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
(until 17 May)
GroundIbrox Stadium
Scottish Premier Division2nd
P36 W21 D9 L6 F76 A38 Pts72
Scottish CupRunners-up
League CupQuarter-finals
Champions LeagueSecond qualifying round
UEFA CupFirst Round
Top goalscorerLeague:
Marco Negri (33)
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 imputus 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 Ståle Stensaas Rosenborg£1.5m
29 May 1997 Lorenzo Amoruso Fiorentina£5m
10 June 1997 Sergio Porrini Juventus£4m
18 June 1997 Marco Negri Perugia£3.7m
30 June 1997 Tony Vidmar NAC BredaFree
30 June 1997 Jonas Thern A.S. RomaFree
1 July 1997 Gennaro Gattuso PerugiaFree
22 July 1997 Antti Niemi FC Copenhagen£0.7m
13 August 1997 Jonatan Johansson Flora Tallinn£0.5m
14 October 1997 Richard Gough Kansas City WizardsFree

Out
Date Player To Fee
13 May 1997 David Robertson Leeds United£0.5m
31 May 1997 Greg Shields Dunfermline AthleticReleased
31 May 1997 Mark Hateley Hull CityReleased
31 May 1997 Richard Gough Kansas City WizardsReleased
31 May 1997 Andy Dibble Sheffield UnitedReleased
31 May 1997 Trevor StevenRetired
31 May 1997 John BrownRetired
15 October 1997 Barry Robson Inverness CTReleased
1 November 1997 Erik Bo Andersen OB Odense£0.8m
28 November 1997 Brian McGinty Hull CityFree
20 February 1998 Gary Bollan St Johnstone£0.1m
26 March 1998 Paul Gascoigne Middlesbrough£3.45m
  • Expendure: £14,450,000
  • Income: £4,850,000
  • Total loss/gain: £9,600,000

Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

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
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
DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
16 September 1997R1RC StrasbourgA1–212,450Albertz (pen.)
30 September 1997R1RC StrasbourgH1–240,145Gattuso

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

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

Appearances
Player Position Appearances Goals
Joachim Björklund DF 430
Jörg Albertz MF 4215
Alex Cleland DF 414
Marco Negri FW 4037
Gordon Durie FW 399
Stuart McCall MF 382
Rino Gattuso MF 375
Sergio Porrini DF 374
Brian Laudrup MF 365
Andy Goram GK 360
Richard Gough DF 302
Jonas Thern DF 294
Ståle Stensaas DF 282
Paul Gascoigne MF 273
Ally McCoist FW 2616
Ian Ferguson MF 173
Craig Moore DF 153
Tony Vidmar DF 154
Ian Durrant MF 120
Charlie Miller MF 114
Gordan Petrić DF 110
Barry Ferguson MF 110
Theo Snelders GK 90
Jonatan Johansson FW 82
Antti Niemi GK 70
Sebastián Rozental FW 40
Peter van Vossen FW 30
Gary Bollan DF 20
Derek McInnes MF 10
Erik Bo Andersen FW 10
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) Champion.

References
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