Up where we belong
Rangers return to elite after four-year exile
GLASGOW: Rangers ended a fouryear exile from the Scottish Premiership when they beat Dumbarton 10 with a secondhalf goal by James Tavernier to clinch the Championship title and automatic promotion at Ibrox Stadium.
The victory means they will be back among the elite next season after being demoted to the lowest, fourthtier of the Scottish League for financial irregularities in 2012 which left the
£ Glasgow club 134mil (RM740mil) in debt.
The club were liquidated and reformed since when Rangers, who have won a world record 54 domestic league titles, have climbed back to the top flight with three promotions in four years, including claiming the one automatic place this season.
Manager Mark Warburton, who took over before the start of the season, savoured the moment but said it was important not to let standards slip with other huge games on the horizon.
Rangers play Peterhead in the final of the Challenge Cup, a competition for clubs outside the top flight, on Sunday before facing Old Firm rivals Celtic in the Scottish Cup semifinals a week later.
“We sat down as a group, staff and players, and said, ‘Let’s smash the Championship’,” Warburton told the club’s official website (www.rangers.co.uk).
“That was the aim. We wanted to win it and win it convincingly to give us momentum going into season 201617. “As a club, first target achieved, we won the Championship. But it’s essential for the club that we don’t stop moving forward.”
Rangers went unbeaten during their one season in the third tier, winning 33 and drawing three of their 36 league games with a goal tally of 10618.
Rangers’ climb was halted last season when they finished third in the Championship and lost in the playoffs, but there was no faltering this season.
Tuesday’s win was their 25th in 32 league matches and moved them on to 79 points, 17 clear of secondplaced Falkirk but, more importantly, 22 points clear of thirdplaced Hibernian, who were the only team that could have caught them.