1983–84 Rangers F.C. season
1983-84 season | |||
Chairman |
Rae Simpson John Paton | ||
---|---|---|---|
Manager |
John Greig (until 28 October) Tommy McLean Jock Wallace (from 10 November) | ||
Ground | Ibrox Park | ||
Scottish Premier Division |
4th P36 W15 D12 L9 F53 A41 | ||
Scottish Cup | Quarter-finals | ||
League Cup | Winners | ||
Cup Winners' Cup | Second Round | ||
Top goalscorer |
League: Sandy Clark (9) All: Ally McCoist (20) | ||
|
The 1983–84 season is the 87th 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 there 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 after the team's record breaking 16-0 aggregate win over Maltese champions Valletta. After the first nine league games, Greig's team had collected just ten points from twenty-seven. In the end the pressure was to much and Greig resigned from his post on 28 October 1983.
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 1984 Scottish League Cup. It 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 | 7,500 | 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 | F.C. Porto | H | 2–1 | 27,800 | Clark, Mitchell |
2 November 1983 | R2 | F.C. 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.)) |
Appearances
Player | Position | Appearances | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Peter McCloy | GK | 40 | 0 |
Ally Dawson | DF | 45 | 1 |
John McClelland | DF | 55 | 4 |
Dave McPherson | DF | 54 | 8 |
Craig Paterson | DF | 34 | 3 |
Ian Redford | MF | 47 | 8 |
Robert Prytz | MF | 42 | 9 |
Ally McCoist | FW | 47 | 20 |
Sandy Clark | FW | 45 | 15 |
Bobby Russell | MF | 48 | 7 |
Davie Cooper | MF | 51 | 9 |
John MacDonald | FW | 28 | 7 |
Billy Davies | MF | 7 | 2 |
Dave MacKinnon | DF | 23 | 1 |
David Mitchell | MF | 21 | 8 |
Jim Stewart | GK | 4 | 0 |
Jimmy Nicholl | DF | 26 | 0 |
Kenny Lyall | MF | 2 | 0 |
Gregor Stevens | DF | 2 | 0 |
Derek Ferguson | MF | 5 | 0 |
Andy Kennedy | FW | 2 | 0 |
Colin McAdam | DF | 11 | 2 |
Bobby Williamson | FW | 20 | 8 |
Nicky Walker | GK | 11 | 0 |
Hugh Burns | DF | 7 | 1 |
Scott Fraser | DF | 8 | 0 |
Billy MacKay | MF | 5 | 1 |
Stuart Munro | DF | 5 | 0 |
Robert Fleck | MF | 1 | 0 |
Eric Ferguson | FW | 4 | 0 |
Kenny Black | MF | 1 | 0 |
See also
- 1983–84 in Scottish football
- 1983–84 Scottish Cup
- 1983–84 Scottish League Cup
- 1983–84 European Cup Winners' Cup