# 1977–78 Rangers F.C. season

The 1977–78 season was the 98th season of competitive football by Rangers.

## Overview

Rangers played a total of 53 competitive matches during the 1977–78 season. Wallace presided over the club's fourth domestic treble and second in three years. During the close season Rangers spent heavily in the transfer market, bringing in Davie Cooper from Clydebank for £100,000 and Gordon Smith from Kilmarnock for £65,000. They were joined at the club by Bobby Russell who arrived from Shettleston Juniors for free.
However, even with these expensive signings the side did not make the best start to the league campaign, losing the opening two matches to Aberdeen and Hibernian. Order was restored the following week with a 4–0 defeat of Partick Thistle. A resounding 3–2 win over Celtic in the first Old Firm match of the season set the tone of the season. Rangers had been 2–0 down at half-time but recovered to win the game after outclassing Jock Stein's side in the second 45 minutes. In March 1978, second placed Aberdeen won 3–0 at Ibrox to set up a tense title run in. Rangers dropped seven points from twenty-one but held on winning the final four fixtures and the league.
The League Cup was won by defeating Celtic 2–1 after extra time. Goals from season new boys Davie Cooper and Gordon Smith completed the first leg of the treble. The 2–1 1978 Scottish Cup final win over Aberdeen made Wallace the first and only Rangers' manager to win two domestic trebles. Surprisingly despite this unprecedented success Wallace resign from his position on 23 May 1978.

## Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

### Scottish Premier Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 13 August 1977 | Aberdeen | A | 1–3 | 21,500 | Russell |
| 20 August 1977 | Hibernian | H | 0–2 | 20,800 | |
| 27 August 1977 | Partick Thistle | A | 4–0 | 18,584 | Smith (2), Miller (pen.), Russell |
| 10 September 1977 | Celtic | H | 3–2 | 48,788 | Smith (2), Johnstone |
| 17 September 1977 | St. Mirren | A | 3–3 | 26,000 | Jardine, Cooper, Johnstone |
| 24 September 1977 | Ayr United | H | 2–0 | 20,402 | Smith (2) |
| 1 October 1977 | Clydebank | H | 4–1 | 23,250 | Cooper (2), Smith (2) |
| 8 October 1977 | Dundee United | A | 1–0 | 18,658 | Russell |
| 15 October 1977 | Motherwell | A | 4–1 | 20,050 | Johnstone (3), Smith |
| 22 October 1977 | Aberdeen | H | 3–1 | 40,102 | Jardine (pen.), Smith, MacDonald |
| 29 October 1977 | Hibernian | A | 1–0 | 22,750 | Jardine (pen.) |
| 5 November 1977 | Partick Thistle | H | 3–3 | 28,200 | Parlane (2), MacDonald |
| 12 November 1977 | Celtic | A | 1–1 | 57,000 | Johnstone |
| 19 November 1977 | St. Mirren | H | 2–1 | 25,000 | Johnstone, Miller (pen.) |
| 26 November 1977 | Ayr United | A | 5–0 | 15,300 | Johnstone (3), Jackson, Parlane |
| 10 December 1977 | Dundee United | H | 2–0 | 25,000 | McLean, Smith |
| 17 December 1977 | Motherwell | H | 3–1 | 15,300 | Smith (2), Johnstone |
| 24 December 1977 | Aberdeen | A | 0–4 | 21,000 | |
| 31 December 1977 | Hibernian | H | 0–0 | 25,000 | |
| 2 January 1978 | Partick Thistle | A | 2–1 | 30,000 | Johnstone, Smith |
| 7 January 1978 | Celtic | H | 3–1 | 54,302 | Smith, Grieg, Parlane |
| 14 January 1978 | St. Mirren | A | 2–0 | 24,300 | Johnstone, Smith |
| 4 February 1978 | Clydebank | H | 1–0 | 16,492 | Johnstone |
| 19 February 1978 | Clydebank | A | 3–0 | 10,000 | Johnstone (2), Cooper |
| 25 February 1978 | Motherwell | A | 5–3 | 20,387 | Johsntone (2), Smith, Cooper, McVie (o.g.) |
| 4 March 1978 | Aberdeen | H | 0–3 | 34,500 | |
| 21 March 1978 | Partick Thistle | H | 2–1 | 20,000 | MacDonald, Jardine |
| 25 March 1978 | Celtic | A | 0–2 | 51,000 | |
| 29 March 1978 | Hibernian | A | 1–1 | 21,245 | Parlane |
| 1 April 1978 | St. Mirren | H | 1–1 | 20,500 | Johnstone |
| 8 April 1978 | Ayr United | A | 5–2 | 13,400 | Johnstone (2), Smith (2), Greig |
| 12 April 1978 | Ayr United | H | 1–1 | 12,282 | Johnstone |
| 15 April 1978 | Clydebank | A | 2–0 | 9,800 | Johnstone (2) |
| 19 April 1978 | Dundee United | A | 1–0 | 17,293 | Johnstone |
| 22 April 1978 | Dundee United | H | 3–0 | 27,050 | Jackson, Jardine (pen.), Cooper |
| 29 April 1978 | Motherwell | H | 2–0 | 43,500 | Jackson, Smith |

### Cup Winners' Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 17 August 1977 | QR | Young Boys Bern | H | 1–0 | 30,000 | Greig |
| 31 August 1977 | QR | Young Boys Bern | A | 2–2 | 21,000 | Johnstone, Smith |
| 14 September 1977 | R1 | FC Twente | H | 0–0 | 40,000 | |
| 28 September 1977 | R1 | FC Twente | A | 0–3 | 20,000 | |

### Scottish Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 28 January 1978 | R3 | Berwick Rangers | A | 4–2 | 10,500 | Jackson (2), Johnstone (2) |
| 18 February 1978 | R4 | Stirling Albion | H | 1–0 | 15,500 | Johnstone |
| 11 March 1978 | QF | Kilmarnock | H | 4–1 | 28,000 | Johnstone, Hamilton, MacDonald, Cooper (pen.) |
| 5 April 1978 | SF | Dundee United | N | 2–0 | 25,619 | Johnstone, Greig |
| 6 May 1978 | F | Aberdeen | N | 2–1 | 61,563 | MacDonald, Johnstone |

### League Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 24 August 1977 | R2 | St. Johnstone | H | 3–1 | 10,000 | Johnstone (2), Parlane |
| 3 September 1977 | R2 | St. Johnstone | A | 3–0 | 11,200 | Parlane, Miller (pen.), Smith |
| 5 October 1977 | R3 | Aberdeen | H | 6–1 | 25,000 | Smith (3), Johnstone, Miller (pen.), MacDonald |
| 26 October 1977 | R3 | Aberdeen | A | 1–3 | 15,600 | Smith |
| 9 November 1977 | QF | Dunfermline Athletic | H | 3–1 | 12,000 | McLean (2), Jackson |
| 16 November 1977 | QF | Dunfermline Athletic | A | 3–1 | 8,274 | Greig, Jardine (pen.), Johnstone |
| 27 February 1978 | SF | Forfar Athletic | N | 5–2 | 12,799 | Johnstone (2), Parlane (2), MacDonald |
| 18 March 1978 | F | Celtic | N | 2–1 | 60,158 | Cooper, Smith |

### Non-competitive
#### Tennent Caledonian Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 6 August 1977 | SF | Southampton | H | 3–1 | | |
| 7 August 1977 | F | West Bromwich Albion | H | 0–2 | | |

#### Glasgow Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 18 October 1977 | SF | Partick Thistle | H | 2–2*✝ | 9,202 | Forsyth, McLean |
*Rangers won the match 4–3 on penalties ✝Competition not completed

## Appearances

| Player | Position | Appearances | Goals |
| Peter McCloy | GK | 21 | 0 |
| Sandy Jardine | DF | 48 | 6 |
| Alex Miller | DF | 36 | 5 |
| Tom Forsyth | DF | 46 | 0 |
| Colin Jackson | DF | 51 | 6 |
| Alex MacDonald | MF | 59 | 7 |
| Billy MacKay | MF | 3 | 0 |
| Bobby Russell | MF | 48 | 3 |
| Derek Parlane | FW | 31 | 8 |
| Chris Robertson | FW | 4 | 0 |
| Davie Cooper | MF | 52 | 8 |
| Bobby McKean | MF | 15 | 0 |
| Tommy McLean | MF | 44 | 3 |
| Gordon Smith | FW | 52 | 27 |
| Derek Johnstone | FW | 47 | 38 |
| John Greig | DF | 41 | 5 |
| Kenny Watson | MF | 8 | 0 |
| Stewart Kennedy | GK | 32 | 0 |
| Ally Dawson | DF | 2 | 0 |
| Johnny Hamilton | MF | 3 | 0 |
| Eric Morris | DF | 1 | 0 |
| Martin Henderson | FW | 2 | 0 |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Rangers (C) | 36 | 24 | 7 | 5 | 76 | 39 | +37 | 55 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Aberdeen | 36 | 22 | 9 | 5 | 68 | 29 | +39 | 53 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 3 | Dundee United | 36 | 16 | 8 | 12 | 42 | 32 | +10 | 40 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Hibernian | 36 | 15 | 7 | 14 | 51 | 43 | +8 | 37 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Celtic | 36 | 15 | 6 | 15 | 63 | 54 | +9 | 36 | |