1997–98 Rangers F.C. season explained

The 1997–98 season was the 118th season of competitive football by Rangers.

Overview

Rangers played a total of 52 competitive matches during the 1997–98 season. They went into the season in pursuit of a record tenth consecutive league title. The early season form of new signing Marco Negri gave the team fresh impetus but when the then manager Walter Smith announced that he would leave the club at the end of the season the side's form dipped. Rangers finished the league on 72 points, two behind champions Celtic.

The club ended the season trophyless for the first time in twelve seasons as they lost the Scottish Cup final to Hearts 2–1 and were knocked out League Cup in the quarter-finals by Dundee United.

In Europe, the club failed to reach the Champions League group stages and fell at the first hurdle in the UEFA Cup, losing both legs 2–1 to RC Strasbourg.

Transfers

In

Date	Player	From	Fee
29 May 1997			£3,950,000[1]
			£1,650,000[2]
10 June 1997			£3,000,000[3]
18 June 1997			£3,500,000[4]
20 June 1997			£700,000[5]
1 July 1997			Free[6]
			Free[7]
			Free[8]
13 August 1997			£500,000[9]
14 October 1997			Free[10]

Out

Date	Player	To	Fee
8 May 1997			Free[11]
12 May 1997			£500,000[12]
15 May 1997			Free[13]
31 May 1997			Free
			Free
		Retired[14]
		Retired
30 June 1997			£100,000[15]
30 October 1997			£800,000[16]
28 November 1997			Free
20 February 1998			£100,000[17]
26 March 1998			£3,450,000[18]

• Expenditure: £13,300,000
• Income: £4,950,000
• Total loss/gain: £8,350,000

Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

Scottish Premier Division

See main article: 1997–98 Scottish Premier Division.

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
4 August 1997	Heart of Midlothian	H	3–1	48,257	Negri (2), Cleland
23 August 1997	Dundee United	H	5–1	48,599	Negri (5)
13 September 1997	Aberdeen	H	3–3	50,030	Negri (pen.), Albertz, Laudrup
20 September 1997	St Johnstone	A	2–0	10,093	Negri (2)
24 September 1997	Kilmarnock	A	3–0	15,367	Negri (2), Stensaas
27 September 1997	Motherwell	H	2–2	48,672	Negri, Porrini
4 October 1997	Hibernian	A	4–3	15,169	Negri (2, 1 (pen.)), Gascoigne, Albertz
18 October 1997	Dunfermline Athletic	H	7–0	50,023	Laudrup, Negri (4), Gascoigne (2)
25 October 1997	Dundee United	A	1–2	12,600	Negri
1 November 1997	Kilmarnock	H	4–1	49,413	Negri (3, 1 (pen.)), Porrini
8 November 1997	Celtic	H	1–0	50,082	Gough
15 November 1997	Aberdeen	A	1–1	18,117	Albertz
19 November 1997	Celtic	A	1–1	49,427	Negri
22 November 1997	Motherwell	A	1–1	12,018	McCoist
29 November 1997	St Johnstone	H	3–2	50,142	Gattuso, Negri (2)
7 December 1997	Hibernian	H	1–0	48,070	Negri
13 December 1997	Dunfermline Athletic	A	0–0	12,443
20 December 1997	Heart of Midlothian	A	5–2	17,092	Durie (3), Negri (pen.), Albertz
27 December 1997	Dundee United	H	4–1	50,017	Laudrup, Cleland, Negri (2, 1 (pen.))
2 January 1998	Celtic	A	0–2	49,396
10 January 1998	Aberdeen	H	2–0	49,502	Laudrup, Porrini
17 January 1998	Motherwell	H	1–0	49,443	Cleland
31 January 1998	St Johnstone	A	0–2	10,441
7 February 1998	Dunfermline Athletic	H	1–1	49,019	Porrini
21 February 1998	Hibernian	A	2–1	13,968	Negri, Albertz
24 February 1998	Kilmarnock	A	1–1	15,931	Thern
28 February 1998	Heart of Midlothian	H	2–2	50,046	Albertz (2)
14 March 1998	Motherwell	A	1–2	11,779	McCoist
21 March 1998	St Johnstone	H	2–1	49,788	Negri, Thern
28 March 1998	Dunfermline Athletic	A	3–2	11,531	McCoist (2), Thern
1 April 1998	Hibernian	H	3–0	50,121	McCoist, Thern, Durie
12 April 1998	Celtic	H	2–0	50,042	Thern, Albertz
19 April 1998	Aberdeen	A	0–1	17,981
25 April 1998	Heart of Midlothian	A	3–0	17,415	Gattuso (2), Albertz
2 May 1998	Kilmarnock	H	0–1	50,116
9 May 1998	Dundee United	A	2–1	14,200	Laudrup, Albertz (pen.)

Scottish League Cup

See main article: 1997–98 Scottish League Cup.

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
7 August 1997	R2	Hamilton Academical	A	1–0	8,866	McCoist
19 August 1997	R3	Falkirk	H	4–1	43,606	McCoist (3, 1 (pen.)), Stensaas
9 September 1997	QF	Dundee United	H	0–1	44,440

Scottish Cup

See main article: 1997–98 Scottish Cup.

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
24 January 1998	R3	Hamilton Academical	A	2–1	11,915	Durie, Gough
14 February 1998	R4	Motherwell	A	2–2	12,602	Negri, Durie
17 February 1998	R4 R	Motherwell	H	3–0	42,043	Albertz (2), Durie
9 March 1998	QF	Dundee	H	0–0	40,309
18 March 1998	QF R	Dundee	A	2–1	12,418	McCoist (2)
5 April 1998	SF	Celtic	A	2–1	48,993	McCoist, Albertz
16 May 1998	F	Heart of Midlothian	N	1–2	48,946	McCoist

UEFA Champions League

See main article: 1997–98 UEFA Champions League.

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
23 July 1997	QR1	GÍ	A	5–0	2,200	Negri, Durie (2), McCoist (2)
30 July 1997	QR1	GÍ	H	6–0	44,433	Durie, Negri (2), McCoist, Albertz, I.Ferguson
13 August 1997	QR2	IFK Göteborg	A	0–3	20,000
27 August 1997	QR2	IFK Göteborg	H	1–1	45,585	Miller

UEFA Cup

See main article: 1997–98 UEFA Cup.

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
16 September 1997	R1	Strasbourg	A	1–2	12,450	Albertz (pen.)
30 September 1997	R1	Strasbourg	H	1–2	40,145	Gattuso

Appearances

Player	Position	Appearances	Goals
Andy Goram	GK	36	0
Antti Niemi	GK	7	0
Theo Snelders	GK	9	0
Joachim Björklund	DF	43	0
Gary Bollan	DF	2	0
Alex Cleland	DF	41	4
Richard Gough	DF	30	2
Craig Moore	DF	15	3
Gordan Petrić	DF	11	0
Sergio Porrini	DF	37	4
Lorenzo Amoruso	DF	9	2
Ståle Stensaas	DF	28	2
Jonas Thern	MF	29	4
Tony Vidmar	DF	15	4
Stephen Wright	DF	1	0
Jörg Albertz	MF	42	15
Ian Durrant	MF	12	0
Barry Ferguson	MF	11	0
Ian Ferguson	MF	17	3
Paul Gascoigne	MF	27	3
Rino Gattuso	MF	37	5
Brian Laudrup	MF	36	5
Stuart McCall	MF	38	2
Derek McInnes	MF	1	0
Charlie Miller	MF	11	4
Erik Bo Andersen	FW	1	0
Gordon Durie	FW	39	9
Jonatan Johansson	FW	8	0
Ally McCoist	FW	26	16
Marco Negri	FW	40	37
Sebastián Rozental	FW	4	0
Peter van Vossen	FW	3	0

Notes and References

1. News: Amoruso and Stensaas sign in £5.6m deal and there's more to come: Rangers answer the cry of no defenders. The Herald. 30 May 1997.
2. News: Amoruso and Stensaas sign in £5.6m deal and there's more to come: Rangers answer the cry of no defenders. The Herald. 30 May 1997 .
3. News: Murray, Smith in talks with Laudrup as another new man arrives: £3m Porrini joins the Italian family at Ibrox. The Herald. 11 June 1997.
4. News: Italian No.4 joins the Ibrox colony: Striker Negri a £3.5m signing as prospect of Moens deal fades. The Herald. 19 June 1997.
5. News: Ajax told Laudrup is staying as Niemi signs. The Herald. 21 June 1997 .
6. News: Rangers sign Italian but Melli is rejected . The Herald. 11 April 1997.
7. News: No end to the buying spree . The Herald. 2 July 1997 .
8. News: Smith denies £1m Australian full back is replacement for Robertson: Rangers use Bosman rules to sign Vidmar . The Herald. 20 February 1997 .
9. News: Unfamiliar scorer but Rangers' win gives league same old shape: Cleland goal secures early lead for the champions . The Herald. 5 August 1997 .
10. News: Rangers silent on Gazza rumours . The Herald. 15 October 1997 .
11. News: GOUGH IS UP, UP AND AWAY FOR A BRIGHT NEW FUTURE IN AMERICA. The Herald. 9 May 1997 .
12. News: SOS for players as Robertson joins Leeds for £500,000: Watson and Waddle join Ibrox "line-up". The Herald. 13 May 1997 .
13. Web site: Life goes on for Oleg. Rangers News. RangersHistory on Twitter, 12 August 2014. 21 May 1997. 14 September 2018.
14. News: Steven forced to quit. Sunday Mail. 1 June 1997 .
15. The Mirror, 1 July 1997
16. News: Changing times for Rangers, but the dreams of glory are still the same: New man will have a multi-million new broom. The Herald. 31 October 1997 .
17. News: Bollan signing will strengthen Saints. The Herald. 21 February 1998.
18. News: Robson prepared for grief from Gazza. The Herald. 26 March 1998 .