1975–76 Rangers F.C. season
Introduction The '''1975–76 season''' was the 96th season of competitive '''football''' by '''Rangers'''.
Overview Rangers played a total of 55 competitive matches during the 1975–76 season. The club won a third domestic treble in its history and, what would become, the first of two in three seasons.This was the first season of the new Scottish Premier Division and the previous season's league flag was hoisted much to the delight of the home support in front of the visitors who just happened to be Celtic. A tense match ensued and although the visitors took the lead, Derek Johnstone equalised and Quinton Young netted the winner. The side did not continue this good form and only won five, and lost five, of the next fourteen league matches. On 13 December the club embarked on a 26 match unbeaten run in the league and cup competitions.Despite Celtic still having a one-point lead as late as February, Rangers eventually clinched the league at Tannadice, thanks to a Johnstone goal after just 22 seconds, during the third last league match of the season. The side had won 16 out of the final 21 matches. The final margin of the title win was six points. On the domestic cup front, the League Cup was won in the October against Celtic in a lunchtime Old Firm final, which were a feature of that time in trying to curb crowd violence. An Alex McDonald flying header in the second half, being the difference between the sides. The 1976 Scottish Cup Final saw Rangers play Heart of Midlothian. The side got off to a great start when Johnstone netted on 42 seconds. It was all but over when Alex McDonald scored right on the stroke of half time and Derek Johnstone grabbed a brace late on.
Results All results are written with Rangers' score first.===Scottish Premier Division===DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 30 August 1975 CelticH2–169,594Johnstone, Young 6 September 1975 Heart of MidlothianA2–028,000Anderson (o.g. ), Murray (o.g.) 13 September 1975 St. JohnstoneH2–025,000Stein, Johnstone 20 September 1975 HibernianH1–137,000Blackley (o.g.) 27 September 1975 DundeeA0–015,087 4 October 1975 AberdeenH1–022,000McDougall 11 October 1975 Ayr UnitedA0–320,000 18 October 1975 MotherwellA1–218,925Johnstone 1 November 1975 CelticA1–160,000Parlane 8 November 1975 Heart of MidlothianH1–230,000Henderson 12 November 1975 Dundee UnitedH4–125,760Parlane, Johnstone, Jackson, MacDonald 15 November 1975 St. JohnstoneA5–19,500Parlane, McKean, McLean, Jardine, McDonald (o.g.) 22 November 1975 HibernianA1–226,547Young 29 November 1975 DundeeH2–116,500Henderson (2) 6 December 1975 AberdeenA0–119,565 13 December 1975 Ayr UnitedH3–015,500Jardine (pen. ), Henderson, McKean 20 December 1975 MotherwellH3–225,000Johnstone (2), Henderson 27 December 1975 Dundee UnitedA0–011,500 1 January 1976 CelticH1–057,839Johnstone 3 January 1976 Heart of MidlothianA2–124,000Henderson (2) 10 January 1976 St. JohnstoneH4–020,209Miller (pen. ), Hamilton, Johnstone, McKean 17 January 1976 HibernianH2–040,761Parlane, McLean 31 January 1976 DundeeA1–114,407Johnstone 7 February 1976 AberdeenH2–135,000Henderson, MacDonald 21 February 1976 Ayr UnitedA1–018,000McKean 28 February 1976 MotherwellA1–025,241Johnstone 20 March 1976 Heart of MidlothianH3–131,698Johnstone, Jackson, McLean 27 March 1976 St. JohnstoneA3–09,079Johnstone (2), Greig 3 April 1976 HibernianA3–018,820MacDonald, Henderson, Johnstone 10 April 1976 DundeeH3–025,012McKean, Greig, Johnstone 14 April 1976 AberdeenA0–017,968 17 April 1976 Ayr UnitedH2–125,602MacDonald, Parlane 21 April 1976 MotherwellH2–127,910McLean, Henderson 24 April 1976 Dundee UnitedA1–017,000Johnstone 26 April 1976 CelticA0–051,000 4 May 1976 Dundee UnitedH0–050,209===European Cup===DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 17 September 1975 R1BohemianH4–125,000Fyfe, O'Hara, Johnstone, Burke (o.g.) 1 October 1975 R1BohemianA1–18,000Johnstone 22 October 1975 R2Saint-EtienneA0–228,394 5 November 1975 R2Saint-EtienneH1–251,411MacDonald===Scottish Cup===DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 24 January 1976 R3East FifeH3–030,106MacDonald, Henderson, Hamilton 14 February 1976 R4AberdeenH4–160,244Johnstone, MacDonald, Henderson, Parlane 6 March 1976 QFQueen of the SouthA5–018,700McKean (2), Johnstone (2), Henderson 31 March 1976 SFMotherwellN3–250,915Miller (pen. ), Johnstone (2) 1 May 1976 FHeart of MidlothianN3–185,354Johnstone (2), MacDonald===League Cup===DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 9 August 1975 SRAirdrieoniansH6–145,000Jardine (3, 2 pen. ), Stein, Parlane, Miller (pen.) 13 August 1975 SRClydeA1–028,000Johnstone 16 August 1975 SRMotherwellH1–131,500Greig 20 August 1975 SRClydeH6–016,000Parlane (2), Jackson, Miller (pen. ),Young, Johnstone 23 August 1975 SRMotherwellA2–220,561Jardine, Miller (pen.) 27 August 1975 SRAirdrieoniansA2–120,000Johnstone, Young 10 September 1975 QFQueen of the SouthH1–012,000Johnstone 24 September 1975 QFQueen of the SouthA2–27,500Johnstone, MacDonald 8 October 1975 SFMontroseN5–120,319Parlane, Johnstone, Miller (pen. ), Scott, Jardine 25 October 1975 FCelticN1–058,806MacDonald
Appearances PlayerPositionAppearancesGoals Gordon BoydFW10 Ally DawsonDF60 Jim DennyDF120 Tom ForsythMF370 Graham FyfeMF61 John GreigDF553 Johnny HamiltonMF272 Martin HendersonFW3313 Colin JacksonDF523 Sandy JardineDF377 Derek JohnstoneDF5131 Stewart KennedyGK140 Peter McCloyGK410 Alex MacDonaldMF528 Ian McDougallDF71 Bobby McKeanMF437 Tommy McLeanMF524 Alex MillerDF446 Alex O'HaraMF71 Derek ParlaneFW4010 Quinton YoungMF194 Ally ScottFW31 Colin SteinFW152
League table
See also * 1975–76 in Scottish football* 1975–76 Scottish Cup* 1975–76 Scottish League Cup* 1975–76 European Cup
References