1987–88 Rangers F.C. season

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

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)

Overview

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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

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Date Player From Fee
May 1987   Avi Cohen   Maccabi Tel Aviv [1]
1987   Mark Falco   Watford [1]
September 1987   Trevor Francis   Atalanta £75,000[1]
2 October 1987   Richard Gough   Tottenham Hotspur £1,100,000[2]
30 December 1987   Mark Walters   Aston Villa £500,000[3]
15 January 1988   John Brown   Dundee £350,000[4]
15 February 1988   Ian Ferguson   St Mirren £850,000[5]
Date Player From Fee
December 1987   Robert Fleck   Norwich City £580,000[1]

Results

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All results are written with Rangers' score first.

Scottish Premier Division

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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

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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

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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

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

Dubai Super Cup

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Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
8 December 1987 F   Everton N 2–2* 8,000 Fleck, McCoist

*Rangers won the match 8–7 on penalties

Glasgow Cup

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

✝Competition not completed

Appearances

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

League table

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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

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References

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  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.