The 1985–86 season was the 106th season of competitive football by Rangers.
Overview Rangers played a total of 44 competitive matches during the 1985–86 season. The team finished a disappointing 5th in the Scottish Premier Division. A total of 35 points were gained from 36 games with only 13 wins and 14 defeats. This resulted in the departure of Jock Wallace as manager in 7 April with the club announcing that Scotland captain Graeme Souness would take over as player-manager after the World Cup Finals in Mexico.
In the cup competitions, they were knocked out of the Scottish Cup in the third round, losing 3–2 at Tynecastle to Hearts. They were knocked out of the League Cup by Edinburgh's other team Hibernian 2–1 on aggregate in the two legged semi final.
The European campaign lasted two matches. The club went out in the first round of the UEFA Cup after losing to Spanish side CA Osasuna. The first leg at Ibrox was won 1–0 thanks to a Craig Paterson goal but the team went down 2–0 in the second leg.
Rangers qualified for Europe on the last day of the season, beating Motherwell 2–0 at Ibrox.
The Glasgow Cup was won with a 3–2 victory over Celtic at Ibrox in May. This match presented an early opportunity for the players to impress their new boss.
Results All results are written with Rangers' score first.
Scottish Premier Division DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 10 August 1985 Dundee UnitedH1–028,035McCoist 17 August 1985 HibernianA3–114,500McCoist, McPherson, Williamson 24 August 1985 Heart of MidlothianH3–135,483Williamson (2), Burns 31 August 1985 CelticA1–158,365McCoist 7 September 1985 St MirrenH3–027,707Fleck, Cooper, Burns 14 September 1985 ClydebankA1–09,980Williamson 21 September 1985 DundeeH0–123,600 28 September 1985 AberdeenH0–337,599 5 October 1985 MotherwellA3–012,711McCoist (2), McPherson 12 October 1985 Dundee UnitedA1–115,821McCoist 19 October 1985 HibernianH1–223,478Cooper (pen.) 26 October 1985 St MirrenA1–213,911McCoist 2 November 1985 ClydebankH0–016,943 9 November 1985 CelticH3–042,045Durrant, Cooper, McMinn 16 November 1985 Heart of MidlothianA0–323,083 23 November 1985 DundeeA2–310,798McCoist (2) 7 December 1985 MotherwellH1–012,872McCoist 14 December 1985 Dundee UnitedH1–117,786McCoist 21 December 1985 HibernianA1–110,823Cooper 28 December 1985 Heart of MidlothianH0–233,410 1 January 1986 CelticA0–249,812 4 January 1986 DundeeH5–013,954McCoist (3), Williamson, Fleck 11 January 1986 ClydebankH4–212,731Paterson, McPherson, Williamson, McCoist 18 January 1986 St MirrenH2–017,528McCoist, McPherson 1 February 1986 AberdeenH1–129,887Burns 8 February 1986 MotherwellA0–111,619 19 February 1986 AberdeenA0–119,500 22 February 1986 Dundee UnitedA1–114,644McCoist 1 March 1986 HibernianH3–116,574McCoist (3, 1 (pen.)) 15 March 1986 DundeeA1–210,965McCoist 22 March 1986 CelticH4-4 41,006Fraser(2), McCoist, Fleck 29 March 1986 Heart of MidlothianA1–324,740McCoist (pen.) 12 April 1986 ClydebankA1–27,027Durrant 19 April 1986 St MirrenA1–29,760Dawson 26 April 1986 AberdeenA1–117,000McMinn 3 May 1986 MotherwellH2–021,500McPherson, McCoist (pen.)
UEFA Cup DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 18 September 1985 R1OsasunaH1–029,479Paterson 2 October 1985 R1OsasunaA0–225,600
Scottish Cup DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 25 January 1986 R3Heart of MidlothianA2–327,442McCoist, Durrant
League Cup DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 21 August 1985 R2ClydeH5–011,350Williamson (3, 1 (pen.)), McCoist, Paterson 27 August 1985 R3Forfar AthleticA2–2*7,283Cooper (pen.), Williamson 4 September 1985 QFHamilton AcademicalA2–112,392Williamson (2) 25 September 1985 SF L1HibernianA0–217,916 9 October 1985 SF L2HibernianH1–039,282Cooper *Rangers won 6–5 on penalties
Glasgow Cup DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 9 September 1985 1984–85 FQueen's ParkN5–03,584Fraser (3), Ferguson, McCoist (pen) 12 November 1985 SFQueen's ParkA2–11,724McCoist (2) 9 May 1986 FCelticH3–240,741McCoist (3)
Appearances PlayerPositionAppearancesGoals Nicky WalkerGK420 Peter McCloyGK20 Hugh BurnsDF353 Stuart MunroDF360 Dave McPhersonDF425 Craig PatersonDF253 Ally DawsonDF261 Stuart BeattieDF50 Derek JohnstoneDF110 Scott NisbetDF50 Colin MillerDF30 Ian DurrantMF373 Ally McCoistFW4027 Bobby RussellMF350 Bobby WilliamsonFW3112 Derek FergusonMF210 Davie CooperMF396 Ted McMinnMF321 Dave MacKinnonDF270 Dougie BellMF290 Robert FleckMF163 Iain FergusonMF60 Cammy FraserMF102 Eric FergusonFW10 John MacDonaldFW40
League table
See also 1985–86 in Scottish football 1985–86 Scottish Cup 1985–86 Scottish League Cup 1985–86 UEFA Cup
References