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1979–80 Rangers F.C. season

{{Unreferenced|date=June 2019|bot=noref (GreenC bot)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}

{{Infobox football club season

| club = Rangers

| logo =

| season = 1979–80

| manager = John Greig

| chairman = Rae Simpson

| stdtitle = Ground

| stadium = Ibrox Park

| league = Scottish Premier Division

| league result = 5th
P36 W15 D9 L14 F50 A46 Pts37

| cup1 = Scottish Cup| cup1 result = Runners-up

| cup2 = League Cup | cup2 result = Third round

| cup3 = Cup Winners' Cup | cup3 result = Second round

| cup4 = Glasgow Cup | cup4 result = Not completed

| cup5 = Drybrough Cup| cup5 result = Winners

| cup6 = Tennent Caledonian Cup | cup6 result = Winners

| season topscorer =
Derek Johnstone (21)

| league topscorer =
Derek Johnstone (15)

| prevseason = 1978–79

| nextseason = 1980–81

}}

The 1979–80 season was the 100th season of competitive football by Rangers.

Overview

Rangers played a total of 52 competitive matches during the 1979–80 season. Rangers finished fifth in the league, eleven points behind champions Aberdeen. The main cause for such a poor showing in the league was pointed at the team's away form, only ten points from eighteen matches.

Aberdeen also knocked Rangers out of the Scottish League Cup over a two-legged third round tie. Rangers did reach the 1980 Scottish Cup Final only to lose out to Old Firm rivals Celtic, 1-0 thanks to a deflected George McCluskey shot in extra time. The European Cup Winner's Cup campaign was ended by the eventual winners Valencia CF after having seen off Lillestrøm SK and Fortuna Düsseldorf in previous rounds.

Results

All results are written with Rangers' score first.

=Scottish Premier Division=

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:center"

!Date!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Scorers

bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}11 August 1979

{{left}}HibernianA3–117,731{{left}}A.MacDonald, Cooper, Russell
bgcolor = "#FFFFEE"

| {{left}}18 August 1979

{{left}}CelticH2–236,000{{left}}J.MacDonald, Russell
bgcolor = "#FFEEEE"

| {{left}}25 August 1979

{{left}}Partick ThistleA1–220,000{{left}}Johnstone
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}8 September 1979

{{left}}St MirrenH3–131,000{{left}}Johnstone, Smith, Miller
bgcolor = "#FFEEEE"

| {{left}}15 September 1979

{{left}}AberdeenA1–325,000{{left}}Johnstone
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}22 September 1979

{{left}}DundeeH2–025,000{{left}}Johnstone, Glennie (o.g.)
bgcolor = "#FFEEEE"

| {{left}}29 September 1979

{{left}}KilmarnockA1–215,479{{left}}Johnstone
bgcolor = "#FFFFEE"

| {{left}}6 October 1979

{{left}}Dundee UnitedA0–019,464
bgcolor = "#FFFFEE"

| {{left}}13 October 1979

{{left}}MortonH2–225,000{{left}}Johnstone (2)
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}20 October 1979

{{left}}HibernianH2–025,000{{left}}Smith, Miller (pen.)
bgcolor = "#FFEEEE"

| {{left}}27 October 1979

{{left}}CelticA0–161,000
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}3 November 1979

{{left}}Partick ThistleH2–118,400{{left}}Urquhart (2)
bgcolor = "#FFEEEE"

| {{left}}10 November 1979

{{left}}St MirrenA1–217,362{{left}}A.Forsyth
bgcolor = "#FFEEEE"

| {{left}}17 November 1979

{{left}}AberdeenH0–118,500
bgcolor = "#FFEEEE"

| {{left}}24 November 1979

{{left}}DundeeA1–313,342{{left}}Jackson
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}1 December 1979

{{left}}KilmarnockH2–116,557{{left}}Johnstone, Russell
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}8 December 1979

{{left}}MortonA1–014,750{{left}}Johnstone
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}15 December 1979

{{left}}Dundee UnitedH2–119,240{{left}}Johnstone, Kopel (o.g.)
bgcolor = "#FFEEEE"

| {{left}}22 December 1979

{{left}}HibernianA1–218,740{{left}}McLean
bgcolor = "#FFFFEE"

| {{left}}29 December 1979

{{left}}CelticH1–136,000{{left}}Johnstone
bgcolor = "#FFEEEE"

| {{left}}5 January 1980

{{left}}St MirrenH1–219,000{{left}}Jardine (pen.)
bgcolor = "#FFEEEE"

| {{left}}12 January 1980

{{left}}AberdeenA2–319,250{{left}}J.MacDonald, Jackson
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}23 February 1980

{{left}}MortonH3–128,000{{left}}Russell, Smith, J.MacDonald
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}1 March 1980

{{left}}HibernianH1–029,500{{left}}Johnstone
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}12 March 1980

{{left}}DundeeH1–017,000{{left}}Stevens
bgcolor = "#FFFFEE"

| {{left}}15 March 1980

{{left}}Partick ThistleH0–022,000
bgcolor = "#FFFFEE"

| {{left}}19 March 1980

{{left}}Dundee UnitedA0–09,533
bgcolor = "#FFFFEE"

| {{left}}29 March 1980

{{left}}AberdeenH2–225,000{{left}}Jardine (pen.), J.MacDonald
bgcolor = "#FFEEEE"

| {{left}}2 April 1980

{{left}}CelticA0–160,000
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}5 April 1980

{{left}}DundeeA4–112,948{{left}}Johnstone (2), Cooper, Smith
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}19 April 1980

{{left}}MortonA1–015,000{{left}}Russell
bgcolor = "#FFEEEE"

| {{left}}23 April 1980

{{left}}KilmarnockA0–18,504
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}25 April 1980

{{left}}Dundee UnitedH2–119,000{{left}}Jardine (pen.), McLean
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}30 April 1980

{{left}}KilmarnockH1–07,655{{left}}J.MacDonald
bgcolor = "#FFEEEE"

| {{left}}3 May 1980

{{left}}Partick ThistleA3–415,000{{left}}Russell (2), Johnstone
bgcolor = "#FFEEEE"

| {{left}}7 May 1980

{{left}}St MirrenA1–412,000{{left}}Miller

=Cup Winners' Cup=

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:center"

!Date!!Round!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Scorers

bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}21 August 1979

QR1{{left}}LillestrømH1–025,000{{left}}Smith
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}5 September 1979

QR1{{left}}LillestrømA2–06,175{{left}}A.MacDonald, Johnstone
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}19 September 1979

R1{{left}}Fortuna DüsseldorfH2–136,000{{left}}A.MacDonald, McLean
bgcolor = "#FFFFEE"

| {{left}}3 October 1979

R1{{left}}Fortuna DüsseldorfA0–047,000
bgcolor = "#FFFFEE"

| {{left}}24 October 1979

R2{{left}}ValenciaA1–161,000{{left}}McLean
bgcolor = "#FFEEEE"

| {{left}}7 November 1979

R2{{left}}ValenciaH1–336,000{{left}}Johnstone

=Scottish Cup=

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:center"

!Date!!Round!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Scorers

bgcolor = "#FFFFEE"

| {{left}}26 January 1980

R3{{left}}ClydeA2–212,500{{left}}Jardine (pen.), Jackson
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}30 January 1980

R3 R{{left}}ClydeH2–012,000{{left}}J.MacDonald (2)
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}16 February 1980

R4{{left}}Dundee UnitedH1–029,000{{left}}Johnstone
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}8 March 1980

QF{{left}}Heart of MidlothianH6–136,000{{left}}J.MacDonald (2), Cooper, Jardine (pen.),
Russell, Johnstone
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}12 April 1980

SF{{left}}AberdeenN1–050,209{{left}}Johnstone
bgcolor = "#FFEEEE"

| {{left}}10 May 1980

F{{left}}CelticN0–170,303

=League Cup=

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:center"

!Date!!Round!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Scorers

bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}29 August 1979

R2{{left}}ClydeA2–15,021{{left}}Dawson, Robertson
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}1 September 1979

R2{{left}}ClydeH4–016,000{{left}}MacKay (2), Smith, O'Neill (o.g.)
bgcolor = "#FFEEEE"

| {{left}}26 September 1979

R3{{left}}AberdeenA1–322,000{{left}}Johnstone
bgcolor = "#FFEEEE"

| {{left}}10 October 1979

R3{{left}}AberdeenH0–235,000

=Non-competitive=

==Drybrough Cup==

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:center"

!Date!!Round!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Scorers

bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}28 July 1979

R1{{left}}Berwick RangersH1–015,000{{left}}A MacDonald
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}1 August 1979

SF{{left}}KilmarnockA2–010,035{{left}}J MacDonald (2)
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}4 August 1979

F{{left}}CelticN3–140,609{{left}}J MacDonald, Jardine, Cooper

==Tennent Caledonian Cup==

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:center"

!Date!!Round!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Scorers

bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}3 August 1979

SF{{left}}West Ham UnitedH3–2{{left}}
bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}5 August 1979

F{{left}}KilmarnockH2–2{{left}}

==Glasgow Cup==

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:center"

!Date!!Round!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Scorers

bgcolor = "#EEFFEE"

| {{left}}15 August 1979

SF{{left}}Partick ThistleA2–0✝7,000{{left}}Smith, Cooper

✝Competition not completed

Appearances

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
Player

!Position

!Appearances

!Goals

align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Peter McCloy

|GK

|50

0
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} George Young

|GK

|2

0
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Alex Miller

|DF

|30

3
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Ally Dawson

|DF

|46

1
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Sandy Jardine

|DF

|51

5
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Colin Jackson

|DF

|42

3
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Kenny Watson

|MF

|26

0
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Tommy McLean

|MF

|39

4
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Bobby Russell

|MF

|33

8
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Derek Johnstone

|FW

|47

21
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Alex MacDonald

|MF

|39

3
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Davie Cooper

|MF

|43

3
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} John MacDonald

|FW

|35

9
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Gordon Smith

|FW

|45

6
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Gregor Stevens

|DF

|39

1
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Derek Parlane

|FW

|6

0
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Alex Forsyth

|DF

|11

1
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Billy Urquhart

|FW

|6

2
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Gordon Dalziel

|MF

|2

0
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Billy MacKay

|MF

|5

2
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Tom Forsyth

|DF

|22

0
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Ian Redford

|MF

|13

0
align="left" |{{flagicon|SCO}} Chris Robertson

|FW

|3

1

League table

{{:1979–80 Scottish Premier Division|showteam=RAN}}

See also

References

{{reflist}}

{{Rangers F.C. seasons}}

{{1979–80 in Scottish football}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1979-80 Rangers F.C. season}}

Category:Rangers F.C. seasons

Rangers