Rangers, although finishing second, had a disappointing end to their season. In total, they finished 8 points behind arch rivals Celtic, dropping a total of 4 points in their last 5 games alone. And a margin of four more losses than Celtic, which made that all-important difference. But now that the season is done, we need to look ahead to the next season. It’s no secret that Rangers, as a football club, are extremely competitive. They are one of the oldest clubs in Scotland, with a history that spans over 152 years, having been founded in March 1872. They are also known as the Glasgow Rangers but are officially known as Rangers F.C.
Last season
When it comes to their footballing history, the club is no stranger to lifting the league title trophy. In fact, they set the record by winning it a total of 55 times. And so they were extremely disappointed not to make that number 56 last season and losing it to all of their arch rivals. If you head on over to 32Red Sport Betting or any other online sportsbook, of course they have Rangers F.C. as second to Celtic, with the last reported odds being Celtic 1/2 to lift the trophy and Rangers second in line at 6/4. But how are they going to prepare for their upcoming season? How are they going to get themselves mentally in the zone to say that they will in fact overcome any challenges and pip their rivals to the title this year?
Pre-season friendlies
Well, that’s what we are going to look at today. So when it comes to pre-season, the club has announced that there are going to be a total of two pre-season friendlies, which is a lot less than usual. Both of these fall in the month of July, where they first head south to take on Midlands outfit Birmingham City and then they fly over to Germany following the conclusion of the Euros to take on Union Berlin on July 27th. The club has emphasised their excitement at the latter fixture as they see it as a stern but excellent test against a team that was playing in the Champions League last season. In addition to these two latest announced games, they are also playing against Manchester United at Murrayfield, which is colloquially known as the home of Scottish rugby.
Pre-season training camp
The team also has a pre-season training camp set up over in the Netherlands, where they set off on July 7th. This again follows the conclusion of the Euro 2024 games in Germany and gives the team time to bond and prepare themselves for the upcoming friendlies. The friendly against Birmingham also has an additional meaning for both clubs. A former player of the two, Trevor Francis, passed away last year. He is regarded as one of the best players to have ever played for Birmingham and also made a stern impression when he had a short spell playing for Rangers at the Ibrox.
In Summary
It’s going to be exciting, no doubt, to see how Rangers fare this year against their arch rivals but also against the rest of the Scottish Premier League. It remains to be seen if there is any transfer business to be conducted either in or out of the club. But they need to make sure that they are prepared for the upcoming season, as they will be fighting battles both in the league and in Europe. They also have domestic trophies and Europe to contend with, and so depth is something that they’re going to need in the squad to give them that competitive edge.