# 1983–84 Rangers F.C. season

The 1983–84 season was the 104th season of competitive football by Rangers.

## Overview

Rangers played a total of 55 competitive matches during the 1983–84 season. The season would signal the end of John Greig's managerial career. The league season began badly, one point from the first four league games, although the team did win their six League Cup games under Greig. A fruitful brief run in the European Cup Winner's Cup saw Rangers win the second round, first leg 2–1 over F.C. Porto (runners up) after the team's record breaking 18-0 aggregate win over Maltese champions Valletta. After the first nine league games, Greig's team had collected just seven points from eighteen and, in the end, the pressure was too much for Greig who ultimately resigned as manager on 28 October 1983.
Rangers were overseen by former midfielder Tommy McLean, who acted as caretaker, whilst attempts were made to find a new permanent manager. On 10 November 1983, Jock Wallace was persuaded by the Rangers board to leave Motherwell and return to the club. His aim was to restore the glory years of the treble-winning sides of the late 1970s. Wallace's initial impact was positive, boosting morale and fitness. He made changes to the coaching staff, bringing in Alex Totten as first team coach with Tommy McLean, David Provan and Joe Mason leaving. Wallace also added to the squad during the season; Bobby Williamson arrived from Clydebank, Nicky Walker from old club Motherwell and Stuart Munro from Alloa Athletic.
Wallace's first match in command was at Pittodrie on 12 November 1983. The game finished in a 3–0 defeat but subsequently the side went on a 22 match unbeaten run in all competitions until March 1984. However, Rangers still ended that season fourth in the league, fifteen points behind champions Aberdeen. The club did win a trophy, the League Cup. The cup final was a thrilling extra-time victory over Celtic, with Ally McCoist getting a hat-trick, in the 3–2 win that won them the cup.

## Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

### Scottish Premier Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 20 August 1983 | St Mirren | H | 1–1 | 21,500 | Prytz (pen.) |
| 3 September 1983 | Celtic | A | 1–2 | 50,662 | McCoist |
| 10 September 1983 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 1–3 | 16,173 | Mitchell |
| 17 September 1983 | Aberdeen | H | 0–2 | 27,500 | |
| 24 September 1983 | St Johnstone | H | 6–3 | 12,500 | McCoist (2), McClelland, Prytz (pen.), Cooper, Clark |
| 1 October 1983 | Dundee United | A | 2–0 | 16,738 | Clark, Hegarty (o.g.) |
| 8 October 1983 | Hibernian | H | 1–0 | 21,800 | McClelland |
| 15 October 1983 | Dundee | A | 2–3 | 11,945 | Russell, Redford |
| 22 October 1983 | Motherwell | H | 1–2 | 15,000 | McCoist (pen.) |
| 29 October 1983 | St Mirren | A | 0–3 | 12,068 | |
| 5 November 1983 | Celtic | H | 1–2 | 42,000 | Clark |
| 12 November 1983 | Aberdeen | A | 0–3 | 22,771 | |
| 19 November 1983 | Dundee United | H | 0–0 | 27,800 | |
| 26 November 1983 | St Johnstone | A | 1–0 | 9,740 | Redford |
| 3 December 1983 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 3–0 | 22,500 | Clark (2), MacDonald |
| 10 December 1983 | Motherwell | A | 3–0 | 13,586 | McAdam, Cooper, Mitchell |
| 17 December 1983 | Dundee | H | 2–1 | 16,500 | Russell, Williamson |
| 27 December 1983 | Hibernian | A | 2–0 | 20,820 | Williamson, Cooper |
| 31 December 1983 | St Mirren | H | 1–1 | 21,200 | Clark |
| 7 January 1984 | Aberdeen | H | 1–1 | 37,500 | Cooper (pen.) |
| 21 January 1984 | St Johnstone | H | 2–0 | 18,001 | Clark, Russell |
| 4 February 1984 | Motherwell | H | 2–1 | 17,000 | McCoist, Prytz (pen.) |
| 11 February 1984 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 2–2 | 18,063 | McCoist, Williamson |
| 25 February 1984 | Dundee | A | 3–1 | 11,750 | Russell, Cooper, McPherson |
| 3 March 1984 | Hibernian | H | 0–0 | 17,000 | |
| 6 March 1984 | St Johnstone | A | 4–1 | 5,293 | Redford, Clark, Davies, McCoist |
| 31 March 1984 | Motherwell | A | 3–0 | 8,574 | Paterson, McPherson, Burns |
| 2 April 1984 | Celtic | A | 0–3 | 53,229 | |
| 7 April 1984 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 0–0 | 22,000 | |
| 21 April 1984 | Celtic | H | 1–0 | 40,260 | Williamson |
| 28 April 1984 | St Mirren | A | 1–1 | 8,092 | Williamson |
| 2 May 1984 | Dundee United | H | 2–2 | 16,500 | Clark, Williamson |
| 5 May 1984 | Dundee | H | 2–2 | 17,000 | Redford, Cooper |
| 9 May 1984 | Aberdeen | A | 0–0 | 16,200 | |
| 12 May 1984 | Hibernian | A | 0–0 | 10,567 | |
| 14 May 1984 | Dundee United | A | 2–1 | 6,457 | Prytz (pen.), McCoist |

### Cup Winners' Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 14 September 1983 | R1 | Valletta | A | 8–0 | 18,213 | McPherson (4), Prytz (2, 1 (pen.)), Paterson, MacDonald |
| 28 September 1983 | R1 | Valletta | H | 10–0 | 11,500 | MacDonald (3, 1 (pen.)), Mitchell (2), Redford (2), Dawson, MacKay, Davies |
| 19 October 1983 | R2 | FC Porto | H | 2–1 | 27,800 | Clark, Mitchell |
| 2 November 1983 | R2 | FC Porto | A | 0–1 | 63,000 | |

### Scottish Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 28 January 1984 | R3 | Dunfermline Athletic | H | 2–1 | 17,500 | McAdam, McCoist |
| 18 February 1984 | R4 | Caledonian | A | 6–0 | 5,500 | Williamson (2), McCoist (2), Redford, Russell |
| 10 March 1984 | QF | Dundee | A | 2–2 | 17,097 | Russell, McGeachie (o.g.) |
| 17 March 1984 | QF R | Dundee | H | 2–3 | 25,000 | McPherson, McClelland |

### League Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 24 August 1983 | R2 L1 | Queen of the South | H | 4–0 | 8,000 | MacDonald (2), Clark, Prytz (pen.) |
| 27 August 1983 | R2 L2 | Queen of the South | A | 4–1 | 7,350 | Mitchell, McKinnon, Cooper, McCoist |
| 31 August 1983 | SR | Clydebank | H | 4–0 | 8,500 | McCoist (2), Russell, Prytz |
| 7 September 1983 | SR | Heart of Midlothian | A | 3–0 | 11,287 | Clark (2), Gauld (o.g.) |
| 5 October 1983 | SR | St Mirren | H | 5–0 | 11,500 | McCoist (2), Clark, McClelland, Paterson |
| 26 October 1983 | SR | Heart of Midlothian | H | 2–0 | 12,000 | Prytz, Mitchell |
| 9 November 1983 | SR | Clydebank | A | 3–0 | 3,612 | Cooper, McCoist, McPherson |
| 30 November 1983 | SR | St Mirren | A | 1–0 | 5,446 | Cooper |
| 15 February 1984 | SF L1 | Dundee United | A | 1–1 | 14,569 | Mitchell |
| 22 February 1984 | SF L2 | Dundee United | H | 2–0 | 35,950 | Clark, Redford |
| 25 March 1984 | F | Celtic | N | 3–2 | 66,369 | McCoist (3, 1 (pen.)) |

### Glasgow Cup (1982-83 competition)

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 10 August 1983 | SF | Clyde | A | 1–0 | 4,700 | Ruseell |
| 13 August 1983 | F | Celtic | N | 1–0 | 32,707 | Clark |

## Appearances

| Player | Position | Appearances | Goals |
| Peter McCloy | GK | 40 | 0 |
| Nicky Walker | GK | 11 | 0 |
| Ally Dawson | DF | 45 | 1 |
| John McClelland | DF | 55 | 4 |
| Dave McPherson | DF | 54 | 8 |
| Craig Paterson | DF | 34 | 3 |
| Ian Redford | MF | 47 | 8 |
| Robert Prytz | MF | 42 | 9 |
| Ally McCoist | FW | 47 | 20 |
| Sandy Clark | FW | 45 | 16 |
| Bobby Russell | MF | 48 | 7 |
| Davie Cooper | MF | 51 | 9 |
| John MacDonald | FW | 28 | 7 |
| Billy Davies | MF | 7 | 2 |
| Dave MacKinnon | DF | 23 | 1 |
| David Mitchell | MF | 21 | 8 |
| Jim Stewart | GK | 4 | 0 |
| Jimmy Nicholl | DF | 26 | 0 |
| Kenny Lyall | MF | 2 | 0 |
| Gregor Stevens | DF | 2 | 0 |
| Derek Ferguson | MF | 5 | 0 |
| Andy Kennedy | FW | 2 | 0 |
| Colin McAdam | DF | 11 | 2 |
| Bobby Williamson | FW | 20 | 8 |
| Hugh Burns | DF | 7 | 1 |
| Scott Fraser | DF | 8 | 0 |
| Billy MacKay | MF | 5 | 1 |
| Stuart Munro | DF | 5 | 0 |
| Robert Fleck | MF | 1 | 0 |
| Eric Ferguson | FW | 4 | 0 |
| Kenny Black | MF | 1 | 0 |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 2 | Celtic | 36 | 21 | 8 | 7 | 80 | 41 | +39 | 50 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 3 | Dundee United | 36 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 67 | 39 | +28 | 47 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Rangers | 36 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 53 | 41 | +12 | 42 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Heart of Midlothian | 36 | 10 | 16 | 10 | 38 | 47 | −9 | 36 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | St Mirren | 36 | 9 | 14 | 13 | 55 | 59 | −4 | 32 | |