Rangers were formed by four founders – brothers Moses McNeil and Peter McNeil, Peter Campbell and William McBeath – who met at West End Park (now known as Kelvingrove Park) in March 1872. Rangers' first match, in May that year, was a goalless friendly draw with Callander on Glasgow Green. David Hill was also a founder member. In 1873, the club held its first annual meeting and staff were elected. By 1876, Rangers had its first international player, with Moses McNeil representing Scotland in a match against Wales. In 1877, Rangers reached the Scottish Cup final; after drawing the first game, Rangers refused to turn up for the replay and the cup was awarded to Vale of Leven. Rangers won the Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup the following year against Vale of Leven 2–1, their first major cup. The first-ever match against Celtic took place in 1888, the year after the East End club's establishment. Rangers lost 5–2 in a friendly to an opposition composed largely of guest players from Hibernian.

The 1890–91 season saw the inception of the Scottish Football League, and Rangers, by then playing at the first Ibrox Stadium, were one of ten original members. The club's first-ever league match, on 16 August 1890, resulted in a 5–2 victory over Heart of Midlothian. After finishing joint-top with Dumbarton, a play-off held at Cathkin Park finished 2–2 and the title was shared for the only time in its history. Rangers' first-ever Scottish Cup win came in 1894 after a 3–1 final victory over rivals Celtic. By the start of the 20th century, Rangers had won two league titles and three Scottish Cups. During William Wilton's time as match secretary and then team manager, Rangers won ten league titles.

The Ibrox disaster occurred on 2 January 1971 when large-scale crushing on a stairway exit at the culmination of an Old Firm game claimed 66 lives. An enquiry concluded that the crush was likely to have happened ten minutes after the final whistle and to have been triggered by someone falling on the stairs. A benefit match to raise funds for the victims' families took place after the disaster, a joint Rangers and Celtic team playing a Scotland XI at Hampden, watched by 81,405 fans.

In 1972, Rangers emerged from the tragedy of the previous year to finally achieve success on the European stage. A Colin Stein goal and a Willie Johnston double helped secure a 3–2 victory over Dynamo Moscow at the Nou Camp, Barcelona, to lift the European Cup Winners' Cup. Captain John Greig received the trophy in a small room within the Nou Camp following pitch invasions by Rangers fans reacting to the heavy handed tactics of the Spanish police, the majority of whom had been brought in from outwith Catalonia. Rangers were banned from Europe for two years for the behaviour of their fans, later reduced on appeal to one year.

The following season saw the club compete in the first ever European Super Cup, although the European ban saw it officially recognised as Rangers centenary anniversary match. The side played the European Cup holders Ajax, who had first proposed the idea, in January 1973. The Dutch side proved too strong and recorded a 6–3 aggregate win, with Rangers losing 1–3 at Ibrox and 3–2 in Amsterdam.

Emerging from the shadows of Jock Stein's Celtic side, Rangers regained ascendancy with notable domestic success under the stewardship of manager Jock Wallace. In his first season in charge – the club's centenary – Rangers won the Scottish Cup at Hampden in front of 122,714 supporters. In 1974–75, Wallace led Rangers to their first League championship triumph in 11 years, before winning the treble the following season, repeating the historic feat in 1977–78.

John Greig served as manager for five years but was unable to achieve the success as a manager that he had as a player. Unable to win the league during his reign, he was replaced by Wallace returning in 1983. Wallace was unable to repeat the success of his first period in charge with a win ratio of less than 50%, and was himself replaced by Graeme Souness in 1986.

In 1998, Dutchman Dick Advocaat became the club's first foreign manager. Nine-in-a-row era stalwarts having moved on, Advocaat invested heavily in the team with immediate results, leading the club to their sixth domestic treble. The league championship was won with a 3–0 victory at Celtic Park on 2 May 1999. A second-consecutive league title was won by a record 21-point margin, the club securing a domestic double with a 4–0 Scottish Cup final victory over Aberdeen. Rangers' campaign in the Champions League saw them defeat UEFA Cup winners Parma en route.

Advocaat's third season saw Rangers fail to compete domestically against Celtic under new manager Martin O'Neill. Despite investment in the team, including Tore Andre Flo for a club-record £12 million, European success beyond the Champions League group stages again proved elusive. After a slow start to the following season, Advocaat resigned from his post in December 2001 and was replaced by Alex McLeish.

In his first full campaign, the 2002–03 season saw McLeish become the sixth Rangers manager to deliver a domestic treble. The championship was won on goal difference during a dramatic final day 6–1 triumph over Dunfermline Athletic at Ibrox, securing Rangers' 50th league title, the first club in the world to achieve the feat. Major expenditure sanctioned by chairman David Murray had burdened Rangers with considerable debts in the region of £52m. The club's worsening financial state saw many of the team's top players leave in the summer of 2003, the following season failing to deliver any trophies, only the second such occasion since 1985–86.

The 2004–05 season restored success to Rangers, who were boosted by signings such as Jean-Alain Boumsong, Dado Pršo and Nacho Novo, along with the return of former captain Barry Ferguson after a spell in England with Blackburn Rovers. The club's league championship triumph culminated in a dramatic final-day finish. The destination of the trophy changed unexpectedly, with Celtic conceding late goals to Motherwell at Fir Park whilst Rangers led against Hibernian, requiring the helicopter carrying the SPL trophy to change direction and deliver the prize to the Easter Road ground in Leith.

Despite beginning as favourites to retain the championship, Rangers suffered an unprecedented run of poor results between September and November, a club-record run of ten games without a win. Included within this period, a 1–1 draw with Inter Milan took Rangers into the last 16 of the Champions League, the first Scottish team to achieve the feat since 1993, the club eventually exiting on the away goals rule to Villarreal. On 9 February 2006, it was announced by David Murray that McLeish would be standing down as manager at the end of that season.

Frenchman Paul Le Guen replaced Alex McLeish as manager after season 2005–06. The season started with an early exit from the League Cup whilst Celtic built a commanding lead at the top of the table. In the UEFA Cup, Rangers became the first Scottish side to qualify for the last 32 of the competition, since the introduction of the group phase, after finishing their group unbeaten. However, amid claims of disharmony between the manager and captain Barry Ferguson, it was announced on 4 January 2007 that Le Guen had left Rangers by mutual consent.

On 1 June 2012, after four months in administration, a failure to reach a CVA agreement with creditors led to The Rangers Football Club plc (since renamed RFC 2012 plc) entering the process of liquidation. The administrators completed a sale of the business and assets to a new company, Sevco Scotland Ltd (which later renamed itself The Rangers Football Club Ltd), though most first-team players refused to transfer across. The new company failed to secure the transfer of Rangers' previous place in the Scottish Premier League, but were later accepted into the Scottish Football League. Rangers were awarded associate membership 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.

With most key Rangers players having refused to transfer to the new company, a very different Rangers team lined up for the first league match in the Third Division though it secured a comfortable 5–1 victory 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 league campaign with three successive draws before losing 1–0 to Stirling Albion, at the time the bottom club in the country. 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 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 on 30 March after a goalless draw at Montrose.

Apart from being defeated 2–1 by Forfar Athletic in the first round of the League Cup on 3 August, season 2013–14 got off to an excellent start with Rangers winning maximum league points in their first 15 games in League One, before being held to a draw at home by Stranraer on Boxing Day 2013. 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 former player Stuart McCall as their third manager of the season for the remaining fixtures. 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.

On 4 May 2018, former Liverpool and England captain Steven Gerrard was confirmed as the new manager of Rangers on a four-year contract. Gerrard's era started successfully with Rangers remaining unbeaten in their first 12 games, clinching a place in the UEFA Europa League group stage in the process. However, Rangers were then defeated by Celtic in the first Old Firm match of the season, and the following month were eliminated from the League Cup by Aberdeen. On 29 December, Rangers defeated Celtic at Ibrox to inflict Brendan Rodgers' first defeat in 13 Old Firm games; Rangers first win over Celtic since a Scottish Cup victory in April 2016 and their first league win over Celtic since March 2012. Aberdeen knocked Rangers out of a cup for the second time in the season after securing a 2–0 victory in the Scottish Cup at Ibrox on 12 March 2019.

Season 2019–20 began with Rangers again qualifying for the UEFA Europa League group stage before losing 2–0 to Celtic at Ibrox in the first Old Firm match of the season on 1 September. The following day, the club signed Ryan Kent from Liverpool for £7m. Rangers reached the final of the League Cup but despite a dominant performance were beaten 1–0 by Celtic. On 12 December Rangers progressed to the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 as group runners-up after a 1–1 draw with BSC Young Boys which secured European football beyond Christmas for the first time since the 2010–11 season. On 29 December, Rangers beat Celtic 2–1 at Celtic Park, their first win at their arch rival's stadium since October 2010. However, a slump in form thereafter, including losing to Hearts in the Scottish Cup and Hamilton in the league within 5 days, left Rangers 13 points adrift of Celtic a week into March. However, all professional football in Scotland was suspended later that month due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. On 18 May 2020, the SPFL officially ended the season, and Celtic were awarded the league title which was determined by points per game.

On 7 March 2021, Rangers won the league title for the first time in 10 years, going on to end the league campaign undefeated with a club record 102 points.

Midway through the 2021–22 season, Steven Gerrard left Rangers for Aston Villa, and was replaced by former Rangers midfielder Giovanni van Bronckhorst on 11 November 2021. He led Rangers to their first European final in fourteen years, beating Borussia Dortmund, Red Star Belgrade, Braga and RB Leipzig on the way to facing Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2022 UEFA Europa League Final. He also took the club to their first Scottish Cup final in six years, in which they beat Hearts.

In the 2022–23 season, Rangers qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time since the 2010–11 season. They went on to lose all six group matches against Napoli, Liverpool, and Ajax with only two goals scored and a −20 goal difference overall, setting the worst performance in a Champions League group stage, surpassing Dinamo Zagreb's −19 goal difference in the 2011–12 season.

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