The 1996–97 season was the 117th season of competitive

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

by Rangers.

Overview

Rangers played a total of 52 competitive matches during the 1996–97 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) ...

and won its ninth consecutive league title, equalling the long-standing record of their rivals

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

In the cup competitions, the team won the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports 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 ...

beating Heart of Midlothian 4–3 in the final. Rangers were knocked out the Scottish Cup by Celtic at the quarter-final stage, losing 2–0. The side reached the group stages of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

this season and were drawn into a group with

Grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

and

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

. Between July and March, manager Walter Smith spent almost £10 million on new signings Jörg Albertz,

Joachim Björklund Joachim Björklund (; born 15 March 1971) is a Swedish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a centre back. He is currently assistant coach for Allsvenskan club IFK Göteborg. Beginning his playing career with Öste ...

and Sebastián Rozental. Due to the mounting injuries in the second half of the season, striker

Mark Hateley Mark Wayne Hateley (born 7 November 1961) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), striker. He started his career with Coventry City F.C., Coventry City in the Football L ...

briefly returned to the club from

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

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goalkeeper Andy Dibble joined on a free transfer as cover for the injured

Andy Goram Andrew Lewis Goram (13 April 1964 – 2 July 2022) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Bury, Lancashire, England, he started his career with Oldham Athletic and Hibernian, but he is best remembered for playing for ...

Transfers

In

Out

*Expenditure: £9,800,000 *Income: £200,000 *Total loss/gain: £9,600,000

Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

Scottish Premier Division

Scottish League Cup

Scottish Cup

UEFA Champions League

Appearances

Competitions

Overall

Scottish Premier Division

UEFA Champions League

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1996-97 Rangers F.C. season Rangers F.C. seasons Rangers Scottish football championship-winning seasons