The 1986–87 season was the 107th season of competitive football by Rangers.

Overview Rangers played a total of 56 competitive matches during the 1986–87 season. The team finished top of the Scottish Premier Division for the first time in nine seasons. A total of 69 points were gained from 44 games and a lead of six points over second placed Celtic.

The Souness Revolution began with the signing of England internationals, goalkeeper Chris Woods and centre half Terry Butcher. Northern Ireland international Jimmy Nicholl rejoined the club and Colin West was brought in to partner Ally McCoist in attack. In December Graham Roberts arrived from Tottenham Hotspur to strengthen the defence.

There was a disappointing start to the league campaign, losing 2–1 to Hibernian at Easter Road. Graeme Souness was sent off for a tackle on George McCluskey in the centre circle, with both teams displaying a lack of discipline at that moment."Si Ferry Meets... Ally McCoist" – Open Goal, YouTube, published on 16 April 2018

On the penultimate day of the season the Championship was secured at Pittodrie with a 1–1 draw against Aberdeen. A Terry Butcher header was enough to bring the league title back to Ibrox for the first time since 1978.

In the cup competitions, Rangers were knocked out of the Scottish Cup in the third round, losing 1–0 at Ibrox to Hamilton Academical. The goal ended a run of 1196 minutes without conceding – a British record for goalkeeper Chris Woods.

They won the League Cup, defeating Celtic 2–1 with goals from Ian Durrant and Davie Cooper. This was an early success for Graeme Souness and helped pave the way towards the Championship.

The European campaign was moderately successful. Rangers reached the third round of the UEFA Cup after beating Ilves Tampere and Boavista before being knocked out by Borussia Mönchengladbach on the away goals rule.

Transfer

In DatePlayerFromFee16 May 1986 Colin West Watford £200,0001 July 1986 Chris Woods Norwich City £600,0001 August 1986 Terry Butcher Ipswich Town £725,0008 August 1986 Jimmy Nicholl West Bromwich Albion Swap14 November 1986 Lindsay Hamilton Stenhousemuir £25,00022 December 1986 Neil Woods Doncaster Rovers £120,00023 December 1986 Graham Roberts Tottenham Hotspur £450,00027 March 1987 Jimmy Phillips Bolton Wanderers £95,000

Out DatePlayerFromFee 9 May 1986 Billy Davies Jönköpings Södra IF Free Derek Johnstone Partick Thistle Free Dave MacKinnon Airdrieonians Free9 August 1986 Bobby Williamson West Bromwich Albion Swap19 January 1987 Ted McMinn Sevilla £225,000

Expenditure: £2,215,000 Income: £225,000 Total loss/gain: £1,990,000

Results All results are written with Rangers' score first.

Scottish Premier Division

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 9 August 1986 HibernianA1–224,576McCoist (pen.) 13 August 1986 FalkirkH1–027,362McCoist (pen.) 16 August 1986 Dundee UnitedH2–343,995McCoist (2) 23 August 1986 Hamilton AcademicalA2–110,000Fraser, West 31 August 1986 CelticH1–043,502Durrant 6 September 1986 MotherwellA2–017,013Cooper, McPherson 13 September 1986 ClydebankH4–026,433Fleck (3), McMinn 20 September 1986 DundeeA0–117,132 27 September 1986 AberdeenH2–040,155Souness, McCoist 4 October 1986 Heart of MidlothianA1–128,637Cooper 8 October 1986 St MirrenA1–016,861Cooper 11 October 1986 HibernianH3–038,196McPherson, Fleck, Bell 18 October 1986 FalkirkA5–116,800Fleck (3, 1 (pen.)), Cooper, McCoist 29 October 1986 Dundee UnitedA0–020,170 1 November 1986 CelticA1–160,000McCoist 8 November 1986 MotherwellH0–133,966 15 November 1986 ClydebankA4–19,906McCoist (2), McPherson, Durrant 19 November 1986 DundeeH2–122,992McCoist, McPherson 22 November 1986 AberdeenA0–121,733 29 November 1986 Heart of MidlothianH3–038,733McCoist, Cooper, Durrant 3 December 1986 St MirrenH2–023,110McPherson, Cooper 6 December 1986 HibernianA0–018,536 13 December 1986 FalkirkH4–024,177Fleck (2), Cooper, Butcher 20 December 1986 Hamilton AcademicalA2–010,000Fleck, McCoist 27 December 1986 Dundee UnitedH2–042,165McCoist, Fleck 1 January 1987 CelticH2–043,206Fleck, McCoist 6 January 1987 MotherwellA1–019,658Roberts 10 January 1987 ClydebankH5–036,397Fleck (3), McCoist (2, 1 (pen.)) 17 January 1987 Hamilton AcademicalH2–043,052Durrant, McCoist 24 January 1987 AberdeenH0–043,211 7 February 1987 Heart of MidlothianA5–229,091Fleck (2), Roberts, McCoist, Black (o.g.) 14 February 1987 St MirrenA3–121,399McCoist (3, 1 (pen.)) 28 February 1987 HibernianH1–138,630McPherson 7 March 1987 FalkirkA2–118,000McCoist (2) 14 March 1987 Hamilton AcademicalH2–033,486Cooper, McCoist 17 March 1987 DundeeA4–018,723McCoist (2), McPherson, Fleck 21 March 1987 Dundee UnitedA1–021,275McPherson 28 March 1987 MotherwellH1–037,305McCoist 4 April 1987 CelticA1–360,800McCoist 14 April 1987 DundeeH2–042,427Cooper, McCoist 18 April 1987 ClydebankA3–09,950McCoist (2, 1 (pen.)), West 25 April 1987 Heart of MidlothianH3–043,205McCoist (3, 1 (pen.)) 2 May 1987 AberdeenA1–122,568Butcher 9 May 1987 St MirrenH1–043,510Fleck

Scottish League Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 20 August 1986 R2StenhousemuirA4–19,052Souness, West, Cooper, McCoist 27 August 1986 R3East FifeA0–0*8,835 3 September 1986 QFDundeeH3–133,750Fraser, Souness, McMinn 24 September 1986 SFDundee UnitedN2–145,249McCoist, McMinn 26 October 1986 FCelticN2–174,219Durrant, Cooper (pen.) *Rangers won the match 5–4 on penalties

Scottish Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 31 January 1987 R3Hamilton AcademicalH0–135,462

UEFA Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 17 September 1986 R1 Ilves TampereH4–027,436Fleck (3), McCoist 1 October 1986 R1 Ilves TampereA0–22,109 24 October 1986 R2 BoavistaH2–138,772McPherson, McCoist 4 November 1986 R2 BoavistaA1–023,000Ferguson 26 November 1986 R3 Borussia MönchengladbachH1–133,000Durrant 10 December 1986 R3 Borussia MonchengladbachA0–036,000

Glasgow Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 28 April 1987 SFClydeN1–14,000Spencer 7 May 1987 FCelticA1–015,109

Appearances PlayerPositionAppearancesGoals Nicky WalkerGK20 Chris WoodsGK480 Terry ButcherDF492 Hugh BurnsDF50 Ally DawsonDF100 Dave McPhersonDF478 Stuart MunroDF480 Jimmy NichollDF390 Scott NisbetDF10 Craig PatersonDF20 Jimmy PhillipsDF60 Graham RobertsDF192 Dougie BellMF121 Davie CooperMF4811 Ian DurrantMF455 Derek FergusonMF330 Robert FleckMF4419 Cammy FraserMF212 Davie KirkwoodMF10 Dave MacFarlaneMF50 Ted McMinnMF193 Bobby RussellMF10 Graeme SounessMF293 Ally McCoistFW5036 Colin WestFW123 Neil WoodsFW30

League table

See also 1986–87 in Scottish football 1986–87 Scottish Cup 1986–87 Scottish League Cup 1986–87 UEFA Cup

References