# 1982–83 Rangers F.C. season

The 1982–83 season was the 103rd season of competitive football by Rangers.

## Overview

Rangers played a total of 57 competitive matches during the 1982–83 season. Greig made big-money signings in the pre-season 1982–83 with renewed hope that they could at least mount a serious title challenge, but once again, the season ended in trophyless failure. Dave MacKinnon - £30,000 from Partick Thistle, Craig Paterson - £200,000 from Hibernian, Robert Prytz from Malmö FF and Sandy Clark from West Ham United, were all welcomed to the club.
The early signs were positive. Rangers reached the 1982 Scottish League Cup Final scoring en route 29 goals in there ten games and eliminated Borussia Dortmund from the UEFA Cup. The opening eight league games saw the side unbeaten but the final match saw Rangers lying in fourth, a massive eighteen points behind champions Dundee United. The team was knocked out of Europe after suffering a 5–0 defeat from Cologne. The 1983 Scottish Cup Final was lost to an Aberdeen side that had won the European Cup Winner's Cup ten days earlier, their double allowing Rangers to take Scotland's Cup Winners' Cup berth for the following season.

## Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

### Scottish Premier Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 4 September 1982 | Motherwell | A | 2–2 | 19,159 | Prytz (pen), Redford |
| 11 September 1982 | Dundee United | H | 0–0 | 22,000 | |
| 18 September 1982 | Kilmarnock | H | 5–0 | 17,350 | MacDonald (2), Russell, Johnstone, McClelland |
| 25 September 1982 | Aberdeen | A | 2–1 | 20,300 | Johnstone, Prytz |
| 2 October 1982 | Dundee | H | 1–1 | 18,100 | Johnstone |
| 9 October 1982 | Greenock Morton | A | 0–0 | 11,500 | |
| 16 October 1982 | St Mirren | A | 2–2 | 12,121 | Bett, MacKinnon |
| 23 October 1982 | Hibernian | H | 3–2 | 16,250 | Johnstone (2), McNamara (og) |
| 30 October 1982 | Celtic | A | 2–3 | 60,408 | Prytz, Cooper |
| 6 November 1982 | Motherwell | H | 4–0 | 17,000 | MacDonald (2), Dalziel (2) |
| 13 November 1982 | Dundee United | A | 2–4 | 16,470 | Cooper, Johnstone |
| 20 November 1982 | Kilmarnock | A | 0–0 | 9,194 | |
| 27 November 1982 | Aberdeen | H | 0–1 | 27,000 | |
| 11 December 1982 | Greenock Morton | H | 1–1 | 9,500 | Prytz (pen) |
| 18 December 1982 | St Mirren | H | 1–0 | 10,500 | MacDonald |
| 27 December 1982 | Hibernian | A | 0–0 | 15,900 | |
| 1 January 1983 | Celtic | H | 1–2 | 45,000 | Black |
| 3 January 1983 | Motherwell | A | 0–3 | 11,383 | |
| 8 January 1983 | Dundee United | H | 2–1 | 15,500 | Prytz, Kennedy |
| 15 January 1983 | Kilmarnock | H | 1–1 | 11,223 | MacDonald |
| 22 January 1983 | Aberdeen | A | 0–2 | 21,600 | |
| 5 February 1983 | Dundee | H | 1–1 | 8,500 | McPherson |
| 12 February 1983 | Greenock Morton | A | 5–0 | 6,900 | Bett (2), Kennedy (2), MacDonald |
| 26 February 1983 | St Mirren | A | 0–1 | 11,484 | |
| 2 March 1983 | Dundee | A | 0–1 | 6,624 | |
| 5 March 1983 | Hibernian | H | 1–1 | 10,975 | Dalziel |
| 19 March 1983 | Motherwell | H | 1–0 | 18,000 | McClelland |
| 23 March 1983 | Celtic | A | 0–0 | 51,062 | |
| 26 March 1983 | Kilmarnock | A | 1–0 | 6,648 | MacDonald |
| 2 April 1983 | Dundee United | A | 1–3 | 14,142 | Clark |
| 9 April 1983 | Aberdeen | H | 2–1 | 19,800 | Redford, Bett |
| 23 April 1983 | Greenock Morton | H | 2–0 | 9,500 | MacDonald, Redford |
| 30 April 1983 | St Mirren | H | 4–0 | 9,321 | Bett (2), MacDonald, Clark |
| 4 May 1983 | Dundee | A | 1–2 | 4,788 | Clark |
| 7 May 1983 | Hibernian | A | 2–1 | 10,500 | Cooper (2) |
| 14 May 1983 | Celtic | H | 2–4 | 40,500 | Clark (2) |

### UEFA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 15 September 1982 | R1 | Borussia Dortmund | A | 0–0 | 54,000 | |
| 29 September 1982 | R1 | Borussia Dortmund | H | 2–0 | 44,500 | Cooper, Johnstone |
| 20 October 1982 | R2 | Cologne | H | 2–1 | 30,420 | Johnstone, McClelland |
| 3 November 1982 | R2 | Cologne | A | 0–5 | 61,000 | |

### Scottish Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 29 January 1983 | R3 | Falkirk | A | 2–0 | 14,700 | Kennedy, Oliver (og) |
| 19 February 1983 | R4 | Forfar Athletic | H | 2–1 | 14,500 | MacDonald (2) |
| 12 March 1983 | QF | Queen's Park | A | 2–1 | 13,716 | Dalziel, Cooper |
| 16 April 1983 | SF | St Mirren | N | 1–1 | 31,102 | Clark |
| 19 April 1983 | SF R | St Mirren | N | 1–0 | 25,725 | Clark |
| 21 May 1983 | F | Aberdeen | N | 0–1 | 62,979 | |

### League Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 14 August 1982 | SR | Hibernian | A | 1–1 | 15,980 | MacDonald |
| 18 August 1982 | SR | Airdrieonians | H | 3–1 | 9,500 | Bett, Paterson, Black |
| 21 August 1982 | SR | Clydebank | A | 4–1 | 7,090 | MacDonald (2), Prytz, McClelland |
| 25 August 1982 | SR | Airdrieonians | A | 2–1 | 6,476 | Dalziel, Paterson |
| 28 August 1982 | SR | Hibernian | H | 0–0 | 17,600 | |
| 1 September 1982 | SR | Clydebank | H | 3–2 | 6,300 | MacDonald, Prytz (pen), Redford |
| 22 September 1982 | QF | Kilmarnock | A | 6–1 | 7,903 | Cooper (4), J.MacDonald (2) |
| 6 October 1982 | QF | Kilmarnock | H | 6–0 | 5,342 | MacDonald (2), Johnstone (2), McPherson, Bett (pen) |
| 27 October 1982 | SF | Heart of Midlothian | H | 2–0 | 25,500 | D.Cooper, Bett |
| 10 November 1982 | SF | Heart of Midlothian | A | 2–1 | 18,983 | Bett (pen), Johnstone |
| 4 December 1982 | F | Celtic | N | 1–2 | 55,372 | Bett |

## Appearances

| Player | Position | Appearances | Goals |
| Jim Stewart | GK | 33 | 0 |
| Andy Bruce | GK | 1 | 0 |
| Peter McCloy | GK | 23 | 0 |
| Dave MacKinnon | DF | 50 | 1 |
| Ally Dawson | DF | 40 | 0 |
| John McClelland | DF | 56 | 4 |
| Craig Paterson | DF | 36 | 2 |
| Jim Bett | MF | 56 | 11 |
| Davie Cooper | MF | 49 | 11 |
| Robert Prytz | MF | 48 | 7 |
| Colin McAdam | DF | 12 | 0 |
| Ian Redford | MF | 54 | 4 |
| John MacDonald | FW | 47 | 20 |
| Derek Johnstone | FW | 26 | 11 |
| Bobby Russell | MF | 33 | 1 |
| Billy MacKay | MF | 7 | 0 |
| Kenny Black | MF | 23 | 2 |
| Dave McPherson | DF | 27 | 2 |
| Gregor Stevens | DF | 15 | 0 |
| Doug Robertson | FW | 5 | 0 |
| Gordon Dalziel | MF | 22 | 5 |
| Andy Kennedy | FW | 18 | 4 |
| Gordon Smith | FW | 3 | 0 |
| Billy Davies | MF | 8 | 0 |
| Kenny Lyall | MF | 6 | 0 |
| Sandy Clark | FW | 13 | 7 |
| Alex Miller | DF | 2 | 0 |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 2 | Celtic | 36 | 25 | 5 | 6 | 90 | 36 | +54 | 55 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Aberdeen | 36 | 25 | 5 | 6 | 76 | 25 | +51 | 55 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 4 | Rangers | 36 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 53 | 41 | +12 | 38 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 5 | St Mirren | 36 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 47 | 51 | −4 | 34 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Dundee | 36 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 42 | 53 | −11 | 29 | |