Its a huge honour – Shankland named new Rangers captain

Lawrence Shankland said it was “a huge honour” to be named Rangers’ new captain despite only joining the club from Hearts earlier in the summer transfer window. 

Shankland followed former boss Derek McInnes to Ibrox following four years at Tynecastle, with the 30-year-old a key part of Hearts’ success under him in 2025-26. 

He captained Hearts to a second-place finish in the Scottish Premiership, narrowly missing out on a first top-flight title since 1960 following a final-day defeat to Celtic. 

Only Motherwell’s Tawanda Maswanhise (17) scored more goals in the Scottish Premiership in 2025-26 than Shankland’s 16, while he also provided three assists. 

During his time with Hearts, Shankland made 171 appearances in all competitions, registering 113 goal contributions (88 goals, 25 assists) over that period. 

And ahead of Rangers’ Scottish Premiership curtain-raiser against Dundee United this Friday, Shankland promised to drive standards throughout the entirety of the club. 

“It’s a huge honour for myself to be the captain of this football club,” Shankland told reporters. “I’m a lifelong supporter, and it’s a dream for me to be here in the first place. 

“But to get the opportunity to captain this club is an honour. He [McInnes] only told me about an hour ago. When I was at Hearts, I was also the captain. 

“Since I came here, I’ve learned how to behave around the place and in my training I have had to act like a captain and a leader within the group. 

“It wasn’t something that I had thought of. To be honest, I’m just delighted to be here in the first place. I always look to myself to set examples on the pitch and do things properly.”

Lawrence Shankland has been named as men’s first-team captain ahead of the 2026/27 season. pic.twitter.com/UcL4sxumnq

— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) July 29, 2026

Shankland succeeds James Tavernier in wearing the captain’s armband for Rangers after the defender left upon the expiry of his contract in the summer.

“Obviously, when you’re going into a club and looking for a captain, James Tavernier has served the club for a long period and served it well, so there has always been this discussion and something I have been asked about quite a lot since I’ve been here,” McIness said of his decision. 

“I really wanted to look through the squad and how everyone was, and the advantage that Lawrence had was that he had evidence of how well he runs a dressing room. 

“He has experience of having been the captain of Hearts for a few years, and there was a lot to consider, but a lot of things went in his favour. 

“He’s got experience. We are still quite a young dressing room, and he knows the club by being a Glasgow boy. He knows what is expected of him, me and the team, and we also have a strong relationship which always helps with these things.”

Shankland will lead his team out for the first time in a competitive match at Tannadice Park, with Rangers aiming to get their Scottish Premiership campaign off to a winning start. 

Rangers are unbeaten in their last 13 league meetings with Dundee United (W9 D4) since a 0-1 defeat in August 2021 under Steven Gerrard.

This will also be McInnes’ first league game as Rangers manager. The last manager to lose their first top-flight league match in charge of the club was Graeme Murty in February 2017 (1-2 v Dundee), with 11 Gers bosses avoiding defeat in their first since (W8 D3).

McInnes has only lost one of his last 15 Scottish Premiership games against Dundee United (W8 D6), a 0-4 defeat with Kilmarnock in November 2022.