Season Summary by Alistair Aird
It is still unclear why Jock Wallace left Rangers to join Leicester City in the summer of 1978 after leading the club to another domestic Treble. There have been rumours of ructions with Willie Waddell, but the actual version of events has never been documented. But when Wallace did elect to go there was only one man going to replace him at the helm, John Greig.
The curtain had come down on Greig’s illustrious playing career at the end of what was his third Treble-winning season in 1977/78. He had made 859 appearances for Rangers, scoring 142 goals, and collected five League championship medals, six Scottish Cup medals, and four winners’ medals in the League Cup. And, of course, he was the leader of the immortal side that claimed to date the club’s only major European honour, the European Cup Winners’ Cup in Barcelona in 1972.
Greig was the heir apparent, but with the benefit of hindsight, the job perhaps came too early for him. He was, however, hampered by a couple of factors. The side he had inherited was an ageing one and he had the job of breaking that up and rebuilding. However, the latter was made more difficult by the fact that a significant amount of money was being poured into the redevelopment of Ibrox Stadium which shrunk the transfer kitty.
Nevertheless, money was still made available as borne out by the acquisitions of the likes of John McClelland (£90,000), Jim Bett (£150,000), and Craig Paterson (£225,000). There was investment in the playing squad ahead of season 1983/84 too, with £185,000 spent to bring a certain Alistair McCoist to the club. The passing of time would show that that was, however, money well spent!
McCoist made his Rangers debut in game one of a four-match pre-season tour of Sweden. He scored a hat trick in an 11-0 win over Arlovs. John MacDonald did likewise, and a total of 32 goals were scored in those four matches. McCoist claimed nine of them, while Sandy Clark continued where he had left off at the end of season 1982/83, also scoring nine times.
Preparations were rounded off with a 4-2 win at home against West Bromwich Albion and success in the Glasgow Cup. Clyde were beaten 1-0 in the semi-final – Bobby Russell scored the goal - and a solitary goal from Clark secured the trophy in the Final against Celtic at Hampden. The attendance of 32,707 must be one of the lowest recorded in the post-war era for an Old Firm final.
It all looked rather positive for Greig and his squad, but that all drained away when Rangers made an abysmal start to the league campaign. McCoist scored after 27 seconds of his Old Firm league debut, but the 2-1 defeat at Parkhead was the first of three in succession. Three straight wins followed, but a 3-2 reverse at Dens Park kicked off a run of five defeats in a row. Greig would be in charge for just two of those five losses though.
On 22 October, Rangers faced Motherwell at Ibrox. After making a mistake in midweek win over Porto, Peter McCloy was dropped. Jim Stewart, who hadn’t played a league game for over 10 months, came in, but he was beaten by two late goals. Rangers lost 2-1 to slump to sixth in the 10-team table. After nine games, they were seven points behind leaders Dundee United who had played a game less.
It was time for change.
After the match, a throng of irate supporters had gathered on Edmiston Drive afterwards to vent their anger. Chairman Rae Simpson defended Greig, and he remained at the helm for a 2-0 win over Hearts the following midweek. But just two days later Greig resigned. He later admitted that the job was starting to have a detrimental impact on his health, and it must have hurt such an iconic figure that he couldn’t construct a side that could consistently mount a title challenge.
Greig was the seventh manager in Rangers’ history. Since taking over, he had led his side to four major trophies, four Scottish Cup Finals, three League Cup Finals, and the quarter finals of the European Cup. But the barometer for a Rangers manager is at the very least competing for the league championship, and during Greig’s tenure that had only happened in his first season.
The hunt was now on for manager number eight, and the man earmarked by the board was Alex Ferguson. A record signing for the club back in 1967, Ferguson’s playing career for Rangers was unremarkable. But he was starting to develop a formidable reputation as a manager. Since taking over from Billy McNeill in 1978, Ferguson had led Aberdeen to their first league title since 1955, back-to-back Scottish Cup triumphs and the European Cup Winners Cup in 1983.
However, it appears from newspaper reports of the time that no official approach was made for Ferguson. In fact, a matter of days after Greig resigned, Ferguson signed a new contract at Pittodrie.
The board, which was also in a state of flux, then made their move by seeking permission to speak to the Dundee United manager, Jim McLean.
United granted permission, McLean spoke to Rangers, and was offered a deal that would have seen him become one of the best paid managers in British Football. It looked to be a done deal, with his trusted assistant manager and lifelong Rangers fan, Walter Smith, coming to Glasgow with him.
However, on Monday, 7 November the front page of the Evening Times carried the headline ‘McLean – No’. McLean said he wanted to stay loyal to the United fans and said, ‘I feel a big regret for letting Rangers down, but it would have been a bigger regret leaving Dundee United.’
The Rangers directors were now in dire straits. Tommy McLean had been appointed caretaker manager, but in the period between Greig’s resignation and McLean’s rejection, Rangers had been eliminated from the European Cup Winners Cup, battered 3-0 by St Mirren in Paisley and lost 2-1 against Celtic at Ibrox. Club captain John McClelland had also spoken about the importance of appointing a new manager, so the pressure was on.
It was eventually relieved when a trusted pair of hands were placed back on the tiller. On 11 November 1983, Big Jock was back.
Wallace’s return galvanised Rangers. After losing 3-0 at Aberdeen in his first league match in charge, his side embarked on a 19-match unbeaten run across three competitions. After losing at Pittodrie, only Motherwell and St Johnstone were below Rangers in the Premier Division table. But five wins from their next six league games and six successive clean sheets got the momentum going, and by early March, Rangers had climbed to fourth place.
Bobby Williamson was recruited from Clydebank for a fee of £100,000 to bolster the attack, and he came into the team towards the end of the year. After making his debut at Fir Park in a 3-0 win over Motherwell, Williamson netted a midweek hat trick in a thumping 6-0 friendly win over Ross County. One of the club’s promising youngsters, Hugh Burns, made his first team debut that night in Dingwall too.
By the end of the season, Bobby had netted 12 goals in 23 appearances including one in a 3-3 draw against a Feyenoord side boasting the talents of Ruud Guillit and Johan Cruyff in their ranks. Unfortunately, Bobby suffered a broken leg on the post season tour which ruled him out for most of the following season.
Dundee ended the unbeaten run when they won 3-2 at Ibrox in a Scottish Cup quarter-final replay on 17 March, but eight days later, Wallace and his players had an opportunity to annex some silverware when they faced Celtic at Hampden in the League Cup Final.
Although the start to the league season had been dismal, Rangers had performed well in the League Cup. Queen of the South were beaten 8-1 on aggregate before Clydebank, Hearts and St Mirren were swatted aside at the sectional stage. All six matches were won, with 18 goals scored and none conceded.
Wallace was at the helm by the time the defending league champions Dundee United were beaten in the semis, and that set up an Old Firm showdown at Hampden. This was the day Jock Wallace talked about having ‘the battle fever on’, and for Ally McCoist it was an opportunity to endear himself to the Rangers fans.
McCoist had had an indifferent start to his Rangers career. His form almost mirrored that of the team in the respect that he scored freely in the League Cup – six goals in the opening seven League Cup ties – but struggled in the league. Although he started each of the opening 14 league fixtures, he only netted four goals, and after going five games without scoring, Wallace relegated him to the reserves. There were rumours of interest from Cardiff City and Sunderland, but McCoist knuckled down, scored goals for the second XI, and was soon back in the reckoning for the first team.
With Bobby Williamson and new goalkeeper Nicky Walker cup-tied and Ian Redford and Robert Prytz suspended after being ordered off in the Scottish Cup with Dundee, the starting XI showed four changes. Sandy Clark donned the number nine jersey vacated by Williamson, Peter McCloy took over in goal, and with a shortage of midfielders, John MacDonald was drafted in alongside Clark up front, with McCoist and Dave McPherson alongside Bobby Russell and Davie Cooper in midfield.
McCoist obviously shot to fame with Rangers as a number nine, but he played in midfield during in the fledgling years of his career with St Johnstone. And although most probably relate to McPherson as a centre back or right back, he too had the dexterity to play in the middle of the park.
Both teams traded blows in the first half. MacDonald had an early shot cleared off the line by Tom McAdam (Tom’s brother Colin was one of the two Rangers substitutes), while at the other end, Brian McClair and Paul McStay went close for Celtic. But a minute shy of the interval it was Rangers who hit the front.
Bobby Russell masterminded the midfield throughout the match, and when he sped away from Murdo McLeod on the left, he was upended. Referee Bob Valentine awarded the penalty which was clinically despatched by McCoist.
Young Hugh Burns was brought into the fray 10 minutes after the interval, replacing MacDonald, and five minutes later he was jumping for joy with his team mates when they doubled their lead. McCloy hoofed the ball high into the air, Sandy Clark challenged for it as it dropped, and the ball broke to McCoist who slid in to score his second of the game.
Rangers had one hand on the trophy, but their lead was halved seven minutes later when McClair volleyed the ball beyond McCloy. And in injury time Celtic, who were chasing the Treble, forced extra time when McCoist fouled McLeod in the box. Mark Reid made no mistake with the resulting penalty kick.
Wallace got his players regrouped ahead of extra-time, and McCoist was to the fore again six minutes from the end of the additional half hour. He was barged in the back by Roy Aitken and penalty number three of the game was awarded. Although Pat Bonner stooped to his left and parried McCoist’s spot kick, Ally showed his predatory instincts by pouncing on the rebound. Aside from McCoist’s treble against Celtic in the 1986 Glasgow Cup Final, that remains the last hat trick scored by a Rangers player against Celtic.
Apart from a sticky spell midway through season 1984/85, McCoist never looked back. He became the darling of the support, netting 434 goals in 689 appearances. Not a bad return for an outlay of £185,000!
Back in 1975, Jock Wallace had taken the first team on a global adventure and that laid the foundations for a domestic Treble. That may well have been his thinking when he suggested doing something similar in May and June 1984.
Games were played in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Newcastle, Auckland, Minneapolis, Ontario and Toronto. The match in Minneapolis against Minnesota Kicks on 13 June was played on astroturf. Rangers lost 5-2, and the exertions of the players was summed up when Wallace could only call upon 12 fit players. And during the match, Sandy Clark, who had been replaced by Dave MacKinnon, had to come back on to the field to replace John MacDonald.
Injuries had been a common theme right from the start of the tour. Bobby Russell was hospitalised with a head injury picked up in the opening match against Australia ‘B’, Bobby Williamson sustained a broken leg before the second game against the same opposition before Colin McAdam fractured his right leg in the third game of the tour against Australia.
The match in Auckland against New Zealand saw John MacDonald become a centurion when he scored his 100th goal for Rangers.
‘Solo’ had been a regular in the first team since making the breakthrough in 1979. He had scored vital goals since then, none more so than his brace in the Scottish Cup Final replay in 1981. Scotland’s Young Player of the Year in season 1979/80, MacDonald had featured mainly from the bench in season 1983/84, with only 20 of the 47 appearances he made being as part of the starting XI. One of those starts came against Valletta in the European Cup Winners’ Cup, with John grabbing a hat-trick in the record-breaking 10-0 victory.
The tour concluded on 17 June with a 1-1 draw against the recently crowned West German champions, VfB Stuttgart. Eric Ferguson, who was drafted into the squad to cover the spate of injuries, scored Rangers’ goal, and Stuart Munro made his ninth appearance of the tour when he came on as sub for Bobby Russell. Signed from Alloa Athletic earlier in the season, Munro would become an unsung hero as a solid and dependable left back in the seasons that followed. The tour, however, was extra special for him as he met his future wife while the squad were in Australia.
The unbeaten run and the League Cup success had restored some belief and confidence among the Rangers supporters. That, however, soon evaporated, and the doldrums beckoned once again.
