1983–84 Rangers F.C. season

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 there 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 FC Porto after the team's record breaking 16-0 aggregate win over Maltese champions Valletta. After the first nine league games, Greig's team had collected just ten points from twenty-seven. In the end the pressure was to much and Greig resigned from his post on 28 October 1983.

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 1984 Scottish League Cup. It 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 Aug 1983	St. Mirren	H	1–1	21,500	Prytz (pen.)
03 Sep 1983	Celtic	A	1–2	50,662	McCoist
10 Sep 1983	Heart of Midlothian	A	1–3	16,173	Mitchell
17 Sep 1983	Aberdeen	H	0–2	27,500
24 Sep 1983	St. Johnstone	H	6–3	12,500	McCoist (2), McClelland, Prytz (pen.), Cooper, Clark
01 Oct 1983	Dundee United	A	2–0	16,738	Clark, Hegarty (o.g.)
08 Oct 1983	Hibernian	H	1–0	21,800	McClelland
15 Oct 1983	Dundee	A	2–3	11,945	Russell, Redford
22 Oct 1983	Motherwell	H	1–2	15,000	McCoist (pen.)
29 Oct 1983	St. Mirren	A	0–3	12,068
05 Nov 1983	Celtic	H	1–2	42,000	Clark
12 Nov 1983	Aberdeen	A	0–3	22,771
19 Nov 1983	Dundee United	H	0–0	27,800
26 Nov 1983	St. Johnstone	A	1–0	9,740	Redford
03 Dec 1983	Heart of Midlothian	H	3–0	22,500	Clark (2), MacDonald
10 Dec 1983	Motherwell	A	3–0	13,586	McAdam, Cooper, Mitchell
17 Dec 1983	Dundee	H	2–1	16,500	Russell, Williamson
27 Dec 1983	Hibernian	A	2–0	20,820	Williamson, Cooper
31 Dec 1983	St. Mirren	H	1–1	21,200	Clark
07 Jan 1984	Aberdeen	H	1–1	37,500	Cooper (pen.)
21 Jan 1984	St. Johnstone	H	2–0	18,001	Clark, Russell
04 Feb 1984	Motherwell	H	2–1	17,000	McCoist, Prytz (pen.)
11 Feb 1984	Heart of Midlothian	A	2–2	18,063	McCoist, Williamson
25 Feb 1984	Dundee	A	3–1	11,750	Russell, Cooper, McPherson
03 Mar 1984	Hibernian	H	0–0	17,000
06 Mar 1984	St. Johnstone	A	4–1	5,293	Redford, Clark, Davies, McCoist
31 Mar 1984	Motherwell	A	3–0	8,574	Paterson, McPherson, Burns
02 Apr 1984	Celtic	A	0–3	53,229
07 Apr 1984	Heart of Midlothian	H	0–0	22,000
21 Apr 1984	Celtic	H	1–0	40,260	Williamson
28 Apr 1984	St. Mirren	A	1–1	8,092	Williamson
02 May 1984	Dundee United	H	2–2	7,500	Clark, Williamson
05 May 1984	Dundee	H	2–2	17,000	Redford, Cooper
09 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 Sep 1983	R1	Valletta	A	8–0	18,213	McPherson (4), Prytz (2, 1 (pen.)), Paterson, MacDonald
28 Sep 1983	R1	Valletta	H	10–0	11,500	MacDonald (3, 1 (pen.)), Mitchell (2), Redford (2), Dawson, MacKay, Davies
19 Oct 1983	R2	FC Porto	H	2–1	27,800	Clark, Mitchell
02 Nov 1983	R2	FC Porto	A	0–1	63,000

Scottish Cup

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

League Cup

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

Appearances

Player	Position	Appearances	Goals
Peter McCloy	GK	40	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	15
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
Nicky Walker	GK	11	0
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

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