1987–88 Rangers F.C. season

Rangers
1987–88 season
ChairmanDavid Holmes
ManagerGraeme Souness
GroundIbrox Stadium
Scottish Premier Division3rd
Scottish CupFourth round
League CupWinners
European CupQuarter-final
Glasgow CupNot completed
Top goalscorerLeague:
Ally McCoist (31)
All:
Ally McCoist (42)

The 1987–88 season was the 108th season of competitive football by Rangers.

Overview

Rangers played a total of 58 competitive matches during the 1987–88 season. The team finished a disappointing third in the Scottish Premier Division with 60 points, two behind Hearts and twelve behind champions Celtic.

Future club captain Richard Gough was signed from Tottenham Hotspur for a club record fee of £1.1m.

In the cup competitions, they were knocked out of the Scottish Cup in the fourth round, losing 2–0 away to Dunfermline Athletic. They won the League Cup (Skol Cup), defeating Aberdeen 5–3 on penalties after the match was drawn 3–3.

The European campaign was fairly successful. The club reached the quarter-final of the European Cup after beating Dynamo Kiev and Górnik Zabrze before being knocked out by Steaua Bucharest.

Rangers defeated English Champions Everton in the Dubai Super Cup in December. The match ended 2–2 with Rangers winning the penalty shootout 8–7. The match was dubbed the unofficial British Championship decider by the football media.

Transfers

In

Date Player From Fee
May 1987 Israel Avi Cohen Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv [1]
1987 England Mark Falco England Watford [1]
September 1987 England Trevor Francis Italy Atalanta £75,000[1]
2 October 1987 Scotland Richard Gough England Tottenham Hotspur £1,100,000[2]
30 December 1987 England Mark Walters England Aston Villa £500,000[3]
15 January 1988 Scotland John Brown Scotland Dundee £350,000[4]
15 February 1988 Scotland Ian Ferguson Scotland St Mirren £850,000[5]

Out

Date Player From Fee
December 1987 Scotland Robert Fleck England Norwich City £580,000[1]

Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

Scottish Premier Division

Main article: 1987–88 Scottish Premier Division
Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
8 August 1987 Dundee United H 1–1 39,120 McCoist (pen.)
12 August 1987 Hibernian A 0–1 22,000
15 August 1987 Aberdeen A 0–2 22,568
22 August 1987 Falkirk H 4–0 32,340 McCoist (3), Falco
29 August 1987 Celtic A 0–1 60,800
5 September 1987 Dundee H 2–1 38,302 Fleck, McCoist
12 September 1987 Dunfermline Athletic H 4–0 39,749 McCoist (3), Souness
19 September 1987 Motherwell A 1–0 19,480 Philliben (o.g.)
26 September 1987 Greenock Morton H 7–0 35,843 McCoist (3), Falco (3), Fleck
3 October 1987 Heart of Midlothian A 0–0 28,637
6 October 1987 St Mirren H 3–1 39,298 Falco, Butcher, Souness
10 October 1987 Dundee United A 0–1 18,214
17 October 1987 Celtic H 2–2 44,500 McCoist, Gough
28 October 1987 Dunfermline Athletic A 4–0 18,070 Durrant (2), McCall (pen.), McCoist
31 October 1987 Motherwell H 1–0 36,583 McCoist
7 November 1987 Hibernian H 1–0 37,571 Fleck
14 November 1987 St Mirren A 2–2 20,649 McCoist (2)
17 November 1987 Aberdeen H 0–1 41,371
21 November 1987 Falkirk A 1–0 17,500 Fleck
24 November 1987 Greenock Morton A 3–0 16,500 D.Ferguson, Fleck, McCoist
28 November 1987 Heart of Midlothian H 3–2 43,557 Fleck, Durrant, Levein (o.g.)
5 December 1987 Dundee United H 1–0 41,159 McCoist
12 December 1987 Hibernian A 2–0 21,000 Gough, Fleck
14 December 1987 Dunfermline Athletic H 2–2 31,687 D.Ferguson, McCoist
19 December 1987 Motherwell A 2–0 15,436 McCoist (pen.), Philiben (o.g.)
26 December 1987 Dundee H 2–0 40,938 McCoist (2, 1 (pen.))
2 January 1988 Celtic A 0–2 60,800
6 January 1988 Dundee A 1–0 17,450 McCoist
9 January 1988 Greenock Morton H 5–0 38,349 McCoist (3), Durrant
16 January 1988 Heart of Midlothian A 1–1 28,967 Durrant (pen.)
23 January 1988 Falkirk H 3–1 41,088 Bartram, Brown, Durrant (pen.)
6 February 1988 Aberdeen A 2–1 22,500 McCoist, Gough
13 February 1988 St Mirren H 4–0 41,664 Cooper, Walters, Wilkins, Gough
27 February 1988 Dundee United A 1–1 20,846 Walters
5 March 1988 Dunfermline Athletic A 3–0 19,017 McCoist (pen.), Walters, Gough
12 March 1988 Motherwell H 1–0 39,650 Durrant
20 March 1988 Celtic H 1–2 43,650 Bartram
26 March 1988 Dundee A 3–2 14,879 Roberts, Walters, Durrant (pen.)
2 April 1988 Heart of Midlothian H 1–2 41,125 Bartram
9 April 1988 Greenock Morton A 2–3 12,000 I.Ferguson, Durrant
16 April 1988 Hibernian H 1–1 32,218 D.Ferguson
23 April 1988 St Mirren A 3–0 13,809 Walters, Brown, McCoist
30 April 1988 Aberdeen H 0–1 36,010
7 May 1988 Falkirk A 5–0 14,500 Walters (2), McCoist (2, 1 (pen.)), D.Ferguson

Scottish League Cup

Main article: 1987–88 Scottish League Cup
Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
19 August 1987 R2 Stirling Albion A 2–1 13,000 Falco, McCoist
26 August 1987 R3 Dunfermline Athletic A 4–1 18,070 McCoist (3, 1 (pen.)), Falco
2 September 1987 QF Heart of Midlothian H 4–1 40,920 Durrant (2), McCoist (2, 1 (pen.))
23 September 1987 SF Motherwell N 3–1 45,938 Fleck, Falco, Kirk (o.g.)
25 October 1987 F Aberdeen N 3–3 71,961 Cooper, Durrant, Fleck

*Rangers won the match 5–3 on penalties

Scottish Cup

Main article: 1987–88 Scottish Cup
Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
30 January 1988 R3 Raith Rovers A 0–0 9,500
10 February 1988 R3 R Raith Rovers H 4–1 35,144 Durrant (2, 1 (pen.)), Walters, McCoist
20 February 1988 R4 Dunfermline Athletic A 0–2 19,360

European Cup

Main article: 1987–88 European Cup
Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
16 September 1987 R1 Soviet Union Dynamo Kyiv A 0–1 100,000
30 September 1987 R1 Soviet Union Dynamo Kiev H 2–0 44,500 Falco, McCoist
21 October 1987 R2 Poland Górnik Zabrze H 3–1 41,366 McCoist, Durrant, Falco
4 November 1987 R2 Poland Gornik Zabrze A 1–1 23,250 McCoist (pen.)
2 March 1988 QF Romania Steaua București A 0–2 33,000
16 March 1988 QF Romania Steaua București H 2–1 44,000 Gough, McCoist (pen.)

Dubai Super Cup

Main article: Dubai Champions Cup
Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
8 December 1987 F England Everton N 2–2* 8,000 Fleck, McCoist

*Rangers won the match 8–7 on penalties

Glasgow Cup

Main article: Glasgow Cup
Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
13 April 1988 SF Partick Thistle A 2–1✝ 4,500 Cooper, Spencer

✝Competition not completed

Appearances

Player Position Appearances Goals
Scotland Nicky Walker GK 6 0
England Chris Woods GK 52 0
Denmark Jan Bartram DF 14 3
Scotland John Brown DF 12 2
England Terry Butcher DF 18 1
Israel Avi Cohen DF 12 0
Scotland Richard Gough DF 36 6
Scotland John McGregor DF 32 0
Scotland Stuart Munro DF 22 0
Northern Ireland Jimmy Nicholl DF 33 0
Scotland Scott Nisbet DF 29 0
England Jimmy Phillips DF 27 0
England Graham Roberts DF 50 1
Scotland Davie Cooper MF 43 2
Scotland Ian Durrant MF 54 16
Scotland Derek Ferguson MF 43 4
Scotland Ian Ferguson MF 8 1
Scotland Robert Fleck MF 28 9
Scotland Davie Kirkwood MF 7 0
Scotland Dave MacFarlane MF 1 0
Scotland Ian McCall MF 12 1
Scotland Graeme Souness MF 30 2
England Mark Walters MF 21 8
England Ray Wilkins MF 29 1
England Mark Falco FW 19 10
England Trevor Francis FW 25 0
Scotland Ally McCoist FW 53 42
Scotland Gary McSwegan FW 1 0
England Colin West FW 1 0

League table

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Celtic (C) 44 31 10 3 79 23 +56 72 Qualification for the European Cup first round
2 Heart of Midlothian 44 23 16 5 74 32 +42 62 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3 Rangers 44 26 8 10 85 34 +51 60
4 Aberdeen 44 21 17 6 56 25 +31 59
5 Dundee United 44 16 15 13 54 47 +7 47 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
Source: Statto
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Walter Smith; Ken Gallacher (1994). Mr Smith: The Fan Who Joined the Ibrox Legends. Mainstream Publishing Company. ISBN 9-781-851586-684.
  2. ^ "Old Firm market swoop breaks the £2m barrier". Glasgow Herald. 3 October 1987.
  3. ^ "Rangers beat Everton in chase for £500,000 Mark Walters". Glasgow Herald. 31 December 1987.
  4. ^ "Brown is hoping to leave Hearts with the Blues=Glasgow Herald". 16 January 1988.
  5. ^ "Its softly, softly as Ferguson finally signs for Rangers=Glasgow Herald". 16 February 1988.