The new Scottish Premier League began in the season of 1975-76. Apart from Rangers, the inaugural members of the elite division were Aberdeen, Ayr, Celtic, Dundee, Dundee United, Hearts, Hibernian, Motherwell and St Johnstone.

Compare those names with the teams who played in the very first Scottish Championship back in 1890-91. Only Rangers, Celtic and Hearts were still there. Others had long gone, such as Abercorn, Cambuslang, Cowlairs and Vale of Leven.

Of the remainder, Dumbarton and St Mirren were in lower divisions and Third Lanark had dropped out of the Scottish League in 1967.

So the brave new world consisted of 10 teams, the same number as the original. The difference was that now clubs would play each other four times a season.

Under Jock Wallace's management, Rangers won 23 of their 36 Championship games that season, drawing eight and losing five. They won both games at home against Celtic and drew the away games. Their defeats were at Aberdeen, soon to become a major force in Scottish football, and at Ayr, Hearts, Hibs and Motherwell.

Rangers won the first Scottish Premier title by six points (when a win was still two points) from runners-up Celtic.

But it wasn't just that title win that made it an historic year. Rangers won the League Cup, beating Celtic 1-0 in the Final, and also lifted the Scottish Cup with a 3-1 victory over Hearts. Rangers had achieved the Treble for the third time.

And then euphoria was replaced by disappointment. The next season the cupboard was bare. But it wasn't empty for long. Within 12 months, Rangers had pulled off their fourth Treble, pipping Aberdeen in the Premier League, defeating Celtic 2-1 in the League Cup Final and beating Aberdeen again 2-1 in the Scottish Cup Final.

Wallace had achieved the Treble twice in three seasons - and then he quit abruptly after a disagreement with Willie Waddell and the Rangers board

Rangers turned to one of their European Cup Winners' Cup heroes, John Greig, to be their seventh manager and he came desperately close to winning the Treble in his first season in charge.

Aberdeen were beaten 2-1 in the League Cup Final and Hibernian were overcome 3-2 at the third attempt in the Scottish Cup Final. But Rangers, who led the table, came unstuck near the end of the 1978-79 season at Parkhead going down 4-2 to Celtic. With just eight minutes to go it had been 2-2. The lapse was enough to hand the title to Celtic.

After such an encouraging start, the honours dried up. There was a Scottish Cup Final triumph over Dundee United, 4-1 after a replay, in 1981 and a 2-1 League Cup Final victory over the same opponents in 1982.

But expectations were high and the pressure was too great. John Greig resigned in 1983 and was replaced by the returning Jock Wallace.

Wallace won the League Cup two years in a row (3-2 over Celtic in 1983-84 and 1-0 against Dundee United in 1984-85), but Rangers' League form was indifferent. These were the years when a "New Firm" - Aberdeen and Dundee United - sought to establish itself and Rangers couldn't finish in the first three.

By 1985-86 Rangers had slumped to fifth, finishing with less than a point a game - a total of 35 from 36 games. It had never happened in Rangers' history and it was a record they would want to forget. Wallace, previously the man with the golden touch and the only one to manage Rangers twice, was sacked.

He was replaced by former Scotland international Graeme Souness, a fiery competitor with an illustrious career at Liverpool and Sampdoria. He appointed Walter Smith, who had been No 2 at Dundee United, as his assistant and began a policy of bringing in big name players from England.

For 80 years, Scotland had seen some of its best football talent drain away over the border. Now Souness reversed it with the likes of England internationals Terry Butcher, Chris Woods and Trevor Steven heading north.

Souness, however, made a controversial start. As player-manager, he was sent off after a flare-up at Hibernian in his first game for the club in August 1986. Souness received a three-match ban and Rangers were fined £5,000.

But at the end of his first full season, Souness had brought the Championship back to Ibrox. Rangers also won the League Cup, beating Celtic 2-1 in the Final.

Souness was on the brink of returning Rangers to greatness, but first it would take a revolution that came with the arrival in the boardroom of David Murray.

Murray, a successful businessman and friend of Souness, became the new owner of Rangers in November 1988, though he did not take over as chairman from David Holmes until June the following year.

He began investing in the team and in the stadium - a process which saw £90 million spent on players and £52 million on ground developments in Murray's first 10 years.

That first season with Murray and Souness together at the helm brought the first of a record-equalling run of Nine-In-A-Row Championships.

They also did something which hadn't happened at Rangers for more than 70 years. They signed a high-profile Catholic player.

In the early days of Scottish football, it was not unusual for players to turn out for both Rangers and Celtic. It was only around the time of the First World War, when Belfast shipyard workers moved to the Clyde, that sectarian attitudes began to harden.

Now with the signing of Mo Johnston, a former Celtic player, for £1.5 million from French club Nantes, Murray was announcing that old prejudices had no place in the modern game.

After a second successive League title in 1989-90, Souness left to manage Liverpool in April 1991. Murray gave him credit for "turning the big ship round."

Walter Smith stepped up as Rangers' ninth manager and the club would win seven League Championships, three Scottish Cups and three League Cups in the space of seven magnificent seasons. No previous Rangers' manager had won so many honours in such a short time.

By season 1992-93, Rangers had won their fifth Treble in awesome fashion. They lost only one of their first 23 League games and, of the other four defeats, three came after the Championship had been won. The margin was still nine points over second-placed Aberdeen.

In all, Rangers went a remarkable 44 games without defeat in all competitions. For the record the sequence was 29 League games, four League Cup, three Scottish Cup and eight matches in the European Champions' League.

It was Rangers' finest run in Europe since winning the Cup Winners' Cup in 1972. In the first round, Rangers beat Lyngby of Copenhagen 3-0 on aggregate then faced English Champions Leeds United in a "Battle of Britain" second round tie.

Scotland and Leeds captain Gary McAllister stunned Ibrox with a goal in the first minute of the first leg. Rangers won 2-1 thanks to Ally McCoist and an own goal from the Leeds keeper John Lukic.

In the away leg, Mark Hateley scored with a scorcher from 25 yards and a McCoist header made it 2-0. Leeds pulled one back at the end of the game, but Rangers had become the first British club to qualify for the league stage of the competition.

Rangers' opponents in their group were Olympique Marseille, FC Bruges and CSKA Moscow. It was always going to be tough. Rangers had key players missing through injury and were limited at that time by the rule which allowed a club to field only three foreign players in the Champions' League.

They won 1-0 away in Moscow and beat Bruges 2-1 at Ibrox. All the other matches were drawn, including a memorable clash with Marseille in Glasgow where Rangers came from behind to score twice in the last 10 minutes. It was not enough for them to progress to the final, but Rangers had played 10 games in Europe without losing.

They beat Aberdeen 2-1 to win the League Cup and wrapped up the Championship with another 2-1 victory over the Dons.

Once again, Rangers were Simply The Best in Scottish football - and it was to get even better.