Ally McCoist fielded a makeshift side but that was enough to impress against and beat a flat Liverpool 1-0, whose own much-changed starting XI cost something in the region of £70m.
It remains to be seen if British friendly matches in near-freezing conditions, after the domestic campaign has started, will take off. In Rangers' case, though, this seemed a reasonable enough exercise.
The Rangers owner, Craig Whyte, has made it clear he sees a future for his club against top-flight English opposition. Matches such as this were not what Whyte had in mind when he made such comments, with the theory that Liverpool's visit represented little more than a moneymaking exercise rather tricky to dispute.
Rangers' qualifying‑stage elimination from Europe, after all, has left a rather large hole in their income stream. The level of funds bestowed on new players by Kenny Dalglish over the summer shows Liverpool are operating on another monetary level entirely, even if they were handed an appearance fee for the trouble of making the journey north. To their credit, 4,000 supporters followed them.
The buildup to the game was dominated by merely the latest off-field machinations at Ibrox. Rangers issued a statement which revealed they will withdraw all co-operation with the BBC, hours after their former finance director Donald McIntyre successfully applied to have £300,000 of the club's assets frozen. He is not the first to do that.
Dalglish spared Steven Gerrard and Luis Suárez the trip to Glasgow. Andy Carroll started – but was ineffectual - while Craig Bellamy played the role of pantomime villain as the former Celtic player in the visiting lineup. Carroll's struggles must be put in the context of the 41-year-old David Weir playing as a Rangers centre-half.
Bellamy whined a lot, picked a couple of token scraps, but was also anonymous as an attacking threat during his 65 minutes on the field. He at least succeeded in warming up those in the stands, and entirely intentionally.
Rangers were the better side in the opening half. Lee McCulloch will be credited with the goal which broke the deadlock, even if Fabio Aurélio looked to knock the midfielder's header over his own goalline.
Sharp Doni saves from Steven Whittaker and Matt McKay ensured the Rangers lead sat at only a single goal at the interval, while Steven Davis passed up a glorious chance when sending a lobbed shot over the Liverpool crossbar from close range.
Doni departed the scene after 57 minutes having injured himself in saving a Kyle Lafferty shot. Rangers claimed the effort had trickled over the line, in offering a rare moment of controversy from an otherwise – and unsurprisingly – low-key affair.
Charlie Adam's appearance among the raft of substitutes afforded the Scot something he was rarely, if ever, given as a Rangers player; a warm Ibrox welcome. Adam could not alter the result, which owed plenty to the showing of Rangers' youngsters.