1978–79 Rangers F.C. season

Rangers

1978–79 season
Chairman	Rae Simpson
Manager	John Greig
Ground	Ibrox Park
Scottish Premier Division	2nd P36 W18 D9 L9 F52 A35
Scottish Cup	Winners
League Cup	Winners
European Cup	Quarter-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Gordon Smith (11) All: Gordon Smith (18)
← 1977–78 1979–80 →

The 1978–79 season is the 82nd season of competitive football by Rangers.

Overview

Rangers played a total of 61 competitive matches during the 1978–79 season. The early season league form was terrible as the team failed to win any of the first six league matches but a run was put together. Things began to unravel, however, as leadership of the league evaporated. The team had to settle for second place behind champions Celtic. The pivotal match was a 4-2 Old Firm defeat a Parkhead. There was success for Greig in the national cup competitions. Victory in the 1979 Scottish Cup Final over Hibernian required a second replay to separate the sides before Rangers eventually won 3-2. The 1979 Scottish League Cup Final ended in a 2-1 win for Rangers over a strong Aberdeen with goals from Alex MacDonald and Colin Jackson.

Wallace's treble-winning team of the previous season performed well in the European Cup. Rangers eliminated Juventus after defeating the Italians 2–1 on aggregate - the first time Rangers had ever recovered from a first-leg defeat to win a two-legged European tie. Dutch side PSV Eindhoven, the then UEFA Cup holders, were overcome in the next round (the club's first home defeat in European competition), before an injury-stricken Rangers side lost to Cologne at the quarter-final stage.

Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

Scottish Premier Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
12 August 1978	St. Mirren	H	0–1	28,000
19 August 1978	Hibernian	A	0–0	23,000
26 August 1978	Partick Thistle	H	0–0	24,500
9 September 1978	Celtic	A	1–3	60,000	Parlane
16 September 1978	Aberdeen	H	1–1	27,000	A.Forsyth (pen.)
23 September 1978	Greenock Morton	A	2–2	16,500	Parlane, Johnstone
30 September 1978	Motherwell	H	4–1	26,000	Smith (2), McLean, Johnstone
7 October 1978	Dundee United	H	1–1	27,000	A.MacDonald
14 October 1978	Heart of Midlothian	A	0–0	18,159
21 October 1978	St. Mirren	A	1–0	26,000	A.Forsyth (pen)
28 October 1978	Hibernian	H	2–1	24,750	A.Forsyth (pen), Smith
4 November 1978	Partick Thistle	A	0–1	20,641
11 November 1978	Celtic	H	1–1	52,330	A.Forsyth (pen)
18 November 1978	Aberdeen	A	0–0	26,000
25 November 1978	Greenock Morton	H	3–0	21,500	Johnstone, Cooper, Smith
9 December 1978	Dundee United	A	0–3	15,247
16 December 1978	Heart of Midlothian	H	5–3	16,250	Johnstone (4), Watson
23 December 1978	St. Mirren	H	1–0	22,500	Johnstone
20 January 1979	Greenock Morton	A	2–0	16,312	A.MacDonald, Watson
10 February 1979	Dundee United	H	1–0	23,500	Robertson
24 February 1979	Heart of Midlothian	A	2–3	16,500	Smith, Parlane
14 March 1979	Hibernian	H	1–0	16,000	Smith
17 March 1979	Partick Thistle	A	2–0	18,685	Cooper, Urquhart
27 March 1979	St. Mirren	A	2–1	20,000	Urquhart (2)
7 April 1979	Greenock Morton	H	1–1	15,750	Cooper
10 April 1979	Motherwell	H	3–0	12,000	Cooper, A.MacDonald, Smith
14 April 1979	Motherwell	A	0–2	14,612
21 April 1979	Dundee United	A	2–1	20,264	Dawson, Smith
25 April 1979	Aberdeen	A	1–2	20,000	Smith
28 April 1979	Heart of Midlothian	H	4–0	20,050	Russell (3), Parlane
2 May 1979	Motherwell	A	2–1	13,052	Smith, Jackson
5 May 1979	Celtic	H	1–0	52,841	A.MacDonald
7 May 1979	Aberdeen	H	2–0	32,000	Smith, Cooper
21 May 1979	Celtic	A	2–4	52,000	A.MacDonald, Russell
23 May 1979	Partick Thistle	H	1–0	2,000	Johnstone
31 May 1979	Hibernian	A	1–2	5,000	Urquhart

European Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
13 September 1978	R1	Juventus	A	0–1	70,000
27 September 1978	R1	Juventus	H	2–0	44,000	A.MacDonald, Smith
18 October 1978	R2	PSV Eindhoven	H	0–0	44,000
1 November 1978	R2	PSV Eindhoven	A	3–2	29,000	A.MacDonald, Johnstone, Russell
6 March 1979	QF	Cologne	A	0–1	50,000
22 March 1979	QF	Cologne	H	1–1	44,000	McLean

Scottish Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
12 February 1979	R3	Motherwell	H	3–1	19,000	Johnstone, Jackson, Cooper
21 February 1979	R4	Kilmarnock	H	1–1	17,500	A.MacDonald
26 February 1979	R4 R	Kilmarnock	A	1–0	19,493	Urquhart
10 March 1979	QF	Dundee	H	6–3	28,000	Jardine (pen.), A.MacDonald, Smith, T.Forsyth, Russell, Cooper
4 April 1979	SF	Partick Thistle	N	0–0	26,232
16 April 1979	SF R	Partick Thistle	N	1–0	32,294	Johnstone
12 May 1979	F	Hibernian	N	0–0	50,610
16 May 1979	F R	Hibernian	N	0–0	33,504
28 May 1979	F 2R	Hibernian	N	3–2	30,602	Johnstone (2), Duncan (o.g.)

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
16 August 1978	R1	Albion Rovers	H	3–0	10,000	Parlane, Johnstone, Smith
23 August 1978	R1	Albion Rovers	A	1–0	6,500	Parlane
30 August 1978	R2	Forfar Athletic	H	3–0	9,000	Cooper, McLean, Smith
2 September 1978	R2	Forfar Athletic	A	4–1	5,919	Smith (2), A.MacDonald, Cooper
4 October 1978	R3	St. Mirren	H	3–2	20,000	Cooper, Miller, Johnstone
11 October 1978	R3	St. Mirren	A	0–0	24,000
8 November 1978	QF	Arbroath	H	1–0	10,000	Wells (o.g.)
15 November 1978	QF	Arbroath	A	2–1	4,000	Smith, Russell
13 December 1978	SF	Celtic	N	3–2	49,432	Jardine (pen.), Jackson, Casey (o.g.)
31 March 1979	F	Aberdeen	N	2–1	60,000	A.MacDonald, Jackson

Appearances

Player	Position	Appearances	Goals
Peter McCloy	GK	61	0
Sandy Jardine	DF	60	2
Alex Forsyth	DF	29	4
Tom Forsyth	DF	33	1
Colin Jackson	DF	46	4
Alex MacDonald	MF	58	11
Tommy McLean	MF	56	3
Bobby Russell	MF	61	7
Derek Johnstone	FW	53	16
Gordon Smith	FW	57	18
Kenny Watson	MF	22	2
Billy Urquhart	FW	20	5
Derek Parlane	FW	43	6
Alex Miller	DF	33	1
Davie Cooper	MF	49	10
Ally Dawson	DF	36	1
Chris Robertson	FW	2	1
John MacDonald	FW	2	0
Davie Armour	DF	3	0
Billy MacKay	MF	1	0
Eric Morris	DF	1	0
Derek Strickland	FW	2	0
Jim Denny	DF	3	0

See also

• 1978–79 in Scottish football
• 1978–79 Scottish Cup
• 1978–79 Scottish League Cup
• 1977–78 European Cup