SEASON 1984/85 by Alistair Aird There was an air of expectation around Ibrox as preparations got underway for season 1984/85. Supporters had been buoyed by the long unbeaten run and success over Celtic in the League Cup Final. And big Jock was back at the helm too so why wouldn’t the follow followers of Rangers be wooed into thinking the glory days were back? Pre-season took Rangers to Switzerland where they played four matches before stopping off in West Germany for a further friendly fixture on the way home. Iain Ferguson, signed from Dundee at the end of the previous season, had scored once in four World Tour appearances, but he got his first full season as a Rangers player off to a flying start, with eight goals in those five games. Five of them came in the opening match against Einsiedein, and Rangers scored 20 goals in total, registering four wins and a solitary defeat. That came against FC Sion, Wallace’s side losing 3-0. A 2-2 draw at Ibrox against Leicester City completed preparations, and three days later, the curtain was raised on the league campaign with a drab 0-0 draw against St Mirren. That would be the first of three draws registered in the opening seven league matches, but wins over Dumbarton, Dundee, Hibernian and Morton ensured that Wallace’s side enjoyed an unbeaten start in their quest for a first title since 1978. But the rot soon set in. Hearts won 1-0 at Tynecastle in early October, and Rangers would win just three of their next 15 Premier Division matches. In that run were defeats at home to Celtic, Aberdeen and Hibernian, and a 5-1 thrashing at Pittodrie too. The decline looked to have been arrested when Morton were beaten at Ibrox in February – Derek Johnstone, who had been brought back to the club from Chelsea, scored what would be the only league goal of his second spell in that one – but it was a false dawn. Rangers lost six of the 11 league games that followed, including three on the spin between 16 March and 6 April. Rangers had been out of the title race well before that, though. By the climax of the campaign, 11 of the 36 league matches had been lost. Only 13 wins were registered. ‘Mired in mediocrity’ was once again the phrase that came to the fore as Wallace’s side finished fourth, a colossal 21 points behind champions, Aberdeen. It should be noted that this was back in the days when a win in the league only earned you two points. The nub of the issue for Rangers was scoring goals. Only 47 were scored in the league, with Ally McCoist the only Ranger to hit double figures. And of the 12 Ally scored, 10 came in the last nine league matches. Iain Ferguson was next in line with six, followed by Davie Cooper and Ian Redford who each netted five times. McCoist had had an indifferent campaign. After scoring his second league goal of the season against Morton in late September, he wouldn’t score another Premier Division goal until early March. And although he had been prolific in the League Cup – scoring five times in six games – he had spent spells of the season in the reserves after being dropped by Wallace. The first of those came after a bad miss in the San Siro against Inter Milan in the UEFA Cup in October. But the second came after what is now regarded as the nadir of his magnificent Rangers career, an occasion that witnessed Ibrox Stadium telling their misfiring striker in no uncertain terms exactly where he could go. With Rangers lagging behind in the title race, the Scottish Cup presented a welcome distraction at the start of 1985. A 3-3 draw against Morton at a snowy Cappielow was followed four days later by a straightforward 3-1 win in the replay. That propelled Rangers into the fourth round and a clash against the team that had eliminated them from the competition the year before, Dundee. Having been absent from first team duty since 3 November, McCoist had come on as sub a couple of times before being handed the number seven jersey for that chastening loss at Pittodrie on 19 January. He kept it for the two Scottish Cup matches against Morton and a couple of league matches too. And he would wear that jersey once again when Dundee came to Ibrox on 16 February. That match for Ally was ‘one of those days’. Try as he might, he simply couldn’t score. He passed up numerous chances to equalise an early goal from John Brown, and even when he did get the ball beyond Bobby Geddes, the goal was ruled out for offside. The 1-0 defeat essentially ended the season for Rangers and frustration boiled over in the stands. A scapegoat was sought and found in McCoist. A hymn of hate filled the air as the Rangers supporters told McCoist that he could ‘get tae f**k’. Ally was dropped for the league fixture that followed – a 2-0 defeat against Hearts at Tynecastle – but he was in the second XI team that beat the Jambos 5-1 at Ibrox. He scored twice. The following midweek, he did likewise, bagging a brace in a 2-2 draw against Forfar Athletic in a testimonial match for the former Rangers goalkeeper, Stewart Kennedy. McCoist would score 434 goals for Rangers, but the two he scored that night at Station Park could well have been the most important. Restored to the first XI on the Saturday, McCoist scored twice in a 3-1 win over Dumbarton at Ibrox. The dam had burst. Ally scored 10 goals in 13 appearances thereafter, including one in a win over Kuwait in Jordan, a penalty in a 1-1 draw against Celtic at Parkhead, and a hat trick against Morton at Cappielow. The latter match saw a precociously talented midfielder called Ian Durrant make his league debut. Unfortunately, the resurrection McCoist enjoyed was not mirrored by others. Although Iain Ferguson had scored the winner in the League Cup Final against Dundee United in late October, his debut season ended with a return of 20 goals in 48 appearances. Nine of his goals had come in friendly matches. He did score twice as Rangers almost staged a remarkable comeback against Inter Milan, but for what was a significant outlay at the time, circa £200,000, the fans wanted more. The season also saw the departure of John McClelland. Signed from Mansfield Town for £90,000, McClelland spent a large part of his first season at Rangers out injured with a dislocated ankle. He recovered in time to be part of the Northern Ireland squad that stunned Spain at the 1982 World Cup, and when he came back to Ibrox, he was appointed captain. But as season 1984/85 dawned, the Northern Irishman and the club had reached an impasse as they sought to agree terms on a new contract. The three-year deal McClelland had signed in 1981 was due to expire, but it's fair to say that the board had a parsimonious approach at this time and several other key players tussled with them to get a wage increase. The club captain was no different. While negotiations were ongoing, McClelland had to sign month-to-month contracts. But on 21 September, Jock Wallace announced that the Northern Irishman would be stripped of the captaincy and dropped for the visit of Morton the following day. Craig Paterson took over the armband, but when he picked up an injury that ruled him out of the first leg of the League Cup semi-final against Meadowbank Thistle four days later, McClelland was back in the starting XI. And apart from missing the return leg against Meadowbank, he would stay there until November too. McClelland’s last match as a Rangers player was against Inter Milan at Ibrox. Looking to overturn a 3-0 first leg deficit, Wallace looked to unsettle the Italians by playing McClelland at centre forward. And despite being quoted at 40-1 by the bookmakers to secure the 4-0 win they needed to progress; Rangers almost turned the tide in their favour. Iain Ferguson scored twice, and Dave Mitchell added another, but a goal from Alessandro Altobelli ensured that it ended 3-1 on the night and 4-3 in the favour of the Italians on aggregate. The following day it was announced that McClelland had left Rangers. He accepted an offer from Graham Taylor to sign for Watford. The transfer fee was £265,000 and McClelland later said he was offered around £550 a week, almost double the offer that had apparently been put on the table by Rangers. As influential as McClelland was, a parting of the ways was clearly best for both parties. And in the Playing for Rangers annual that was released at the end of the season, Jock Wallace put forward his reasons for the Northern Irishman being allowed to leave for pastures new: John McClelland did not want to play for Rangers at the end. He wanted away and he went away. I still believe that the player did not want to play for the club. And no matter who he is any player who does not want to play for Rangers can go. As far as I am concerned it’s an article of faith that the players at Ibrox want to play for Rangers above any club. It has to be that way. It has always been that way and as long as I’m the manager it will always be that way. Rangers thus ended another season in the doldrums. The league flag now hadn’t fluttered in the breeze at Ibrox for seven years. In that timeframe, Aberdeen and Celtic had won the title three times, with Dundee United winning the other one. Unable to keep pace in the title race, Rangers were fast becoming the proverbial ‘cup team’. Back then as is the case now, that was something that wouldn’t be tolerated. The honeymoon period after Wallace’s second coming was over, and the pressure had been cranked up once more. A sustained title challenge in season 1985/86 would be the bare minimum expected, but ultimately, the fans craved the return of Rangers to the summit of the Scottish game. Alas, they would have to wait a little longer for their wish to come true.
