1997–98 Rangers F.C. season

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

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

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
10 April 1997 Italy Gennaro GattusoItaly PerugiaFree[1]
29 May 1997 Italy Lorenzo AmorusoItaly Fiorentina£3,950,000[2]
29 May 1997 Norway Ståle StensaasNorway Rosenborg£1,650,000[3]
10 June 1997 Italy Sergio PorriniItaly Juventus£3,000,000[4]
18 June 1997 Italy Marco NegriItaly Perugia£3,500,000[5]
20 June 1997 Finland Antti NiemiDenmark FC Copenhagen£700,000[6]
1 July 1997 Australia Tony VidmarNetherlands NAC BredaFree[7]
1 July 1997 Sweden Jonas ThernItaly A.S. RomaFree[8]
13 August 1997 Finland Jonatan JohanssonEstonia Flora Tallinn£500,000[9]
14 October 1997 Scotland Richard GoughUnited States Kansas City WizardsFree[10]

Out
Date Player To Fee
8 May 1997 Scotland Richard GoughUnited States Kansas City WizardsFree[11]
12 May 1997 Scotland David RobertsonEngland Leeds United£500,000[12]
15 May 1997 Scotland Barry RobsonReleased[13]
31 May 1997 England Mark HateleyEngland Hull CityReleased
31 May 1997 Wales Andy DibbleEngland Sheffield UnitedReleased
31 May 1997 England Trevor StevenRetired
31 May 1997 Scotland John BrownRetired
30 June 1997 Scotland Greg ShieldsScotland Dunfermline Athletic£100,000[14]
30 October 1997 Denmark Erik Bo AndersenDenmark OB Odense£800,000[15]
28 November 1997 Scotland Brian McGintyEngland Hull CityFree
20 February 1998 Scotland Gary BollanScotland St Johnstone£100,000[16]
26 March 1998 England Paul GascoigneEngland Middlesbrough£3,450,000[17]
  • Expenditure: Decrease £13,300,000
  • Income: Increase £4,950,000
  • Total loss/gain: Decrease £8,350,000

Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

Scottish Premier Division
Main article: 1997–98 Scottish Premier Division
DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
4 August 1997Heart of MidlothianH3–148,257Negri (2), Cleland
23 August 1997Dundee UnitedH5–148,599Negri (5)
13 September 1997AberdeenH3–350,030Negri (pen.), Albertz, Laudrup
20 September 1997St JohnstoneA2–010,093Negri (2)
24 September 1997KilmarnockA3–015,367Negri (2), Stensaas
27 September 1997MotherwellH2–248,672Negri, Porrini
4 October 1997HibernianA4–315,169Negri (2, 1 (pen.)), Gascoigne, Albertz
18 October 1997Dunfermline AthleticH7–050,023Laudrup, Negri (4), Gascoigne (2)
25 October 1997Dundee UnitedA1–212,600Negri
1 November 1997KilmarnockH4–149,413Negri (3, 1 (pen.)), Porrini
8 November 1997CelticH1–050,082Gough
15 November 1997AberdeenA1–118,117Albertz
19 November 1997CelticA1–149,427Negri
22 November 1997MotherwellA1–112,018McCoist
29 November 1997St JohnstoneH3–250,142Gattuso, Negri (2)
7 December 1997HibernianH1–048,070Negri
13 December 1997Dunfermline AthleticA0–012,443
20 December 1997Heart of MidlothianA5–217,092Durie (3), Negri (pen.), Albertz
27 December 1997Dundee UnitedH4–150,017Laudrup, Cleland, Negri (2, 1 (pen.))
2 January 1998CelticA0–249,396
10 January 1998AberdeenH2–049,502Laudrup, Porrini
17 January 1998MotherwellH1–049,443Cleland
31 January 1998St JohnstoneA0–210,441
7 February 1998Dunfermline AthleticH1–149,019Porrini
21 February 1998HibernianA2–113,968Negri, Albertz
24 February 1998KilmarnockA1–115,931Thern
28 February 1998Heart of MidlothianH2–250,046Albertz (2)
14 March 1998MotherwellA1–211,779McCoist
21 March 1998St JohnstoneH2–149,788Negri (2)
28 March 1998Dunfermline AthleticA3–211,531McCoist (2), Thern
1 April 1998HibernianH3–050,121McCoist, Thern, Durie
12 April 1998CelticH2–050,042Thern, Albertz
19 April 1998AberdeenA0–117,981
25 April 1998Heart of MidlothianA3–017,415Gattuso (2), Albertz
2 May 1998KilmarnockH0–150,116
9 May 1998Dundee UnitedA2–114,200Laudrup, Albertz (pen.)

UEFA Champions League
Main article: 1997–98 UEFA Champions League
DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
23 July 1997QR1GI GotuA5–02,200Negri, Durie (2), McCoist (2)
30 July 1997QR1GI GotuH6–044,433Durie, Negri (2), McCoist, Albertz, I.Ferguson
13 August 1997QR2IFK GothenburgA0–320,000
27 August 1997QR2IFK GothenburgH1–145,585Miller

UEFA Cup
Main article: 1997–98 UEFA Cup
DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
16 September 1997R1RC StrasbourgA1–212,450Albertz (pen.)
30 September 1997R1RC StrasbourgH1–240,145Gattuso

League Cup
Main article: 1997–98 Scottish League Cup
DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
7 August 1997R2Hamilton AcademicalA1–08,866McCoist
19 August 1997R3FalkirkH4–143,606McCoist (3, 1 (pen.)), Stensaas
9 September 1997QFDundee UnitedH0–144,440

Scottish Cup
Main article: 1997–98 Scottish Cup
DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
24 January 1998R3Hamilton AcademicalA2–111,915Durie, Gough
14 February 1998R4MotherwellA2–212,602Negri, Durie
17 February 1998R4 RMotherwellH3–042,043Albertz (2), Durie
9 March 1998QFDundeeH0–040,309
18 March 1998QF RDundeeA2–112,418McCoist (2)
5 April 1998SFCelticA2–148,993McCoist, Albertz
16 May 1998FHeart of MidlothianN1–248,946McCoist

Appearances
Player Position Appearances Goals
Sweden Joachim Björklund DF 430
Germany Jörg Albertz MF 4215
Scotland Alex Cleland DF 414
Italy Marco Negri FW 4037
Scotland Gordon Durie FW 399
Scotland Stuart McCall MF 382
Italy Rino Gattuso MF 375
Italy Sergio Porrini DF 374
Denmark Brian Laudrup MF 365
Scotland Andy Goram GK 360
Scotland Richard Gough DF 302
Sweden Jonas Thern DF 294
Norway Ståle Stensaas DF 282
England Paul Gascoigne MF 273
Scotland Ally McCoist FW 2616
Scotland Ian Ferguson MF 173
Australia Craig Moore DF 153
Australia Tony Vidmar DF 154
Scotland Ian Durrant MF 120
Scotland Charlie Miller MF 114
Serbia and Montenegro Gordan Petrić DF 110
Scotland Barry Ferguson MF 110
Netherlands Theo Snelders GK 90
Finland Jonatan Johansson FW 80
Finland Antti Niemi GK 70
Chile Sebastián Rozental FW 40
Netherlands Peter van Vossen FW 30
Scotland Gary Bollan DF 20
Scotland Derek McInnes MF 10
Denmark Erik Bo Andersen FW 10
Scotland Stephen Wright DF 10

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. "Rangers sign Italian but Melli is rejected". The Herald. 11 April 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. "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.
  4. "Murray, Smith in talks with Laudrup as another new man arrives: £3m Porrini joins the Italian family at Ibrox". The Herald. 11 June 1997.
  5. "Italian No.4 joins the Ibrox colony: Striker Negri a £3.5m signing as prospect of Moens deal fades". The Herald. 19 June 1997.
  6. "Ajax told Laudrup is staying as Niemi signs=The Herald". 21 June 1997.
  7. "Smith denies £1m Australian full back is replacement for Robertson: Rangers use Bosman rules to sign Vidmar". The Herald. 20 February 1997.
  8. "No end to the buying spree". The Herald. 2 July 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. The Mirror, 1 July 1997
  15. "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.
  16. "Bollan signing will strengthen Saints". The Herald. 21 February 1998.
  17. "Robson prepared for grief from Gazza". The Herald. 26 March 1998.
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