Rangers will be playing top flight football next season after clinching the Ladbrokes Championship with a narrow 1-0 home win over Dumbarton.
Andy Halliday threw down the gauntlet to his title-winning Rangers team-mates and urged them to challenge Celtic next season.
The Gers midfielder, a boyhood fan, helped the Light Blues win the Ladbrokes Championship and promotion to the Premiership with a 1-0 win over Dumbarton at Ibrox.
A stodgy performance from Mark Warburton’s side needed a second-half goal from right-back James Tavernier to render Rangers uncatchable on 79 points with four games remaining.
In the post-match celebrations Halliday took a megaphone off one of the fans in the ultras-style section of the ground and started a song and afterwards he targeted a challenge to their traditional rivals.
The former Bradford City player said: “We’ve got to be challenging for the title; it’s as simple as that.
“And that’s not me being arrogant or disrespectful to Celtic at all, they are four in a row and going for another title, but you can’t be at a club like this and be happy with second.”
Asked what the fans had said when he went in among them, Halliday, who joined the Govan club last summer, replied: “Give us a song.
Obviously I had to be careful which one I picked but I managed to grab the microphone and chanted away. I wasn’t in for too long because my throat’s not been great the last few days.
“It is an incredible achievement. Obviously it was our main goal since the start of the season.
“We feel we have been top of the season since day one of pre-season and have only been going one way and that is forward.
“Now it’s full steam ahead to the end of the season because we still have a lot of big games and then in to the Premiership, back where we belong.
“I think we are getting better and better.”
Tavernier told the club’s official website that it was “an unbelievable feeling” to score the winner and how he enjoyed the celebrations.
He said: “We pressed a lot and tried to create chances, but they defended really well and the keeper pulled off some great saves, so I don’t think the scoreline tells the story of the game.
“The fans have been great all season, both at home and away. It was a great feeling to walk around the pitch and be able to celebrate with them.
“There were probably more too who couldn’t come to the game as it was sold out, and it was just a fantastic moment with all the boys to walk round the pitch.”
Rangers secured a return to the Scottish Premiership after clinching the Ladbrokes Championship title with a 1-0 home win over Dumbarton.
Here, Press Association Sport looks at how Twitter responded.
“@RangersFC Champions. well done boys. Back to the premiership, Back to the £Oldfirm ” – the official Twitter account of Dutch brothers Frank and Ronald de Boer, who played together at Ibrox towards the end of their careers in 2004.
“Great to see @RangersFC seal promotion back to SPL and @LaffK score on his debut tonight” – Southampton midfielder Steven Davis congratulates his former club and his Northern Ireland team-mate Kyle Lafferty.
“Well done Rangers. Back where we belong. @RangersFC Great work with the team this season @MarkWarburton9” – Scottish curler Greg Drummond, the 2014 Winter Olympics silver medalist, pays tribute to the achievements of Mark Warburton’s squad.
“Well well well the GERS are back WATP” Veteran Spain forward Nacho Novo on his former side’s success.
“Rangers back in the Scottish top division is exactly what Scottish football needed” – Carl Frampton, the IBF and WBA super-bantamweight champion.
“Congrats to rangersfc!!! Back in the SPL where they belong!!! Bring on the Old Firm!” – American midfielder Maurice Edu, who had a spell at Ibrox from 2008 to 2012.
“@RangersFC we are back where we belong! congrats to the team and staff and all the fans! Brilliant!!! £WATP £TheMightyRangersAreBack” – Veteran Denmark forward Peter Lovenkrands.
Rangers lost an estimated £30million worth of talent when they suffered their financial meltdown, with a number of first-team players refusing to transfer their registrations to the Ibrox newco.
Now after the current side clinched promotion to the top flight, Press Association Sport takes a look at back at the men who made for the exits in 2012 and where they ended up.
SONE ALUKO – The former Aberdeen winger became a cult hero with the Gers faithful after netting a memorable solo goal against Celtic. Signed for Hull after his Ibrox exit and four years on is still there.
Hopes to help the Tigers regain their Barclays Premiership place in the coming weeks.
STEVEN DAVIS – The Northern Irishman was named skipper just days after signing a new five-year contract with Gers in the summer of 2011. But within months his future was cast in uncertainty as Gers slumped into administration. Once liquidation was confirmed he signed for Southampton, where he has become a central figure for Ronald Koeman’s team. Will skipper his country at Euro 2016 this summer.
JOHN FLECK – Once hailed as the new Wayne Rooney, the Murray Park product failed to live up to his hype. Has spent the years since quitting Rangers with Coventry in England’s League One.
KYLE LAFFERTY – The £3million-plus signing from Burnley’s career in Glasgow was something of a roller-coaster ride, with a number of ineffectual displays balanced out by a string of crucial goals as he helped Rangers to three successive titles. Despite being a boyhood Rangers fan, he also quit the club before going on to spells with Sion, Palermo and Norwich. Recently joined Birmingham on loan in a bid to keep himself sharp ahead of Northern Ireland’s European Championship campaign.
RHYS McCABE – Another exciting graduate from the Rangers youth ranks who decided to move on after the club’s financial collapse. He signed a three-year deal with Sheffield Wednesday but made less than 40 appearances before being released last summer. Recently helped Dunfermline to the Ladbrokes League One title.
ALLAN McGREGOR – The Scotland stopper was another who enthralled the Ibrox support with this displays during Old Firm battles. Moved to Turkey for a short stint with Besiktas before returning to the UK with Hull in 2013. Won a FA Cup runner’s up medal 12 months later.
STEVEN NAISMITH – With his intelligent movement and knack for a goal, Naismith was among Gers’ most adored players before the financial problems swallowed the club whole. But his decision to walk away after declaring “We owe no loyalty to the new club. There is no history there for us” sparked outrage amongst the Light Blues faithful. He soon signed for Everton before moving on to Norwich this year for about £8million.
JAMIE NESS – Netted with a stunning 25-yard strike on his Old Firm debut but the young midfielder was another who decided to walk away. Failed to make a mark at Stoke and is now on the books at Scunthorpe United.
STEVEN WHITTAKER – The versatile right-back sat alongside Naismith at their press conference ahead of his move to Norwich. Capped recently for Scotland against Denmark but has not played for the Canaries since October.
Rangers’ liquidation implosion back in the summer of 2012 saw the Glasgow giants forced to start again in Third Division.
Here, Press Association Sport’s Andy Newport takes a look at the highs and lows the Light Blues have encountered on the pitch since then.
HIGH: Emerge from the ashes of their financial meltdown in July 2012 to claim a 2-1 Challenge Cup win at Brechin’s Glebe Park in their first match as a newco.
LOW: Knocked out of the Challenge Cup on penalties by Queen of the South in September.
HIGH: First meeting with top-flight opposition since liquidation ends in a 2-0 League Cup triumph over Motherwell later that month.
LOW: Fall to one of their worst ever defeats as part-timers Stirling Albion win 1-0 at Forthbank at the start of October. By the time the 2012/13 season is out, Annan and Peterhead will have repeated the feat at Ibrox.
LOW: Dundee United inflict a painful 3-0 defeat in February 2013 as Ally McCoist’s side are knocked out of the Scottish Cup.
HIGH: A goalless draw with Montrose is enough to secure the Third Division title. They end the campaign 24 points in front of nearest challengers Peterhead.
LOW: After being knocked out of the League Cup by Forfar, Gers launch a run of 39 games without defeat – only to see it brought to a crushing halt when Raith Rovers stun the Ibrox men with an extra-time winner in the final of the Challenge Cup.
LOW: Dundee United again end Gers’ Scottish Cup hopes with a 3-1 win at ’neutral’ Ibrox in the 2014 semis.
HIGH: The Scottish League One title is wrapped up with minimum fuss as the unbeaten champions claim the third-tier title by a massive 39 points.
LOW: Hearts are the familiar faces at Ibrox as Rangers kick-off their Championship campaign – but a 2-1 defeat to the Jambos is not the start McCoist was hoping for.
LOW: Alloa dish out yet another cup shock on Gers with December’s 3-2 Petrofac Training Cup semi-final win while McCoist is axed by the club’s board on the eve of an explosive annual general meeting, with Kenny McDowall placed in temporary charge.
LOW: February 2015 sees the Old Firm meet for the first time in three years but Celtic stroll into the League Cup final with a one-sided 2-0 victory.
LOW: Raith stun Gers again with a 2-1 win that ends their Scottish Cup ambitions for another year.
HIGH: Dave King’s successful boardroom coup is followed six days later by a change of management as Stuart McCall is brought in to replace McDowall. The former Celtic youth coach won just three of his 10 games in charge.
LOW: McCall rallies the Ibrox troops but, despite battling past Queen of the South and Hibernian in the play-offs, sees his side humiliated in the final showdown with Motherwell.
HIGH: Former Brentford boss Mark Warburton is hired to pick up the pieces and immediately starts work transforming Rangers’ playing squad.
HIGH: The Englishman breaks Bill Struth’s 95-year-old record by winning his first 11 games in charge as his new-look side thrill supporters with their attacking style.
LOW: St Johnstone end Warburton’s 100 per cent start to his Ibrox reign with a 3-1 League Cup victory.
HIGH: Hibs’ victory at Easter Road at the start of November sets Rangers wobbling but after a month-long slump, Warburton’s team regain their composure and a 4-2 win over the Leith side at Ibrox in December sparks a 15-game unbeaten run which puts Gers in touching distance of the title.
HIGH: A crushing 4-0 Scottish Cup win over top-flight Dundee sets up another Old Firm semi-final.
HIGH: Rangers’ four-year nightmare is finally brought to an end as they clinch promotion back to the top-flight with a 1-0 win over Dumbarton.
