1978–79 Rangers F.C. season

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)

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

Overview

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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

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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
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

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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

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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

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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

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Tennent Caledonian Cup

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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

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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

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

League table

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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

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References

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