1978–79 Rangers F.C. season

The 1978–79 season was the 99th season of competitive football by Rangers.

Rangers
1978–79 season
ChairmanRae Simpson
ManagerJohn Greig
GroundIbrox Park
Scottish Premier Division2nd
P36 W18 D9 L9 F52 A35 Pts45
Scottish CupWinners
League CupWinners
European CupQuarter-finals
Glasgow CupWinners
Tennent Caledonian CupWinners
Top goalscorerLeague:
Gordon Smith (11)

All:
Gordon Smith (18)

Overview edit

Rangers played a total of 61 competitive matches during the 1978–79 season. The early season league form was terrible as the team failed to win any of the first six league matches but a run was put together. Things began to unravel, however, as leadership of the league evaporated. The team had to settle for second place behind champions Celtic. The pivotal match was a 4–2 Old Firm defeat a Parkhead. There was success for Greig in the national cup competitions. Victory in the 1979 Scottish Cup Final over Hibernian required a second replay to separate the sides before Rangers eventually won 3–2. The 1979 Scottish League Cup Final ended in a 2–1 win for Rangers over a strong Aberdeen with goals from Alex MacDonald and Colin Jackson.

Wallace's treble-winning team of the previous season performed well in the European Cup. Rangers eliminated Juventus after defeating the Italians 2–1 on aggregate – the first time Rangers had ever recovered from a first-leg defeat to win a two-legged European tie. Dutch side PSV Eindhoven, the then UEFA Cup holders, were overcome in the next round (the club's first home defeat in European competition), before an injury-stricken Rangers side lost to Cologne at the quarter-final stage.

Results edit

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

Scottish Premier Division edit

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
12 August 1978 St Mirren H 0–1 28,000
19 August 1978 Hibernian A 0–0 23,000
26 August 1978 Partick Thistle H 0–0 24,500
9 September 1978 Celtic A 1–3 60,000 Parlane
16 September 1978 Aberdeen H 1–1 27,000 A. Forsyth (pen.)
23 September 1978 Greenock Morton A 2–2 16,500 Parlane, Johnstone
30 September 1978 Motherwell H 4–1 26,000 Smith (2), McLean, Johnstone
7 October 1978 Dundee United H 1–1 27,000 A. MacDonald
14 October 1978 Heart of Midlothian A 0–0 18,159
21 October 1978 St Mirren A 1–0 26,000 A. Forsyth (pen)
28 October 1978 Hibernian H 2–1 24,750 A. Forsyth (pen), Smith
4 November 1978 Partick Thistle A 0–1 20,641
11 November 1978 Celtic H 1–1 52,330 A. Forsyth (pen)
18 November 1978 Aberdeen A 0–0 26,000
25 November 1978 Greenock Morton H 3–0 21,500 Johnstone, Cooper, Smith
9 December 1978 Dundee United A 0–3 15,247
16 December 1978 Heart of Midlothian H 5–3 16,250 Johnstone (4), Watson
23 December 1978 St Mirren H 1–0 22,500 Johnstone
20 January 1979 Greenock Morton A 2–0 16,312 A. MacDonald, Watson
10 February 1979 Dundee United H 1–0 23,500 Robertson
24 February 1979 Heart of Midlothian A 2–3 16,500 Smith, Parlane
14 March 1979 Hibernian H 1–0 16,000 Smith
17 March 1979 Partick Thistle A 2–0 18,685 Cooper, Urquhart
27 March 1979 St Mirren A 2–1 20,000 Urquhart (2)
7 April 1979 Greenock Morton H 1–1 15,750 Cooper
10 April 1979 Motherwell H 3–0 12,000 Cooper, A. MacDonald, Smith
14 April 1979 Motherwell A 0–2 14,612
21 April 1979 Dundee United A 2–1 20,264 Dawson, Smith
25 April 1979 Aberdeen A 1–2 20,000 Smith
28 April 1979 Heart of Midlothian H 4–0 20,050 Russell (3), Parlane
2 May 1979 Motherwell A 2–1 13,052 Smith, Jackson
5 May 1979 Celtic H 1–0 52,841 A. MacDonald
7 May 1979 Aberdeen H 2–0 32,000 Smith, Cooper
21 May 1979 Celtic A 2–4 52,000 A. MacDonald, Russell
23 May 1979 Partick Thistle H 1–0 6,087 Johnstone
31 May 1979 Hibernian A 1–2 5,000 Urquhart

European Cup edit

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
13 September 1978 R1 Juventus A 0–1 70,000
27 September 1978 R1 Juventus H 2–0 44,000 A. MacDonald, Smith
18 October 1978 R2 PSV Eindhoven H 0–0 44,000
1 November 1978 R2 PSV Eindhoven A 3–2 29,000 A. MacDonald, Johnstone, Russell
6 March 1979 QF Cologne A 0–1 50,000
22 March 1979 QF Cologne H 1–1 44,000 McLean

Scottish Cup edit

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
12 February 1979 R3 Motherwell H 3–1 19,000 Johnstone, Jackson, Cooper
21 February 1979 R4 Kilmarnock H 1–1 17,500 A. MacDonald
26 February 1979 R4 R Kilmarnock A 1–0 19,493 Urquhart
10 March 1979 QF Dundee H 6–3 28,000 Jardine (pen.), A. MacDonald, Smith, T.Forsyth,
Russell, Cooper
4 April 1979 SF Partick Thistle N 0–0 26,232
16 April 1979 SF R Partick Thistle N 1–0 32,294 Johnstone
12 May 1979 F Hibernian N 0–0 50,610
16 May 1979 F R Hibernian N 0–0 33,504
28 May 1979 F 2R Hibernian N 3–2 30,602 Johnstone (2), Duncan (o.g.)

League Cup edit

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
16 August 1978 R1 Albion Rovers H 3–0 10,000 Parlane, Johnstone, Smith
23 August 1978 R1 Albion Rovers A 1–0 6,500 Parlane
30 August 1978 R2 Forfar Athletic H 3–0 9,000 Cooper, McLean, Smith
2 September 1978 R2 Forfar Athletic A 4–1 5,919 Smith (2), A. MacDonald, Cooper
4 October 1978 R3 St Mirren H 3–2 20,000 Cooper, Miller, Johnstone
11 October 1978 R3 St Mirren A 0–0 24,000
8 November 1978 QF Arbroath H 1–0 10,000 Wells (o.g.)
15 November 1978 QF Arbroath A 2–1 4,000 Smith, Russell
13 December 1978 SF Celtic N 3–2 49,432 Jardine (pen.), Jackson, Casey (o.g.)
31 March 1979 F Aberdeen N 2–1 60,000 A. MacDonald, Jackson

Non-competitive edit

Tennent Caledonian Cup edit

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
5 August 1978 SF Hearts H 3–1
6 August 1978 F Southampton H 4–1

Glasgow Cup edit

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
24 March 1979 SF Partick Thistle H 3–3* 9,250 Urquhart, McDonald
17 May 1979 F Celtic H 3–1 3,000 J. MacDonald, Forsyth, Strickland

*Rangers won the match 4–3 on penalties

Appearances edit

Player Position Appearances Goals
  Peter McCloy GK 61 0
  Sandy Jardine DF 60 2
  Alex Forsyth DF 29 4
  Tom Forsyth DF 33 1
  Colin Jackson DF 46 4
  Alex MacDonald MF 58 11
  Tommy McLean MF 56 3
  Bobby Russell MF 61 7
  Derek Johnstone FW 53 16
  Gordon Smith FW 57 18
  Kenny Watson MF 22 2
  Billy Urquhart FW 20 5
  Derek Parlane FW 43 6
  Alex Miller DF 33 1
  Davie Cooper MF 49 10
  Ally Dawson DF 36 1
  Chris Robertson FW 2 1
  John MacDonald FW 2 0
  Davie Armour DF 3 0
  Billy MacKay MF 1 0
  Eric Morris DF 1 0
  Derek Strickland FW 2 0
  Jim Denny DF 3 0

League table edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Celtic (C) 36 21 6 9 61 37 +24 48 Qualification for the European Cup first round
2 Rangers 36 18 9 9 52 35 +17 45 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
3 Dundee United 36 18 8 10 56 37 +19 44 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4 Aberdeen 36 13 14 9 59 36 +23 40
5 Hibernian 36 12 13 11 44 48 −4 37
Source: Statto and RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

See also edit

References edit