Player Biography

The full-back started out initially in the youth academy at Leeds United and later began his professional career at Newcastle.

Following a series of loan moves, he made a permanent switch to Wigan Athletic and it was from there that he moved to Ibrox after a single campaign.

Tavernier quickly established a reputation as a set-piece specialist but also recorded a high number of goals from open play for someone in his position.

He scored 15 times in his first season, helping Gers win the Championship and the Challenge Cup, with the Englishman scoring one of his best goals in the Hampden final with Peterhead.

Tavernier was given the skipper’s armband on a full-time basis by Steven Gerrard when he was named as manager in 2018 and he has barely looked back since.

He scored an incredible 19 goals in all competitions in 2020/21 as he led Rangers to their first Premiership title in nine years, with 17 of them coming before Christmas.

The defender was also instrumental in a record haul of 26 clean sheets as the club secured the league by a massive 25 points from Celtic.

It’s not just domestically Tavernier has impressed. He also made a huge contribution as Rangers went all the way to the 2022 Europa League final in Seville.

Scoring seven goals – all of them in the knockout rounds – made him the competition’s top scorer and the first defender to do that in a European tournament for 18 years.

The last remaining senior player at Ibrox from the club’s time outside the top flight, Tavernier reached a remarkable 100 goals for the club in the 2022/23 season and was also inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame.

In season 2023/24, the skipper continued his impressive goal scoring record for the club, breaking the 20-goal mark for the first time in a single season. His goal in a 3-1 victory over Hibernian in March 2024 saw Tavernier overtake Graham Alexander to become the highest scoring British defender of all time with 131 goals.