# 1986–87 Rangers F.C. season

The 1986–87 season was the 107th season of competitive football by Rangers.

## Overview

Rangers played a total of 56 competitive matches during the 1986–87 season. The team finished top of the Scottish Premier Division for the first time in nine seasons. A total of 69 points were gained from 44 games and a lead of six points over second placed Celtic.
The Souness Revolution began with the signing of England internationals, goalkeeper Chris Woods and centre half Terry Butcher. Northern Ireland international Jimmy Nicholl rejoined the club and Colin West was brought in to partner Ally McCoist in attack. In December Graham Roberts arrived from Tottenham Hotspur to strengthen the defence.
There was a disappointing start to the league campaign, losing 2–1 to Hibernian at Easter Road. Graeme Souness was sent off for a tackle on George McCluskey in the centre circle, with both teams displaying a lack of discipline at that moment.
On the penultimate day of the season the Championship was secured at Pittodrie with a 1–1 draw against Aberdeen. A Terry Butcher header was enough to bring the league title back to Ibrox for the first time since 1978.
In the cup competitions, Rangers were knocked out of the Scottish Cup in the third round, losing 1–0 at Ibrox to Hamilton Academical. The goal ended a run of 1196 minutes without conceding – a British record for goalkeeper Chris Woods.
They won the League Cup, defeating Celtic 2–1 with goals from Ian Durrant and Davie Cooper. This was an early success for Graeme Souness and helped pave the way towards the Championship.
The European campaign was moderately successful. Rangers reached the third round of the UEFA Cup after beating Ilves Tampere and Boavista before being knocked out by Borussia Mönchengladbach on the away goals rule.

## Transfer
### In

| Date | Player | From | Fee |
| 16 May 1986 | Colin West | Watford | £200,000 |
| 1 July 1986 | Chris Woods | Norwich City | £600,000 |
| 1 August 1986 | Terry Butcher | Ipswich Town | £725,000 |
| 8 August 1986 | Jimmy Nicholl | West Bromwich Albion | Swap |
| 14 November 1986 | Lindsay Hamilton | Stenhousemuir | £25,000 |
| 22 December 1986 | Neil Woods | Doncaster Rovers | £120,000 |
| 23 December 1986 | Graham Roberts | Tottenham Hotspur | £450,000 |
| 27 March 1987 | Jimmy Phillips | Bolton Wanderers | £95,000 |

### Out

| Date | Player | From | Fee |
| 9 May 1986 | Billy Davies | Jönköpings Södra IF | Free |
| 9 May 1986 | Derek Johnstone | Partick Thistle | Free |
| 9 May 1986 | Dave MacKinnon | Airdrieonians | Free |
| 9 August 1986 | Bobby Williamson | West Bromwich Albion | Swap |
| 19 January 1987 | Ted McMinn | Sevilla | £225,000 |

## Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

### Scottish Premier Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 9 August 1986 | Hibernian | A | 1–2 | 24,576 | McCoist (pen.) |
| 13 August 1986 | Falkirk | H | 1–0 | 27,362 | McCoist (pen.) |
| 16 August 1986 | Dundee United | H | 2–3 | 43,995 | McCoist (2) |
| 23 August 1986 | Hamilton Academical | A | 2–1 | 10,000 | Fraser, West |
| 31 August 1986 | Celtic | H | 1–0 | 43,502 | Durrant |
| 6 September 1986 | Motherwell | A | 2–0 | 17,013 | Cooper, McPherson |
| 13 September 1986 | Clydebank | H | 4–0 | 26,433 | Fleck (3), McMinn |
| 20 September 1986 | Dundee | A | 0–1 | 17,132 | |
| 27 September 1986 | Aberdeen | H | 2–0 | 40,155 | Souness, McCoist |
| 4 October 1986 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 1–1 | 28,637 | Cooper |
| 8 October 1986 | St Mirren | A | 1–0 | 16,861 | Cooper |
| 11 October 1986 | Hibernian | H | 3–0 | 38,196 | McPherson, Fleck, Bell |
| 18 October 1986 | Falkirk | A | 5–1 | 16,800 | Fleck (3, 1 (pen.)), Cooper, McCoist |
| 29 October 1986 | Dundee United | A | 0–0 | 20,170 | |
| 1 November 1986 | Celtic | A | 1–1 | 60,000 | McCoist |
| 8 November 1986 | Motherwell | H | 0–1 | 33,966 | |
| 15 November 1986 | Clydebank | A | 4–1 | 9,906 | McCoist (2), McPherson, Durrant |
| 19 November 1986 | Dundee | H | 2–1 | 22,992 | McCoist, McPherson |
| 22 November 1986 | Aberdeen | A | 0–1 | 21,733 | |
| 29 November 1986 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 3–0 | 38,733 | McCoist, Cooper, Durrant |
| 3 December 1986 | St Mirren | H | 2–0 | 23,110 | McPherson, Cooper |
| 6 December 1986 | Hibernian | A | 0–0 | 18,536 | |
| 13 December 1986 | Falkirk | H | 4–0 | 24,177 | Fleck (2), Cooper, Butcher |
| 20 December 1986 | Hamilton Academical | A | 2–0 | 10,000 | Fleck, McCoist |
| 27 December 1986 | Dundee United | H | 2–0 | 42,165 | McCoist, Fleck |
| 1 January 1987 | Celtic | H | 2–0 | 43,206 | Fleck, McCoist |
| 6 January 1987 | Motherwell | A | 1–0 | 19,658 | Roberts |
| 10 January 1987 | Clydebank | H | 5–0 | 36,397 | Fleck (3), McCoist (2, 1 (pen.)) |
| 17 January 1987 | Hamilton Academical | H | 2–0 | 43,052 | Durrant, McCoist |
| 24 January 1987 | Aberdeen | H | 0–0 | 43,211 | |
| 7 February 1987 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 5–2 | 29,091 | Fleck (2), Roberts, McCoist, Black (o.g.) |
| 14 February 1987 | St Mirren | A | 3–1 | 21,399 | McCoist (3, 1 (pen.)) |
| 28 February 1987 | Hibernian | H | 1–1 | 38,630 | McPherson |
| 7 March 1987 | Falkirk | A | 2–1 | 18,000 | McCoist (2) |
| 14 March 1987 | Hamilton Academical | H | 2–0 | 33,486 | Cooper, McCoist |
| 17 March 1987 | Dundee | A | 4–0 | 18,723 | McCoist (2), McPherson, Fleck |
| 21 March 1987 | Dundee United | A | 1–0 | 21,275 | McPherson |
| 28 March 1987 | Motherwell | H | 1–0 | 37,305 | McCoist |
| 4 April 1987 | Celtic | A | 1–3 | 60,800 | McCoist |
| 14 April 1987 | Dundee | H | 2–0 | 42,427 | Cooper, McCoist |
| 18 April 1987 | Clydebank | A | 3–0 | 9,950 | McCoist (2, 1 (pen.)), West |
| 25 April 1987 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 3–0 | 43,205 | McCoist (3, 1 (pen.)) |
| 2 May 1987 | Aberdeen | A | 1–1 | 22,568 | Butcher |
| 9 May 1987 | St Mirren | H | 1–0 | 43,510 | Fleck |

### Scottish League Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 20 August 1986 | R2 | Stenhousemuir | A | 4–1 | 9,052 | Souness, West, Cooper, McCoist |
| 27 August 1986 | R3 | East Fife | A | 0–0* | 8,835 | |
| 3 September 1986 | QF | Dundee | H | 3–1 | 33,750 | Fraser, Souness, McMinn |
| 24 September 1986 | SF | Dundee United | N | 2–1 | 45,249 | McCoist, McMinn |
| 26 October 1986 | F | Celtic | N | 2–1 | 74,219 | Durrant, Cooper (pen.) |
*Rangers won the match 5–4 on penalties

### Scottish Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 31 January 1987 | R3 | Hamilton Academical | H | 0–1 | 35,462 | |

### UEFA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 17 September 1986 | R1 | Ilves Tampere | H | 4–0 | 27,436 | Fleck (3), McCoist |
| 1 October 1986 | R1 | Ilves Tampere | A | 0–2 | 2,109 | |
| 24 October 1986 | R2 | Boavista | H | 2–1 | 38,772 | McPherson, McCoist |
| 4 November 1986 | R2 | Boavista | A | 1–0 | 23,000 | Ferguson |
| 26 November 1986 | R3 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | H | 1–1 | 33,000 | Durrant |
| 10 December 1986 | R3 | Borussia Monchengladbach | A | 0–0 | 36,000 | |

### Glasgow Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 28 April 1987 | SF | Clyde | N | 1–1 | 4,000 | Spencer |
| 7 May 1987 | F | Celtic | A | 1–0 | 15,109 | |

## Appearances

| Player | Position | Appearances | Goals |
| Nicky Walker | GK | 2 | 0 |
| Chris Woods | GK | 48 | 0 |
| Terry Butcher | DF | 49 | 2 |
| Hugh Burns | DF | 5 | 0 |
| Ally Dawson | DF | 10 | 0 |
| Dave McPherson | DF | 47 | 8 |
| Stuart Munro | DF | 48 | 0 |
| Jimmy Nicholl | DF | 39 | 0 |
| Scott Nisbet | DF | 1 | 0 |
| Craig Paterson | DF | 2 | 0 |
| Jimmy Phillips | DF | 6 | 0 |
| Graham Roberts | DF | 19 | 2 |
| Dougie Bell | MF | 12 | 1 |
| Davie Cooper | MF | 48 | 11 |
| Ian Durrant | MF | 45 | 5 |
| Derek Ferguson | MF | 33 | 0 |
| Robert Fleck | MF | 44 | 19 |
| Cammy Fraser | MF | 21 | 2 |
| Davie Kirkwood | MF | 1 | 0 |
| Dave MacFarlane | MF | 5 | 0 |
| Ted McMinn | MF | 19 | 3 |
| Bobby Russell | MF | 1 | 0 |
| Graeme Souness | MF | 29 | 3 |
| Ally McCoist | FW | 50 | 36 |
| Colin West | FW | 12 | 3 |
| Neil Woods | FW | 3 | 0 |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Rangers (C) | 44 | 31 | 7 | 6 | 85 | 23 | +62 | 69 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Celtic | 44 | 27 | 9 | 8 | 90 | 41 | +49 | 63 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Dundee United | 44 | 24 | 12 | 8 | 85 | 34 | +51 | 60 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Aberdeen | 44 | 21 | 16 | 7 | 63 | 29 | +34 | 58 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Heart of Midlothian | 44 | 21 | 14 | 9 | 64 | 43 | +21 | 56 | |