1997–98 Rangers F.C. season

Rangers
1997–98 season
ChairmanDavid Murray
ManagerWalter Smith
GroundIbrox Stadium
Scottish Premier Division2nd
Scottish CupRunners-up
League CupQuarter-final
Champions LeagueSecond qualifying round
UEFA CupFirst Round
Top goalscorerLeague:
Marco Negri (32)
All:
Marco Negri (37)

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 Lorenzo Amoruso Fiorentina £4,000,000[1]
Ståle Stensaas Rosenborg £1,650,000[2]
10 June 1997 Sergio Porrini Juventus £3,000,000[3]
18 June 1997 Marco Negri Perugia £3,500,000[4]
20 June 1997 Antti Niemi Copenhagen £700,000[5]
1 July 1997 Gennaro Gattuso Perugia Free[6]
Jonas Thern Roma Free[7]
Tony Vidmar NAC Breda Free[8]
13 August 1997 Jonatan Johansson Flora Tallinn £500,000[9]
14 October 1997 Richard Gough Kansas City Wizards Free[10]

Out

Date Player To Fee
8 May 1997 Richard Gough Kansas City Wizards Free[11]
12 May 1997 David Robertson Leeds United £500,000[12]
15 May 1997 Barry Robson Inverness Caledonian Thistle Free[13]
31 May 1997 Mark Hateley Hull City Free
Andy Dibble Sheffield United Free
Trevor Steven Retired[14]
John Brown Retired
30 June 1997 Greg Shields Dunfermline Athletic £100,000[15]
30 October 1997 Erik Bo Andersen Odense BK £800,000[16]
28 November 1997 Brian McGinty Hull City Free
20 February 1998 Gary Bollan St Johnstone £100,000[17]
26 March 1998 Paul Gascoigne Middlesbrough £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

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

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

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

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

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

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Celtic (C) 36 22 8 6 64 24 +40 74 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Rangers 36 21 9 6 76 38 +38 72 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round
3 Heart of Midlothian 36 19 10 7 70 46 +24 67 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round
4 Kilmarnock 36 13 11 12 40 52 −12 50 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round
5 St Johnstone 36 13 9 14 38 42 −4 48
Source: Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions

References

  1. ^ "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. ^ "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. ^ "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. ^ "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. ^ "Ajax told Laudrup is staying as Niemi signs". The Herald. 21 June 1997.
  6. ^ "Rangers sign Italian but Melli is rejected". The Herald. 11 April 1997.
  7. ^ "No end to the buying spree". The Herald. 2 July 1997.
  8. ^ "Smith denies £1m Australian full back is replacement for Robertson: Rangers use Bosman rules to sign Vidmar". The Herald. 20 February 1997.
  9. ^ "Unfamiliar scorer but Rangers' win gives league same old shape: Cleland goal secures early lead for the champions". The Herald. 5 August 1997.
  10. ^ "Rangers silent on Gazza rumours". The Herald. 15 October 1997.
  11. ^ "GOUGH IS UP, UP AND AWAY FOR A BRIGHT NEW FUTURE IN AMERICA". The Herald. 9 May 1997.
  12. ^ "SOS for players as Robertson joins Leeds for £500,000: Watson and Waddle join Ibrox "line-up"". The Herald. 13 May 1997.
  13. ^ "Life goes on for Oleg". Rangers News. 21 May 1997. Retrieved 14 September 2018 – via RangersHistory on Twitter, 12 August 2014.
  14. ^ "Steven forced to quit". Sunday Mail. 1 June 1997.
  15. ^ The Mirror, 1 July 1997
  16. ^ "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. ^ "Bollan signing will strengthen Saints". The Herald. 21 February 1998.
  18. ^ "Robson prepared for grief from Gazza". The Herald. 26 March 1998.
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