1983–84 Rangers F.C. season

Rangers 1983-84 football season
Rangers
1983-84 season
ChairmanRae Simpson
John Paton
ManagerJohn Greig
(until 28 October)
Tommy McLean
Jock Wallace
(from 10 November)
GroundIbrox Park
Scottish Premier Division4th
P36 W15 D12 L9 F53 A41 Pts42
Scottish CupQuarter-finals
League CupWinners
Cup Winners' CupSecond Round
Glasgow CupWinners
Top goalscorerLeague:
Sandy Clark (9)

All:
Ally McCoist (20)

The 1983–84 season was the 104th season of competitive football by Rangers.

Overview

Rangers played a total of 55 competitive matches during the 1983–84 season. The season would signal the end of John Greig's managerial career. The league season began badly, one point from the first four league games, although the team did win their six League Cup games under Greig. A fruitful brief run in the European Cup Winner's Cup saw Rangers win the second round, first leg 2–1 over F.C. Porto (runners up) after the team's record breaking 18-0 aggregate win over Maltese champions Valletta. After the first nine league games, Greig's team had collected just seven points from eighteen and, in the end, the pressure was too much for Greig who ultimately resigned as manager on 28 October 1983.

Rangers were overseen by former midfielder Tommy McLean, who acted as caretaker, whilst attempts were made to find a new permanent manager. On 10 November 1983, Jock Wallace was persuaded by the Rangers board to leave Motherwell and return to the club. His aim was to restore the glory years of the treble-winning sides of the late 1970s. Wallace's initial impact was positive, boosting morale and fitness. He made changes to the coaching staff, bringing in Alex Totten as first team coach with Tommy McLean, David Provan and Joe Mason leaving. Wallace also added to the squad during the season; Bobby Williamson arrived from Clydebank, Nicky Walker from old club Motherwell and Stuart Munro from Alloa Athletic.

Wallace's first match in command was at Pittodrie on 12 November 1983. The game finished in a 3–0 defeat but subsequently the side went on a 22 match unbeaten run in all competitions until March 1984. However, Rangers still ended that season fourth in the league, fifteen points behind champions Aberdeen. The club did win a trophy, the League Cup. The cup final was a thrilling extra-time victory over Celtic, with Ally McCoist getting a hat-trick, in the 3–2 win that won them the cup.

Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

Scottish Premier Division

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
20 August 1983 St Mirren H 1–1 21,500 Prytz (pen.)
3 September 1983 Celtic A 1–2 50,662 McCoist
10 September 1983 Heart of Midlothian A 1–3 16,173 Mitchell
17 September 1983 Aberdeen H 0–2 27,500
24 September 1983 St Johnstone H 6–3 12,500 McCoist (2), McClelland, Prytz (pen.), Cooper, Clark
1 October 1983 Dundee United A 2–0 16,738 Clark, Hegarty (o.g.)
8 October 1983 Hibernian H 1–0 21,800 McClelland
15 October 1983 Dundee A 2–3 11,945 Russell, Redford
22 October 1983 Motherwell H 1–2 15,000 McCoist (pen.)
29 October 1983 St Mirren A 0–3 12,068
5 November 1983 Celtic H 1–2 42,000 Clark
12 November 1983 Aberdeen A 0–3 22,771
19 November 1983 Dundee United H 0–0 27,800
26 November 1983 St Johnstone A 1–0 9,740 Redford
3 December 1983 Heart of Midlothian H 3–0 22,500 Clark (2), MacDonald
10 December 1983 Motherwell A 3–0 13,586 McAdam, Cooper, Mitchell
17 December 1983 Dundee H 2–1 16,500 Russell, Williamson
27 December 1983 Hibernian A 2–0 20,820 Williamson, Cooper
31 December 1983 St Mirren H 1–1 21,200 Clark
7 January 1984 Aberdeen H 1–1 37,500 Cooper (pen.)
21 January 1984 St Johnstone H 2–0 18,001 Clark, Russell
4 February 1984 Motherwell H 2–1 17,000 McCoist, Prytz (pen.)
11 February 1984 Heart of Midlothian A 2–2 18,063 McCoist, Williamson
25 February 1984 Dundee A 3–1 11,750 Russell, Cooper, McPherson
3 March 1984 Hibernian H 0–0 17,000
6 March 1984 St Johnstone A 4–1 5,293 Redford, Clark, Davies, McCoist
31 March 1984 Motherwell A 3–0 8,574 Paterson, McPherson, Burns
2 April 1984 Celtic A 0–3 53,229
7 April 1984 Heart of Midlothian H 0–0 22,000
21 April 1984 Celtic H 1–0 40,260 Williamson
28 April 1984 St Mirren A 1–1 8,092 Williamson
2 May 1984 Dundee United H 2–2 16,500 Clark, Williamson
5 May 1984 Dundee H 2–2 17,000 Redford, Cooper
9 May 1984 Aberdeen A 0–0 16,200
12 May 1984 Hibernian A 0–0 10,567
14 May 1984 Dundee United A 2–1 6,457 Prytz (pen.), McCoist

Cup Winners' Cup

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
14 September 1983 R1 Valletta A 8–0 18,213 McPherson (4), Prytz (2, 1 (pen.)), Paterson, MacDonald
28 September 1983 R1 Valletta H 10–0 11,500 MacDonald (3, 1 (pen.)), Mitchell (2), Redford (2),
Dawson, MacKay, Davies
19 October 1983 R2 FC Porto H 2–1 27,800 Clark, Mitchell
2 November 1983 R2 FC Porto A 0–1 63,000

Scottish Cup

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
28 January 1984 R3 Dunfermline Athletic H 2–1 17,500 McAdam, McCoist
18 February 1984 R4 Caledonian A 6–0 5,500 Williamson (2), McCoist (2), Redford, Russell
10 March 1984 QF Dundee A 2–2 17,097 Russell, McGeachie (o.g.)
17 March 1984 QF R Dundee H 2–3 25,000 McPherson, McClelland

League Cup

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
24 August 1983 R2 L1 Queen of the South H 4–0 8,000 MacDonald (2), Clark, Prytz (pen.)
27 August 1983 R2 L2 Queen of the South A 4–1 7,350 Mitchell, McKinnon, Cooper, McCoist
31 August 1983 SR Clydebank H 4–0 8,500 McCoist (2), Russell, Prytz
7 September 1983 SR Heart of Midlothian A 3–0 11,287 Clark (2), Gauld (o.g.)
5 October 1983 SR St Mirren H 5–0 11,500 McCoist (2), Clark, McClelland, Paterson
26 October 1983 SR Heart of Midlothian H 2–0 12,000 Prytz, Mitchell
9 November 1983 SR Clydebank A 3–0 3,612 Cooper, McCoist, McPherson
30 November 1983 SR St Mirren A 1–0 5,446 Cooper
15 February 1984 SF L1 Dundee United A 1–1 14,569 Mitchell
22 February 1984 SF L2 Dundee United H 2–0 35,950 Clark, Redford
25 March 1984 F Celtic N 3–2 66,369 McCoist (3, 1 (pen.))

Glasgow Cup (1982-83 competition)

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
10 August 1983 SF Clyde A 1–0 4,700 Ruseell
13 August 1983 F Celtic N 1–0 32,707 Clark

Appearances

Player Position Appearances Goals
Scotland Peter McCloy GK 40 0
Scotland Nicky Walker GK 11 0
Scotland Ally Dawson DF 45 1
Northern Ireland John McClelland DF 55 4
Scotland Dave McPherson DF 54 8
Scotland Craig Paterson DF 34 3
Scotland Ian Redford MF 47 8
Sweden Robert Prytz MF 42 9
Scotland Ally McCoist FW 47 20
Scotland Sandy Clark FW 45 16
Scotland Bobby Russell MF 48 7
Scotland Davie Cooper MF 51 9
Scotland John MacDonald FW 28 7
Scotland Billy Davies MF 7 2
Scotland Dave MacKinnon DF 23 1
Australia David Mitchell MF 21 8
Scotland Jim Stewart GK 4 0
Northern Ireland Jimmy Nicholl DF 26 0
Scotland Kenny Lyall MF 2 0
Scotland Gregor Stevens DF 2 0
Scotland Derek Ferguson MF 5 0
Scotland Andy Kennedy FW 2 0
Scotland Colin McAdam DF 11 2
Scotland Bobby Williamson FW 20 8
Scotland Hugh Burns DF 7 1
Scotland Scott Fraser DF 8 0
Scotland Billy MacKay MF 5 1
Scotland Stuart Munro DF 5 0
Scotland Robert Fleck MF 1 0
Scotland Eric Ferguson FW 4 0
Scotland Kenny Black MF 1 0

League table

Pos Team
  • v
  • t
  • e
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
2 Celtic 36 21 8 7 80 41 +39 50 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
3 Dundee United 36 18 11 7 67 39 +28 47 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4 Rangers 36 15 12 9 53 41 +12 42
5 Heart of Midlothian 36 10 16 10 38 47 −9 36
6 St Mirren 36 9 14 13 55 59 −4 32
Source: Statto
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

See also

References

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Rangers F.C. seasons
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Club seasons
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