The 1989–90 season was the 110th season of competitive football by Rangers.

Overview Rangers played a total of 45 competitive matches during the 1989–90 season. On 10 July when Rangers, acting on Souness' say so, purchased former Celtic striker Mo Johnston from French club Nantes for £1.5 million. The fact Rangers signed an ex-Celtic player would have been a big enough story but the fact Johnston was a high-profile Roman Catholic made the move unprecedented. The transfer angered both sides of the Old Firm's support, Rangers because Johnston was an ex-Celt and Catholic (Rangers traditionally did not sign Catholics), and Celtic fans saw Johnston as a turncoat who had already committed to re-join Celtic from Nantes before Rangers made known their interest.

When the season began, Rangers did not. Three matches played in the league, no wins and two defeats. However, the team slowly got into gear, despite only two wins from the first eight games. New arrival Johnston netted the crucial winner during an Old Firm game on 4 November 1989. Scoring the goal in the dying minutes of the match meant Johnston was all but forgiven by the Rangers support. Come May 1990, Rangers' name was on the trophy for the second time in as many seasons but the club again failed to win the Scottish Cup, losing to Celtic in the fourth round, and for once did not win the League Cup. The side lost to Aberdeen by 2–1 in the final.

In Europe they were knocked out the European Cup by German side Bayern Munich, losing the tie 3–1 on aggregate.

Transfers

In DatePlayerFromFee1 July 1989 Trevor Steven Everton £1,525,00010 July 1989 Mo Johnston Nantes £1,500,00015 August 1989 Bonni Ginzburg Beitar Jerusalem £200,00030 August 1989 Davie Dodds Aberdeen £100,0003 November 1989 Chris Vinnicombe Exeter City £150,00030 November 1989 Nigel Spackman Queens Park Rangers £500,000

Out DatePlayerToFee26 May 1989 Andy Gray Cheltenham Town Free5 July 1989 Mel Sterland Leeds United £600,00026 July 1989 Jimmy Nicholl Dunfermline Athletic £50,00029 July 1989 Davie Kirkwood Heart of Midlothian £100,00011 August 1989 Davie Cooper Motherwell £50,00022 August 1989 Nicky Walker Heart of Midlothian £125,0002 October 1989 Kevin Drinkell Coventry City £800,00028 November 1989 Ray Wilkins Queens Park Rangers Free10 January 1990 Ian McCall Bradford City £200,000

Expenditure: £3,975,000 Income: £1,925,000 Total loss/gain: £2,050,000

Results All results are written with Rangers' score first.

Scottish Premier Division

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 12 August 1989 St MirrenH0–139,951 19 August 1989 HibernianA0–222,500 26 August 1989 CelticA1–154,000Butcher 9 September 1989 AberdeenH1–040,283Johnston 16 September 1989 DundeeH2–235,836McCoist (2) 23 September 1989 Dunfermline AthleticA1–117,765McCoist 30 September 1989 Heart of MidlothianH1–039,554Johnston 3 October 1989 MotherwellA0–117,667 14 October 1989 Dundee UnitedH2–136,062Johnston, McCoist 25 October 1989 St MirrenA2–015,130McCoist, Johnston 28 October 1989 HibernianH3–035,260McCoist (2), Johnston (pen.) 4 November 1989 CelticH1–041,598Johnston 18 November 1989 DundeeA2–014,536Johnston, Walters 22 November 1989 AberdeenA0–122,500 25 November 1989 Dunfermline AthleticH3–039,131Johnston, Butcher, McCoist 2 December 1989 Heart of MidlothianA2–124,771Walters, Steven 9 December 1989 MotherwellH3–033,549Butcher, McCoist, Brown 16 December 1989 Dundee UnitedA1–115,947Johnston 23 December 1989 St MirrenH1–031,797Dodds 30 December 1989 HibernianA0–024,500 2 January 1990 CelticA1–054,000Spackman 6 January 1990 AberdeenH2–041,351Walters, McCoist 13 January 1990 DundeeH3–036,993McCoist, Dodds, Johnston 27 January 1990 Dunfermline AthleticA1–017,380Steven 3 February 1990 Dundee UnitedH3–139,058Walters, McCoist, Johnston 10 February 1990 MotherwellA1–117,647Johnston 17 February 1990 Heart of MidlothianH0–041,884 3 March 1990 DundeeA2–212,743Johnston, Dodds 17 March 1990 St MirrenA0–016,129 24 March 1990 HibernianH0–137,452 1 April 1990 CelticH3–041,926Walters (pen.), McCoist, Johnston (pen.) 8 April 1990 AberdeenA0–023,000 14 April 1990 MotherwellH2–139,305Steven, Johnston 21 April 1990 Dundee UnitedA1–015,995Steven 28 April 1990 Dunfermline AthleticH2–040,769McCoist, Dodds 5 May 1990 Heart of MidlothianA1–120,283Munro

Scottish League Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 15 August 1989 R2ArbroathH4–031,762McCoist (3), I.Ferguson 23 August 1989 R3Greenock MortonA2–111,821Walters, Pickering (o.g.) 30 August 1989 QFHamilton AcademicalA3–09,162Walters (2), Steven 19 September 1989 SFDunfermline AthleticN5–041,643Steven, Johnston, Walters, McCoist, I.Ferguson 22 October 1989 FAberdeenN1–2*61,190Walters (pen.) *Aberdeen won the match 2–1 in extra-time

Scottish Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 20 January 1990 R3St JohnstoneH3–039,003Johnston, Brown, Walters 25 February 1990 R4CelticA0–152,565

European Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 13 September 1989 R1 Bayern MunichH1–340,253Walters (pen.) 27 September 1989 R1 Bayern MunichA0–040,000

Appearances PlayerPositionAppearancesGoals GK 8 0 GK 37 0 DF 30 2 DF 43 0 DF 4 0 DF 31 0 DF 45 1 DF 9 0 DF 44 1 DF 9 0 MF 3 0 MF 8 0 MF 32 2 MF 5 0 MF 1 0 MF 1 0 MF 23 1 MF 43 3 MF 36 12 MF 22 0 FW 15 4 FW 7 0 FW 45 17 FW 40 18

League table

See also 1989–90 in Scottish football 1989–90 Scottish Cup 1989–90 Scottish League Cup 1989–90 European Cup Nine in a row

References