1979–80 Rangers F.C. season
Introduction The '''1979–80 season''' was the 100th season of competitive '''football''' by '''Rangers'''.
Overview Rangers played a total of 52 competitive matches during the 1979–80 season. Rangers finished an embarrassing fifth in the league, eleven points behind champions Aberdeen. The main cause for such a poor showing in the league was pointed at the team's away form, only ten points from eighteen matches.Aberdeen also knocked Rangers out of the Scottish League Cup over a two-legged third round tie. Rangers did reach the 1980 Scottish Cup Final only to lose out to Old Firm rivals Celtic, 1-0 thanks to a deflected George McCluskey shot in extra time. The European Cup Winner's Cup campaign was ended by the eventual winners Valencia CF after having seen off Lillestrøm SK and Fortuna Düsseldorf in previous rounds.
Results All results are written with Rangers' score first.===Scottish Premier Division===DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 11 August 1979HibernianA3–117,731A.MacDonald, Cooper, Russell 18 August 1979CelticH2–236,000J.MacDonald, Russell 25 August 1979Partick ThistleA1–220,000Johnstone 8 September 1979St MirrenH3–131,000Johnstone, Smith, Miller 15 September 1979AberdeenA1–325,000Johnstone 22 September 1979DundeeH2–025,000Johnstone, Glennie (o.g.) 29 September 1979KilmarnockA1–215,479Johnstone 6 October 1979Dundee UnitedA0–019,464 13 October 1979MortonH2–225,000Johnstone (2) 20 October 1979HibernianH2–025,000Smith, Miller (pen.) 27 October 1979CelticA0–161,000 3 November 1979Partick ThistleH2–118,400Urquhart (2) 10 November 1979St MirrenA1–217,362A.Forsyth 17 November 1979AberdeenH0–118,500 24 November 1979DundeeA1–313,342Jackson 1 December 1979KilmarnockH2–116,557Johnstone, Russell 8 December 1979MortonA1–014,750Johnstone 15 December 1979Dundee UnitedH2–119,240Johnstone, Kopel (o.g.) 22 December 1979HibernianA1–218,740McLean 29 December 1979CelticH1–136,000Johnstone 5 January 1980St MirrenH1–219,000Jardine (pen.) 12 January 1980AberdeenA2–319,250J.MacDonald, Jackson 23 February 1980MortonH3–128,000Russell, Smith, J.MacDonald 1 March 1980HibernianH1–029,500Johnstone 12 March 1980DundeeH1–017,000Stevens 15 March 1980Partick ThistleH0–022,000 19 March 1980Dundee UnitedA0–09,533 29 March 1980AberdeenH2–225,000Jardine (pen. ), J.MacDonald 2 April 1980CelticA0–160,000 5 April 1980DundeeA4–112,948Johnstone (2), Cooper, Smith 19 April 1980MortonA1–015,000Russell 23 April 1980KilmarnockA0–18,504 25 April 1980Dundee UnitedH2–119,000Jardine (pen. ), McLean 30 April 1980KilmarnockH1–07,655J.MacDonald 3 May 1980Partick ThistleA3–415,000Russell (2), Johnstone 7 May 1980St MirrenA1–412,000Miller===Cup Winners' Cup===DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 21 August 1979QR1LillestrømH1–025,000Smith 5 September 1979QR1LillestrømA2–06,175A.MacDonald, Johnstone 19 September 1979R1Fortuna DüsseldorfH2–136,000A.MacDonald, McLean 3 October 1979R1Fortuna DüsseldorfA0–047,000 24 October 1979R2ValenciaA1–161,000McLean 7 November 1979R2ValenciaH1–336,000Johnstone===Scottish Cup===DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 26 January 1980R3ClydeA2–212,500Jardine (pen. ), Jackson 30 January 1980R3 RClydeH2–012,000J.MacDonald (2) 16 February 1980R4Dundee UnitedH1–029,000Johnstone 8 March 1980QFHeart of MidlothianH6–136,000J.MacDonald (2), Cooper, Jardine (pen. ), Russell, Johnstone 12 April 1980SFAberdeenN1–050,209Johnstone 10 May 1980FCelticN0–170,303===League Cup===DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 29 August 1979R2ClydeA2–15,021Dawson, Robertson 1 September 1979R2ClydeH4–016,000MacKay (2), Smith, O'Neill (o.g.) 26 September 1979R3AberdeenA1–322,000Johnstone 10 October 1979R3AberdeenH0–235,000===Non-competitive=======Drybrough Cup====DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 28 July 1979R1Berwick RangersH1–015,000A MacDonald 1 August 1979SFKilmarnockA2–010,035J MacDonald (2) 4 August 1979FCelticN3–140,609J MacDonald, Jardine, Cooper====Tennent Caledonian Cup====DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 3 August 1979SFWest Ham UnitedH 5 August 1979FKilmarnockH====Glasgow Cup====DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 15 August 1979 SFPartick ThistleA2–0✝7,000Smith, Cooper✝Competition not completed
Appearances Player PositionAppearancesGoals Peter McCloyGK500 George YoungGK20 Alex MillerDF303 Ally DawsonDF461 Sandy JardineDF515 Colin JacksonDF423 Kenny WatsonMF260 Tommy McLeanMF394 Bobby RussellMF338 Derek JohnstoneFW4721 Alex MacDonaldMF393 Davie CooperMF433 John MacDonaldFW359 Gordon SmithFW456 Gregor StevensDF391 Derek ParlaneFW60 Alex ForsythDF111 Billy UrquhartFW62 Gordon DalzielMF20 Billy MacKayMF52 Tom ForsythDF220 Ian RedfordMF130 Chris RobertsonFW31
League table
See also * 1979–80 in Scottish football* 1979–80 Scottish Cup* 1979–80 Scottish League Cup* 1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup
References