Kris Boyd's penalty secured all three points for Rangers in a 1-0 victory over Motherwell in a SPL game which was marred by a brawl and two red cards.
The shock news that Ferguson was dropped for today's game emerged on Monday when the club confirmed Gavin Rae would be handed the captain's armband for the trip to Fir Park.
His omission followed weeks of speculation of a rift between Ferguson and manager Paul Le Guen, with both men recently clashing over the importance of a skipper's role.
The midfielder now looks certain to have played his last game for Rangers under the current manager, and the controversial decision to axe him could make or break Le Guen's Ibrox career.
The Rangers boss was set to explain his reasons after the match but travelling fans made it clear whose side they were on before a ball had even been kicked.
They chanted Ferguson's name throughout the game, while one group of supporters held aloft a banner declaring 'Le Guen Out'.
The furore surrounding Ferguson almost overshadowed the rest of the team news.
Ian Murray made his first appearance of the season after a long recovery from an arthritic condition, while Prso was also back after missing the last two games with a groin strain.
Chris Burke was drafted into the first team, while Sasa Papac, Charlie Adam and Nacho Novo dropped out, with Motherwell unchanged following their 1-1 draw against Celtic.
New Irish trio Danny Murphy, Paul Keegan and Trevor Molly were named on the bench, along with Saturday's goal hero Darren Smith.
Rangers were under more pressure than ever before to produce a positive result.
And they came close in the opening seconds of the game when Boyd tried to set up Rae with a cut-back from the by-line but the danger was intercepted by a Motherwell defender.
Karl Svensson then stabbed wide of target from the resultant corner, before a Burke effort was smothered on the line by goalkeeper Graeme Smith.
At the other end of the park, Richie Foran nodded wide from a Jim Paterson corner.
And Rangers were under pressure again when goalkeeper Allan McGregor fumbled a Scott McDonald shot before the danger was eventually cleared.
McDonald tried his luck again with a point-blank effort from the edge of the box but this time McGregor was up to the task.
Rangers looked just as capable of grabbing the opener and came close when Prso released Libor Sionko into the box but Smith was first to the ball to snuff out the danger.
The Ibrox side were forced to make their first change of the day after just 26 minutes when Novo replaced Sionko, who had been the victim of a Paterson challenge from behind.
Prso then squandered a great opportunity himself when he nodded wide when it looked so much easier to score, before Novo sent a curling effort inches past the post.
Former Cork City star Murphy was handed his Motherwell debut when he replaced Paterson at the break.
But the first chance of the second half fell to Rangers when Prso pounced on a Novo knock-down only to fire wide of the upright.
Motherwell then had a decent chance to open the scoring when McDonald's cross was met by David Clarkson and his header flashed past the post.
It was proving impossible to predict who would find the back of the net first and Novo was denied firstly by Stephen Craigan before his second effort crashed off Gers team-mate Boyd.
Then only a superb finger-tip save from McGregor denied McDonald's thunderous effort.
The Rangers goalkeeper was called into action again seconds later to block a Steven McGarry drive, before Foran's header was cleared off the line by Svensson.
The breakthrough finally came after 70 minutes when Prso went to ground under a Smith challenge and referee Mike McCurry immediately pointed to the spot.
Boyd stepped up for the pressure kick and sent the Motherwell goalkeeper the wrong way from 12 yards.
Trouble broke loose two minutes later when Fitzpatrick and Prso both saw red for fighting, sparking a goalmouth brawl involving every player apart from the two goalkeepers.
A much relieved Paul Le Guen was relieved by the victory but his contentious decision to drop Ferguson will rumble on.
