# 1984–85 Rangers F.C. season

The 1984–85 season was the 105th season of competitive football by Rangers.

## Overview

Rangers played a total of 49 competitive matches during the 1984–85 season.
The season was Wallace's first full season in charge since his return. The team continued the strong form they had ended the previous season in, and by Christmas were in third place, in touching distance of the top of the table. However, a defeat to rivals Celtic on New Year's Day saw the club's form completely implode, and they only won four more league games all season. Rangers again finished fourth in the league by a massive twenty-one point record behind champions Aberdeen. This disappointment was not caused due to a lack of investment in the playing squad. A total of £495,000 was spent bringing in Iain Ferguson and Cammy Fraser from Dundee, Ted McMinn from Queen of the South and bringing back Derek Johnstone from Chelsea.
The club won the Scottish League Cup (Skol Cup) for he second season in a row defeating Dundee United in the final. A solitary Iain Ferguson strike gave Rangers a 1–0 win.

## Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

### Scottish Premier Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 11 August 1984 | St Mirren | H | 0–0 | 22,398 | |
| 18 August 1984 | Dumbarton | A | 2–1 | 9,607 | McCoist, Redford |
| 25 August 1984 | Celtic | H | 0–0 | 43,500 | |
| 1 September 1984 | Dundee | A | 2–0 | 14,156 | I.Ferguson, Redford |
| 8 September 1984 | Hibernian | H | 2–0 | 22,601 | Paterson, MacDonald |
| 15 September 1984 | Aberdeen | A | 0–0 | 23,500 | |
| 22 September 1984 | Greenock Morton | H | 2–0 | 16,995 | McCoist, Fraser |
| 29 September 1984 | Dundee United | H | 1–0 | 29,232 | Paterson |
| 6 October 1984 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 0–1 | 18,097 | |
| 13 October 1984 | St Mirren | A | 2–0 | 14,389 | Redford, I.Ferguson |
| 20 October 1984 | Dumbarton | H | 0–0 | 16,521 | |
| 3 November 1984 | Dundee | H | 0–0 | 14,588 | |
| 10 November 1984 | Hibernian | A | 2–2 | 14,000 | Fraser, Cooper |
| 17 November 1984 | Aberdeen | H | 1–2 | 44,000 | Mitchell |
| 24 November 1984 | Greenock Morton | A | 3–1 | 11,000 | Redford (2), Dawson |
| 1 December 1984 | Dundee United | A | 1–1 | 16,477 | Mitchell |
| 8 December 1984 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 1–1 | 16,700 | Mitchell |
| 15 December 1984 | St Mirren | H | 2–0 | 12,763 | Fraser, MacDonald |
| 22 December 1984 | Celtic | A | 1–1 | 43,748 | Cooper |
| 29 December 1984 | Dumbarton | A | 4–2 | 7,800 | I.Ferguson, McMinn, Mitchell, Cooper |
| 1 January 1985 | Celtic | H | 1–2 | 45,000 | Cooper |
| 5 January 1985 | Dundee | A | 2–2 | 11,991 | I.Ferguson (2) |
| 12 January 1985 | Hibernian | H | 1–2 | 18,500 | I.Ferguson |
| 19 January 1985 | Aberdeen | A | 1–5 | 23,000 | Prytz |
| 2 February 1985 | Greenock Morton | H | 2–0 | 14,121 | MacDonald, Johnstone |
| 9 February 1985 | Dundee United | H | 0–0 | 19,370 | |
| 23 February 1985 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 0–2 | 14,004 | |
| 2 March 1985 | Dumbarton | H | 3–1 | 8,424 | McCoist (2), E.Ferguson |
| 16 March 1985 | St Mirren | A | 1–2 | 8,608 | McCoist |
| 23 March 1985 | Dundee | H | 1–3 | 9,954 | McCoist |
| 6 April 1985 | Aberdeen | H | 1–2 | 23,437 | Prytz |
| 20 April 1985 | Greenock Morton | A | 3–0 | 7,000 | McCoist (3) |
| 27 April 1985 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 3–1 | 12,913 | McCoist, Prytz (pen.), Cooper |
| 1 May 1985 | Celtic | A | 1–1 | 40,079 | McCoist (pen.) |
| 4 May 1985 | Dundee United | A | 1–2 | 10,251 | McCoist |
| 11 May 1985 | Hibernian | A | 0–1 | 7,149 | |

### UEFA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 18 September 1984 | R1 | Bohemian | A | 2–3 | 10,000 | McCoist, McPherson |
| 3 October 1984 | R1 | Bohemian | H | 2–0 | 31,000 | Paterson, Redford |
| 24 October 1984 | R2 | Inter Milan | A | 0–3 | 65,591 | |
| 7 November 1984 | R2 | Inter Milan | H | 3–1 | 30,594 | I.Ferguson (2), Mitchell |

### Scottish Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 26 January 1985 | R3 | Morton | A | 3–3 | 12,012 | Prytz, MacDonald, McPherson |
| 30 January 1985 | R3 R | Morton | H | 3–1 | 18,166 | Mitchell, Fraser, MacDonald |
| 16 February 1985 | R4 | Dundee | H | 0–1 | 26,619 | |

### League Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 22 August 1984 | R2 | Falkirk | H | 1–0 | 10,429 | McPherson |
| 29 August 1984 | R3 | Raith Rovers | H | 4–0 | 10,132 | McCoist (2, 1 (pen.)), Paterson, Redford |
| 5 September 1984 | QF | Cowdenbeath | A | 3–1 | 9,925 | I.Ferguson, Russell, Redford |
| 26 September 1984 | SF L1 | Meadowbank Thistle | H | 4–0 | 12,600 | McCoist (2), I.Ferguson, Fraser |
| 9 October 1984 | SF L2 | Meadowbank Thistle | A | 1–1 | 5,100 | McCoist |
| 28 October 1984 | F | Dundee United | N | 1–0 | 44,698 | I.Ferguson |

### Glasgow Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 13 May 1985 | SF | Partick Thistle | A | 2–1 | 3,264 | McPherson, McCoist |
| 9 September 1985 | F | Queen's Park | N | 5–0 | 3,584 | Fraser (3), Ferguson, McCoist (pen) |

## Appearances

| Player | Position | Appearances | Goals |
| Nicky Walker | GK | 20 | 0 |
| Hugh Burns | DF | 16 | 0 |
| Ally Dawson | DF | 35 | 1 |
| Dave MacKinnon | DF | 41 | 0 |
| John McClelland | DF | 20 | 0 |
| Ian Redford | MF | 37 | 8 |
| John MacDonald | FW | 23 | 5 |
| Cammy Fraser | MF | 41 | 5 |
| Iain Ferguson | MF | 39 | 11 |
| Ally McCoist | FW | 38 | 18 |
| Davie Cooper | MF | 44 | 5 |
| Scott Fraser | DF | 2 | 0 |
| Eric Ferguson | FW | 9 | 1 |
| Craig Paterson | DF | 33 | 4 |
| Bobby Russell | MF | 26 | 1 |
| Sandy Clark | FW | 4 | 0 |
| Dave McPherson | DF | 44 | 3 |
| Dave Mitchell | MF | 21 | 6 |
| Peter McCloy | GK | 27 | 0 |
| Robert Prytz | MF | 28 | 4 |
| Ted McMinn | MF | 20 | 1 |
| Robert Fleck | MF | 11 | 0 |
| Stuart Munro | DF | 18 | 0 |
| Derek Ferguson | MF | 8 | 0 |
| Derek Johnstone | FW | 12 | 1 |
| Bobby Williamson | FW | 1 | 0 |
| Dave MacFarlane | MF | 3 | 0 |
| Andy Bruce | GK | 1 | 0 |
| Ian Durrant | MF | 5 | 0 |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 2 | Celtic | 36 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 77 | 30 | +47 | 52 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 3 | Dundee United | 36 | 20 | 7 | 9 | 67 | 33 | +34 | 47 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Rangers | 36 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 47 | 38 | +9 | 38 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | St Mirren | 36 | 17 | 4 | 15 | 51 | 56 | −5 | 38 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Dundee | 36 | 15 | 7 | 14 | 48 | 50 | −2 | 37 | |