2007–08 Rangers F.C. season

Overview

Rangers played a total of 68 competitive matches during the 2007-08 season. It was Walter Smith's first full season at the club since 1997-98. The early season priority was qualification for the group stages of the Champions League and this was secured with hard-fought victories over FK Zeta and Red Star Belgrade.

Rangers were drawn in Group E with Barcelona, Lyon and Stuttgart. The group stage started well, with the first two matches resulting in victories, over Stuttgart and Lyon. A home draw with Barcelona left Rangers with seven points after three games, but the last three matches all resulted in defeat, meaning Rangers finished third in the group and entered the UEFA Cup. However, the European adventure continued for Rangers as they progressed to the semi-finals of the competition by beating Panathinaikos, Werder Bremen and Sporting Lisbon. They then reached the final with a penalty shootout victory against Fiorentina. They played Zenit Saint Petersburg, managed by formed Gers boss Dick Advocaat, in Manchester on 14 May. Rangers lost the match 2-0, with over 200,000 fans in the city to see the game.

On the domestic front, the race for the Scottish Premier League continued until the final matchday of the season. Both Celtic and Rangers were tied on 86 points going into their games (against Dundee United and Aberdeen respectively) on 22 May 2008, but Celtic were top of the table due to having a better goal difference of 57, six ahead of Rangers. This did not prove to be decisive, as Rangers surrendered their hopes of landing the championship with a 2-0 defeat away to the Dons, while Celtic beat Dundee United 1-0. The club had had a ten-point lead in late March, although their nearest rivals, Celtic, had games in hand at the time. However, being forced by the Scottish football authorities to play 4 competitive matches (including a UEFA Cup Final) in the last 8 days of the season proved just too great a hurdle for Rangers to overcome.

The club appeared in its first final since 2005. They played Dundee United on 16 March 2008 and won the League Cup on penalties. The match was tied 2-2 after extra time, with both goals coming from Kris Boyd who also scored the winning spot kick.

They also reached the final of the Scottish Cup for the 49th time. They beat St Johnstone 4-3 on penalties in the semi-final after the score was tied at 1-1 after extra time. The club played Queen of the South in the final on 24 May 2008 and won the match 3-2 thanks to goals from DaMarcus Beasley and a double from Kris Boyd.

In

Last updated: 22 August 2008
Total spending: £10.32m

Out

Last updated: 22 August 2008
Total spending: £9.79m

Squad statistics

Last updated: 24 May 2008
Source: Soccerbase - Rangers 2007/2008 player appearances
Ordered by squad numbers
0 shown as blank

Top Scorer

Last updated: 24 May 2008
Source: Match reports
Only competitive matches

Disciplinary record

Last updated: 24 May 2008
Source: Match reports
Only competitive matches

Scottish Premier League

Last updated: 22 May 2008
Source:
¹Rangers goals come first.
National flags for Ground and Opponent columns are only shown when different to that of Rangers.
M = Match; Ground: H = Home, A = Away, N = Neutral, HR = Home replacement, AR = Away replacement.

UEFA Champions League

Last updated: 12 December 2007
Source:
¹Rangers goals come first.
National flags for Ground and Opponent columns are only shown when different to that of Rangers.
M = Match; Ground: H = Home, A = Away, N = Neutral, HR = Home replacement, AR = Away replacement.

UEFA Cup

Last updated: 14 May 2008
Source:
¹Rangers goals come first.
National flags for Ground and Opponent columns are only shown when different to that of Rangers.
M = Match; Ground: H = Home, A = Away, N = Neutral, HR = Home replacement, AR = Away replacement.

Scottish Cup

Last updated: 24 May 2008
Source:
¹Rangers goals come first.
National flags for Ground and Opponent columns are only shown when different to that of Rangers.
M = Match; Ground: H = Home, A = Away, N = Neutral, HR = Home replacement, AR = Away replacement.

League Cup

Last updated: 16 March 2008
Source:
¹Rangers goals come first.
National flags for Ground and Opponent columns are only shown when different to that of Rangers.
M = Match; Ground: H = Home, A = Away, N = Neutral, HR = Home replacement, AR = Away replacement.

Friendlies

Last updated: 28 July 2007
Source:
¹Rangers goals come first.
National flags for Ground and Opponent columns are only shown when different to that of Rangers.
M = Match; Ground: H = Home, A = Away, N = Neutral, HR = Home replacement, AR = Away replacement.

Overall

Source: Competitions

Standings

Updated to games played on 24 May 2008.
Source: Scottish Premier League 2007–08
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Head-to-Head: used when head-to-head record is used to rank tied teams.

Results summary

Last updated: 24 May 2008.
Source: Scottish Premier League 2007–08

Results by round

Last updated: 22 May 2008.
Source: Scottish Premier League 2007–08
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Group E

Updated to games played on 15 December 2007.
Source: UEFA Champions League 2007-08
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Head-to-Head: used when head-to-head record is used to rank tied teams.