Rangers FC returns to Top Flight Football in Scotland

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Triumphant return for Rangers FC to Top Light Football in Scotland

It will be a triumphant return to top-flight Scottish football for Rangers FC after a four-year stint in the lower divisions following the famous club being placed into administration on 14 February 2012 and then failing to reach agreement with creditors the Rangers Football Club Plc (since renamed RFC 2012 Plc)[75] and then being liquidated.

The Administrators then completed a going concern sale of the business and assets to a new company Sevco Scotland Ltd, later renamed The Rangers Football Club Ltd. The new company failed to secure the club's previous place in the Scottish Premier League and Rangers were accepted into the Scottish Football League and placed in the lowest division, the Third, rather than the First Division as the SPL and SFA had sought

The transfer of Rangers' SFA membership was agreed by the SFA upon acceptance of a number of conditions, including a one-year transfer ban, in time for the club to begin the 2012–13 season.

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With most key first team players having refused to transfer to the new company, a very different Rangers team lined up for the first league match in Third Division. Despite this, Rangers secured a comfortable 5–1 victory in the the first game of the season over East Stirlingshire in front of a crowd of 49,118, a world record for a football match in a fourth tier league.

Away from home, Rangers started their Third division league campaign with three successive draws before losing 1–0 to Stirling Albion, at the time the bottom club. Rangers were defeated in the third round of the Scottish Challenge Cup by Queen of the South at Ibrox, in the quarter-finals of the Scottish League Cup at home to Inverness Caledonian Thistle and in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup by Dundee United. Rangers then beat their own new record against Queens Park with an attendance of 49,463 and again against Stirling Albion with an attendance of 49,913. Rangers clinched the Third Division title after a goalless draw at Montrose.

Season 2013–14 got off to an excellent start with Rangers winning maximum league points in their first 15 games in League One and Rangers secured the League One title and promotion to Scottish football's second tier on 12 March 2014 and went on to end the season unbeaten in league football.
Rangers also reached the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup, in which they lost to Raith Rovers and the semi-final of the Scottish Cup, in which they lost 3–1 at Ibrox to Dundee United.

Playing in the Scottish Championship in season 2014–15 provided Rangers with a more difficult challenge, with the club losing home and away to both Hibernian and Hearts and also losing away to Queen of the South in the first half of the season. Rangers also failed to beat Alloa either home or away in the league before losing 3–2 to Alloa in the semi-final of the Scottish Challenge Cup. Amid mounting criticism, McCoist submitted his resignation intending to honour his 12 months notice period but was placed on 'gardening leave' and replaced by Kenny McDowall on a caretaker basis. McDowall remained in charge for just three months before resigning in March 2015. During his time in charge, Rangers won just three matches. Rangers then named as manager former player Stuart McCall, their third manager of the season, for what remained of the season. Under McCall, Rangers finished third in the league and then reached the Premiership play-off final, which they lost 6–1 on aggregate to Motherwell.

In June 2015 it was announced that Mark Warburton had been appointed manager on a three-year deal. Rangers went on to win the 2015–16 Scottish Championship and automatic promotion to the Scottish Premiership, ending their four-year stint in the lower divisions. The club also reached the 2016 Scottish Cup Final, beating Old Firm rivals Celtic in the semi-final at Hampden, before losing to Hibernian in the final.