Cup. |
John McPherson | 1894 | 1898 | 4 years | |
Robert Hamilton | 1898 | 1906 | 8 years | |
Robert Campbell | 4 years | Captain for four years between 1906 and 1916. | ||
Tommy Cairns | 1916 | 1926 | 10 years | |
Bert Manderson | 1926 | 1927 | 1 year | First non-Scottish captain of the club. |
Tommy Muirhead | 1927 | 1930 | 3 years | |
David Meiklejohn | 1930 | 1938 | 8 years | |
Jimmy Simpson | 1938 | 1940 | 2 years | |
Jock Shaw | 1940 | 1957 | 13 years | |
George Young | 1953 | 1957 | 4 years | |
Ian McColl | 1957 | 1960 | 3 years | |
Eric Caldow | 1960 | 1962 | 2 years | |
Bobby Shearer | 1962 | 1965 | 3 years | |
John Greig | 1965 | 1978 | 13 years | Retired as a footballer to become manager of the club. |
Derek Johnstone | 1978 | 1983 | 5 years | Named captain by Greig after requesting a transfer. |
John McClelland | 1983 | 21 September 1984 | 1 year | Stripped of captaincy in September due to contract talks. |
Craig Paterson | 21 September 1984 | 1 August 1986 | 1 year, 314 days | |
Terry Butcher | 1 August 1986 | 23 September 1990 | 4 years, 53 days | Made captain on day signed, 1 August. |
Richard Gough | 23 September 1990 | 31 May 1997 | 6 years, 255 days | Appointed captain after a row between Souness and Butcher. |
Brian Laudrup | 1 June 1997 | 18 October 1997 | 139 days | First non-British captain of the club. |
Richard Gough | 18 October 1997 | 31 May 1998 | 225 days | Returned to the club in October and was re-appointed captain.[22] |
Lorenzo Amoruso | 1 June 1998 | 31 October 2000 | 2 years, 152 days | Appointed by Dick Advocaat and was the club's first Catholic captain.[23] |
Barry Ferguson | 31 October 2000 | 29 August 2003 | 2 years, 302 days | Became captain aged only 22.[24][25] |
Craig Moore | 3 January 2003 | 8 July 2004 | 1 year, 187 days | Removed as captain after disagreement with McLeish.[26] |
Stefan Klos | 17 July 2004 | 7 July 2005 | 1 year, 10 days | First goalkeeper captain,[27] Ricksen stood-in after he was injured. |
Barry Ferguson | 7 July 2005 | 1 January 2007 | 1 year, 178 days | Stripped of captaincy by Paul Le Guen.[28] |
Gavin Rae | 1 January 2007 | 13 January 2007 | 12 days | Captained the club for only 13 days.[29] |
Barry Ferguson | 13 January 2007 | 30 April 2009 | 2 years, 80 days | Stripped of captaincy by Walter Smith.[30] |
David Weir | 3 April 2009 | 20 January 2012 | 2 years, 292 days | Made captain on 3 April,[30] having previously been vice captain.[31] |
Steven Davis | 20 January 2012 | 6 June 2012 | 168 days | Stand in at start of 2011–12 season, permanent from 20 January.[32] |
Carlos Bocanegra | 29 July 2012 | 31 August 2012 | 33 days | Club captain for only seven games.[33] |
Lee McCulloch | 1 September 2012 | 31 May 2015 | 2 years, 272 days | Club captain over three divisions.[34] |
Lee Wallace | 25 July 2015 | 6 July 2018 | 2 years, 346 days | Former VC, became captain from start of season, officially 16 August.[35] |
James Tavernier | 6 July 2018 | 2 years, 217 days | Former VC, now current captain from 6 July.[36] |
Hall of fame
The Rangers F.C. Hall of fame is a list established in 2000 by the then Rangers chairman, David Murray, the first of any club in Britain.[37] He decided that the club should remember and honour the achievements and contribution made to Rangers by its finest players throughout its history. A mahogany panel above the famous marble staircase was assigned to display the names of those former players inducted into the Hall of Fame and an annual presentation ceremony was instigated where the players honoured received their award.
The following five criteria are considered by the panel when selecting new members include the individuals service to the club including the number of appearances made, the honours and international caps won whilst with the club and the players exceptional ability.
The first member elected was Moses McNeil, one of the founders of Rangers.
2011 inductees[39] |
|
|
|
References
- One of the four founders of Rangers.
- McNeil became the first Rangers player to play international football when he played for Scotland against Wales in 1876.
- Vallance was Rangers' first captain.
- Holds the record for most Scottish Cup appearances by a Rangers player, with 74 in his career.
- Holds the record for most league appearances by a Rangers player, with 513 between 1917 and 1934.
- Robb played in 241 consecutive matches for Rangers between 1920 and 1925
- Rangers' second top goalscorer of all time, with 261 goals in 408 matches.
- English holds the record for the most league goals scored in a season for Rangers, with 44 in the 1931–1932 season.
- Murray scored Rangers' first goal in European football, against OGC Nice in 1956.
- Greig holds the record for most appearances for Rangers, with 755 in his seventeen year spell at the club. He was voted the Greatest Ever Ranger Archived 30 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine in 1999.
- Holds the record for the most goals scored in one season for Rangers, with 57 in the 1964–1965 season.
- McKean died while still a Rangers first team player, in a carbon monoxide poisoning accident in 1978.
- Rangers' all-time record goalscorer, with 355 goals between 1983 and 1998.
- Souness is the only player-manager in the history of Rangers.
- Ray Wilkins was inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame in 2003
- "Ray Wilkins – Rangers". Sporting Heroes. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
- Goram was voted Rangers "Greatest ever goalkeeper" Archived 16 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
- Ferguson became Rangers' youngest ever captain in the 2001–2002 season.
- McGregor holds the record for most European football appearances for the club with 83.
- Rangers received the highest transfer fee in their history when Hutton was sold to Tottenham Hotspur for £9,000,000 in 2008.
- Holds the record for the oldest first-team player for Rangers, aged 41 years 77 days.
- "Week Beginning 11 October 1997". reocities. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
- "Amo strikes at Catholic schools". BBC. BBC Sport. 20 June 2003.
- "Deposed captain in new Ibrox row". BBC Sport. 1 November 2000.
- "Rovers sign Ferguson". BBC Sport. 29 August 2003.
- "Rangers transfer list Moore". BBC Sport. 8 July 2004.
- "Klos new captain for Gers". BBC Sport. 17 July 2004.
- "Gers strip Ferguson of captaincy". BBC Sport. 1 January 2007.
- "Ferguson back as Rangers captain". BBC Sport. 13 January 2007.
- "Scots end Gers pair's cap career". BBC Sport. 3 April 2009.
- "Weir is stand-in Rangers captain". BBC Sport. 19 July 2008.
- "Reluctant David Weir ready for Rangers bow". BBC Sport. 20 January 2012.
- "Carlos Bocanegra joins Racing Santander on loan". BBC Sport. 31 August 2012.
- "Rangers 5–1 Elgin City". BBC Sport. 2 September 2012.
- Hedworth, Alice (16 August 2015). "Wallace Honoured To Be Skip". Rangers.co.uk. Rangers Football Club.
- Thomson, Nick (6 July 2018). "Tavernier Is My Leader". Rangers.co.uk. Rangers Football Club.
- "Hall of Fame". Rangers.co.uk. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
- "Fame Awards For Trio". Andrew Dickson. Rangers.co.uk. 30 March 2014.
- "Hall of Fame inductees". Rangers Football Club. Rangers.co.uk. 5 March 2014.
External links
- Rangers player history and stats at The Rangers Archive
- Bob Ferrier; Robert McElroy (1990). Glasgow Rangers: Player by Player. The Crowood Press. ISBN 1-85223-404-0.
- Bob Ferrier; Robert McElroy (1998). Glasgow Rangers: Player by Player. The Crowood Press. ISBN 0-600-59495-5.
- Bob Ferrier; Robert McElroy (2005). Rangers: The Complete Record. Breedon Books. ISBN 1-85983-481-7.