1980–81 Rangers F.C. season

Rangers
1980-81 season
Chairman	Rae Simpson
Manager	John Greig
Ground	Ibrox Park
Scottish Premier Division	3rd P36 W16 D12 L8 F60 A32
Scottish Cup	Winners
League Cup	Third Round
Top goalscorer	League: Colin McAdam (12) All: Colin McAdam (21)
← 1979–80 1981–82 →

The 1980–81 season is the 84th season of competitive football by Rangers.

Overview

Rangers played a total of 47 competitive matches during the 1980–81 season. The summer of 1980 saw Greig bring in Jim Bett from Lokeren for £150,000. Bett was joined by Colin McAdam a £165,000 signing from Partick Thistle. The side got off to a good start in the league, going on a fifteen match unbeaten run, including two Old Firm wins, was to end in November. A disastrous run in November and December all but ended the title challenge as the team finished third, twelve points behind champions Celtic.

The League Cup campaign was halted after a controversial defeat to Aberdeen in a match where the Dons were awarded two contentious penalties. Due to having no European participation, Rangers entered the Anglo-Scottish Cup which led to humiliation and embarrassment at the hands of English minnows, Chesterfield. The Third Division side held Rangers to a 1-1 draw at Ibrox before thumping Rangers 3-0 in the away leg at Saltergate. Rangers did win the 1981 Scottish Cup Final after beating Dundee United 4-1 in a final replay. After a tedious 0-0 draw where Ian Redford missed a last minute penalty, Rangers won the replay with goals from Davie Cooper, a John MacDonald double and Bobby Russell.

Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

Scottish Premier Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
9 August 1980	Airdrieonians	A	1–1	16,000	MacDonald
16 August 1980	Partick Thistle	H	4–0	25,898	Cooper, McAdam, MacDonald, Jardine
23 August 1980	Celtic	A	2–1	58,000	Bett, Miller
6 September 1980	Dundee United	A	4–2	16,269	Cooper, McAdam, MacDonald, Hegarty (o.g.)
13 September 1980	Aberdeen	H	1–1	34,000	McAdam
20 September 1980	Kilmarnock	A	8–1	15,021	MacDonald (3), Redford (2, 1 (pen.)), McAdam, Jardine, Bett
27 September 1980	St. Mirren	H	2–0	30,000	Bett, Cooper
4 October 1980	Greenock Morton	A	2–2	15,000	Miller (pen), McAdam
11 October 1980	Heart of Midlothian	H	3–1	22,443	McAdam (2), Jefferies (o.g.)
18 October 1980	Airdrieonians	H	0–0	23,000
25 October 1980	Partick Thistle	A	1–1	14,250	McAdam
1 November 1980	Celtic	H	3–0	35,000	McAdam (2), MacDonald
8 November 1980	St. Mirren	A	0–0	17,362
15 November 1980	Kilmarnock	H	2–0	15,791	Johnston, Jardine
22 November 1980	Heart of Midlothian	A	0–0	16,315
29 November 1980	Greenock Morton	H	0–1	20,000
13 December 1980	Aberdeen	A	0–2	22,500
20 December 1980	Kilmarnock	A	1–1	9,172	Russell
1 January 1981	Partick Thistle	H	1–1	18,000	McAdam
3 January 1981	Airdrieonians	A	1–1	11,800	Dawson
10 January 1981	Greenock Morton	A	2–0	13,000	MacDonald, Redford
31 January 1981	Aberdeen	H	1–0	32,500	Johnstone
7 February 1981	Dundee United	A	1–2	14,328	MacDonald
21 February 1981	Celtic	A	1–3	52,800	Johnstone
28 February 1981	Airdrieonians	H	2–0	12,200	MacDonald, Redford
14 March 1981	Heart of Midlothian	A	1–2	11,500	Redford
18 March 1981	Dundee United	H	1–4	14,000	McAdam
21 March 1981	Kilmarnock	H	2–0	8,488	Redford, Russell
28 March 1981	St. Mirren	A	1–2	9,988	Dawson
1 April 1981	Greenock Morton	H	4–0	7,000	Johnstone (2), Redford, MacDonald
4 April 1981	Dundee United	H	2–1	16,000	Russell, Redford (pen.)
15 April 1981	St. Mirren	H	1–0	10,000	Russell
18 April 1981	Celtic	H	0–1	35,000
22 April 1981	Aberdeen	A	0–0	11,500
25 April 1981	Partick Thistle	A	1–1	7,077	Russell
2 May 1981	Heart of Midlothian	H	4–0	9,770	Bett, Russell, Redford, Johnston

Scottish Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
24 January 1981	R3	Airdrieonians	A	5–0	16,054	Johnstone (2), Stevens, Redford, Bett
14 February 1981	R4	St. Johnstone	A	3–3	17,595	Redford (2), McAdam
18 February 1981	R4 R	St. Johnstone	H	3–1	30,000	McAdam (2), Stevens
7 March 1981	QF	Hibernian	H	3–1	26,345	Russell, McAdam, MacDonald
11 April 1981	SF	Greenock Morton	N	2–1	27,050	Jackson, Russell
9 May 1981	F	Dundee United	N	0–0	53,346
12 May 1981	F R	Dundee United	N	4–1	43,099	MacDonald (2), Cooper, Russell

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
27 August 1980	R2	Forfar Athletic	A	2–0	4,500	McAdam (2)
30 August 1980	R2	Forfar Athletic	H	3–1	15,500	Miller (pen.), Johnstone, McAdam (pen.)
3 September 1980	R3	Aberdeen	H	1–0	33,000	McAdam
24 September 1980	R3	Aberdeen	A	1–3	23,926	McAdam

Appearances

Player	Position	Appearances	Goals
Peter McCloy	GK	34	0
Sandy Jardine	DF	42	3
Alex Forsyth	DF	1	0
Tom Forsyth	DF	30	0
Colin Jackson	DF	38	1
Jim Bett	MF	45	5
Davie Cooper	MF	34	4
Bobby Russell	MF	35	9
Colin McAdam	FW	40	21
Ian Redford	MF	46	12
John MacDonald	FW	38	14
Willie Johnston	MF	37	2
Derek Johnstone	FW	33	7
Tommy McLean	MF	34	0
Alex Miller	DF	33	3
Gregor Stevens	DF	14	2
Ally Dawson	DF	29	2
Billy MacKay	MF	6	0
Robert Clark	DF	1	0
Jim Stewart	GK	13	0

Rangers Football Club

Players Internationals Managers Chairmen Reserves & Academy Records and statistics Honours Current season Ownership

History	Club History Hall of Fame Past seasons Europe Administration and liquidation

Home stadium	Fleshers' Haugh (1873–1876) Kinning Park (1876–1877) First Ibrox Park (1877–1899) Ibrox Stadium (1899–present)

Training ground	Murray Park

Tragedies	1902 Ibrox disaster 1971 Ibrox disaster

Supporters	Rangers F.C. supporters Rangers Supporters' Trust Rangers First Fanzine

Rivalries	Old Firm

Media	Rangers TV

Others	Broxi Bear Iron Curtain Superleague Formula team Rangers Ladies team Rangers Charity Foundation Blue Heaven

Related articles	1972 European Cup Winners' Cup Final 2008 UEFA Cup Final

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1980–81 in Scottish football

« 1979–80 1981–82 »

Domestic leagues	Football League Premier Division First Division Second Division Highland League

Domestic cups	Scottish Cup (Final) League Cup (Final) Junior Cup

European competitions	European Cup European Cup Winners' Cup UEFA Cup

Related to national team	Results World Cup 1982 qualifying (Group 6) British Home Championship

Club seasons

Premier Division	Aberdeen Airdrieonians Celtic Dundee United Heart of Midlothian Kilmarnock Morton Partick Thistle Rangers St. Mirren

First Division	Ayr United Berwick Rangers Clydebank Dundee Dunfermline Athletic Dumbarton East Stirlingshire Falkirk Hamilton Academical Hibernian Motherwell Raith Rovers St. Johnstone Stirling Albion

Second Division	Albion Rovers Alloa Athletic Arbroath Brechin City Clyde Cowdenbeath East Fife Forfar Athletic Meadowbank Thistle Montrose Queen of the South Queen's Park Stenhousemuir Stranraer