1988–89 Rangers F.C. season

Rangers

1988–89 season
Chairman	David Holmes
Manager	Graeme Souness
Ground	Ibrox Park
Scottish Premier Division	1st P36 W26 D4 L6 F62 A26 Pts56
Scottish Cup	Runners-up
League Cup	Winners
UEFA Cup	Second Round
Top goalscorer	League: Kevin Drinkell (11) All: Kevin Drinkell (19)

The 1988–89 season was the 109th season of competitive football by Rangers.

Overview

Rangers played a total of 53 competitive matches during the 1988–89 season. They regained the Scottish Premier Division title, winning the first of nine consecutive league titles.

England international right back, Gary Stevens was signed from Everton and Kevin Drinkell was brought in to partner Ally McCoist up front.

Results against Celtic were pivotal in the Championship race, winning 5-1 and 4-1 at Ibrox. They also secured their first win at Parkhead since 1980, 2-1 in March. The league was won at Ibrox with a 4-0 demolition of Hearts.

In the cup competitions, they lost the Scottish Cup final 1–0 to Celtic. The team won the Scottish League Cup (Skol Cup) for the third season in a row defeating Aberdeen 3–2.

The European campaign was disappointing. The team qualified for the UEFA Cup and after a fine aggregate win over Polish side GKS Katowice, they were knocked out in the second round by Cologne of West Germany.

Lawrence Marlborough sold his controlling interest in Rangers to David Murray in November. Murray later took over as Chairman from David Holmes.

Transfer

In

Date	Player	From	Fee
19 July 1988	Gary Stevens	Everton	£1.25m
29 July 1988	John Morrow	Linfield	Free
6 October 1988	Neale Cooper	Aston Villa	£0.25m
1 February 1989	Tom Cowan	Clyde	Free

Out

Date	Player	From	Fee
31 May 1988	Avi Cohen	Maccabi Tel Aviv	Free
31 May 1988	Trevor Francis	Queens Park Rangers	Free
26 August 1988	Graham Roberts	Chelsea	£0.475m
26 August 1988	Jimmy Phillips	Oxford United	£0.11m
11 February 1989	Nicky Walker	Heart of Midlothian	£0.125m

Results

Scottish Premier Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
13 August 1988	Hamilton Academical	A	2–0	10,500	Stevens, McCoist
20 August 1988	Hibernian	H	0–0	41,955
27 August 1988	Celtic	H	5–1	42,858	McCoist (2), Wilkins, Drinkell, Walters
3 September 1988	Motherwell	A	2–0	20,112	Drinkell, Durrant
17 September 1988	Heart of Midlothian	A	2–1	25,501	Durrant (pen.), Nisbet
24 September 1988	St Mirren	H	2–1	35,523	D.Cooper (pen.), Walters
27 September 1988	Dundee United	A	1–0	20,071	I.Ferguson
1 October 1988	Dundee	H	2–0	40,768	Drinkell, Walters
8 October 1988	Aberdeen	A	1–2	23,370	N.Cooper
12 October 1988	Hibernian	A	1–0	26,000	McCoist
29 October 1988	St Mirren	A	1–1	20,903	Gray
1 November 1988	Heart of Midlothian	H	3–0	36,505	Gough, Walters (pen.), Gray
5 November 1988	Motherwell	H	2–1	36,060	Brown, Drinkell
12 November 1988	Celtic	A	1–3	60,113	Walters
16 November 1988	Hamilton Academical	H	3–1	33,684	Gray, Ferguson, Drinkell
19 November 1988	Dundee	A	0–0	16,514
26 November 1988	Aberdeen	H	1–0	42,239	Gough
3 December 1988	Dundee United	H	0–1	39,123
10 December 1988	Heart of Midlothian	A	0–2	26,424
17 December 1988	Hibernian	H	1–0	36,672	McCall
31 December 1988	Hamilton Academical	A	1–0	10,500	D.Ferguson
3 January 1989	Celtic	H	4–1	42,515	Walters (2, 1 (pen.)), Butcher, I.Ferguson
7 January 1989	Motherwell	A	1–2	19,275	Drinkell
14 January 1989	Aberdeen	A	2–1	23,000	Munro, D.Ferguson
21 January 1989	Dundee	H	3–1	43,202	I.Ferguson, Butcher, McCoist
11 February 1989	Dundee United	A	1–1	22,019	Munro
25 February 1989	St Mirren	H	3–1	39,021	I.Ferguson, McCoist, Walters
11 March 1989	Hamilton Academical	H	3–0	35,733	I.Ferguson, Sterland, Gough
25 March 1989	Hibernian	A	1–0	23,321	Drinkell
1 April 1989	Celtic	A	2–1	60,171	Drinkell, I.Ferguson
8 April 1989	Motherwell	H	1–0	33,782	McCoist
22 April 1989	St Mirren	A	2–0	22,096	I.Ferguson, McCoist
29 April 1989	Heart of Midlothian	H	4–0	42,856	Drinkell (2), Sterland (2)
2 May 1989	Dundee United	H	2–0	39,068	Drinkell, McCoist
6 May 1989	Dundee	A	2–1	14,889	Gray (2)
13 May 1989	Aberdeen	H	0–3	42,480

UEFA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
7 September 1988	R1	Katowice	H	1–0	41,120	Walters
5 October 1988	R1	Katowice	A	4–2	40,000	Butcher (2), Durrant, I.Ferguson
26 October 1988	R2	Cologne	A	0–2	42,000
9 November 1988	R2	Cologne	H	1–1	42,204	Drinkell

Scottish Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
28 January 1989	R3	Raith Rovers	A	1–1	10,500	I.Ferguson
1 February 1989	R3 R	Raith Rovers	H	3–0	40,307	Walters, Drinkell, Fraser (o.g.)
18 February 1989	R4	Stranraer	H	8–0	41,198	Drinkell (2), Brown (2), McCoist (2, 1 (pen.) I.Ferguson, Walters
21 March 1989	QF	Dundee United	H	2–2	42,177	Drinkell, McCoist
27 March 1989	QF R	Dundee United	A	1–0	21,872	McCoist
15 April 1989	SF	St Johnstone	N	0–0	47,374
18 April 1989	SF R	St Johnstone	N	4–0	44,205	Walters, Stevens, Drinkell, McCoist
20 May 1989	F	Celtic	N	0–1	72,069

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1988	R2	Clyde	A	3–0	14,699	Drinkell, Walters, D.Ferguson
24 August 1988	R3	Clydebank	H	6–0	34,376	McCoist, Gough, Walters, Wilkins, Drinkell, Durrant
31 August 1988	QF	Dundee	H	4–1	39,667	McCoist, Walters, I.Ferguson, Forsyth (o.g.)
21 September 1988	SF	Heart of Midlothian	N	3–0	53,623	Walters (2), Nisbet
23 October 1988	F	Aberdeen	N	3–2	72,122	McCoist (2, 1 (pen.)), I.Ferguson

Appearances

Player	Position	Appearances	Goals
Gary Stevens	DF	52	2
Richard Gough	DF	51	4
Terry Butcher	DF	51	4
Mark Walters	MF	48	17
Kevin Drinkell	FW	47	19
Ray Wilkins	MF	45	2
John Brown	DF	42	3
Chris Woods	GK	39	0
Stuart Munro	DF	33	4
Ally McCoist	FW	33	18
Davie Cooper	MF	33	1
Ian Ferguson	MF	33	13
Derek Ferguson	MF	24	3
Neale Cooper	MF	17	1
Andy Gray	FW	16	5
Nicky Walker	GK	14	0
Ian Durrant	MF	14	4
Mel Sterland	FW	13	3
Scott Nisbet	DF	10	2
Graeme Souness	MF	10	0
Ian McCall	MF	7	1
Tom Cowan	DF	4	0
Jimmy Nicholl	DF	3	0
Kevin MacDonald	MF	3	0
Davie Kirkwood	MF	2	0
Sandy Robertson	MF	2	0
Gary McSwegan	FW	1	0
John McGregor	DF	1	0

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Rangers (C)	36	26	4	6	62	26	+36	56	Qualification for the European Cup first round
2	Aberdeen	36	18	14	4	51	25	+26	50	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3	Celtic	36	21	4	11	66	44	+22	46	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
4	Dundee United	36	16	12	8	44	26	+18	44	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
5	Hibernian	36	13	9	14	37	36	+1	35

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

See also

• 1988–89 in Scottish football
• 1988–89 Scottish Cup
• 1988–89 Scottish League Cup
• 1988–89 UEFA Cup