1980–81 Rangers F.C. season
1980-81 season | |||
Chairman | Rae Simpson | ||
---|---|---|---|
Manager | John Greig | ||
Ground | Ibrox Park | ||
Scottish Premier Division |
3rd P36 W16 D12 L8 F60 A32 | ||
Scottish Cup | Winners | ||
League Cup | Third Round | ||
Top goalscorer |
League: Colin McAdam (12) All: Colin McAdam (21) | ||
|
The 1980–81 season is the 84th 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 humiliation and embarrassment at the hands of English minnows, Chesterfield. The Third Division side held Rangers to a 1-1 draw at Ibrox before thumping 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 | 58,000 | 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 | Greenock 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 | 35,000 | McAdam (2), MacDonald |
8 November 1980 | St Mirren | A | 0–0 | 17,362 | |
15 November 1980 | Kilmarnock | H | 2–0 | 15,791 | Johnston, Jardine |
22 November 1980 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 0–0 | 16,315 | |
29 November 1980 | Greenock 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 | 18,000 | McAdam |
3 January 1981 | Airdrieonians | A | 1–1 | 11,800 | Dawson |
10 January 1981 | Greenock 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 | Greenock Morton | H | 4–0 | 7,000 | 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 | 35,000 | |
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 | Greenock 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 | Forfar Athletic | A | 2–0 | 4,500 | McAdam (2) |
30 August 1980 | R2 | Forfar Athletic | H | 3–1 | 15,500 | Miller (pen.), Johnstone, McAdam (pen.) |
3 September 1980 | R3 | Aberdeen | H | 1–0 | 33,000 | McAdam |
24 September 1980 | R3 | Aberdeen | A | 1–3 | 23,926 | McAdam |
Appearances
Player | Position | Appearances | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Peter McCloy | GK | 34 | 0 |
Sandy Jardine | DF | 42 | 3 |
Alex Forsyth | DF | 1 | 0 |
Tom Forsyth | DF | 30 | 0 |
Colin Jackson | DF | 38 | 1 |
Jim Bett | MF | 45 | 5 |
Davie Cooper | MF | 34 | 4 |
Bobby Russell | MF | 35 | 9 |
Colin McAdam | FW | 40 | 21 |
Ian Redford | MF | 46 | 12 |
John MacDonald | FW | 38 | 14 |
Willie Johnston | MF | 37 | 2 |
Derek Johnstone | FW | 33 | 7 |
Tommy McLean | MF | 34 | 0 |
Alex Miller | DF | 33 | 3 |
Gregor Stevens | DF | 14 | 2 |
Ally Dawson | DF | 29 | 2 |
Billy MacKay | MF | 6 | 0 |
Robert Clark | DF | 1 | 0 |
Jim Stewart | GK | 13 | 0 |