1980–81 Rangers F.C. season

Rangers
1980–81 season
ChairmanRae Simpson
ManagerJohn Greig
GroundIbrox Park
Scottish Premier Division3rd
P36 W16 D12 L8 F60 A32 Pts44
Scottish CupWinners
League CupThird round
Anglo-Scottish CupQuarter-final
Glasgow CupSemi-final
Top goalscorerLeague:
Colin McAdam (12)
All:
Colin McAdam (21)

The 1980–81 season was the 101st season of competitive football by Rangers.

Overview

Rangers played a total of 47 competitive matches during the 1980–81 season. The summer of 1980 saw Greig bring in Jim Bett from Lokeren for £150,000. Bett was joined by Colin McAdam a £165,000 signing from Partick Thistle. The side got off to a good start in the league, going on a fifteen match unbeaten run, including two Old Firm wins, was to end in November. A disastrous run in November and December all but ended the title challenge as the team finished third, twelve points behind champions Celtic.

The League Cup campaign was halted after a controversial defeat to Aberdeen in a match where the Dons were awarded two contentious penalties. Due to having no European participation, Rangers entered the Anglo-Scottish Cup which led to a defeat at the hands of English minnows, Chesterfield. The Third Division side held Rangers to a 1–1 draw at Ibrox before defeating Rangers 3–0 in the away leg at Saltergate. Rangers did win the 1981 Scottish Cup Final after beating Dundee United 4–1 in a final replay. After a tedious 0–0 draw where Ian Redford missed a last minute penalty, Rangers won the replay with goals from Davie Cooper, a John MacDonald double and Bobby Russell.

Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

Scottish Premier Division

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
9 August 1980 Airdrieonians A 1–1 16,000 MacDonald
16 August 1980 Partick Thistle H 4–0 25,898 Cooper, McAdam, MacDonald, Jardine
23 August 1980 Celtic A 2–1 58,102 Bett, Miller
6 September 1980 Dundee United A 4–2 16,269 Cooper, McAdam, MacDonald, Hegarty (o.g.)
13 September 1980 Aberdeen H 1–1 34,000 McAdam
20 September 1980 Kilmarnock A 8–1 15,021 MacDonald (3), Redford (2, 1 (pen.)), McAdam, Jardine, Bett
27 September 1980 St Mirren H 2–0 30,000 Bett, Cooper
4 October 1980 Morton A 2–2 15,000 Miller (pen), McAdam
11 October 1980 Heart of Midlothian H 3–1 22,443 McAdam (2), Jefferies (o.g.)
18 October 1980 Airdrieonians H 0–0 23,000
25 October 1980 Partick Thistle A 1–1 14,250 McAdam
1 November 1980 Celtic H 3–0 36,000 McAdam (2), MacDonald
8 November 1980 St Mirren A 0–0 17,362
15 November 1980 Kilmarnock H 2–0 25,791 Johnston, Jardine
22 November 1980 Heart of Midlothian A 0–0 16,315
29 November 1980 Morton H 0–1 20,000
13 December 1980 Aberdeen A 0–2 22,500
20 December 1980 Kilmarnock A 1–1 9,172 Russell
1 January 1981 Partick Thistle H 1–1 21,326 McAdam
3 January 1981 Airdrieonians A 1–1 11,800 Dawson
10 January 1981 Morton A 2–0 13,000 MacDonald, Redford
31 January 1981 Aberdeen H 1–0 32,500 Johnstone
7 February 1981 Dundee United A 1–2 14,328 MacDonald
21 February 1981 Celtic A 1–3 52,800 Johnstone
28 February 1981 Airdrieonians H 2–0 12,200 MacDonald, Redford
14 March 1981 Heart of Midlothian A 1–2 11,500 Redford
18 March 1981 Dundee United H 1–4 14,000 McAdam
21 March 1981 Kilmarnock H 2–0 8,488 Redford, Russell
28 March 1981 St Mirren A 1–2 9,988 Dawson
1 April 1981 Morton H 4–0 7,202 Johnstone (2), Redford, MacDonald
4 April 1981 Dundee United H 2–1 16,000 Russell, Redford (pen.)
15 April 1981 St Mirren H 1–0 10,000 Russell
18 April 1981 Celtic H 0–1 36,000
22 April 1981 Aberdeen A 0–0 11,500
25 April 1981 Partick Thistle A 1–1 7,077 Russell
2 May 1981 Heart of Midlothian H 4–0 9,770 Bett, Russell, Redford, Johnston

Scottish Cup

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
24 January 1981 R3 Airdrieonians A 5–0 16,054 Johnstone (2), Stevens, Redford, Bett
14 February 1981 R4 St Johnstone A 3–3 17,595 Redford (2), McAdam
18 February 1981 R4 R St Johnstone H 3–1 30,000 McAdam (2), Stevens
7 March 1981 QF Hibernian H 3–1 26,345 Russell, McAdam, MacDonald
11 April 1981 SF Morton N 2–1 27,050 Jackson, Russell
9 May 1981 F Dundee United N 0–0 53,346
12 May 1981 F R Dundee United N 4–1 43,099 MacDonald (2), Cooper, Russell

League Cup

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
27 August 1980 R2 L1 Forfar Athletic A 2–0 4,500 McAdam (2)
30 August 1980 R2 L2 Forfar Athletic H 3–1 15,500 Miller (pen.), Johnstone, McAdam (pen.)
3 September 1980 R3 L1 Aberdeen H 1–0 33,000 McAdam
24 September 1980 R3 L2 Aberdeen A 1–3 23,926 McAdam

Anglo-Scottish Cup

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
30 July 1980 R1 L1 Partick Thistle H 3–1 MacDonald (2), Jardine
6 August 1980 R1 L2 Partick Thistle A 2–3
13 October 1980 R2 L1 Chesterfield H 1–1 Dalziel
28 October 1980 R2 L2 Chesterfield A 0–3

Glasgow Cup

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
12 January 1981 SF Partick Thistle A 0–1 4,000

Appearances

Player Position Appearances Goals
Scotland Peter McCloy GK 34 0
Scotland Jim Stewart GK 13 0
Scotland Sandy Jardine DF 42 3
Scotland Alex Forsyth DF 1 0
Scotland Tom Forsyth DF 30 0
Scotland Colin Jackson DF 38 1
Scotland Alex Miller DF 33 3
Scotland Gregor Stevens DF 14 2
Scotland Ally Dawson DF 29 2
Scotland Jim Bett MF 45 5
Scotland Davie Cooper MF 34 4
Scotland Bobby Russell MF 35 9
Scotland Colin McAdam FW 40 21
Scotland Ian Redford MF 46 12
Scotland John MacDonald FW 38 14
Scotland Willie Johnston MF 37 2
Scotland Derek Johnstone FW 33 7
Scotland Tommy McLean MF 34 0
Scotland Billy MacKay MF 6 0
Scotland Robert Clark DF 1 0

League table

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Celtic (C) 36 26 4 6 84 37 +47 56 Qualification for the European Cup first round
2 Aberdeen 36 19 11 6 61 26 +35 49 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3 Rangers 36 16 12 8 60 32 +28 44 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
4 St Mirren 36 18 8 10 56 47 +9 44
5 Dundee United 36 17 9 10 66 42 +24 43 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
Source: Statto
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

See also

References

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