This is a list of Rangers Football Club's managers and all those who have held the position of manager of the first team of Rangers, since its formation in 1872.

Each manager's entry includes his dates of tenure and the club's overall competitive record (in terms of first team matches won, drawn and lost), honours won and significant achievements while under his care. Caretaker or interim managers are included, where known, as well as those who have been in permanent charge. Rangers have had nineteen different permanent managers and ten interim managers.

Managerial history

Match secretaries

Prior to the club forming a corporate entity in June 1899, Rangers had a series of match secretaries who filled the role of what would have been the manager.

Managers

The most successful and longest-serving Rangers manager is Bill Struth, who won eighteen Scottish league championships, ten Scottish Cups, two League Cups, seven war-time league championships, nineteen Glasgow Cups and seventeen Glasgow Merchant Charity Cups from 1920 to 1954.

The club has, on average, appointed a new manager every seven and a half years. The club's directors have only dismissed five of their managers, namely David White, Jock Wallace (during his second spell), Pedro Caixinha, Giovanni Van Bronckhorst and Michael Beale. The others have left of their own accord or by mutual agreement, except for William Wilton, who died whilst still manager of the club.

Statistics

List of match secretaries

1875-1876 John Campbell[1]
1876-1883 Peter McNeil[1]
1883-1885 John Wallace MacKay[1]
1885-1889 James Gossland[1]
1889-1899 William Wilton[1]

List of managers

Information correct as of matches played 6 February 2024. Only competitive matches are included.
# Name From To Tenure P W D L GF GA Win% Honours
1 Scotland William Wilton 27 May 1899 20 May 1920 20 years, 359 days 722 475 118 129 1,724 743 65.78 8 League titles
1 Scottish Cup
2 Scotland Bill Struth 20 May 1920 15 June 1954 34 years, 26 days 1,179 788 228 163 2,847 1,144 66.83 18 League titles
10 Scottish Cups
2 League Cups
3 Scotland Scot Symon 15 June 1954 1 November 1967 13 years, 139 days 681 445 114 122 1,719 773 65.34 6 League titles
5 Scottish Cups
4 League Cups
4 Scotland David White 1 November 1967 27 November 1969 2 years, 26 days 114 73 19 22 264 122 64.03
- Scotland Willie Thornton† 27 November 1969 8 December 1969 11 days 2 2 0 0 5 1 100
5 Scotland William Waddell 8 December 1969 7 June 1972[2] 2 years, 182 days 130 73 25 32 253 134 56.49 1 League Cup
1 Cup Winners' Cup
6 Scotland Jock Wallace 7 June 1972[2] 23 May 1978 5 years, 350 days 308 201 56 51 655 299 65.25 3 League titles
3 Scottish Cups
2 League Cups
7 Scotland John Greig 24 May 1978 28 October 1983 5 years, 157 days 288 150 71 67 514 302 52.08 2 Scottish Cups
2 League Cups
- Scotland Tommy McLean† 28 October 1983 10 November 1983 13 days 4 1 0 3 4 6 25.00
- Scotland Jock Wallace 10 November 1983 7 April 1986 2 years, 148 days 124 55 36 33 191 131 43.65 2 League Cups
- Scotland Alex Totten† 7 April 1986[3] 16 April 1986[4] 9 days 1 0 0 1 1 2 00.00
- Scotland Walter Smith† 16 April 1986[4] 1 May 1986[5] 15 days 2 0 1 1 2 3 00.00
8 Scotland Graeme Souness 1 May 1986[5] 16 April 1991 4 years, 350 days 257 165 49 43 482 175 64.20 3 League titles
4 League Cups
9 Scotland Walter Smith 19 April 1991 31 May 1998[6] 7 years, 42 days 379 248 68 63 793 341 65.52 7 League titles
3 Scottish Cups
3 League Cups
10 Netherlands Dick Advocaat 1 June 1998 12 December 2001[7] 3 years, 194 days 195 131 34 30 427 158 67.53 2 League titles
2 Scottish Cups
1 League Cup
11 Scotland Alex McLeish 13 December 2001[8] 8 May 2006[9] 4 years, 169 days 235 155 44 36 488 196 65.96 2 League titles
2 Scottish Cups
3 League Cups
12 France Paul Le Guen 9 May 2006[10] 4 January 2007[11] 240 days 31 16 8 7 47 28 51.61
- Scotland Ian Durrant† 4 January 2007[12] 10 January 2007 6 days 1 0 0 1 2 3 00.00
- Scotland Walter Smith 10 January 2007[13] 15 May 2011[14][6] 4 years, 126 days 245 154 53 38 461 193 62.86 3 League titles
2 Scottish Cups
3 League Cups
13 Scotland Ally McCoist 16 May 2011[14] 21 December 2014[15] 3 years, 219 days 167 121 22 24 391 123 72.46 1 Fourth-tier league
1 Third-tier league
- Scotland Kenny McDowall† 21 December 2014[15] 12 March 2015[16] 81 days 10 3 3 4 9 14 30.00
- Scotland Stuart McCall† 12 March 2015[16] 15 June 2015[17] 95 days 17 7 6 4 29 23 41.18
14 England Mark Warburton 15 June 2015[17] 10 February 2017[18] 1 year, 240 days 82 54 15 13 183 74 65.85 1 Second-tier league
1 Challenge Cup
- Scotland Graeme Murty† 10 February 2017[18] 12 March 2017[19] 30 days 6 3 1 2 14 8 50.00
15 Portugal Pedro Caixinha 13 March 2017[19] 26 October 2017[20] 227 days 26 14 5 7 49 30 53.85
16 Scotland Graeme Murty 26 October 2017[20] 1 May 2018[21] 187 days 29 18 2 9 61 38 62.07
- Northern Ireland Jimmy Nicholl† 1 May 2018[21] 31 May 2018[22] 30 days 3 1 2 0 7 6 33.33
17 England Steven Gerrard 1 June 2018[22] 11 November 2021[23] 3 years, 163 days 193 125 42 26 405 135 63.77 1 League title
18 Netherlands Giovanni van Bronckhorst 18 November 2021[24] 21 November 2022[25] 1 year, 3 days 69 42 12 15 132 75 59.26 1 Scottish Cup
19 England Michael Beale 28 November 2022[26] 1 October 2023[27] 307 days 43 31 4 8 92 44 72.09
- Northern Ireland Steven Davis† 1 October 2023[27] 15 October 2023[28] 14 days 2 1 0 1 4 2 50.0
20 Belgium Philippe Clement 15 October 2023[28] 114 days 23 19 3 1 51 13 82.61 1 League Cup

† Denotes that the person was a caretaker manager.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Bob Ferrier; Robert McElroy (2005). Rangers: The Complete Record. Breedon Books. ISBN 1-85983-481-7.
  2. ^ a b "On This Day: Jun 7". Rangers.co.uk. Rangers Football Club. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  3. ^ Souness was appointed manager on 8 April but did not officially take charge until 1 May. Totten stood in for one match v Clydebank F.C..
  4. ^ a b Smith was appointed assistant manager on 16 April and took on coaching responsibilities until Souness arrived on 1 May
  5. ^ a b Souness was appointed manager on 8 April but did not officially take charge until 1 May
  6. ^ a b "WALTER SMITH OBE". www.leaguemanagers.com. League Managers Association. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Frustration for Advocaat". BBC Sport. 12 December 2001. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  8. ^ "Rangers unveil McLeish". BBC Sport. BBC. 11 December 2001. Archived from the original on 27 June 2009. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  9. ^ "Emotional McLeish bids farewell". BBC Sport. BBC. 7 May 2006. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  10. ^ "Rangers name Le Guen as manager". BBC Sport. BBC. 11 March 2006. Archived from the original on 3 April 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  11. ^ "Le Guen and Rangers part company". BBC Sport. BBC. 4 January 2007. Archived from the original on 19 July 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  12. ^ Taylor, Julian (4 January 2007). "Rangers reel as Le Guen departs". BBC Sport. BBC. Archived from the original on 28 April 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  13. ^ "Smith appointed boss of Rangers". BBC Sport. BBC. 10 January 2007. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  14. ^ a b "McCoist confirmed as Smith's successor". BBC Sport. BBC. 22 February 2011. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  15. ^ a b McLaughlin, Chris (21 December 2014). "Rangers manager leaves club & on gardening leave". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  16. ^ a b "Stuart McCall to be appointed manager until summer". BBC Sport. BBC. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  17. ^ a b "Warburton Appointed Manager". Rangers.co.uk. Rangers Football Club. 15 June 2015. Archived from the original on 18 June 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  18. ^ a b "Rangers: Mark Warburton replaced as manager ahead of Scottish Cup tie". BBC Sport. BBC. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  19. ^ a b "Rangers: Pedro Caixinha signs three-year deal with Ibrox club". BBC Sport. BBC. 11 March 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  20. ^ a b "Rangers: Pedro Caixinha sacked as manager after board meeting". BBC Sport. BBC. 26 October 2017.
  21. ^ a b "Rangers: Graeme Murty sacked as manager". BBC Sport. BBC. 1 May 2018.
  22. ^ a b "Steven Gerrard: Rangers name former Liverpool captain as manager on four-year deal". BBC Sport. BBC. 4 May 2018.
  23. ^ "Steven Gerrard: Aston Villa name Rangers boss as new manager". BBC Sport. BBC. 11 November 2021.
  24. ^ "Giovanni van Bronckhorst: Rangers appoint former Arsenal, Barcelona & Netherlands player". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 November 2021.
  25. ^ "Rangers: Giovanni van Bronckhorst sacked after a year". BBC Sport. BBC. 21 November 2022.
  26. ^ "Michael Beale: Rangers appoint former assistant as manager as he leaves QPR". BBC Sport. BBC. 28 November 2022.
  27. ^ a b "Rangers: Michael Beale sacked as manager; Steven Davis takes interim charge". BBC Sport. 1 October 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  28. ^ a b Dowden, Martin (15 October 2023). "Philippe Clement: Rangers appoint former Monaco head coach as manager". BBC Sport.

External links

Rangers Football Club
Rangers F.C. – managers
Lists of Scottish football club managers
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