The Complete Guide to the Rangers matchday programme

Written by

William Clark

contributors

Lyndsay Robertson, Iain Manson, Mark McAdam, Tony Collins, Tommy Don, Andy McInnes & Grant Murchie

by William Clark

No other Rangers Home Programmes exists pre 1st of January 1947 except for a programme which was issued for the game v Moscow Dynamo on 28th November 1945, image below. This match programme was not a Rangers issue, being produced by the Scottish Sports Agency and printed by John S. Burns, Buccleuch Street, Glasgow. The match finished 2-2. Attendance 95,000.

The first Rangers Home Programme issued after the end of the Second World War was dated 1st of January 1947 for the visit of Celtic. This was Issue No 1. The Programme for this game had a number on the front cover (1) and also both team selections which was the norm for this era. Page 2 had a message from the Chairman and on page 3 was an advertisement. The middle pages had a profile of all players from both teams and there was also a half-time scoreboard from the other games being played on the same day, Page 6 has a mention about previous Old Firm Scottish Cup ties and on Page 7 are the results from Old Firm games during the Second World War. Finally the back page has an advert for the Sunday Empire newspaper regarding an up coming interview with the boxer Joe Louis.

Home programmes from 1st January 1947 v Celtic to v Morton on 18th April 1970 were numbered on the front cover.
The Programme remained in more or less the same format all the way from 1st January 1947 v Celtic up until and including the visit of Dundee Utd on the 17th of April 1965, Issue No. 373. These were the standard issues of the day, eight pages in total with team line up`s and director and managers names on the front cover. They were printed by Hay Nisbet and Co Ltd., Glasgow. The programme was priced 3d in 1946/47 and remained at that price all the way through to the end of season 1964/65, however for the first 3 games of season 1951/52 the price was 4d.

The programme then changed to a 12 page issue on 18th of August 1965 for the visit of Clyde in a League Cup match (Issue No.374). This issue was printed on glossy paper and still produced by Hay Nisbet and Co. The front cover also changed to a picture of the main stand, which lasted up to and including the visit of Airdrie on the 2nd of December 1967 (Issue No 420). From then up until and including the visit of Morton on the 18th of April 1970, the front cover varied between the main stand picture and the team line up`s. There was a special issue For the game v Dundee Utd on the 13th December 1969 with this being Willie Waddell`s first game in charge as team manager. Home programmes from 1965/66 to 1969/70 cost sixpence.

For Home European and Friendly matches from 1953/54 to 1969/70 Rangers issued a larger type programme in comparison with the smaller league programme. For the start of season 1970/71 the programme increased to sixteen pages with a new front cover on each one. The printer`s also changed to Thomson Litho of East Kilbride. There was a dramatic change to the matchday the programme for the visit of Aberdeen on the 17th October 1970 when a small pocket sized 24-page issue now known as the "Matchday Magazine" appeared. This small issue continued until the end of season 1977/78.

From season 1971/72 until the end of season 1977/78 the programmes were 20 page issues. For season 1973/74 the front cover remained the same throughout the season, unlike other seasons round about this time. For those eight seasons the European and Challenge match programmes were the same size as the domestic issues, with five exceptions, those being issues v Dundee utd 16/01/71 (Ibrox Disaster Issue), Airdrie 26/04/75 (League Championship Souvenir Issue), Hertha Berlin 04/08/75 (Rangers News Issue), Tennent Caledonian Cup 02-03/08/76, Tennent Caledonian Cup 06-07/08/77, John Greig Testimonial 16/04/78. From 1970/71 until the end of season 1973/74 the price was 5p, increasing to 6p at the start of season 1974/75. For the New Year visit of Celtic in 1975 it jumped to 10p and remained so until the end of season 1976/77. In 1977/78 the price increased to 12p.

On to season 1978/79 and a large type programme was introduced for all domestic and European games with a full colour cover which remained the same throughout the season. Consisting 12 pages and was priced 15p, it was published by Peebles. Season 1979/80 also saw a full coloured cover, this time changing for every game as it has done to present day. It was a 16-page issue priced 20p. Seasons 1980/81 and 1981/82 brought a 16-page issue priced 30p. Seasons 1982/83 to 1984/85 saw a 16-page issue price 40p. 1985/86 brought a 16-page issue priced 50p.

1078-79	1979-80	1980-81	1981-82
1982-83	1983-84	1984-85	1985-86

For season 1986/87 until end of season 1988/89 an English-based company called Sports Projects produced a good quality programme (1986/87 24 pages, 60p; 1987/88 32 pages, 70p and 1988/89 32 pages, 70p). For the start of season 1989/90 a 28-page programme was produced costing 80p intitially, increasing to £1 after the first few games. Rangers were publishing this programme themselves. Also introduced during this season was the extra large A4 sized match programme.

1986-87	1987-88	1988-89	1989-90

1990/91 brought a 30-page programme costing £1, 1991/92 a 32-page issue also costing £1 and 1992/93 a 40 page issue, also priced £1. 1993/94 44 Pages £1, 1994/95 44 pages £1 still published by Rangers. First Press took over the Rangers programme at the start of season 1995/96, producing a 44-page issue priced £1.50 with a pull out poster included in the middle. 1996/97 saw the programme remain 44 pages costing £1.50 and this continued up to and including season 1999/00.

1990-91	1991-92	1992-93	1993-94
1994-95	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98
1998-99	1999-00

Rangers Home Reserve Programme
Rangers have only ever issued a Home match programme for a reserve game once, this was a 12 page issue priced 50p for the game against Celtic Reserves on the 29th October 1994.

Rangers Reserves 1994-95

Season 2000/01 saw an A4 sized programme consisting 40 pages and priced £2, whilst seasons 20001/02 to 2003/04 inclusive saw a 32-page issue costing the same price. 20004/05 saw the programme increase to 48 pages still costing £2. For season 2005/06 the programme price increased to £2.50 and has stayed the same for seasons 2006/07,

07/08, 08/09. 09/10

2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
2010-11

For this season 2010/11 the programme is a 68-page full colour edition published by cre8 with the cover price remaining at £2.50.

For seasons 1986/87, 1987/88, 1988/89, 1992/93, 1993/94 and 1994/95 the Rangers matchday programme was voted the best in the country by the Programme Monthly Magazine.