The 1995–96 season was the 116th season of competitive
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
Rangers played a total of 53 competitive matches during the 1995–96 season. The team finished first in the
Scottish Premier Division
The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) Th ...
and won its eighth consecutive league title.
In the cup competitions, the team won the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Heart of Midlothian 5–1. Rangers were knocked out the
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...
by
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
at the semi final stage, losing 2–1.
The side reached the group stages of the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
this season and were drawn into a group with
Juventus
Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
,
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...
and
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
n side Steaua Bucharest. After six matches, three draws and three defeats, Rangers were bottom of the table and exited the competition.
Between July and February, manager Walter Smith spent nearly £12million on his squad by signing the likes of
Peter van Vossen
Peter Jacobus van Vossen (; born 21 April 1968) is a Dutch former professional football player and manager.
Club career
Van Vossen was born in Zierikzee. As a footballer, he played for Beveren, Anderlecht, Ajax, Istanbulspor, Rangers, Feyenoor ...
,
Paul Gascoigne
Paul John Gascoigne (, born 27 May 1967), nicknamed Gazza, is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is described by the National Football Museum as "widely recognised as the most naturally talente ...
(a then national record signing at £4.3million), Stephen Wright and
Gordan Petric Gordan () is a Slavic name derived Proto-Slavic ''*gъrdъ'' (gȏrd) meaning proud:
Given name
* Gordan Golik, Croatian football midfielder
* Gordan Giriček, Croatian basketball player
* Gordan Jandroković, Croatian diplomat and politician
...
.
Basile Boli
Basile Boli (born 2 January 1967) is a Ivorian-born French former professional footballer who played as a defender, and a current television sports presenter. He spent the majority of his career with Auxerre and Marseille before ending his c ...
and
Oleg Salenko
Oleg Anatolyevich Salenko (russian: Олег Анатольевич Саленко, uk, Олег Анатолійович Саленко; born 25 October 1969) is a Russian-Ukrainian former footballer who played as a forward. He scored a record ...
left the club.
Gascoigne was voted player of the year having scored a total of 19 goals in all competitions.
November saw the departure of Mark Hateley as he returned to
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in a £1.5million move to
Queen's Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Roa ...
– the largest fee paid for a 34-year-old at this time. Hateley had lost his place in the first team to
Gordon Durie
Gordon Scott Durie (born on 6 December, 1965 in Paisley) is the Scottish former professional footballer, a utility player who usually played as a striker. He played for East Fife, Hibernian, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Rangers and Hearts. ...
who partnered
Ally McCoist
Alistair Murdoch McCoist, (; born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former footballer who has since worked as a manager and TV pundit.
McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Johnstone before moving to English side Sunderland i ...
after two seasons mostly spent on the sidelines due to injuries.