Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

1977–78 Rangers F.C. season

Rangers
1977–78 season
ChairmanRae Simpson
ManagerJock Wallace
GroundIbrox Park
Scottish Premier Division1st
P36 W24 D7 L5 F76 A39 Pts55
Scottish CupWinners
League CupWinners
Cup Winners' CupFirst round
Glasgow CupNot completed
Tennent Caledonian CupRunners-up
Top goalscorerLeague:
Derek Johnstone (25)
All:
Derek Johnstone (38)

The 1977–78 season was the 98th season of competitive football by Rangers.

Overview

Rangers played a total of 53 competitive matches during the 1977–78 season. Wallace presided over the club's fourth domestic treble and second in three years. During the close season Rangers spent heavily in the transfer market, bringing in Davie Cooper from Clydebank for £100,000 and Gordon Smith from Kilmarnock for £65,000. They were joined at the club by Bobby Russell who arrived from Shettleston Juniors for free.

However, even with these expensive signings the side did not make the best start to the league campaign, losing the opening two matches to Aberdeen and Hibernian. Order was restored the following week with a 4–0 defeat of Partick Thistle. A resounding 3–2 win over Celtic in the first Old Firm match of the season set the tone of the season. Rangers had been 2–0 down at half-time but recovered to win the game after outclassing Jock Stein's side in the second 45 minutes. In March 1978, second placed Aberdeen won 3–0 at Ibrox to set up a tense title run in. Rangers dropped seven points from twenty-one but held on winning the final four fixtures and the league.

The League Cup was won by defeating Celtic 2–1 after extra time. Goals from season new boys Davie Cooper and Gordon Smith completed the first leg of the treble. The 2–1 1978 Scottish Cup final win over Aberdeen made Wallace the first and only Rangers' manager to win two domestic trebles. Surprisingly despite this unprecedented success Wallace resign from his position on 23 May 1978.

Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

Scottish Premier Division

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
13 August 1977 Aberdeen A 1–3 21,500 Russell
20 August 1977 Hibernian H 0–2 20,800
27 August 1977 Partick Thistle A 4–0 18,584 Smith (2), Miller (pen.), Russell
10 September 1977 Celtic H 3–2 48,788 Smith (2), Johnstone
17 September 1977 St. Mirren A 3–3 26,000 Jardine, Cooper, Johnstone
24 September 1977 Ayr United H 2–0 20,402 Smith (2)
1 October 1977 Clydebank H 4–1 23,250 Cooper (2), Smith (2)
8 October 1977 Dundee United A 1–0 18,658 Russell
15 October 1977 Motherwell A 4–1 20,050 Johnstone (3), Smith
22 October 1977 Aberdeen H 3–1 40,102 Jardine (pen.), Smith, MacDonald
29 October 1977 Hibernian A 1–0 22,750 Jardine (pen.)
5 November 1977 Partick Thistle H 3–3 28,200 Parlane (2), MacDonald
12 November 1977 Celtic A 1–1 57,000 Johnstone
19 November 1977 St. Mirren H 2–1 25,000 Johnstone, Miller (pen.)
26 November 1977 Ayr United A 5–0 15,300 Johnstone (3), Jackson, Parlane
10 December 1977 Dundee United H 2–0 25,000 McLean, Smith
17 December 1977 Motherwell H 3–1 15,300 Smith (2), Johnstone
24 December 1977 Aberdeen A 0–4 21,000
31 December 1977 Hibernian H 0–0 25,000
2 January 1978 Partick Thistle A 2–1 30,000 Johnstone, Smith
7 January 1978 Celtic H 3–1 54,302 Smith, Grieg, Parlane
14 January 1978 St. Mirren A 2–0 24,300 Johnstone, Smith
4 February 1978 Clydebank H 1–0 16,492 Johnstone
19 February 1978 Clydebank A 3–0 10,000 Johnstone (2), Cooper
25 February 1978 Motherwell A 5–3 20,387 Johsntone (2), Smith, Cooper, McVie (o.g.)
4 March 1978 Aberdeen H 0–3 34,500
21 March 1978 Partick Thistle H 2–1 20,000 MacDonald, Jardine
25 March 1978 Celtic A 0–2 51,000
29 March 1978 Hibernian A 1–1 21,245 Parlane
1 April 1978 St. Mirren H 1–1 20,500 Johnstone
8 April 1978 Ayr United A 5–2 13,400 Johnstone (2), Smith (2), Greig
12 April 1978 Ayr United H 1–1 12,282 Johnstone
15 April 1978 Clydebank A 2–0 9,800 Johnstone (2)
19 April 1978 Dundee United A 1–0 17,293 Johnstone
22 April 1978 Dundee United H 3–0 27,050 Jackson, Jardine (pen.), Cooper
29 April 1978 Motherwell H 2–0 43,500 Jackson, Smith

Cup Winners' Cup

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
17 August 1977 QR Young Boys Bern H 1–0 30,000 Greig
31 August 1977 QR Young Boys Bern A 2–2 21,000 Johnstone, Smith
14 September 1977 R1 FC Twente H 0–0 40,000
28 September 1977 R1 FC Twente A 0–3 20,000

Scottish Cup

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
28 January 1978 R3 Berwick Rangers A 4–2 10,500 Jackson (2), Johnstone (2)
18 February 1978 R4 Stirling Albion H 1–0 15,500 Johnstone
11 March 1978 QF Kilmarnock H 4–1 28,000 Johnstone, Hamilton, MacDonald, Cooper (pen.)
5 April 1978 SF Dundee United N 2–0 25,619 Johnstone, Greig
6 May 1978 F Aberdeen N 2–1 61,563 MacDonald, Johnstone

League Cup

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
24 August 1977 R2 St. Johnstone H 3–1 10,000 Johnstone (2), Parlane
3 September 1977 R2 St. Johnstone A 3–0 11,200 Parlane, Miller (pen.), Smith
5 October 1977 R3 Aberdeen H 6–1 25,000 Smith (3), Johnstone, Miller (pen.), MacDonald
26 October 1977 R3 Aberdeen A 1–3 15,600 Smith
9 November 1977 QF Dunfermline Athletic H 3–1 12,000 McLean (2), Jackson
16 November 1977 QF Dunfermline Athletic A 3–1 8,274 Greig, Jardine (pen.), Johnstone
27 February 1978 SF Forfar Athletic N 5–2 12,799 Johnstone (2), Parlane (2), MacDonald
18 March 1978 F Celtic N 2–1 60,158 Cooper, Smith

Non-competitive

Tennent Caledonian Cup

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
6 August 1977 SF Southampton H 3–1
7 August 1977 F West Bromwich Albion H 0–2

Glasgow Cup

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
18 October 1977 SF Partick Thistle H 2–2*✝ 9,202 Forsyth, McLean

*Rangers won the match 4–3 on penalties ✝Competition not completed

Appearances

Player Position Appearances Goals
Scotland Peter McCloy GK 21 0
Scotland Sandy Jardine DF 48 6
Scotland Alex Miller DF 36 5
Scotland Tom Forsyth DF 46 0
Scotland Colin Jackson DF 51 6
Scotland Alex MacDonald MF 59 7
Scotland Billy MacKay MF 3 0
Scotland Bobby Russell MF 48 3
Scotland Derek Parlane FW 31 8
Scotland Chris Robertson FW 4 0
Scotland Davie Cooper MF 52 8
Scotland Bobby McKean MF 15 0
Scotland Tommy McLean MF 44 3
Scotland Gordon Smith FW 52 27
Scotland Derek Johnstone FW 47 38
Scotland John Greig DF 41 5
Scotland Kenny Watson MF 8 0
Scotland Stewart Kennedy GK 32 0
Scotland Ally Dawson DF 2 0
Scotland Johnny Hamilton MF 3 0
Scotland Eric Morris DF 1 0
Scotland Martin Henderson FW 2 0

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Rangers (C) 36 24 7 5 76 39 +37 55 Qualification for the European Cup first round
2 Aberdeen 36 22 9 5 68 29 +39 53 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
3 Dundee United 36 16 8 12 42 32 +10 40 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4 Hibernian 36 15 7 14 51 43 +8 37
5 Celtic 36 15 6 15 63 54 +9 36
Source: Statto
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

See also

References

Quelle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977%E2%80%9378_Rangers_F.C._season