Bailey Rice (Scottish footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Bailey Joe Rice[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 4 October 2006 | ||
| Place of birth | Scotland | ||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Rangers | ||
| Number | 49 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2020–2022 | Motherwell | ||
| 2022– | Rangers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2023– | Rangers | 10 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2021 | Scotland U16 | 5 | (0) |
| 2021–2023 | Scotland U17 | 14 | (1) |
| 2023– | Scotland U19 | 11 | (0) |
| 2025– | Scotland U21 | 2 | (0) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22:58, 17 May 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 25 March 2025 | |||
Bailey Joe Rice (born 4 October 2006) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Scottish Premiership club Rangers.
Club career
A product of the Motherwell youth academy and part of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) Performance School Programme via Braidhurst High School,[2] Rice signed for Rangers on 30 June 2022 after rejecting a professional contract with the Steelmen.[3][4] He made his senior debut for Rangers in February 2023 in a Scottish Premiership match away to Livingston as an 88th-minute substitute for Ryan Kent,[5][6] becoming the youngest post-war league player for the club, aged 16 years and 137 days, and the second youngest post-war player in all competitions, after Derek Ferguson.[7] In September of that year he signed a contract extension running to 2026.[8]
Rice made his UEFA Europa League debut on 28 November 2024, replacing Nedim Bajrami in the 80th minute of a 4–1 away win over OGC Nice. On 10 April 2025, he was selected to start in the competition's quarter-final first leg against Athletic Bilbao, but had to be carried off on a stretcher with an hour played after suffering a head injury.[9] He made only 12 appearances overall during the campaign, with his progress compared unfavourably with that of former Motherwell youth teammate Lennon Miller,[10] while Rice indicated his hope for more first-team opportunities in the season ahead.[11]
International career
Rice has represented Scotland at youth levels, playing 14 matches for the under-17 team.[12] His debut for Rangers came less than 24 hours after playing for Scotland under-17s in Spain against Switzerland.[6] He received a first call-up for the under-21 squad in March 2025.[10]
Career statistics
- As of match played 22:12, 17 May 2025 (UTC)
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Rangers | 2022–23[13] | Scottish Premiership | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
| 2023–24[14] | Scottish Premiership | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2024–25[15] | Scottish Premiership | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[a] | 0 | — | 12 | 0 | ||
| Total | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 15 | 0 | |||
| Rangers B | 2022–23[13] | — | — | — | — | 1[b] | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| 2023–24[14] | — | — | — | — | 3[b] | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||||||
| 2023–24[15] | — | — | — | — | 4[b] | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||||||
| Career total | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 23 | 0 | ||
- ^ Appearance in UEFA Europa League
- ^ a b c Appearances in Scottish Challenge Cup
References
- ^ Results for Bailey Rice, ScotlandsPeople. Retrieved 24 July 2025
- ^ Scottish football's sliding doors moment? The SFA Performance Schools 10 years on, James Wilson, Shorthand Stories, June 2022
- ^ Bailey Rice leaves to join Rangers, Motherwell FC, 30 June 2022
- ^ "Rangers Academy are delighted to confirm that Under-17s player Bailey Rice will join us from Motherwell". Rangers FC. Twitter. 30 June 2022.
- ^ "Livingston 0–3 Rangers". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
- ^ a b Irvine, David (22 May 2023). "Inside story of Rice's Rangers debut & Scotland cap within 24 hours". The Herald.
- ^ Pilcher, Ross (22 September 2023). "Who is Bailey Rice? Rangers boss Michael Beale declares starlet 'ready for the madhouse'". Daily Record.
- ^ Bailey Rice Signs Contract Extension, Craig Vickers, Rangers FC, 12 September 2023
- ^ Irvine, David (10 April 2025). "Bailey Rice stretchered off after nasty Rangers head knock". The National.
- ^ a b Gemmill tells young duo to ‘make good decisions’, The Courier, 13 March 2025, via PressReader
- ^ "'I don't want to be squad player' - Rice on Rangers role". BBC Sport. 10 May 2025. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
- ^ "Bailey Rice Scottish FA player profile". scottishfa.co.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
- ^ a b "Games played by Bailey Rice in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
- ^ a b "Games played by Bailey Rice in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
- ^ a b "Games played by Bailey Rice in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
External links
- Bailey Rice at Soccerbase