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 ever competitive goals for the Club. One would go on to break all sorts of scoring records at Ibrox and earn legendary status, Alistair Murdoch McCoist, MBE.
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. Born in Glasgow but an Australian National, his 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. It was a strategy that paid off and that same commitment was evident 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 Parkhead the following week (McCoist scoring for Rangers in the opening minute but Rangers would leave empty handed). Mitchell’s first league goal would come in another defeat, this time at Tynecastle. A double in our 10-0 win over Valletta would see Dave net his first Ibrox goals and he would repeat this when Porto came to Glasgow in the next round of the European Cup Winner’s Cup.
It had, however, 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 we would go on to win the trophy, Dave would not feature. Instead, it was again that man McCoist who captured the headlines with a 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 Dave was not going to be the striking solution for Wallace.
It was still somewhat of a surprise when Dave was allowed to leave the Club in March 1985. His 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 other sides throughout Europe’s top leagues including Eintracht Frankfurt, Feyenoord and Chelsea. Walter Smith attempted to 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.
by Rick Plews
