Rangers confirm high-profile friendly as Derek McInnes' final warm-up match revealed
Fallen English giants to visit Ibrox next month
Rangers will warm up for their first competitive match under Derek McInnes with a friendly against West Ham United next month.
The Hammers will visit Ibrox on Sunday, July 26, kick-off 4pm, in what will be a final pre-season outing for the new Rangers boss ahead of the home Scottish Premiership opener against Dundee United five days later on Friday, July 31, kick-off 8pm.
Before facing a West Ham side who will play in the English Championship next season following their relegation from the Premier League, the Rangers squad will fly to Austria for an eight-day training camp on July 10. Fixture details for that trip have yet to be announced.
The friendly against Nuno Espirito Santo’s side will mark West Ham's third visit to Ibrox. The first was in August 1979 when Rangers hosted the four-team Tennent Caledonian Cup with John Greig's side earning a 3-2 win over the East Londoners.
More recently, David Moyes brought West Ham to Ibrox for a pre-season game in July 2022 as Giovanni van Bronckhorst's Rangers claimed a 3-1 victory through goals from Tom Lawrence, Ryan Kent and Rabbi Matondo, with Tomáš Souček on target for the visitors.
By the time the game comes around, Rangers will know their potential opponents in the Europa League third qualifying round with the draw, which will pit McInnes men against the winner of a second qualifying round tie, scheduled to take place on Monday, July 20.
Rangers will play their Europa League third qualifying round first and second legs on Thursday, August 6 and Thursday, August 13 respectively.
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