Season 1978 - 79 by Alistair Aird Rangers Football Club were rocked in the close season when Jock Wallace left the club to join Leicester City. Rumours of rifts with Willie Waddell were rife, but no reason was ever given as to why the man who had won two Trebles in three seasons left the club. The Rangers board didn’t have to look very far to earmark Wallace’s replacement, it was very much a case of promotion from within. John Greig, captain courageous, was offered the job and he accepted, deciding to hang up his boots at the age of 35. It seemed to be a natural progression, although there were some that thought it may have come a little too early. Greig’s first match in charge was a pre-season friendly against Inverness Caledonian on 29 July. His replacement as captain, Derek Johnstone scored one of Rangers’ six goals, and Greig left the Highlands having signed his first player too. Billy Urquhart scored two of the home side’s three goals and was promptly snapped up by the new Rangers manager. Greig named the same XI for his second match in charge – a 2-2 draw against Kilmarnock in a benefit match for Ian Fallis – and Rangers rounded off their pre-season preparations by defeating Hearts and Southampton to win the Tennent Caledonian Cup. The tournament had been hosted by Rangers for the past two seasons but had lost to Southampton and West Bromwich Albion in the previous two finals. But goals from Russell, Parlane, Alex Forsyth, and Alex MacDonald stopped the Saints marching away with the trophy again. It also ensured that Greig had some silverware in his possession even before the competitive action got started. But the scalp of Southampton became insignificant when Rangers endured a wretched start to the league season. They didn’t claim their first league victory until 30 September, losing two and drawing four of their opening six games. One of the two losses came against Celtic at Parkhead. Rangers were 2-0 down after only 21 minutes against a resurgent Celtic side that had been galvanised by the return of Billy McNeill to the club. They had won their opening three league games, scoring 11 goals and conceding only two. A goal from Derek Parlane took their ‘goals against’ tally to three, but Tom McAdam scored his second of the match with 14 minutes to go. A missed penalty kick by Alex Miller after 83 minutes merely rubbed salt into the wounds. That sought-after first league win – 4-1 against Motherwell at Ibrox – didn’t kickstart the title challenge, though. Rangers were still riddled with inconsistency, winning only five of the 11 games that followed. In that run of fixtures were a 3-0 defeat at Tannadice and a 1-0 defeat at Firhill, but despite all that, at the halfway stage of the title race, Greig’s side sat fourth in the table, three points behind leaders Dundee United. After their explosive start, Celtic had also faltered. After winning seven of their first nine, a 0-0 draw at home against Morton started a run in which they won only one of their next nine fixtures in the league. They were sitting fifth in the table, a point worse off than Rangers. Thus, at Christmas, despite some uneven performances, Greig had edged ahead of his old rival McNeill. But after defeating St Mirren 1-0 at Ibrox two days before Christmas, Rangers wouldn’t kick a ball in earnest again until they were thumped 4-0 by Clydebank in a friendly on 17 January. The late Frank McDougall, a player who be the scourge of Rangers on numerous occasions, scored a hat-trick. Scotland was gripped by a big freeze, and Rangers played only one league game in January, a 2-0 win over Morton at Cappielow. But that win proved to be the catalyst that propelled Rangers up the table. Defeats at Tynecastle, Fir Park and Pittodrie and a draw at home against Morton were the only blemishes in a run that witnessed Greig’s side win 10 of their next 14 league games. Included in that sequence was a 1-0 win over Celtic at Hampden Park, this being a ‘home’ fixture for Rangers as the reconstruction at Ibrox necessitated a move to the national stadium for Old Firm matches. Rangers now trailed Dundee United by three points, but the fixture backlog meant that they had four games in hand. Celtic, who like Rangers had also played 32 matches, were a point behind in third place. Two days after the win over Celtic, Rangers defeated Aberdeen 2-0 at Ibrox. Celtic edged out Partick Thistle 2-1 at Firhill. Rangers’ attention then turned to the Scottish Cup Final against Hibernian, and while Greig’s side were playing out to dour 0-0 draws, Celtic defeated St Mirren at Hearts to leapfrog United and Rangers to top the table. That set up a mouthwatering Old Firm match at Parkhead. Victory for Celtic, playing their final league match of the season, would give then an unassailable five-point lead over Rangers. However, if Greig’s side drew the match, they still had two matches to play which would have given them the chance to claim four points and thus overtake Celtic and win the title. And as the match entered its closing stages, that was exactly what looked to be happening. Rangers led at the interval thanks to a goal from Alex MacDonald after only nine minutes. And when Celtic’s Johnny Doyle was ordered off 10 minutes into the second half, the pendulum was most certainly swinging towards Ibrox. But the red card galvanised Celtic. Roy Aitken drew Celtic level after 66 minutes, and eight minutes later, George McCluskey put them in front. Rangers weren’t done just yet, though, and that pesky pendulum headed back in their direction again when Bobby Russell made it 2-2 after 76 minutes. Alas, an unfortunate own goal from Colin Jackson and a screamer from Murdo McLeod in the final 10 minutes earned the hosts a 4-2 win and, ultimately, denied Greig a clean sweep of the major domestic honours in his debut season as manager. The League Cup had been retained when a late Colin Jackson header had seen off Aberdeen in the Final. Rangers’ run to the Final had been relatively uneventful until it hit the last eight. Albion Rovers, Forfar Athletic, and St Mirren had been beaten on aggregate over two legs to set up a quarter-final tie against Arbroath. But the Red Lichties put up a fight in the first leg at Ibrox, and it took an own goal from Billy Wells after 70 minutes to earn Greig’s men a 1-0 win. And they didn’t get it any easier a week later at Gayfield either. Gordon Smith scored after 15 minutes, but if that settled nerves then they were jangling again when Fletcher restored parity on the night nine minutes later. After that Arbroath made Rangers ‘appear a very ordinary side’ according to the match report in the Glasgow Herald, and it wasn’t until Bobby Russell thumped in a goal after 85 minutes that a place in the semi-final was assured. The semi-final was an Old Firm affair. Celtic had contested the last 14 finals and staked a claim for 15-in-a-row when Johnny Doyle put them in front after only nine minutes. But Rangers drew level four minutes shy of the half-hour mark in controversial circumstances. Davie Cooper went down in the box, and the referee, Hugh Alexander, awarded a penalty kick. The Celtic players protested vehemently, with Tommy Burns doing so more than most. Evidently, what he said wasn’t well-received by the stand-side linesman, and after consultation, Alexander ordered Burns from the field. Sandy Jardine scored from the spot, and parity was restored. But a minute into the second half, the number of players was evened up when Alex Miller was sent off after a clash with Doyle. It was now 1-1 and 10-v-10. Celtic hit the front again just after the hour through Tom McAdam, but Greig’s side forced extra time when Colin Jackson scored with 10 minutes remaining. An own goal from Jim Casey tipped the scales in the favour of Rangers in extra time. Aberdeen, managed by Alex Ferguson, provided the opposition in the Final, and there would be controversy in this one too. With 13 minutes to go, the Dons led 1-0. But Alex MacDonald popped up with his customary goal, and after Doug Rougvie was sent off following an off-the-ball clash with Derek Johnstone, Colin Jackson rose to head home the winning goal with only four minutes left on the clock. The Scottish Cup joined the League Cup in the Trophy Room – the Final against Hibernian was eventually settled when Rangers won the second replay 3-2 – and there’s a reasonable argument that the European Cup should have sat alongside the two domestic cups. In the opening round, Rangers were paired with one of the pre-tournament favourites, Juventus. The first leg was in Turin on 13 September, and a stoic defensive display against an XI that boasted future World Cup winners Dino Zoff, Franco Causio, and Marco Tardelli saw Greig’s side return to Glasgow only one goal behind. And two weeks later at a stadium in the throes of reconstruction, goals from Alex MacDonald and Gordon Smith edged Rangers through to the next round. At that stage, they drew PSV Eindhoven, but after a 0-0 draw at Ibrox, most expected that that was that in terms of the European endeavours. PSV had never lost a European tie at home, but on one of the most memorable ‘away days’ in Europe, John Greig masterminded a 3-2 win. ‘Greig’s Grenadiers send the Dutch champions reeling’ bellowed the headline in the Glasgow Herald the following day. After conceding a goal after 34 seconds, Rangers levelled the match after 58 minutes courtesy of a trademark diving header from Alex MacDonald. The home side edged ahead three minutes later, but Derek Johnstone restored parity again after 66 minutes. At that stage, Rangers were through on the away goals rule, but they topped the icing on the cake with a cherry with only two minutes to go. Tommy McLean played a superb pass into the path of Bobby Russell who cooly curled the ball around the PSV goalkeeper, Ton van Engelen. That remarkable result took Rangers into the last eight. They were joined by English champions Nottingham Forest – Brian Clough’s side had knocked out holders Liverpool in the opening round – Cologne, Grasshopper Zurich, Austria Vienna, Wisla Krakow, and Malmo. Given the scalps they had claimed, it was quite conceivable that Rangers could go all the way and win the trophy. When the draw was made, Rangers were paired with Cologne. The first leg was in West Germany, and according to Jim Reynolds, writing in the Glasgow Herald, ‘John Greig achieved full marks for his homework.’ Once again, the Rangers manager set his team up to absorb pressure and repel any attacking intent, and a standout was a forgotten man. Jim Denny was drafted in to look after Herbert Neumann, and the resolute reserve was excellent in the 1-0 defeat. Given that Rangers had trailed Juventus by a similar scoreline earlier in the tournament, Greig’s side hosted Cologne confident of making it through to the last four. But it wasn’t to be. The match was due to take place on 21 March, but the Spanish referee deemed that a snow-covered Ibrox was unplayable. The teams eventually went into battle 24 hours later, but with Derek Johnstone, who hadn’t played since 26 February, only fit enough for a place on the bench, John Greig handed the number nine shirt to Billy Urquhart. Urquhart had barely featured since joining the club in the summer, but he had found the net in the match before the Cologne clash, a 2-0 win over Partick Thistle at Firhill. But he couldn’t repeat the feat at the highest level. The visitors struck first through Dieter Muller, and a goal from Tommy McLean after 87 minutes was too little, too late. Forest overcame Cologne in the semis and went on to win the first of two successive European Cups, but Rangers had undoubtedly passed up a glorious opportunity to win the honour that their followers craved. John Greig’s first season was summed up by fine margins. Had luck been on his side, he may well have won a Treble and the European Cup, but instead he only had the two domestic cups to show for the efforts of his team. And this would indeed by the high watermark of the John Greig era. A doleful time lay ahead for Rangers as the emergence of the ‘New Firm’ of Aberdeen and Dundee United alongside the perennial challenge of Celtic left Rangers chasing shadows in their quest for the major domestic honours.
