David Mitchell (1983 to 1985)
August 27th 1983 may not be immediately obvious to many in terms of significant dates within the history of Rangers.
A 4-1 victory at Palmerston on that date would see two Gers strikers notch their first competitive goals for the Club. One if them, Alistair Murdoch McCoist MBE, would go on to break all sorts of scoring records at Ibrox, earning legendary status.
However, the opening goal that day was scored by 21 year-old Dave Mitchell, a bustling striker who had travelled from the other side of the world in an attempt to make his mark in Europe. Although an Australian National, Davie was born in Glasgow and spent his formative years in Drumoyne before his parents made the decision to emigrate. Mitchell's commitment to join Rangers was not in doubt as he bought out his existing contract with Adelaide City and paid his own travel expenses to try and convince manager John Greig to sign him up. It was a strategy that paid off and David displayed that same level of commitment on the pitch during his short spell at Rangers.
The League Cup victory over Queen of the South was Dave’s debut and his first league appearance would come in the Old Firm clash at Celtic Park the following week (McCoist scoring in the opening minute but Rangers left empty handed). Mitchell’s first league goal would come in another Gers defeat, this time at Tynecastle. A double in the 10-0 win over Valletta would see Dave net his first Ibrox goals and he would find the target again when Porto came to Glasgow in the next round of the European Cup Winner’s Cup.
It had been a disappointing start to the 1983/84 campaign and, with pressure mounting, John Greig finally resigned from his position on 28th October 1983 following a League Cup win over Hearts (Mitchell scoring the second goal in a 2-0 victory).
With Jock Wallace soon returning to the hot seat, he quickly entered the transfer market to sign another robust centre forward in Bobby Williamson. A crucial goal at Tannadice in the League Cup Semi-Final (1st leg) put Rangers in a strong position to reach the final and whilst Gers would go on to win the trophy, Dave would not feature. Instead, it was that man McCoist who grabbed the headlines with a famous Hampden hat-trick.
Continuing to demonstrate his liking for the big European nights, his first goal of the 1984/85 campaign arrived in a memorable 3-1 win over Inter Milan at Ibrox. He would feature regularly in the first half of that campaign but the the return of Derek Johnstone in the New Year was perhaps another indication that, long term, Dave was not going to be the striking solution for Wallace.
Mitchell secured his first major honour on 28th October 1984 when Dundee United were defeated 1-0 at Hampden Park in the final of the (Skol) League Cup, courtesy of Iain Ferguson's first half strike.
It was still somewhat of a surprise when Dave was allowed to leave the Club in March 1985. Dave's final appearance had come in a Scottish Cup Replay victory over Morton in the January, another game in which he had scored.
It was his 14th goal in 28 starts with a further 17 appearances made from the bench.
Dave went on to play for a number of sides throughout Europe’s top leagues including Eintracht Frankfurt, Feyenoord and Chelsea. In fact, he was somewhat of a globetrotter having also appeared for clubs in Turkey and Malaysia.
Walter Smith enquired about bring Dave back to Ibrox in 1993 but the deal could not get over the line and the player returned to London to sign for Millwall.
Mitchell eventually headed back to Australia and moved into coaching where he served A League side Perth Glory in addition to working with the Olympic team.
by Rick Plews
