# 1898–99 Rangers F.C. season

The 1898–99 season was the 25th season of competitive football played by Rangers F.C.

## Overview

Rangers played a total of 39 competitive matches during the 1898–99 season. They finished top of Scottish League Division One with a one hundred percent record of 18 wins from 18 matches.
The club ended the season without any other trophies: in the Scottish Cup, despite beating Hearts and St Mirren en route to the final, they lost to Celtic 2–0. Earlier in the season they had also lost in the final of the less important Glasgow Cup 1–0 to Queen's Park, and at its end they lost in the minor Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup final, another 2–0 loss to Celtic, also finishing as runners-up to the same opponents in the supplementary Glasgow Football League.
Regardless of these setbacks, the perfect league campaign of 1898–99 remains a unique achievement in the annals of British football.

## Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

### Scottish League Division One

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 20 August 1898 | Partick Thistle | H | 6–2 | 7,000 | Hamilton (3), Sharp, Neil, Millar |
| 27 August 1898 | St Mirren | A | 3–1 | | A.Smith, Hamilton, McPherson |
| 3 September 1898 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 3–2 | 17,500 | Hamilton (2), Wilkie |
| 10 September 1898 | Third Lanark | H | 4–1 | 18,000 | Millar, McPherson, Campbell, Neil (pen.) |
| 19 September 1898 | St Bernard's | A | 2–0 | 8,000 | A.Smith, Neil (pen.) |
| 24 September 1898 | Celtic | A | 4–0 | 45,000 | Neil (pen.), McPherson, Campbell, Millar |
| 26 September 1898 | Third Lanark | A | 3–2 | 14,000 | Campbell (2), McPherson |
| 1 October 1898 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 3–1 | 25,000 | Hamilton (2), A.Smith |
| 8 October 1898 | Dundee | A | 2–1 | 7,500 | Hamilton, Wilkie |
| 5 November 1898 | Partick Thistle | A | 5–0 | 5,000 | Hamilton (2), Millar (2), Sharp |
| 19 November 1898 | Hibernian | A | 4–3 | 10,000 | Millar, A.Smith, Hamilton, Neil (pen.) |
| 26 November 1898 | Clyde | H | 8–0 | 4,000 | Millar (3), Sharp (2), Gibson (2), Watson (o.g.) |
| 3 December 1898 | St Bernard's | H | 5–2 | 3,000 | Campbell (4), Hamilton |
| 17 December 1898 | Dundee | H | 9–0 | 3,000 | Hamilton (3), A.Smith (2), McPherson (2), Gibson (pen.), Campbell |
| 24 December 1898 | Hibernian | H | 10–0 | 7,000 | A.Smith (4), Hamilton (2), McPherson, Millar, Gibson (pen.), Campbell |
| 31 December 1898 | St Mirren | H | 3–2 | 5,000 | Campbell (2), A.Smith |
| 2 January 1899 | Celtic | H | 4–1 | 30,000 | Hamilton (3), Campbell |
| 7 January 1899 | Clyde | A | 3–0 | 4,000 | A.Smith, Millar, Neil (pen.) |

### Scottish Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 14 January 1899 | R1 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 4–1 | 25,612 | Gibson (2), Neil (pen.), Hamilton |
| 11 February 1899 | R2 | Ayr Parkhouse | A | 4–1 | 5,000 | Hamilton (2), Campbell, A.Smith |
| 18 February 1899 | QF | Clyde | H | 4–0 | 6,000 | Low, McPherson, Gibson (pen.), Hamilton |
| 15 April 1899 | SF | St Mirren | A | 2–1 | 10,000 | McPherson, Millar |
| 22 April 1899 | F | Celtic | N | 0–2 | 25,000 | |

## Appearances

| Player | Position | Appearances | Goals |
| Matthew Dickie | GK | 23 | 0 |
| Robert Hamilton | FW | 23 | 25 |
| Robert Neil | DF | 22 | 7 |
| Alex Smith | FW | 22 | 13 |
| David Crawford | DF | 22 | 0 |
| Neilly Gibson | MF | 22 | 6 |
| John Campbell | MF | 21 | 13 |
| Jimmy Millar | FW | 21 | 12 |
| John McPherson | MF | 20 | 8 |
| David Mitchell | MF | 18 | 0 |
| Nicol Smith | DF | 17 | 0 |
| Jock Drummond | DF | 6 | 0 |
| Jimmy E. Millar | DF | 5 | 0 |
| Andrew Sharp | MF | 4 | 3 |
| Jack Wilkie | FW | 4 | 2 |
| James Sharp | MF | 1 | 1 |
| Tommy Low | MF | 1 | 1 |
| Jimmy Oswald | FW | 1 | 0 |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Rangers (C) | 18 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 18 | +61 | 36 | Champions |
| 2 | Heart of Midlothian | 18 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 56 | 30 | +26 | 26 | |
| 3 | Celtic | 18 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 51 | 33 | +18 | 24 | |
| 4 | Hibernian | 18 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 42 | 43 | −1 | 23 | |
| 5 | St Mirren | 18 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 46 | 32 | +14 | 20 | |
| 6 | Third Lanark | 18 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 33 | 38 | −5 | 17 | |
| 7 | Clyde | 18 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 23 | 48 | −25 | 12 | |
| 7 | St Bernard's | 18 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 30 | 37 | −7 | 12 | |
| 9 | Partick Thistle (R) | 18 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 19 | 58 | −39 | 6 | Relegated to the 1899–1900 Scottish Division Two |
| 10 | Dundee | 18 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 23 | 65 | −42 | 4 | |