1980–81 Rangers F.C. season

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

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)

Overview

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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

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All results are written with Rangers' score first.

Scottish Premier Division

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

Appearances

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Player Position Appearances Goals
  Peter McCloy GK 34 0
  Jim Stewart GK 13 0
  Sandy Jardine DF 42 3
  Alex Forsyth DF 1 0
  Tom Forsyth DF 30 0
  Colin Jackson DF 38 1
  Alex Miller DF 33 3
  Gregor Stevens DF 14 2
  Ally Dawson DF 29 2
  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
  Billy MacKay MF 6 0
  Robert Clark DF 1 0

League table

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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

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References

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