# 1989–90 Rangers F.C. season

The 1989–90 season was the 110th season of competitive football by Rangers.

## Overview

Rangers played a total of 45 competitive matches during the 1989–90 season. On 10 July when Rangers, acting on Souness' say so, purchased former Celtic striker Mo Johnston from French club Nantes for £1.5 million. The fact Rangers signed an ex-Celtic player would have been a big enough story but the fact Johnston was a high-profile Roman Catholic made the move unprecedented. The transfer angered both sides of the Old Firm's support, Rangers because Johnston was an ex-Celt and Catholic (Rangers traditionally did not sign Catholics), and Celtic fans saw Johnston as a turncoat who had already committed to re-join Celtic from Nantes before Rangers made known their interest.
When the season began, Rangers did not. Three matches played in the league, no wins and two defeats. However, the team slowly got into gear, despite only two wins from the first eight games. New arrival Johnston netted the crucial winner during an Old Firm game on 4 November 1989. Scoring the goal in the dying minutes of the match meant Johnston was all but forgiven by the Rangers support. Come May 1990, Rangers' name was on the trophy for the second time in as many seasons but the club again failed to win the Scottish Cup, losing to Celtic in the fourth round, and for once did not win the League Cup. The side lost to Aberdeen by 2–1 in the final.
In Europe they were knocked out the European Cup by German side Bayern Munich, losing the tie 3–1 on aggregate.

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Player | From | Fee |
| 1 July 1989 | Trevor Steven | Everton | £1,525,000 |
| 10 July 1989 | Mo Johnston | Nantes | £1,500,000 |
| 15 August 1989 | Bonni Ginzburg | Beitar Jerusalem | £200,000 |
| 30 August 1989 | Davie Dodds | Aberdeen | £100,000 |
| 3 November 1989 | Chris Vinnicombe | Exeter City | £150,000 |
| 30 November 1989 | Nigel Spackman | Queens Park Rangers | £500,000 |

### Out

| Date | Player | To | Fee |
| 26 May 1989 | Andy Gray | Cheltenham Town | Free |
| 5 July 1989 | Mel Sterland | Leeds United | £600,000 |
| 26 July 1989 | Jimmy Nicholl | Dunfermline Athletic | £50,000 |
| 29 July 1989 | Davie Kirkwood | Heart of Midlothian | £100,000 |
| 11 August 1989 | Davie Cooper | Motherwell | £50,000 |
| 22 August 1989 | Nicky Walker | Heart of Midlothian | £125,000 |
| 2 October 1989 | Kevin Drinkell | Coventry City | £800,000 |
| 28 November 1989 | Ray Wilkins | Queens Park Rangers | Free |
| 10 January 1990 | Ian McCall | Bradford City | £200,000 |

## Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

### Scottish Premier Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 12 August 1989 | St Mirren | H | 0–1 | 39,951 | |
| 19 August 1989 | Hibernian | A | 0–2 | 22,500 | |
| 26 August 1989 | Celtic | A | 1–1 | 54,000 | Butcher |
| 9 September 1989 | Aberdeen | H | 1–0 | 40,283 | Johnston |
| 16 September 1989 | Dundee | H | 2–2 | 35,836 | McCoist (2) |
| 23 September 1989 | Dunfermline Athletic | A | 1–1 | 17,765 | McCoist |
| 30 September 1989 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 1–0 | 39,554 | Johnston |
| 3 October 1989 | Motherwell | A | 0–1 | 17,667 | |
| 14 October 1989 | Dundee United | H | 2–1 | 36,062 | Johnston, McCoist |
| 25 October 1989 | St Mirren | A | 2–0 | 15,130 | McCoist, Johnston |
| 28 October 1989 | Hibernian | H | 3–0 | 35,260 | McCoist (2), Johnston (pen.) |
| 4 November 1989 | Celtic | H | 1–0 | 41,598 | Johnston |
| 18 November 1989 | Dundee | A | 2–0 | 14,536 | Johnston, Walters |
| 22 November 1989 | Aberdeen | A | 0–1 | 22,500 | |
| 25 November 1989 | Dunfermline Athletic | H | 3–0 | 39,131 | Johnston, Butcher, McCoist |
| 2 December 1989 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 2–1 | 24,771 | Walters, Steven |
| 9 December 1989 | Motherwell | H | 3–0 | 33,549 | Butcher, McCoist, Brown |
| 16 December 1989 | Dundee United | A | 1–1 | 15,947 | Johnston |
| 23 December 1989 | St Mirren | H | 1–0 | 31,797 | Dodds |
| 30 December 1989 | Hibernian | A | 0–0 | 24,500 | |
| 2 January 1990 | Celtic | A | 1–0 | 54,000 | Spackman |
| 6 January 1990 | Aberdeen | H | 2–0 | 41,351 | Walters, McCoist |
| 13 January 1990 | Dundee | H | 3–0 | 36,993 | McCoist, Dodds, Johnston |
| 27 January 1990 | Dunfermline Athletic | A | 1–0 | 17,380 | Steven |
| 3 February 1990 | Dundee United | H | 3–1 | 39,058 | Walters, McCoist, Johnston |
| 10 February 1990 | Motherwell | A | 1–1 | 17,647 | Johnston |
| 17 February 1990 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 0–0 | 41,884 | |
| 3 March 1990 | Dundee | A | 2–2 | 12,743 | Johnston, Dodds |
| 17 March 1990 | St Mirren | A | 0–0 | 16,129 | |
| 24 March 1990 | Hibernian | H | 0–1 | 37,452 | |
| 1 April 1990 | Celtic | H | 3–0 | 41,926 | Walters (pen.), McCoist, Johnston (pen.) |
| 8 April 1990 | Aberdeen | A | 0–0 | 23,000 | |
| 14 April 1990 | Motherwell | H | 2–1 | 39,305 | Steven, Johnston |
| 21 April 1990 | Dundee United | A | 1–0 | 15,995 | Steven |
| 28 April 1990 | Dunfermline Athletic | H | 2–0 | 40,769 | McCoist, Dodds |
| 5 May 1990 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 1–1 | 20,283 | Munro |

### Scottish League Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 15 August 1989 | R2 | Arbroath | H | 4–0 | 31,762 | McCoist (3), I.Ferguson |
| 23 August 1989 | R3 | Greenock Morton | A | 2–1 | 11,821 | Walters, Pickering (o.g.) |
| 30 August 1989 | QF | Hamilton Academical | A | 3–0 | 9,162 | Walters (2), Steven |
| 19 September 1989 | SF | Dunfermline Athletic | N | 5–0 | 41,643 | Steven, Johnston, Walters, McCoist, I.Ferguson |
| 22 October 1989 | F | Aberdeen | N | 1–2* | 61,190 | Walters (pen.) |
*Aberdeen won the match 2–1 in extra-time

### Scottish Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 20 January 1990 | R3 | St Johnstone | H | 3–0 | 39,003 | Johnston, Brown, Walters |
| 25 February 1990 | R4 | Celtic | A | 0–1 | 52,565 | |

### European Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 13 September 1989 | R1 | Bayern Munich | H | 1–3 | 40,253 | Walters (pen.) |
| 27 September 1989 | R1 | Bayern Munich | A | 0–0 | 40,000 | |

## Appearances

| Player | Position | Appearances | Goals |
| Bonni Ginzburg | GK | 8 | 0 |
| Chris Woods | GK | 37 | 0 |
| John Brown | DF | 30 | 2 |
| Terry Butcher | DF | 43 | 0 |
| Tom Cowan | DF | 4 | 0 |
| Richard Gough | DF | 31 | 0 |
| Stuart Munro | DF | 45 | 1 |
| Scott Nisbet | DF | 9 | 0 |
| Gary Stevens | DF | 44 | 1 |
| Chris Vinnicombe | DF | 9 | 0 |
| Neale Cooper | MF | 3 | 0 |
| Derek Ferguson | MF | 8 | 0 |
| Ian Ferguson | MF | 32 | 2 |
| Ian McCall | MF | 5 | 0 |
| Sandy Robertson | MF | 1 | 0 |
| Graeme Souness | MF | 1 | 0 |
| Nigel Spackman | MF | 23 | 1 |
| Trevor Steven | MF | 43 | 3 |
| Mark Walters | MF | 36 | 12 |
| Ray Wilkins | MF | 22 | 0 |
| Davie Dodds | FW | 15 | 4 |
| Kevin Drinkell | FW | 7 | 0 |
| Mo Johnston | FW | 45 | 17 |
| Ally McCoist | FW | 40 | 18 |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Rangers (C) | 36 | 20 | 11 | 5 | 48 | 19 | +29 | 51 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Aberdeen | 36 | 17 | 10 | 9 | 56 | 33 | +23 | 44 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 3 | Heart of Midlothian | 36 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 54 | 35 | +19 | 44 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Dundee United | 36 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 36 | 39 | −3 | 35 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Celtic | 36 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 34 | |