# 1987–88 Kilmarnock F.C. season

The 1987–88 season was Kilmarnock's 86th in Scottish League Competitions. After a troublesome season exacerbated by their lack of scoring, the club staved off relegation, finishing in 10th place, one point ahead East Fife and Dumbarton who were relegated.
By early March 1988, the team had only ten wins and 41 goals in 34 games and were rated as being in "dire straits" in terms of potential relegation to the Second Division. The team's poor performance was blamed on a "lack of punch up front."
With one game remaining in the season, the club faced relegation if they did not win the final game. Kilmarnock keeper Alan McCulloch returned from a suspected broken hand for the final game. Kilmarnock defeated Partick Thistle 1–0 in the final game to avoid relegation.
Manager Eddie Morrison, interviewed by The Kilmarnock Standard, described the season as "probably one of the most disappointing the club has ever experienced" and added, "The team's performances were, to say the least, erratic, frustrating and at times very disappointing."

## Players

The 1987–88 squad for Kilmarnock was as follows:
* Archie Bell
* Ian Bryson
* Robert Clark
* Jim Cockburn
* Derek Cook
* Scott Cuthbertson
* Frazer Davidson
* Colin Harkness
* Barry Holland
* Hugh Houston
* Lex Lindsay
* Lenny Lowe
* Stephen Marshall
* Paul Martin
* Graham Millar
* Bobby McConville
* Alan McCulloch
* Jim McGuire
* Ian McInnes
* Stuart McLean
* John McVeigh
* Joe Reid
* Alan Robertson

## Competitions
### Scottish First Division
#### Tables

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 8 | Partick Thistle | 44 | 16 | 9 | 19 | 60 | 64 | −4 | 41 | |
| 9 | Clyde | 44 | 16 | 6 | 22 | 73 | 75 | −2 | 38 | |
| 10 | Kilmarnock | 44 | 13 | 11 | 20 | 55 | 60 | −5 | 37 | |
| 11 | East Fife (R) | 44 | 13 | 10 | 21 | 61 | 76 | −15 | 36 | Relegation to the Second Division |
| 12 | Dumbarton (R) | 44 | 12 | 12 | 20 | 51 | 70 | −19 | 36 | Relegation to the Second Division |

#### Results

| Match Day | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Kilmarnock Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| 1 | 8 August | Hamilton Academical | H | 0–2 | | 2,178 |
| 2 | 12 August | East Fife | A | 1–2 | Reid(24) | 657 |
| 3 | 15 August | Dumbarton | A | 3–1 | Harkness(46), McInnes(63), Cuthbertson(81) | 824 |
| 4 | 22 August | Forfar Athletic | H | 2–2 | Harkness(6), Reid(87) | 1,235 |
| 5 | 29 August | Queen of the South | H | 0–2 | | 1,836 |
| 6 | 5 September | Meadowbank Thistle | A | 1–2 | Cook(45) | 698 |
| 7 | 12 September | Raith Rovers | H | 3–4 | Cuthbertson(7), Harkness(12), McInnes(52) | 1,436 |
| 8 | 15 September | Clydebank | A | 0–2 | | 857 |
| 9 | 19 September | Airdrieonians | A | 2–3 | Bryson(9), Lawrie o.g.(70) | 1,513 |
| 10 | 26 September | Clyde | H | 2–0 | Harkness(16), Bryson(43) | 1,732 |
| 11 | 29 September | Partick Thistle | H | 1–1 | Harkness(39) | 2,030 |
| 12 | 3 October | Hamilton Academical | A | 1–1 | Harkness(35) | 1,218 |
| 13 | 6 October | East Fife | H | 2–0 | Harkness(37,89) | 1,441 |
| 14 | 10 October | Forfar Athletic | A | 0–2 | | 896 |
| 15 | 17 October | Raith Rovers | A | 2–0 | Gilmour(31pen), Harkness(47) | 2,187 |
| 16 | 20 October | Clydebank | H | 1–3 | McGuire(79) | 1,733 |
| 17 | 24 October | Dumbarton | H | 1–0 | Gilmour(89) | 1,571 |
| 18 | 31 October | Meadowbank Thistle | H | 2–4 | Harkness(22,88) | 1,442 |
| 19 | 3 November | Partick Thistle | A | 0–1 | | 1,407 |
| 20 | 7 November | Queen of the South | A | 4–1 | Bryson(71), McInnes(74), Reid(89,90) | 1,479 |
| 21 | 14 November | Airdrieonians | H | 1–0 | Reid(14) | 1,978 |
| 22 | 21 November | Clyde | A | 0–2 | | 1,145 |
| 23 | 28 November | Hamilton Academical | H | 1–0 | Harkness(55) | 1,922 |
| 24 | 5 December | East Fife | A | 1–2 | Bryson(38) | 571 |
| 25 | 12 December | Raith Rovers | H | 1–1 | Reid(73) | 1,654 |
| 26 | 19 December | Clydebank | A | 0–1 | | 1,015 |
| 27 | 26 December | Meadowbank Thistle | A | 3–1 | McFarlane(44), Harkness(78,87) | 751 |
| 28 | 2 January | Queen of the South | H | 0–0 | | 3,230 |
| 29 | 9 January | Airdrieonians | A | 3–3 | Gilmour(29 pen), McFarlane(67,70) | 1,588 |
| 30 | 16 January | Clyde | H | 3–1 | Harkness(21), Bryson(44), Cuthbertson(64) | 1,752 |
| 31 | 23 January | Dumbarton | A | 0–1 | | 1,048 |
| 32 | 6 February | Forfar Athletic | H | 0–2 | | 1,281 |
| 33 | 13 February | Partick Thistle | H | 0–1 | | 2,432 |
| 34 | 27 February | Hamilton Academical | A | 0–1 | | 2,048 |
| 35 | 5 March | Raith Rovers | A | 2–2 | Davidson(80), Cuthbertson(87) | 1,462 |
| 36 | 12 March | Clydebank | H | 2–2 | Martin(23), Bourke(46) | 1,549 |
| 37 | 19 March | Meadowbank Thistle | H | 0–0 | | 1,662 |
| 38 | 26 March | Queen of the South | A | 0–1 | | 1,650 |
| 39 | 2 April | Forfar Athletic | A | 1–1 | Gilmour(85 pen) | 713 |
| 40 | 9 April | Dumbarton | H | 3–1 | Gilmour(49), McGuire(55), Bryson(63) | 2,205 |
| 41 | 16 April | Clyde | A | 0–0 | | 1,120 |
| 42 | 23 April | Airdrieonians | H | 4–1 | Bourke(10), McGuire(51,80), Gilmour(56 pen) | 1,953 |
| 43 | 30 April | East Fife | H | 1–3 | Gilmour(?) | 2,488 |
| 44 | 7 May | Partick Thistle | A | 1–0 | Gilmour(66) | 3,103 |

## Scottish League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Kilmarnock Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| R2 | 19 August | Heart of Midlothian | A | 1–6 | Bryson(62pen) | 9,500 |

## Scottish Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Kilmarnock Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| R3 | 30 January | Motherwell | A | 0–0 | | 6,488 |
| R3R | 3 February | Motherwell | H | 1–3 | Harkness(49) | 7,591 |