# 1980–81 Rangers F.C. season

The 1980–81 season was the 101st season of competitive football by Rangers.

## Overview

Rangers played a total of 47 competitive matches during the 1980–81 season. The summer of 1980 saw Greig bring in Jim Bett from Lokeren for £150,000. Bett was joined by Colin McAdam a £165,000 signing from Partick Thistle. The side got off to a good start in the league, going on a fifteen match unbeaten run, including two Old Firm wins, was to end in November. A disastrous run in November and December all but ended the title challenge as the team finished third, twelve points behind champions Celtic.
The League Cup campaign was halted after a controversial defeat to Aberdeen in a match where the Dons were awarded two contentious penalties. Due to having no European participation, Rangers entered the Anglo-Scottish Cup which led to a defeat at the hands of English minnows, Chesterfield. The Third Division side held Rangers to a 1–1 draw at Ibrox before defeating Rangers 3–0 in the away leg at Saltergate. Rangers did win the 1981 Scottish Cup Final after beating Dundee United 4–1 in a final replay. After a tedious 0–0 draw where Ian Redford missed a last minute penalty, Rangers won the replay with goals from Davie Cooper, a John MacDonald double and Bobby Russell.

## Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

### Scottish Premier Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 9 August 1980 | Airdrieonians | A | 1–1 | 16,000 | MacDonald |
| 16 August 1980 | Partick Thistle | H | 4–0 | 25,898 | Cooper, McAdam, MacDonald, Jardine |
| 23 August 1980 | Celtic | A | 2–1 | 58,102 | Bett, Miller |
| 6 September 1980 | Dundee United | A | 4–2 | 16,269 | Cooper, McAdam, MacDonald, Hegarty (o.g.) |
| 13 September 1980 | Aberdeen | H | 1–1 | 34,000 | McAdam |
| 20 September 1980 | Kilmarnock | A | 8–1 | 15,021 | MacDonald (3), Redford (2, 1 (pen.)), McAdam, Jardine, Bett |
| 27 September 1980 | St Mirren | H | 2–0 | 30,000 | Bett, Cooper |
| 4 October 1980 | Morton | A | 2–2 | 15,000 | Miller (pen), McAdam |
| 11 October 1980 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 3–1 | 22,443 | McAdam (2), Jefferies (o.g.) |
| 18 October 1980 | Airdrieonians | H | 0–0 | 23,000 | |
| 25 October 1980 | Partick Thistle | A | 1–1 | 14,250 | McAdam |
| 1 November 1980 | Celtic | H | 3–0 | 36,000 | McAdam (2), MacDonald |
| 8 November 1980 | St Mirren | A | 0–0 | 17,362 | |
| 15 November 1980 | Kilmarnock | H | 2–0 | 25,791 | Johnston, Jardine |
| 22 November 1980 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 0–0 | 16,315 | |
| 29 November 1980 | Morton | H | 0–1 | 20,000 | |
| 13 December 1980 | Aberdeen | A | 0–2 | 22,500 | |
| 20 December 1980 | Kilmarnock | A | 1–1 | 9,172 | Russell |
| 1 January 1981 | Partick Thistle | H | 1–1 | 21,326 | McAdam |
| 3 January 1981 | Airdrieonians | A | 1–1 | 11,800 | Dawson |
| 10 January 1981 | Morton | A | 2–0 | 13,000 | MacDonald, Redford |
| 31 January 1981 | Aberdeen | H | 1–0 | 32,500 | Johnstone |
| 7 February 1981 | Dundee United | A | 1–2 | 14,328 | MacDonald |
| 21 February 1981 | Celtic | A | 1–3 | 52,800 | Johnstone |
| 28 February 1981 | Airdrieonians | H | 2–0 | 12,200 | MacDonald, Redford |
| 14 March 1981 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 1–2 | 11,500 | Redford |
| 18 March 1981 | Dundee United | H | 1–4 | 14,000 | McAdam |
| 21 March 1981 | Kilmarnock | H | 2–0 | 8,488 | Redford, Russell |
| 28 March 1981 | St Mirren | A | 1–2 | 9,988 | Dawson |
| 1 April 1981 | Morton | H | 4–0 | 7,202 | Johnstone (2), Redford, MacDonald |
| 4 April 1981 | Dundee United | H | 2–1 | 16,000 | Russell, Redford (pen.) |
| 15 April 1981 | St Mirren | H | 1–0 | 10,000 | Russell |
| 18 April 1981 | Celtic | H | 0–1 | 36,000 | |
| 22 April 1981 | Aberdeen | A | 0–0 | 11,500 | |
| 25 April 1981 | Partick Thistle | A | 1–1 | 7,077 | Russell |
| 2 May 1981 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 4–0 | 9,770 | Bett, Russell, Redford, Johnston |

### Scottish Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 24 January 1981 | R3 | Airdrieonians | A | 5–0 | 16,054 | Johnstone (2), Stevens, Redford, Bett |
| 14 February 1981 | R4 | St Johnstone | A | 3–3 | 17,595 | Redford (2), McAdam |
| 18 February 1981 | R4 R | St Johnstone | H | 3–1 | 30,000 | McAdam (2), Stevens |
| 7 March 1981 | QF | Hibernian | H | 3–1 | 26,345 | Russell, McAdam, MacDonald |
| 11 April 1981 | SF | Morton | N | 2–1 | 27,050 | Jackson, Russell |
| 9 May 1981 | F | Dundee United | N | 0–0 | 53,346 | |
| 12 May 1981 | F R | Dundee United | N | 4–1 | 43,099 | MacDonald (2), Cooper, Russell |

### League Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 27 August 1980 | R2 L1 | Forfar Athletic | A | 2–0 | 4,500 | McAdam (2) |
| 30 August 1980 | R2 L2 | Forfar Athletic | H | 3–1 | 15,500 | Miller (pen.), Johnstone, McAdam (pen.) |
| 3 September 1980 | R3 L1 | Aberdeen | H | 1–0 | 33,000 | McAdam |
| 24 September 1980 | R3 L2 | Aberdeen | A | 1–3 | 23,926 | McAdam |

### Anglo-Scottish Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorers |
| 30 July 1980 | R1 L1 | Partick Thistle | H | 3–1 | MacDonald (2), Jardine |
| 6 August 1980 | R1 L2 | Partick Thistle | A | 2–3 | |
| 13 October 1980 | R2 L1 | Chesterfield | H | 1–1 | Dalziel |
| 28 October 1980 | R2 L2 | Chesterfield | A | 0–3 | |

### Glasgow Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 12 January 1981 | SF | Partick Thistle | A | 0–1 | 4,000 | |

## Appearances

| Player | Position | Appearances | Goals |
| Peter McCloy | GK | 34 | 0 |
| Jim Stewart | GK | 13 | 0 |
| Sandy Jardine | DF | 42 | 3 |
| Alex Forsyth | DF | 1 | 0 |
| Tom Forsyth | DF | 30 | 0 |
| Colin Jackson | DF | 38 | 1 |
| Alex Miller | DF | 33 | 3 |
| Gregor Stevens | DF | 14 | 2 |
| Ally Dawson | DF | 29 | 2 |
| Jim Bett | MF | 45 | 5 |
| Davie Cooper | MF | 34 | 4 |
| Bobby Russell | MF | 35 | 9 |
| Colin McAdam | FW | 40 | 21 |
| Ian Redford | MF | 46 | 12 |
| John MacDonald | FW | 38 | 14 |
| Willie Johnston | MF | 37 | 2 |
| Derek Johnstone | FW | 33 | 7 |
| Tommy McLean | MF | 34 | 0 |
| Billy MacKay | MF | 6 | 0 |
| Robert Clark | DF | 1 | 0 |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Celtic (C) | 36 | 26 | 4 | 6 | 84 | 37 | +47 | 56 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Aberdeen | 36 | 19 | 11 | 6 | 61 | 26 | +35 | 49 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Rangers | 36 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 60 | 32 | +28 | 44 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 4 | St Mirren | 36 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 56 | 47 | +9 | 44 | |
| 5 | Dundee United | 36 | 17 | 9 | 10 | 66 | 42 | +24 | 43 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |