History of Rangers F.C.

[1] This article covers the club's beginnings, while also documenting its European Cup Winners Cup success, the 1902 and 1971 Ibrox disasters, the nine-in-a-row league championship win, its financial insolvency of the early 2010s (which led to Rangers being refused SPL membership and their application and acceptance to the bottom tier of the Scottish Professional Football League), and its first top-flight championship since 2011 (denying city rivals Celtic a tenth title in a row, which would have been a record in Scotland's top tier).

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.

Baxter departed for England in 1965, but the void he left was filled by John Greig, and although Rangers finished the decade in the shadow of their European Cup-winning neighbours, the foundations were being laid for future success.

He had initially come to Rangers as assistant to manager Symon as part of a grooming process, giving him time to learn the ropes and take over when he was ready; however, White was on his own and in charge after five months at the club.

This performance was not caused due to a lack of investment in the playing squad,[15] for a total of £495,000 was spent bringing in Iain Ferguson and Cammy Fraser from Dundee, Ted McMinn from Queen of the South, and the return of Derek Johnstone from Chelsea.

[18] Six days later, Souness won his first trophy at Rangers when they defeated Celtic 3–2 after extra time in the Glasgow Cup Final, Ally McCoist scored a hat-trick in front of over 40,000 fans at Ibrox.

Before his departure, Souness sold club captain Terry Butcher and spent big money on striker Mark Hateley, winger Pieter Huistra and forgotten man Oleg Kuznetsov.

Many players from the nine-in-a-row era left Rangers, including Brian Laudrup, Ally McCoist, Ian Durrant, Stuart McCall and club captain Richard Gough.

It was rumoured that failure to gain entry into the new UEFA Cup group stage would see McLeish lose his job, but another late goal and a penalty shootout win over Marítimo of Portugal provided him with a stay of execution.

Boumsong, in particular, was a marked success, but he was sold in January 2005, after only six months at the club, to then Premier League side Newcastle United (managed by former Gers boss Graeme Souness) for £8 million.

In perhaps even more dramatic circumstances than two years previously,[38] Motherwell overcame a 1–0 deficit, with two goals in injury time from Scott McDonald, to defeat the Parkhead side, while Rangers edged out a tight single-goal victory at Easter Road.

The financial consequences of the failures to qualify for the Champions League were revealed when the club posted a loss of £3.9 million 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.

[68] Player departures included Chris Burke, Jean-Claude Darcheville and a couple out-on-loan deals, but the increased debt meant that the club needed to find a cash injection.

The match was Walter Smith's first-ever Old Firm final and was marred by a Kirk Broadfoot sending off deep into extra time for a foul on Aiden McGeady inside the penalty box.

A 3–0 defeat in Valencia, followed by a 1–0 loss at home to Manchester United, ended Rangers' chances of qualifying for the last sixteen, but third place and a spot in the UEFA Europa League was already secured after Bursaspor failed to pick up a point in five games.

[131][132] Concurrently, Rangers' former commercial director Imran Ahmad finally succeeded in a bid to have £620,000 of club assets frozen prior to pursuing litigation over an alleged unpaid £500,000 bonus.

[149] In exchange for the initial funding, Ashley was granted critical power at the club with the privilege to put forward the names of two nominees for appointment to the board as well as security over Edmiston House and Albion Car Park.

[150] As a consequence of his power gain, both Philip Nash and Graham Wallace were forced out of the club[151] and Derek Llambias and Barry Leach were brought in, initially as consultants,[152] before being appointed chief executive[153] and finance director,[154] respectively.

[158] Also in December, the Scottish Professional Football League added to Rangers' financial woes by withholding £250,000 of broadcast money the club was due in a bid to recoup a fine imposed by the Nimmo Smith Commission.

The effect of the club's financial issues, as underlined by the interim results that November, proved the catalyst for McCoist's departure as he became unhappy with the number of staff losing their jobs at Rangers.

[221] A week later, Green took the company to the Court of Session in an attempt to force the PLC to pay his legal fees with regards to the forthcoming trial;[222] however, the action was dismissed by Lord Doherty a few months later[223] and an appeal to the Inner House was also refused in March 2016.

[233] This judgement caused debate in Scottish football as many people erroneously believed the decision made by the Nimmo Smith commission not to strip Rangers of titles was based on the outcome of the tax case.

[240] In the end, the court action against King was discontinued by Sports Direct as the company halted litigation, claiming a breach of confidentiality, in relation to a commercial deal, which the judge called "ridiculous".

[251] Despite this, Rangers continuing a winning steak for the first eleven games of the league season which gave the club an eight-point lead over second-placed Hibernian at the top of the table by late October.

[256] Alongside this rich vein of form, second-placed Hibs suffered a run of three defeats within a week to see them trail Rangers at the top of the table by fourteen points as the season entered March.

[274] The end of May saw Rangers continue preparations for the forthcoming season with the signing of English Championship winner Joey Barton from Burnley, Liverpool youth player Jordan Rossiter[275] and former Tottenham Hotspur playmaker Niko Kranjčar.

The January transfer window saw the club released several former youth prospects who had failed to meet expectations, while Mark Warburton brought in two young loanee signings from English Premier League sides in the shape of Emerson Hyndman and Jon Toral from AFC Bournemouth and Arsenal, respectively.

The first team's poor performance in the first half of the season a prominent cause, which crystallised after a 4–1 defeat at Hearts on 1 February[313] and a 1–1 draw at home to Ross County three days later, a match which proved to be Warburton's last game in charge.

On 31 October 2016 it emerged that Ashley lodged a counter-suit against Rangers, King and director Paul Murray,[349] with initial proceedings regarding the case being heard at the High Court of Justice in March 2017.

[357] In November, the fans' group increased its holding further to become the fifth-largest individual shareholder, possessing just over five million ordinary shares;[358] however, further setbacks saw three directors resign from the board of Club 1872 after only six months in their post.