1987–88 Rangers F.C. season

Rangers

1987–88 season
Chairman	David Holmes
Manager	Graeme Souness
Ground	Ibrox Park
Scottish Premier Division	3rd P44 W26 D8 L10 F85 A34 Pts60
Scottish Cup	Fourth Round
League Cup	Winners
European Cup	Quarter-finals
Glasgow Cup	Not completed
Top goalscorer	League: Ally McCoist (31) All: Ally McCoist (42)

The 1987–88 season was the 108th season of competitive football by Rangers.

Overview

Rangers played a total of 58 competitive matches during the 1987–88 season. The team finished a disappointing third in the Scottish Premier Division with 60 points, two behind Hearts and twelve behind champions Celtic.

Future club captain Richard Gough was signed from Tottenham Hotspur for a club record fee of £1.5m.

In the cup competitions, they were knocked out of the Scottish Cup in the fourth round, losing 2–0 away to Dunfermline Athletic. They won the League Cup (Skol Cup), defeating Aberdeen 5–3 on penalties after the match was drawn 3–3.

The European campaign was fairly successful. The club reached the quarter final of the European Cup after beating Dynamo Kiev and Górnik Zabrze before being knocked out by Steaua Bucharest.

Rangers defeated English Champions Everton in the Dubai Super Cup in December. The match ended 2–2 with Rangers winning the penalty shootout 8–7. The match was dubbed the unofficial British Championship decider by the football media.

Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

Scottish Premier Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
8 August 1987	Dundee United	H	1–1	39,120	McCoist (pen.)
12 August 1987	Hibernian	A	0–1	22,000
15 August 1987	Aberdeen	A	0–2	22,568
22 August 1987	Falkirk	H	4–0	32,340	McCoist (3), Falco
29 August 1987	Celtic	A	0–1	60,800
5 September 1987	Dundee	H	2–1	38,302	Fleck, McCoist
12 September 1987	Dunfermline Athletic	H	4–0	39,749	McCoist (3), Souness
19 September 1987	Motherwell	A	1–0	19,480	Philliben (o.g.)
26 September 1987	Morton	H	7–0	35,843	McCoist (3), Falco (3), Fleck
3 October 1987	Heart of Midlothian	A	0–0	28,637
6 October 1987	St Mirren	H	3–1	39,298	Falco, Butcher, Souness
10 October 1987	Dundee United	A	0–1	18,214
17 October 1987	Celtic	H	2–2	44,500	McCoist, Gough
28 October 1987	Dunfermline Athletic	A	4–0	18,070	Durrant (2), McCall (pen.), McCoist
31 October 1987	Motherwell	H	1–0	36,583	McCoist
7 November 1987	Hibernian	H	1–0	37,571	Fleck
14 November 1987	St Mirren	A	2–2	20,649	McCoist (2)
17 November 1987	Aberdeen	H	0–1	41,371
21 November 1987	Falkirk	A	1–0	17,500	Fleck
24 November 1987	Morton	A	3–0	16,500	D.Ferguson, Fleck, McCoist
28 November 1987	Heart of Midlothian	H	3–2	43,557	Fleck, Durrant, Levein (o.g.)
5 December 1987	Dundee United	H	1–0	41,159	McCoist
12 December 1987	Hibernian	A	2–0	21,000	Gough, Fleck
14 December 1987	Dunfermline Athletic	H	2–2	31,687	D.Ferguson, McCoist
19 December 1987	Motherwell	A	2–0	15,436	McCoist (pen.), Philiben (o.g.)
26 December 1987	Dundee	H	2–0	40,938	McCoist (2, 1 (pen.))
2 January 1988	Celtic	A	0–2	60,800
6 January 1988	Dundee	A	1–0	17,450	McCoist
9 January 1988	Morton	H	5–0	38,349	McCoist (3), Durrant
16 January 1988	Heart of Midlothian	A	1–1	28,967	Durrant (pen.)
23 January 1988	Falkirk	H	3–1	41,088	Bartram, Brown, Durrant (pen.)
6 February 1988	Aberdeen	A	2–1	22,500	McCoist, Gough
13 February 1988	St Mirren	H	4–0	41,664	Cooper, Walters, Wilkins, Gough
27 February 1988	Dundee United	A	1–1	20,846	Walters
5 March 1988	Dunfermline Athletic	A	3–0	19,017	McCoist (pen.), Walters, Gough
12 March 1988	Motherwell	H	1–0	39,650	Durrant
20 March 1988	Celtic	H	1–2	43,650	Bartram
26 March 1988	Dundee	A	3–2	14,879	Roberts, Walters, Durrant (pen.)
2 April 1988	Heart of Midlothian	H	1–2	41,125	Bartram
9 April 1988	Morton	A	2–3	12,000	I.Ferguson, Durrant
16 April 1988	Hibernian	H	1–1	32,218	D.Ferguson
23 April 1988	St Mirren	A	3–0	13,809	Walters, Brown, McCoist
30 April 1988	Aberdeen	H	0–1	36,010
7 May 1988	Falkirk	A	5–0	14,500	Walters (2), McCoist (2, 1 (pen.)), D.Ferguson

European Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
16 September 1987	R1	Dynamo Kiev	A	0–1	100,000
30 September 1987	R1	Dynamo Kiev	H	2–0	44,500	Falco, McCoist
21 October 1987	R2	Gornik Zabrze	H	3–1	41,366	McCoist, Durrant, Falco
4 November 1987	R2	Gornik Zabrze	A	1–1	23,250	McCoist (pen.)
2 March 1988	QF	Steaua Bucharest	A	0–2	33,000
16 March 1988	QF	Steaua Bucharest	H	2–1	44,000	Gough, McCoist (pen.)

Scottish Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
30 January 1988	R3	Raith Rovers	A	0–0	9,500
10 February 1988	R3 R	Raith Rovers	H	4–1	35,144	Durrant (2, 1 (pen.)), Walters, McCoist
20 February 1988	R4	Dunfermline Athletic	A	0–2	19,360

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
19 August 1987	R2	Stirling Albion	A	2–1	13,000	Falco, McCoist
26 August 1987	R3	Dunfermline Athletic	A	4–1	18,070	McCoist (3, 1 (pen.)), Falco
2 September 1987	QF	Heart of Midlothian	H	4–1	40,920	Durrant (2), McCoist (2, 1 (pen.))
23 September 1987	SF	Motherwell	N	3–1	45,938	Fleck, Falco, Kirk (o.g.)
25 October 1987	F	Aberdeen	N	3–3*	71,961	Cooper, Durrant, Fleck

*Rangers won the match 5–3 on penalties

Dubai Super Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
8 December 1987	F	Everton	N	2–2*	8,000	Fleck, McCoist

*Rangers won the match 8–7 on penalties

Glasgow Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
13 April 1988	SF	Partick Thistle	A	2–1✝	4,500	Cooper, Spencer

✝Competition not completed

Appearances

Player	Position	Appearances	Goals
Chris Woods	GK	52	0
Jimmy Nicholl	DF	33	0
Stuart Munro	DF	22	0
Derek Ferguson	MF	43	4
John McGregor	DF	32	0
Avi Cohen	DF	12	0
Davie Kirkwood	MF	7	0
Mark Falco	FW	19	10
Ally McCoist	FW	53	42
Jimmy Phillips	DF	27	0
Davie Cooper	MF	43	2
Ian Durrant	MF	54	16
Robert Fleck	MF	28	9
Dave MacFarlane	MF	1	0
Scott Nisbet	DF	29	0
Colin West	FW	1	0
Graham Roberts	DF	50	1
Terry Butcher	DF	18	1
Graeme Souness	MF	30	2
Ian McCall	MF	12	1
Trevor Francis	FW	25	0
Richard Gough	DF	36	6
Ray Wilkins	MF	29	1
Mark Walters	MF	21	8
Nicky Walker	GK	6	0
John Brown	DF	12	2
Jan Bartram	DF	14	3
Ian Ferguson	MF	8	1
Gary McSwegan	FW	1	0

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Celtic (C)	44	31	10	3	79	23	+56	72	Qualification for the European Cup first round
2	Heart of Midlothian	44	23	16	5	74	32	+42	62	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3	Rangers	44	26	8	10	85	34	+51	60
4	Aberdeen	44	21	17	6	56	25	+31	59
5	Dundee United	44	16	15	13	54	47	+7	47	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round

Source: Statto
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

See also

• 1987–88 in Scottish football
• 1987–88 Scottish Cup
• 1987–88 Scottish League Cup
• 1987–88 UEFA Cup