# 1987–88 Rangers F.C. season

The 1987–88 season was the 108th season of competitive football by Rangers.

## Overview

Rangers played a total of 58 competitive matches during the 1987–88 season. The team finished a disappointing third in the Scottish Premier Division with 60 points, two behind Hearts and twelve behind champions Celtic.
Future club captain Richard Gough was signed from Tottenham Hotspur for a club record fee of £1.1m.
In the cup competitions, they were knocked out of the Scottish Cup in the fourth round, losing 2–0 away to Dunfermline Athletic. They won the League Cup (Skol Cup), defeating Aberdeen 5–3 on penalties after the match was drawn 3–3.
The European campaign was fairly successful. The club reached the quarter-final of the European Cup after beating Dynamo Kiev and Górnik Zabrze before being knocked out by Steaua Bucharest.
Rangers defeated English Champions Everton in the Dubai Super Cup in December. The match ended 2–2 with Rangers winning the penalty shootout 8–7. The match was dubbed the unofficial British Championship decider by the football media.

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Player | From | Fee |
| May 1987 | Avi Cohen | Maccabi Tel Aviv | |
| 1987 | Mark Falco | Watford | |
| September 1987 | Trevor Francis | Atalanta | £75,000 |
| 2 October 1987 | Richard Gough | Tottenham Hotspur | £1,100,000 |
| 30 December 1987 | Mark Walters | Aston Villa | £500,000 |
| 15 January 1988 | John Brown | Dundee | £350,000 |
| 15 February 1988 | Ian Ferguson | St Mirren | £850,000 |

### Out

| Date | Player | From | Fee |
| December 1987 | Robert Fleck | Norwich City | £580,000 |

## Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

### Scottish Premier Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 8 August 1987 | Dundee United | H | 1–1 | 39,120 | McCoist (pen.) |
| 12 August 1987 | Hibernian | A | 0–1 | 22,000 | |
| 15 August 1987 | Aberdeen | A | 0–2 | 22,568 | |
| 22 August 1987 | Falkirk | H | 4–0 | 32,340 | McCoist (3), Falco |
| 29 August 1987 | Celtic | A | 0–1 | 60,800 | |
| 5 September 1987 | Dundee | H | 2–1 | 38,302 | Fleck, McCoist |
| 12 September 1987 | Dunfermline Athletic | H | 4–0 | 39,749 | McCoist (3), Souness |
| 19 September 1987 | Motherwell | A | 1–0 | 19,480 | Philliben (o.g.) |
| 26 September 1987 | Greenock Morton | H | 7–0 | 35,843 | McCoist (3), Falco (3), Fleck |
| 3 October 1987 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 0–0 | 28,637 | |
| 6 October 1987 | St Mirren | H | 3–1 | 39,298 | Falco, Butcher, Souness |
| 10 October 1987 | Dundee United | A | 0–1 | 18,214 | |
| 17 October 1987 | Celtic | H | 2–2 | 44,500 | McCoist, Gough |
| 28 October 1987 | Dunfermline Athletic | A | 4–0 | 18,070 | Durrant (2), McCall (pen.), McCoist |
| 31 October 1987 | Motherwell | H | 1–0 | 36,583 | McCoist |
| 7 November 1987 | Hibernian | H | 1–0 | 37,571 | Fleck |
| 14 November 1987 | St Mirren | A | 2–2 | 20,649 | McCoist (2) |
| 17 November 1987 | Aberdeen | H | 0–1 | 41,371 | |
| 21 November 1987 | Falkirk | A | 1–0 | 17,500 | Fleck |
| 24 November 1987 | Greenock Morton | A | 3–0 | 16,500 | D.Ferguson, Fleck, McCoist |
| 28 November 1987 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 3–2 | 43,557 | Fleck, Durrant, Levein (o.g.) |
| 5 December 1987 | Dundee United | H | 1–0 | 41,159 | McCoist |
| 12 December 1987 | Hibernian | A | 2–0 | 21,000 | Gough, Fleck |
| 14 December 1987 | Dunfermline Athletic | H | 2–2 | 31,687 | D.Ferguson, McCoist |
| 19 December 1987 | Motherwell | A | 2–0 | 15,436 | McCoist (pen.), Philiben (o.g.) |
| 26 December 1987 | Dundee | H | 2–0 | 40,938 | McCoist (2, 1 (pen.)) |
| 2 January 1988 | Celtic | A | 0–2 | 60,800 | |
| 6 January 1988 | Dundee | A | 1–0 | 17,450 | McCoist |
| 9 January 1988 | Greenock Morton | H | 5–0 | 38,349 | McCoist (3), Durrant |
| 16 January 1988 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 1–1 | 28,967 | Durrant (pen.) |
| 23 January 1988 | Falkirk | H | 3–1 | 41,088 | Bartram, Brown, Durrant (pen.) |
| 6 February 1988 | Aberdeen | A | 2–1 | 22,500 | McCoist, Gough |
| 13 February 1988 | St Mirren | H | 4–0 | 41,664 | Cooper, Walters, Wilkins, Gough |
| 27 February 1988 | Dundee United | A | 1–1 | 20,846 | Walters |
| 5 March 1988 | Dunfermline Athletic | A | 3–0 | 19,017 | McCoist (pen.), Walters, Gough |
| 12 March 1988 | Motherwell | H | 1–0 | 39,650 | Durrant |
| 20 March 1988 | Celtic | H | 1–2 | 43,650 | Bartram |
| 26 March 1988 | Dundee | A | 3–2 | 14,879 | Roberts, Walters, Durrant (pen.) |
| 2 April 1988 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 1–2 | 41,125 | Bartram |
| 9 April 1988 | Greenock Morton | A | 2–3 | 12,000 | I.Ferguson, Durrant |
| 16 April 1988 | Hibernian | H | 1–1 | 32,218 | D.Ferguson |
| 23 April 1988 | St Mirren | A | 3–0 | 13,809 | Walters, Brown, McCoist |
| 30 April 1988 | Aberdeen | H | 0–1 | 36,010 | |
| 7 May 1988 | Falkirk | A | 5–0 | 14,500 | Walters (2), McCoist (2, 1 (pen.)), D.Ferguson |

### Scottish League Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 19 August 1987 | R2 | Stirling Albion | A | 2–1 | 13,000 | Falco, McCoist |
| 26 August 1987 | R3 | Dunfermline Athletic | A | 4–1 | 18,070 | McCoist (3, 1 (pen.)), Falco |
| 2 September 1987 | QF | Heart of Midlothian | H | 4–1 | 40,920 | Durrant (2), McCoist (2, 1 (pen.)) |
| 23 September 1987 | SF | Motherwell | N | 3–1 | 45,938 | Fleck, Falco, Kirk (o.g.) |
| 25 October 1987 | F | Aberdeen | N | 3–3 | 71,961 | Cooper, Durrant, Fleck |
*Rangers won the match 5–3 on penalties

### Scottish Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 30 January 1988 | R3 | Raith Rovers | A | 0–0 | 9,500 | |
| 10 February 1988 | R3 R | Raith Rovers | H | 4–1 | 35,144 | Durrant (2, 1 (pen.)), Walters, McCoist |
| 20 February 1988 | R4 | Dunfermline Athletic | A | 0–2 | 19,360 | |

### European Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 16 September 1987 | R1 | Dynamo Kyiv | A | 0–1 | 100,000 | |
| 30 September 1987 | R1 | Dynamo Kiev | H | 2–0 | 44,500 | Falco, McCoist |
| 21 October 1987 | R2 | Górnik Zabrze | H | 3–1 | 41,366 | McCoist, Durrant, Falco |
| 4 November 1987 | R2 | Gornik Zabrze | A | 1–1 | 23,250 | McCoist (pen.) |
| 2 March 1988 | QF | Steaua București | A | 0–2 | 33,000 | |
| 16 March 1988 | QF | Steaua București | H | 2–1 | 44,000 | Gough, McCoist (pen.) |

### Dubai Super Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 8 December 1987 | F | Everton | N | 2–2* | 8,000 | Fleck, McCoist |
*Rangers won the match 8–7 on penalties

### Glasgow Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 13 April 1988 | SF | Partick Thistle | A | 2–1* | 4,500 | Cooper, Spencer |
*Competition not completed

## Appearances

| Player | Position | Appearances | Goals |
| Nicky Walker | GK | 6 | 0 |
| Chris Woods | GK | 52 | 0 |
| Jan Bartram | DF | 14 | 3 |
| John Brown | DF | 12 | 2 |
| Terry Butcher | DF | 18 | 1 |
| Avi Cohen | DF | 12 | 0 |
| Richard Gough | DF | 36 | 6 |
| John McGregor | DF | 32 | 0 |
| Stuart Munro | DF | 22 | 0 |
| Jimmy Nicholl | DF | 33 | 0 |
| Scott Nisbet | DF | 29 | 0 |
| Jimmy Phillips | DF | 27 | 0 |
| Graham Roberts | DF | 50 | 1 |
| Davie Cooper | MF | 43 | 2 |
| Ian Durrant | MF | 54 | 16 |
| Derek Ferguson | MF | 43 | 4 |
| Ian Ferguson | MF | 8 | 1 |
| Robert Fleck | MF | 28 | 9 |
| Davie Kirkwood | MF | 7 | 0 |
| Dave MacFarlane | MF | 1 | 0 |
| Ian McCall | MF | 12 | 1 |
| Graeme Souness | MF | 30 | 2 |
| Mark Walters | MF | 21 | 8 |
| Ray Wilkins | MF | 29 | 1 |
| Mark Falco | FW | 19 | 10 |
| Trevor Francis | FW | 25 | 0 |
| Ally McCoist | FW | 53 | 42 |
| Gary McSwegan | FW | 1 | 0 |
| Colin West | FW | 1 | 0 |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Celtic (C) | 44 | 31 | 10 | 3 | 79 | 23 | +56 | 72 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Heart of Midlothian | 44 | 23 | 16 | 5 | 74 | 32 | +42 | 62 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Rangers | 44 | 26 | 8 | 10 | 85 | 34 | +51 | 60 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Aberdeen | 44 | 21 | 17 | 6 | 56 | 25 | +31 | 59 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Dundee United | 44 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 54 | 47 | +7 | 47 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |