Although many players have held the position of captain during matches – and in many occasions several matches in a row, when the club captain was injured or suspended – this list only includes players that have been officially appointed as the captain of Rangers.
As of 2023, Rangers have had eight different nationalities captain the club from Scotland, England, Australia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Northern Ireland and the USA. Brian Laudrup was the first non-British captain in 1997.
Statistics
| Name | From | To | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Vallance | 1876 | 1882 | 6 years | First known club captain |
| David Mitchell | 1892 | 1894 | 2 years | First captain to win the Scottish Cup |
| John McPherson | 1894 | 1898 | 4 years | |
| Robert Hamilton | 1898 | 1906 | 8 years | Notes |
| Robert Campbell | 4 years | Captain for 4 years between 1906 and 1916 | ||
| Tommy Cairns | 1916 | 1926 | 10 years | |
| Bert Manderson | 1926 | 1927 | 1 year | First non-Scottish captain of the club |
| Tommy Muirhead | 1927 | 1930 | 3 years | |
| David Meiklejohn | 1930 | 1938 | 8 years | |
| Jimmy Simpson | 1938 | 1940 | 2 years | |
| Jock 'Tiger' Shaw | 1940 | 1957 | 13 years | |
| George Young | 1953 | 1957 | 4 years | |
| Ian McColl | 1957 | 1960 | 3 years | |
| Eric Caldow | 1960 | 1962 | 2 years | |
| Bobby Shearer | 1962 | 1965 | 3 years | |
| John Greig | 1965 | 1978 | 13 years | Retired as a player in 1978 to become manager |
| Derek Johnstone | 1978 | 1983 | 5 years | Named captain by Greig after requesting a transfer |
| John McClelland | 1983 | 21/09/1984 | 1 year | Stripped of captaincy due to contract talks |
| Craig Paterson | 21/09/1984 | 01/08/1986 | 1 year, 31 days | |
| Terry Butcher | 01/08/1986 | 21/09/1990 | 4 years, 53 days | Made captain on the day he signed from Ipswich |
| Richard Gough | 23/09/1990 | 31/05/1997 | 6 years, 255 days | Appointed captain after a fall-out between Souness and Butcher |
| Brian Laudrup | 01/06/1997 | 18/10/1997 | 139 days | First non-British captain |
| Richard Gough | 18/10/1997 | 31/05/1998 | 225 days | Returned to the club for 2nd spell and was made captain |
| Lorenzo Amoruso | 01/06/1998 | 31/10/2000 | 2 years, 152 days | |
| Barry Ferguson | 31/10/2000 | 29/08/2003 | 2 years, 302 days | Became captain aged just 22 |
| Craig Moore | 03/01/2003 | 08/07/2004 | 1 year, 187 days | Removed as captain after fall-out with McLeish |
| Stefan Klos | 17/07/1994 | 07/07/2005 | 1 year, 10 days | First goalkeeper to become captain |
| Barry Ferguson | 07/07/2005 | 01/01/2007 | 1 year, 178 days | Stripped of captaincy by Le Guen |
| Gavin Rae | 01/01/2007 | 13/01/2007 | 12 days | Shortest spell as club captain |
| Barry Ferguson | 13/01/2007 | 30/04/2009 | 2 years, 80 days | Restored as captain by Smith but later stripped of it due to poor discipline |
| David Weir | 03/04/2009 | 20/01/2012 | 2 years, 292 days | |
| Steven Davis | 20/01/2012 | 06/06/2012 | 168 days | Left the club due to administration |
| Carlos Bocanegra | 29/07/2012 | 31/08/2012 | 33 days | Captain for just seven games |
| Lee McCulloch | 01/09/2012 | 31/05/2015 | 2 years, 272 days | Club captain over three divisions |
| Lee Wallace | 25/07/2015 | 06/07/2018 | 2 years, 346 days | |
| James Tavernier | 06/07/2018 | Ongoing | Ongoing | Captained club to it's first title after insolvency of 2012 |
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