1986–87 Rangers F.C. season

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Rangers
1986–87 season
ChairmanDavid Holmes
ManagerGraeme Souness
GroundIbrox Park
Scottish Premier Division1st
P44 W31 D7 L6 F85 A23 Pts69
Scottish CupThird Round
League CupWinners
UEFA CupThird Round
Glasgow CupWinners
Top goalscorerLeague:
Ally McCoist (34)
All:
Ally McCoist (38)

The 1986–87 season was the 107th season of competitive football by Rangers.

Overview[]

Rangers played a total of 56 competitive matches during the 1986–87 season. The team finished top of the Scottish Premier Division for the first time in nine seasons. A total of 69 points were gained from 44 games and a lead of six points over second placed Celtic.

The Souness Revolution began with the signing of England internationals, goalkeeper Chris Woods and centre half Terry Butcher. Northern Ireland international Jimmy Nicholl rejoined the club and Colin West was brought in to partner Ally McCoist in attack. In December Graham Roberts arrived from Tottenham Hotspur to strengthen the defence.

There was a disappointing start to the league campaign, losing 2–1 to Hibernian at Easter Road. Graeme Souness was sent off for a tackle on George McCluskey in the centre circle, with both teams displaying a lack of discipline at that moment.[1]

On the penultimate day of the season the Championship was secured at Pittodrie with a 1–1 draw against Aberdeen. A Terry Butcher header was enough to bring the league title back to Ibrox for the first time since 1978.

In the cup competitions, Rangers were knocked out of the Scottish Cup in the third round, losing 1–0 at Ibrox to Hamilton Academical. The goal ended a run of 1196 minutes without conceding – a British record for goalkeeper Chris Woods.

They won the League Cup, defeating Celtic 2–1 with goals from Ian Durrant and Davie Cooper. This was an early success for Graeme Souness and helped pave the way towards the Championship.

The European campaign was moderately successful. Rangers reached the third round of the UEFA Cup after beating Ilves Tampere and Boavista before being knocked out by Borussia Mönchengladbach on the away goals rule.

Results[]

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

Scottish Premier Division[]

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
9 August 1986 Hibernian A 1–2 24,576 McCoist (pen.)
13 August 1986 Falkirk H 1–0 27,362 McCoist (pen.)
16 August 1986 Dundee United H 2–3 43,995 McCoist (2)
23 August 1986 Hamilton Academical A 2–1 10,000 Fraser, West
31 August 1986 Celtic H 1–0 43,502 Durrant
6 September 1986 Motherwell A 2–0 17,013 Cooper, McPherson
13 September 1986 Clydebank H 4–0 26,433 Fleck (3), McMinn
20 September 1986 Dundee A 0–1 17,132
27 September 1986 Aberdeen H 2–0 40,155 Souness, McCoist
4 October 1986 Heart of Midlothian A 1–1 28,637 Cooper
8 October 1986 St Mirren A 1–0 16,861 Cooper
11 October 1986 Hibernian H 3–0 38,196 McPherson, Fleck, Bell
18 October 1986 Falkirk A 5–1 16,800 Fleck (3, 1 (pen.)), Cooper, McCoist
29 October 1986 Dundee United A 0–0 20,170
1 November 1986 Celtic A 1–1 60,000 McCoist
8 November 1986 Motherwell H 0–1 33,966
15 November 1986 Clydebank A 4–1 9,906 McCoist (2), McPherson, Durrant
19 November 1986 Dundee H 2–1 22,992 McCoist, McPherson
22 November 1986 Aberdeen A 0–1 21,733
29 November 1986 Heart of Midlothian H 3–0 38,733 McCoist, Cooper, Durrant
3 December 1986 St Mirren H 2–0 23,110 McPherson, Cooper
6 December 1986 Hibernian A 0–0 18,536
13 December 1986 Falkirk H 4–0 24,177 Fleck (2), Cooper, Butcher
20 December 1986 Hamilton Academical A 2–0 10,000 Fleck, McCoist
27 December 1986 Dundee United H 2–0 42,165 McCoist, Fleck
1 January 1987 Celtic H 2–0 43,206 Fleck, McCoist
6 January 1987 Motherwell A 1–0 19,658 Roberts
10 January 1987 Clydebank H 5–0 36,397 Fleck (3), McCoist (2, 1 (pen.))
17 January 1987 Hamilton Academical H 2–0 43,052 Durrant, McCoist
24 January 1987 Aberdeen H 0–0 43,211
7 February 1987 Heart of Midlothian A 5–2 29,091 Fleck (2), Roberts, McCoist, Black (o.g.)
14 February 1987 St Mirren A 3–1 21,399 McCoist (3, 1 (pen.))
28 February 1987 Hibernian H 1–1 38,630 McPherson
7 March 1987 Falkirk A 2–1 18,000 McCoist (2)
14 March 1987 Hamilton Academical H 2–0 33,486 Cooper, McCoist
17 March 1987 Dundee A 4–0 18,723 McCoist (2), McPherson, Fleck
21 March 1987 Dundee United A 1–0 21,275 McPherson
28 March 1987 Motherwell H 1–0 37,305 McCoist
4 April 1987 Celtic A 1–3 60,800 McCoist
14 April 1987 Dundee H 2–0 42,427 Cooper, McCoist
18 April 1987 Clydebank A 3–0 9,950 McCoist (2, 1 (pen.)), West
25 April 1987 Heart of Midlothian H 3–0 43,205 McCoist (3, 1 (pen.))
2 May 1987 Aberdeen A 1–1 22,568 Butcher
9 May 1987 St Mirren H 1–0 43,510 Fleck

UEFA Cup[]

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
17 September 1986 R1 Ilves Tampere H 4–0 27,436 Fleck (3), McCoist
1 October 1986 R1 Ilves Tampere A 0–2 2,109
24 October 1986 R2 Boavista H 2–1 38,772 McPherson, McCoist
4 November 1986 R2 Boavista A 1–0 23,000 Ferguson
26 November 1986 R3 Borussia Monchengladbach H 1–1 33,000 Durrant
10 December 1986 R3 Borussia Monchengladbach A 0–0 36,000

Scottish Cup[]

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
31 January 1987 R3 Hamilton Academical H 0–1 35,462

League Cup[]

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
20 August 1986 R2 Stenhousemuir A 4–1 9,052 Souness, West, Cooper, McCoist
27 August 1986 R3 East Fife A 0–0* 8,835
3 September 1986 QF Dundee H 3–1 33,750 Fraser, Souness, McMinn
24 September 1986 SF Dundee United N 2–1 45,249 McCoist, McMinn
26 October 1986 F Celtic N 2–1 74,219 Durrant, Cooper (pen.)

*Rangers won the match 5–4 on penalties

Glasgow Cup[]

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
28 April 1987 SF Clyde N 1–1 4,000 Spencer
7 May 1987 F Celtic A 1–0 15,109

Appearances[]

Player Position Appearances Goals
England Chris Woods GK 48 0
Scotland Ally Dawson DF 10 0
Scotland Stuart Munro DF 48 0
Scotland Graeme Souness MF 29 3
Scotland Dave McPherson DF 47 8
England Terry Butcher DF 49 2
Scotland Bobby Russell MF 1 0
England Colin West FW 12 3
Scotland Ally McCoist FW 50 36
Scotland Ian Durrant MF 45 5
Scotland Ted McMinn MF 19 3
Scotland Derek Ferguson MF 33 0
Scotland Robert Fleck MF 44 19
Northern Ireland Jimmy Nicholl DF 39 0
Scotland Cammy Fraser MF 21 2
Scotland Davie Cooper MF 48 11
Scotland Hugh Burns DF 5 0
Scotland Nicky Walker GK 2 0
Scotland Scott Nisbet DF 1 0
Scotland Dave MacFarlane MF 5 0
Scotland Dougie Bell MF 12 1
Scotland Craig Paterson DF 2 0
England Graham Roberts DF 19 2
England Neil Woods FW 3 0
England Jimmy Phillips DF 6 0
Scotland Davie Kirkwood MF 1 0

League table[]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Rangers (C) 44 31 7 6 85 23 +62 69 Qualification for the European Cup first round
2 Celtic 44 27 9 8 90 41 +49 63 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3 Dundee United 44 24 12 8 85 34 +51 60
4 Aberdeen 44 21 16 7 63 29 +34 58
5 Heart of Midlothian 44 21 14 9 64 43 +21 56
Source: Statto
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Si Ferry Meets... Ally McCoist" – Open Goal, YouTube, published on 16 April 2018
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